Since then, they have offered web hosting at competitive pricing in an effort to help start-up companies and individuals.
They adhere to ethical business principles and put their clients at the center of everything they do. In addition to that, they believe that the secret to success on the internet is dependability.
To start conducting thorough performance tests to assess HostMonster’s performance, we bought their ‘Basic Plan’.
We built a straightforward WordPress website and have tracked site statistics like performance and uptime (among other crucial factors). All of this was to see how they compare to other web servers in the sector.
Keep reading to discover our HostMonster review, which will help you see whether you should be using this hosting platform yourself.
Hosting Overview And General Information
Hosting Plans – VPS, Shared and Dedicated Hosting.
Features – 50.0 GB Storage, Site Builder, Free SSL Certificate, Unlimited Bandwidth, One Website, Email Accounts, and 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
Uptime – 99.93% (Between February to July 2022).
Speed – 824 ms (Between February to July 2022).
Apps – Moodle, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and more.
Site Transfer – Free Single WordPress Site.
Price – Prices start at $4.95 a month, then renew after 12 months to $11.99 a month.
Support – Knowledge Base, 24/7 Live Chat and Phone.
Rating – 3 out of 5.
Advantages From Using HostMonster
HostMonster has been in business for some time. As a result, we do hold them to a high level. Below is a quick summary of the main benefits we discovered when using HostMonster.
1. Uptime
According to our data, the industry average when it comes to uptime is between 99.91% and 99.93%.
Over the previous six months, HostMonster provided an uptime average of 99.93% with roughly three hours of downtime.
This indicates that you can rely on HostMonster to maintain the availability of your website without worrying about any more significant outages.
Over the last six months, the average uptime from our website through HostMonster was as follows:
February 2022 – 99.99%
March 2022 – 99.98%
April 2022 – 99.80%
May 2022 – 99.96%
June 2022 – 99.98%
July 2022 – 99.89%
As you can see from this data, we have collected. The average uptime during the last six months was 99.98%, which is excellent.
It is higher than the average across all hosting platforms. As a result, you can be assured that HostMonster will keep your website up and running.
2. Various Support Options
HostMonster provides live chat, email, and phone assistance. Their live chat was put to the test.
Despite there being a five-minute waiting queue, it really took us close to ten minutes to speak with a customer service representative.
However, once we were connected, we received prompt, helpful responses to our inquiries regarding their shared hosting packages.
Therefore, their live chat does work and offers valuable personal information to you. Yet, depending on how many callers they have, you may want to be prepared to wait for a little bit of time to be connected to someone.
With that being said, they have a knowledge base, which may be able to answer your questions even quicker.
This knowledge base is full of informational articles which covers a broad range of topics. These are just as useful as their live chat feature.
3. Excellent Security Features
To assist you in safeguarding your website and fending off unscrupulous individuals or programs, HostMonster offers a number of different security measures.
Amazingly, the most common way that WordPress websites get compromised is due to the weakness of their hosting provider.
“Insecure themes” and “susceptible plugins” are closely behind. Which is the expected outcome of so many diverse third-party tools attempting to collaborate in a rapidly changing environment.
The inclusion of security features by HostMonster, such as SSH Access, Hotlink Protection, SSL support, routine site backups, and SpamAssassin Protection, is commendable.
This helps to keep your website as safe as possible from any viruses or hackers.
4. Quick Setup And Immediate Provisioning
With HostMonster, they guarantee immediate server provisioning if you want to use their VPS or dedicated hosting.
This is wonderful news for individuals who wanted to get started right away, or for those who are located outside the United States.
As you won’t need to endure a stretched out verification call or anything. Your servers should be prepared in a matter of seconds, not minutes.
Along with all new plans, they also include a free domain name for a year, similar to numerous other web hosting companies.
5. Value For Money
At $4.95 per month, HostMonster’s Basic plan isn’t the cheapest, but given some of the limitations and extras, it offers a decent value.
Starting out, you get unmetered bandwidth and a maximum of 50 GB of storage available to you. You also get a free SSL certificate. Furthermore, a free domain is also offered for your first year.
You get a lot for your money with this. However, keep in mind that after your first year, the cost will go up. Yet, you can decide to alter your original plan.
It is important to note that some plans will offer you more and better features than others. In this review, we only looked at their basic plan.
6. A Free WordPress Site Transfer
HostMonster recently began providing free site migrations, much like Bluehost. Although there’s a catch.
Only one WordPress site that meets the requirements can be migrated for free. Additionally, the migration must be completed during the first 30 days of signing up.
You may wonder what happens if your site does not meet HostMonster’s requirements.
Unfortunately, in this scenario, you would have to pay $149.99. Included in this fee is up to five website transfers and the migration of 20 email accounts.
7. Simple And Easy Control Panel
The client area of HostMonster has a pretty simple UI when you log in. You may manage your email accounts, marketplace and domains from the left sidebar.
You can access WordPress and begin managing your site from “My Sites” or the client area’s right side.
In terms of the control panel, HostMonster makes use of a cPanel much like many other hosts. The “Advanced” button found on the left sidebar opens the cPanel. You may take care of all hosting-related issues there.
