hostinger webhosting review
Hostinger is a reliable web hosting service known for its low costs and speedy loading times. We highly recommend it for people that need to get their site online without a lot of hassle. In my best web hosting providers guide, you’ll see Hostinger ranked first for the best cheap web hosting plans Hostinger delivers affordability without cutting corners, which is why I like them so much as a host for simple websites. As you grow, you can upgrade to a more powerful plan without having to switch hosts. You don’t need any web development background to get started, either. Hostinger is one of the easiest web hosting solutions out there.
The Benefits of Using Hostinger Web Hosting
Decent Uptime
Cheap web hosting services might seem appealing on the surface. But it’s not worth going this route if your uptime rates are insufficient. Hostinger doesn’t have the best uptimes rates in the industry, but they aren’t the lowest either. Usually, I like to see web hosting services deliver an average of 99.9% uptime over the course of a year. Hostinger has some months in the 99.8% range, and even as low as 99.04%, which definitely brought their average down. But some months of 100% uptime saved their average.
You need to weigh the cost against your needs. If you have a small personal website with minimal traffic, 10-14 hours of downtime in a year isn’t going to kill you. However, if you have a business website, you’ll want slightly better rates. Overall, Hostinger’s uptime rates are good enough for most small websites.
Fast Loading Times
It’s easy to think that you’re sacrificing quality when the price is so good. With Hostinger this is not the case. In fact, they offer some of the fastest speeds for their price point out there. On their website, Hostinger states that their server response time is 43 milliseconds, which is very good. Take that with a grain of salt though. I wasn’t able to verify this number in any tests. Honestly, you probably would need to have a top-tier plan using very little resources to achieve those speeds.
Either way, you can expect to have loading times somewhere in the 300-400 ms range on average. Again, this still pretty good for the price. The industry average for page loading speed is closer to 900 ms, so Hostinger pretty much cuts that number in half.
Money-back Guarantee
If you’re unhappy with your Hostinger web hosting services, you can get your money refunded within 30 days of signing up. If you’re on the fence, this should be a great deal for you. You’re essentially getting 30 days of free hosting. 30 days is basically the industry standard for web hosting promises. Most providers will offer you this period, at a minimum, to change your mind and get your money back. Hostinger’s money-back guarantee is good, but it doesn’t go above and beyond compared to some other web hosts out there. I’ll talk more about this in greater detail shortly.
Live Support
Customer support is one of the most important aspects of a good web host. Think about it. If your website has an issue and crashes, that impacts your bottom line. You need to be able to get someone on the phone or email and help you fix that problem as soon as possible. Though if you’re using Hostinger to host a small personal blog, getting in touch with a customer service representative in an instant may not be at the top of your priority list. But it’s still important. Regardless of your situation, it’s nice to know that Hostinger’s live chat is easy and fast.
To test it out, I sent them a message asking for help and got a response in less than one minute. I was happy with the language and terminology used by the customer service rep as well. Their instructions were simple and easy to follow. Furthermore, Hostinger has knowledge base articles on their website that offer guidance for self-help. I’d recommend using those as a resource if you end up choosing Hostinger. One downside is there’s no 24/7 phone support. Sometimes it’s easier to talk a problem through with someone rather than type it out. That could be a deal-breaker for some of you. Personally, I think live chat is just fine.
Free Domain and Website Builder
All Hostinger plans come with a free domain and website builder. This is great if you’re building a new website from scratch. It’s also good if you’re a beginner. Its drag-and-drop website builder allows you to easily customize a website with no developing knowledge or experience needed. They have lots of great templates for you to use as a starting point as well. Honestly, Hostinger’s website builder isn’t the best on the market. But it’s good enough for a simple website. I wouldn’t let this feature make or break your decision. But it’s an important added benefit for those of you who are just looking for cheap web hosting offering an all-in-one solution. Hostinger has you covered.
Simple Interface
The Hostinger administrative dashboard is super easy to use—even if you don’t have much experience with web hosting or managing a website. Everything is clearly labeled so you can easily find what you need. You’ll have access to any installed apps, like WordPress, from here as well. Hostinger makes it easy for you to change your usage, upgrade your plan, change your domain, and manage your email settings. You can even access your usage statistics to see if the plan you’re currently signed up for meets the needs of your website. While Hostinger’s interface is easy, it’s not perfect. But I’ll go into greater detail on this in a minute.
Unlimited
Hostinger has some great unlimited options available for specific plans. Both the Premium and Business shared hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth, MySQL databases, and email accounts. That’s why I’d recommend choosing a higher-tiered plan over the entry-level pricing. I think the unlimited and freebies are absolutely worth it for a few extra bucks a month—especially if you plan on scaling up your business soon.
Note: “Unlimited” means that Hostinger isn’t going to charge based on how much bandwidth or storage you use. Under their terms and conditions, however, you can only use resources as part of the “normal operation of a personal or small business website.”
