Hostinger is known for its affordable shared hosting plans. As someone who has reviewed many web hosts, we would like to know if these low prices have any drawbacks. This Hostinger review will take a closer look at it’s services and costs.
Cheap shared hosting is widespread, especially in a struggling economy. However, Hostinger has been offering the best hosting for beginners since the late 2000s and continues to do so today. We had doubts initially, but after months of testing, we found that Hostinger’s affordable, high-quality and best WordPress hosting is central to their strategy. This is evident in all their plans.
However, there are some downsides. For instance, to get the $1-per-month hosting, you need to commit to a four-year contract. But where else can you get four years of quality hosting for under $50? Some compromises are more manageable than others.
Hostinger’s cheapest plan has other trade-offs, but it can be worth it in certain situations. Read the full review to see exactly what you’re signing up for.
What is Hostinger?
Hostinger is a very affordable and best hosting service for beginners and experts. They offer a variety of servers, with shared hosting being a favorite. If you want a reliable web host that won’t break the bank, check out our Hostinger review!
Founded in 2004, Hostinger now serves nearly 2 million users. It’s ICANN accredited and attracts thousands of new sign-ups daily. We have been testing Hostinger for the past 10 months, and it has impressed me with its quick server response times and excellent uptime.
History of Hostinger
If you’re serious about your website, you should get to know the people who host it. Hosting is like any business partnership, so understanding who you work with before signing up can help you understand what to expect when challenges arise.
Whether your site has the potential to make millions or not, you shouldn’t work with someone you don’t know. It’s like buying a car without checking under the hood or baking a cake without following the recipe. The same goes for hosting—don’t pick a provider you know nothing about.
Reading the full terms of service can be overwhelming, so we have written this review to give you all the important details about Hostinger—the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Hostinger is one of the few employee-owned hosting companies, which shows in the quality of its services. It started as Hosting Media in the mid-2000s and took off in the early 2010s. The foundation of its success was laid in 2007 with the launch of 000Webhost, offering free website hosting. While there are limitations, it’s honest and ad-free.
Hostinger’s freemium model was a big hit. You can test the service for free and upgrade, like an extended test drive, if you like. In 2011, Hostinger had 1 million customers; by 2014, it reached 10 million.
Hostinger’s low prices forced big names like GoDaddy, Bluehost, and HostGator to become more competitive. By 2018, Hostinger had over 29 million subscribers worldwide. It’s like an underdog success story, similar to GoDaddy’s early years.
Hostinger used its profits wisely, expanding services and infrastructure. As of 2020, it has 7 data centers across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. There were bumps along the way, like the 2019 data breach affecting nearly half its user base.
However, Hostinger handled it well, communicating clearly with clients and ensuring no sensitive information was leaked. Hostinger’s response to this security incident proved its worth and commitment to its users.
Hostinger Plans & Pricing
Hostinger aims to be a comprehensive hosting service for beginners and small businesses. It offers a variety of plans, including shared and cloud hosting, WordPress plans, VPS, and even special packages like Minecraft hosting.
There are no dedicated servers or enterprise-grade solutions for large corporations, as Hostinger’s main audience is smaller-scale users. Here’s a breakdown of hostinger’s offerings:
1) Shared Hosting
This is the most common type of hosting service. Your website shares a server with other clients, making it an affordable hosting service in 2024. While shared plans are budget-friendly, they may not guarantee high performance. Think of it as a stepping stone towards a successful website with significant monthly traffic.
2) VPS hosting
This is a more advanced solution aimed at developers and small businesses. Unlike shared hosting, VPS guarantees server resources. You don’t get your machine, but the hosting environment is more powerful and secure than shared hosting.
3) Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting is a trend in the 2020s, especially in business. It uses multiple servers rather than a single centralized server, making it faster and more reliable. This is why cloud hosting is popular among enterprises. You can upgrade to Hostinger cloud plans directly from the dashboard.
4) Minecraft hosting (if applicable)
This niche service is designed for the Minecraft community. With Hostinger, you can create a highly customizable Minecraft world and play with others. If you’ve played multiplayer games before, you know how great it is to be an admin and have control over the game environment.
5) Pricing comparison of different plans
Shared hosting plans are popular due to their affordability, making it easy to start running your website. Here’s a quick comparison of Hostinger’s shared plans to help you choose the best fit for your needs.
Single vs. Premium
- Single Plan: For a few dollars less, you get one website, one email account, and 100GB of bandwidth. It includes 256MB RAM, which is suitable for low-traffic sites.
- Premium Plan: Offers unlimited websites, emails, and bandwidth, weekly backups, twice the storage, and a free domain for 12-month purchases. It includes 512MB RAM, making it better for higher performance and hostinger features.
Premium vs. Business
- Premium Plan: Offers good performance with 512MB RAM.
