Web Hosting Reviews: Shared, WordPress & VPS Hosts

“GoDaddy vs. iPage” is a pretty common question for anyone researching their options for web hosting.

GoDaddy and iPage are two of the best known budget hosts in the world. And they are owned respectively by the two of largest web services companies in the world (GoDaddy Group and Endurance International).

View GoDaddy’s Current Plans & Pricing

View iPage’s Current Plans & Pricing

They are both “go-to” brands for business owners looking for simple, affordable hosting. And yet – they are different companies with different brands. When you are choosing a website host – you still have to end up choosing which company to go with.

I have current clients who use (and like) GoDaddy hosting. Although this site runs on InMotion Hosting (which I’ll mention later) – I have also used iPage for a couple small projects. I wrote a full iPage review here.

In this comparison between GoDaddy and iPage, I’ll try to break down the differences that I’ve found in seven different areas ranging from pricing structure to customer service and market focus so that you can decide which is the best fit for your project.

Also – you can skip to the short version in the conclusion here (or take my Buzzfeed-style hosting on a budget quiz here).

Let’s dive into GoDaddy vs. iPage…

iPage Hosting is a hosting company targeting the entry-level and budget-conscious end of the market. They’re one of Endurance International’s (a large hosting brand holding company) brands, along with Bluehost, HostGator and others.

They’ve been around in some form since 1998, but only recently repositioned themselves as a pure-play web hosting company. They specialize in Linux shared hosting (ie, the type of hosting used by most companies who run their site with software like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc), but also offer VPS and Dedicated server plans for higher traffic websites.

After their sister company, Bluehost, changed their pricing, I had a few readers asking what I thought of them. So while shopping for a new budget host for a side project, I decided to sign up and give them a try.

Here’s my iPage Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

iPage Hosting

iPage is a budget web hosting company in Burlington, MA owned by Endurance International. iPage Hosting has great pricing but only mediocre performance. Their custom backend has lots of upsells and clutter.

Application Category: Web Hosting

1&1 Hosting vs. GoDaddy Hosting – the two biggest brands in the web hosting business. Between their Super Bowl commercials, ubiquitous print ads, and service bundling, GoDaddy and 1&1 are typically considered at least for a moment in nearly everyone’s web hosting decision.

See 1&1 IONOS’s Current Plans & Pricing

See GoDaddy’s Current Plans & Pricing

And yet, the big brand campaigns typically don’t talk about the actual products they are selling – in this case web hosting. Since they are the 2 biggest brands in web hosting, I often get questions about both – and how 1&1 hosting (see their plans & promotions here) compares with GoDaddy hosting (see their plans & promotions here).

In addition to working with both web hosts for client projects, I’m also a customer of both GoDaddy and 1&1 hosting for a couple partner side projects. Here’s my breakdown of how 1&1 hosting compares with GoDaddy based on my own experience with each – and how they might fit you depending on your goals and what you value in a web host.

First aside – I’m specifically looking at shared Linux hosting. It’s the cheapest, most flexible option (ie, you are able to have a website powered by WordPress, Joomla, etc or plain HTML). Unless you know of a specific reason to get dedicated or Windows web hosting, then you probably don’t need it. Shared Linux hosting is usually the best, most flexible fit for most website projects.

Second aside – IONOS recently acquired 1&1 and all their related products and services. Not a whole lot has changed, except that they have more of a focus on the Europe market than before. If you are inside or outside of Europe, you can go ahead and mark that as a pro/con.

Let’s look at 1&1 hosting vs. GoDaddy based on pricing, features, performance, usability, and customer service.

Web Hosting Hub is a hosting company founded in 2010 by InMotion Hosting – it’s older, more well-known parent company.

According to InMotion’s comparison page, Web Hosting Hub was founded to attract “more of the start-up, and professional blogger market.” In practical language, that means Web Hosting Hub offers one product – shared linux hosting (ie, hosting that can run the most common types of websites and apps, such as WordPress without having to sustain large amounts of sustained traffic).

As many more well-known brands change pricing and get bought up by large corporations (ie, Bluehost, 1&1 and GoDaddy), there’s been an increased interest in independent companies with clear features, simple setups, and affordable pricing.

Web Hosting Hub claims to be that provider. Some of my personal projects run on HostGator right now. But since this site runs on a VPS server with InMotion, I thought I’d try Web Hosting Hub with a hobby site that needed its own shared space. Since I’ve had that site there for more than a year – I decided to update this Web Hosting Hub review.

Web Hosting Hub

Web Hosting Hub is a shared hosting provider focused on small websites and startups on a budget. Solid starter hosting service. Great pricing with good performance and few caps. No upgraded servers for fast-growing websites though.

1&1 IONOS hosting and HostGator are two of the oldest and biggest hosting brands in the world. I wanted to compare 1&1 IONOS Hosting vs. HostGator specifically after receiving several reader questions about the 1&1 brand (mainly b/c 1&1, like GoDaddy does a ton of advertising).

View 1&1 IONOS Current Promo

View HostGator’s Current Promo

Many of my sites (this one uses InMotion VPS) run on HostGator hosting (see HostGator’s plans here), and I’ve had the opportunity to use 1&1 hosting (see 1&1’s plans here) with several client sites, in addition to a recent side project that uses 1&1 hosting. After using each for quite a while, here’s my experience with how 1&1 and Hostgator compare on pricing, features, performance, usability, and customer service.

[Read more…] about 1&1 Hosting vs. HostGator: My Comparison & Experience With Both

eHost is a web hosting brand owned by Endurance International. They offer shared Linux hosting (what nearly all starter website owners need) in the form of single unlimited plan. They have been around for a while, but were only recently relaunched by their parent company.

Their datacenter is located in Houston, TX within (what appears to be) the same facilities as their sister brand HostGator. Like most shared hosting companies, eHost also provides email, a website builder, and various complementary services to web hosting.

You can check out eHost’s plan and current pricing here.

I’ve had several readers email to ask my opinion about eHost, so I decided to give them a shot in my recent shopping tour of entry-level web hosts.

Here’s my eHost Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

eHost

eHost is a starter website hosting brand owned by Endurance International. eHost has excellent pricing, good support and a clean user experience. Performance is mediocre, but fine for a starter website.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Arvixe is a web hosting brand owned by Endurance International. They offer a full spectrum of hosting services from shared hosting to dedicated servers (even Windows hosting).

They have been around since 2003, and made their name in the mid-2000s with the ability to choose between US and European data centers. They were purchased by Endurance in 2014.

Their datacenter is located in Austin, TX. Like most shared hosting companies, Arvixe also provides email, a website builder, and various complementary services to web hosting with 24 hour support and a 60 day money back guarantee.

You can check out Arvixe’s plans and current pricing here.

I’ve had several readers email to ask my opinion about Arvixe, so I decided to give them a shot in my recent shopping tour of entry-level web hosts.

Here’s my Arvixe Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer. [Read more…] about Arvixe Hosting Review: Pros, Cons & Alternatives

Arvixe

Arvixe is a hosting provider in Austin, TX started in 2003 providing budget hosting services. Arvixe is a classic you-get-what-you-pay-for provider - they are cheap, but that's really their only selling point.

Application Category: Web Hosting