Thus, it uses a simple and straightforward control panel. Anyone is able to use it with ease to look after their sites and accounts.
Disadvantages From Using HostMonster
As you can see, the majority of our experience with HostMonster so far has been quite good.
Especially, as we liked the extra care put into their security and their extensive knowledge base and a friendly support team.
However, HostMonster isn’t perfect. There are some areas in which it struggles with.
Therefore, it is important that you are aware of the negative aspects of using HostMonster, to help you to make a much more informed decision.
1. Slow Loading Page Times
Fast speed is essential, since even a very, very slight delay of one second results in an impact across the board. It may result in a 7% drop in conversions, an 11% drop in page views, and a 16% drop in user satisfaction.
Over the last six months, HostMonster has consistently delivered pages at an average speed of 824 milliseconds.
The good thing is that the company has consistently demonstrated increased speed results.
However, they are now still too slow to qualify for our pros’ section. You might want to consider A2 Hosting if you’re specifically seeking fast web hosting.
2. Long Commitments Needed And Prices
A real month-to-month plan is not available from HostMonster. This is because their minimum contract length is 12 months.
What’s worse, this option’s pricing at $6.95 a month is also more pricey. For instance, you will need to commit to three years if you want the lower “special” pricing that is displayed on the website.
However, that has to be paid upfront in full as well.
When you genuinely don’t know if you’re going to like them yet, it is a significant commitment to make. Unfortunately, this method is also widely used in the hosting industry.
3. Surprise Fees And Cost
Unfortunately, there are a few unexpected hidden fees along the way as well.
First off, only new plans qualify for your “low” promotional pricing. The cost will increase back to the standard rate when your plan is renewed.
Additionally, they don’t really offer a free domain name. You will be charged a non-refundable fee if you choose to cancel your account.
There is a $2.99 monthly fee for backups. This service is offered for free by many of the other web hosting businesses we’ve studied thus far.
Therefore, it’s simply even more money to add to the long list of expenses that are piling up right now.
4. Large Renewal Plan Prices
Hosting websites exaggerate reality a little.
Using the pricing page as an illustration. Those extremely low rates seem fantastic at first glance.
The first problem is typically the requirement that you purchase for a minimum period of three years in order to receive those low claimed costs.
Although, when you start to consider how much these plans would cost when it comes time to renew after the first few years, things only become worse.
The ‘affordable’ monthly prices offered by HostMonster will quickly double, rising from $4.95 to around $12 for the same service.
As a result, you end up paying premium pricing for a service that is ultimately quite basic with the larger Plus, Choice, and Plus Pro plans, which climb even more sharply.
Therefore, if you don’t anticipate needing to switch hosts in the near future, it’s usually worth spending a little bit more now to get the best deal.
HostMonster Hosting Plans And Prices
Below is a simple glimpse of HostMonster’s plans and their prices. These prices are only available if you sign up to their 3-year contract.
Basic Plan
Price – $.95 a month. Then it renews to $11.99 a month.
Bandwidth – Unmetered.
Email Accounts – 5.
Websites – 1.
Storage – 50 GB.
Plus Plan
Price – $6.95 a month. Then it reviews at $14.99 a month.
Bandwidth – Unmetered.
Email Accounts – Unlimited.
Websites – Unlimited.
Storage – Unmetered.
Other Features – 1 Spam Experts.
Choice Plus Plan
Price – $6.95 a month. Then it renews to $17.99 a month.
Bandwidth – Unmetered.
Email Accounts – Unlimited.
Websites – Unlimited.
Storage – Unmetered.
Other Features – CodeGuard Basic, 1 Spam Expert, 1 Domain Protection and Privacy.
Quick Facts
Sign Up Ease – Very easy to sign up. There is a single page signup form.
Account Activation – Instant Activation.
Domain Name – Your domain name is free for your first year.
Payment Methods – PayPal or Credit Card.
Upsells – A couple of upsells.
Money Back – There is a 30-day money-back guarantee with HostMonster.
Installation of CMSs and Apps – Mojo Marketplace enables simple CMS and app installation.
Hidden Clauses And Fees – You grant them a non-exclusive, royalty-free permission to use the content on your account with them in any way they see fit by signing up. Every shared hosting account has 1000 total database tables, 3 GB of total database space, and 200,000 inodes.
Dashboard And Control Panel Experience – cPanel.
Conclusion: Do We Recommend HostMonster?
Not really, considering that HostMonster’s performance is, to be honest, very ordinary overall.
We’re pleased to learn that they now provide free site migration for WordPress sites and that their customer support and uptime are respectable. However, HostMonster failed our speed tests.
Then, when you start to add up all the additional costs and fees over time, you realize that the all-too-common pricing strategies aren’t exactly as excellent as they were initially represented to be.
Simply put, their prices and plans let them down. You can find better hosts elsewhere for the same price.
Hello, my name is Matthew Jacobs and I have made a living on various blogs and websites. But, trust me, I haven’t always been able to say that with such confidence.
Hopefully this website can teach others and help you in getting your blog out there, capitalizing on it as much as you can, and can serve as the kind of resource I wish I had had. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and make a name for yourself!
