Choosing The Right Website: Web Hosting, Ecommerce Platform Reviews & More

So you’re looking into using Cloudways as your hosting provider, and you’re wondering how they stack up against the competition.

But hold on one second.

I tested out Cloudways for a client project because they have gotten really good press for creating a truly unique product in a pretty staid industry.

As with any unique product, they’ll need a bit of background on the web hosting spectrum.

Let’s talk about the difference between cloud hosting and traditional shared hosting.

Usually your website files live on a part of a server that you rent from a hosting company (hence “shared” hosting). A cloud is an entire network of data centers that host website files in a distributed & decentralized fashion. Your files are deployed “everywhere” in a way of speaking. You just rent the resources on the network needed to host & deliver your files.

Imagine real-world housing for a second. Traditional hosting is like buying a house, townhouse or condominium. You buy it and you can do whatever you want. It’s cheap and predictable. But if your entire extended family shows up one day – you might have some issues hosting everyone. Cloud hosting is like having access to any house anywhere in the world whenever and wherever – you just have to pay per night for whatever house you use. It’s more expensive day to day, but when your entire extended family shows up one day – it’s a pretty simple, quick fix. You just get the 12 bedroom house for the night and no one is the wiser.

The actual cloud is built by the biggest tech companies in the world. There are not that many. Amazon is the biggest. They are closely followed by Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM along with a few smaller ones like Digital Ocean.

With cloud hosting, you have more access to guaranteed resources than on shared hosting.

On shared hosting, you have a set amount of resources on a specific server that also has a set amount of resources. For example, you might have 1GB of Memory dedicated to you on a server that has 10GB of memory in total.

But suppose there are 10 customers on that shared server, each with 1GB of memory. 9 of those customers start using a full 1GB of their allocation – sometimes a little bit over. Well, now, you can’t actually use your 1GB of memory without bringing the server done. In that case, you might get throttled or one customer’s site might get taken down. Now, a good shared hosting will have network engineers who have built out ways of balancing, but it’s the core tradeoff with the setup.

On cloud hosting, you pay per use of resources on a distributed network of servers that has basically infinite resources. Your data doesn’t live on a single server. Instead, it’s copied on a whole network all around the world. If a single server gets overloaded, another server starts returning the the data.

This is the reason why NetFlix runs on Amazon’s cloud and why Twitter runs on Google’s Cloud. Those are extreme but illustrative examples. They see huge spikes at random times during the day that only a cloud can handle.

This makes cloud hosting a great option for websites that have spiky traffic (like viral news sites or a site that goes through regular launches) and doesn’t want to commit to a set amount of resources that may or may not be guaranteed.

But cloud hosting is traditionally expensive and very technical to set up, which can make it not make sense for a lot of DIYers and small businesses. The time & money to get it configured *just* right is out of reach for most businesses.

And that’s where Cloudways comes in.

Cloudways

Cloudways is a unique solution for those who need the benefits of cloud hosting without the complete complexity of it. While Cloudways still isn't as straightforward as traditional hosting companies, it does streamline the process of getting set up with a cloud host.

Application Category: Cloud Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3

Hostwinds is an independent, US-based web hosting company who’s been around since 2010. They boast inexpensive pricing and excellent customer service, and like most hosting companies, also provide email, website builders, and domain services in addition to basic web hosting.

I’ve had several readers email to ask my opinion about Hostwinds, so I decided to give them a shot for a small project.

Here’s my Hostwinds review — structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

Hostwinds

Hostwinds is an affordable hosting company with solid support and onboarding. They fall down a bit on performance, branding, and pricing details.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3

HostMonster is a web hosting brand owned by Endurance International. They offer shared Linux hosting (what nearly all starter website owners need) in three plans in addition to VPS and Managed servers. Like most hosting companies, HostMonster also provides email, a website builder, and various complementary services to web hosting.

Their datacenter is located in Provo, Utah within (what appears to be) the same facilities as their sister brand Bluehost. In fact, a large part of their brand is a replica of Bluehost and JustHost.

One of my oldest clients uses HostMonster, but until now I’ve never written anything about them. Here’s my HostMonster Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience both as a customer and consultant to a customer.

HostMonster

HostMonster is a discount hosting providers owned by Endurance International. They offer shared, VPS and dedicated hosting plans. HostMonster is fine in many ways. They have a simple backend and alright performance. However, they are fairly expensive and don't have the performance of direct competitors or the investment of sister brands like Bluehost.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3

Hostinger is an independent, European web hosting company who has grown rapidly in just over a decade. They are also the parent company of the 000Webhost, Niagahoster and Weblink brands. In 2017, Hostinger reported 29 million users.

Like most hosting companies, Hostinger also provides email, a website builder, and various complementary services with 24-hour support and a 30-day money back guarantee.

I’ve had several readers email to ask my opinion about Hostinger, so I decided to give them a shot for a small project.