- Business Plan: Slightly more expensive but provides 1GB RAM, 100GB storage, and daily backups. It is ideal for websites needing more resources and power.
The Premium plan offers most users the best balance of features and costs. However, the Business plan is great for those needing extra resources, while the Single plan is suitable for basic, low-traffic sites.
Who is Hostinger Right For?
Hostinger is suitable for:
- Beginners: Hostinger provides a user-friendly interface and tools that simplify website management, ideal for those new to hosting
- Small businesses: It offers affordable plans without compromising on reliability, with 24/7 support ensuring uninterrupted website operation
- Those looking for an affordable and easy-to-use web hosting service: Hostinger’s plans are budget-friendly, making it a good choice for individuals and businesses looking to keep costs down while still getting reliable hosting services
Hostinger Pros and Cons
Before diving into more details, here’s a quick look at Hostinger’s pros and cons.
Hostinger Pros
- Good performance for beginner to mid-level websites.
- Affordable hostinger pricing for all plans.
- Fast 24/7 customer support (usually under 5 minutes).
- Includes malware/virus scanner.
- Daily backups.
- Easy-to-use hPanel.
- 1-click WordPress installation.
- Reliable 99.9% uptime guarantee.
- Website speed insights to improve performance.
Hostinger Cons
- Servers use LiteSpeed by default, which can conflict with WP Rocket. Users need to enable the LiteSpeed plugin for best performance.
- Free CDN should be included in the “premium” plan.
- No phone support.
Hostinger Review: Performance
We’ve established that Hostinger offers many great and affordable features. But can it guarantee fast page loading speeds? The short answer is yes. Hostinger delivers great performance by paying special attention to its infrastructure.
Fast loading speeds are crucial for hosting a blog or a website. Statistics show visitors are more likely to stay on your site if it loads quickly, ideally within two seconds. If it’s slower, visitors may leave and go to a competitor, resulting in fewer leads and conversions for you.
Hostinger Review: Server Infrastructure
Hostinger hosts websites in 7 tier 3 data centers worldwide – two in the Americas, three in Europe, and two in Asia. You can choose a location close to your audience to improve your site’s performance.
Location matters because the closer the server is to your visitors, the faster your site loads. However, server configuration and website optimizations also affect performance.
In the late 2010s, Hostinger switched from Apache to LiteSpeed (LSWS) servers. This change dramatically improved page loading speeds due to advanced process handling and caching. Plus, built-in security features enhance your site’s overall performance and safety.
Hostinger Review: Security
Hostinger ensures the security of its clients and infrastructure. All shared, and cloud hosting plans include a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt. This encryption software secures your visitors’ connections, displaying a padlock icon in front of your website address. SSL certificates are essential as search engines penalize sites without them, and some browsers may block access to unprotected sites.
Hostinger uses multiple layers of protection against DDoS attacks, including a specialized traffic analyzer (Vanguard) and intelligent firewall rules. You can also enable Cloudflare and manage IP access via SSH for added security. For a small yearly fee, Hostinger offers a domain privacy add-on. This service hides your personal information from WHOIS lookup, protecting your email and personal details from being publicly accessible.
Hostinger Review: Customer Support
Hostinger provides 24/7/365 support via live chat with remarkably fast response times—usually just a few minutes. You can also email general inquiries through a form.
Canceling your Hostinger account is straightforward; you can do it directly from the dashboard under “Other.” If you cancel within the 30-day guarantee period, you can request a refund by contacting customer support.
Their team is responsive, and once your cancellation request is confirmed, you can expect your refund within hours. They may ask for feedback on why you’re canceling, which helps them improve their service.
Good customer support is crucial in hosting—especially during busy periods like Black Friday. Having reliable support can save you significant headaches and potential losses.
Conclusion
Choosing the right hosting service is a big decision, especially if it’s for your business or personal use. The best hosting company in 2024 is the one that meets all your needs.
Hostinger is perfect for starting a website or blog on a budget, especially for beginners.
Their shared plans are affordable, packed with features, and great for getting started. Avail it here.
If you need help, their support team is reliable, and they offer cloud plans if your website needs more resources. While there might be better options for developers or those managing multiple sites, Hostinger is excellent if you start with one website.
FAQs
Who Owns Hostinger?
Hostinger International Ltd., a company based in Lithuania, was employee-owned and founded in 2004. It was rebranded as Hostinger in the early 2010s. The company also owns Hosting24, Niagahoster, Weblink, and 000Webhost.
Where Are Hostinger’s Servers Located?
Hostinger operates servers in seven major data centers globally: the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Netherlands, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Their top-tier cloud hosting plan utilizes infrastructure managed by the Google Cloud Platform, currently available in the US and UK. Hostinger plans to expand this to include access to 20 more locations.
Is Hostinger Really Free?
Hostinger’s 000Webhost platform offers a free hosting plan with limitations, including restricted disk space, bandwidth, and support for only one website per account.