Here’s my Hostinger review — structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

Hostinger

Hostinger is a value-focused brand with very affordable pricing. However, they have heavy limitations and inconsistent performance & reputation.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Just Host is a web hosting brand owned by Endurance International. They offer a standard selection of Linux-based web hosting solutions from shared hosting to VPS to dedicated servers, though they focus on marketing their shared hosting solution (which is what most website owners need/want).

Their datacenter is located in Provo, Utah within (what appears to be) the same facilities as their sister brand Bluehost. Like most shared hosting companies, Just Host also provides email and various complementary services to web hosting.

I have a marketing client who uses Just Host, and I also gave them a try myself while shopping for a discount home for a WordPress-based side project.

Here’s my Just Host Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer (and consultant to a customer of Just Host).

Just Host

Just Host is a web hosting provider owned by Endurance International. Just Host has pricey plans, mediocre performance and appears to be underinvested compared to its sister brands. It's fine to use, but there are better alternatives.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
2.5

DreamHost is one of the largest and most established hosting companies online. They have been operating since 1997 (positively ancient by digital standards) and have grown to serve more than 1.5 million websites and 400,000 customers across the globe.

They are independent and employee owned (ie, they aren’t another Endurance International or GoDaddy brand). They are also one of the longest supporters of open source and community built software (ie, WordPress, etc).

DreamHost offers a full-spectrum of hosting solutions from Shared (most common) to VPS to Cloud – and even a specialized WordPress offering along with complementary services like email and domain management.

But older and employee-owned doesn’t mean they are a best fit for everyone. While moving one of my side projects off an old HostGator VPS, I took the opportunity to give DreamHost’s shared hosting plan a try.

Here’s my DreamHost Hosting review – structured with the pros, cons and direct comparisons to competitors based on my experience as a customer.

DreamHost

DreamHost is an established, respected independent hosting company founded in 1997. DreamHost has good performance, and solid value for pricing and great customer support.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
4

FatCow is a web hosting brand owned by Endurance International. They offer a full spectrum of web hosting services from shared hosting to VPS servers to domains with unique branding.

FatCow has been around for quite a while. They started in 1998 and run out Burlington, MA – in possibly the same datacenter as their sister brand iPage.

FatCow has made their name with a specific focus on beginner and DIY website owners, and a fun, friendly brand – both of which stand out in an industry traditionally focused on developers and technical server jargon.

Like most shared hosting companies, FatCow also provides email, a website builder, and various complementary services to web hosting with 24-hour support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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

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

FatCow

FatCow is an established web hosting company founded in 1998. They are focused on beginner and DIY hosting services. They are strong on pricing & simplicity but lack the performance & support of competitors.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3

“GoDaddy vs. HostGator?” is a very common question for anyone researching hosting options.

GoDaddy and HostGator are two of the largest hosting brands in the world. And they are owned respectively by the two of largest web services companies in the world (GoDaddy Group and Endurance International).

See HostGator’s Current Plans & Pricing

See GoDaddy’s Current Plans & Pricing

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

I have current clients who use (and like) GoDaddy hosting. Although this site runs on InMotion Hosting (which I’ll mention later) – I also have several projects that have run on HostGator for years. I’ve been happy with them.

In this comparison between GoDaddy and HostGator, I’ll try to break down the differences that I’ve highlighted 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.

Let’s dive into GoDaddy vs. HostGator…

FastComet is a 9 year old independent web hosting company headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Their team and services span the entire globe. They focus on shared & cloud hosting services with a focus on predictable pricing & fast customer support.

FastComet has been in the hosting business for over 9 years, first providing professional services to private and business clients before launching their own public cloud hosting service in 2013. Their core offering is an SSD Cloud Hosting solution that is “one of the most accessible and affordable on the Web Hosting Market”, and are backed by a 24/7 support team of real people.

Due to their pricing and rapid growth, I’ve 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 FastComet Hosting review – structured with pros & cons based on my experience as a customer.

FastComet

Good host that seems to still be establishing its business-model. Good for price-conscious, ex-US customers, and short-term projects. Others may want to look elsewhere.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
3

Web.com is a web hosting & website builder brand owned by the Web.com Group. They are one of the largest and oldest brands in the industry. The Web.com Group also owns brands like Network Solutions, Register.com and 1ShoppingCart.

Along with GoDaddy, they have some of the highest brand recognition in the general public due to their huge investment TV, radio, billboard and traditional advertising. In Atlanta, I’m pretty sure they’ve bought a significant portion of the bus stop ads. They also sponsor the 2nd tier professional golf league in America.

That kind of offline advertising plays to their core marketing message as the one place to get your website, online marketing and everything to go with it. Though technically speaking, Web.com offers only entry-level hosting & a DIY website builder application with upsell marketing services.

You can check out Web.com’s plans and pricing here.

Due to my skepticism from their offline ads, I’ve never previously tried Web.com. But after a friend asked about them, I decided to give them a try with a small trial website.

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

Web.com

Web.com is one of the most recognized brands in the website building industry with lots of offline advertising. Web.com does not live up to the marketing and messaging. Their pricing, features and support make them a very poor long-term choice for a website builder or hosting company.

Application Category: Web Hosting

Editor's Rating:
2

“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…