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Hostinger is one of the most popular web hosting companies in the world. Founded in 2004, the company has over 29 million customers in 178 countries. This Hostinger review discusses everything bloggers need to know about this leading web host. If you’re a new blogger looking for web hosting, you’ve come to the right place.
- Hostinger review: Pros of Hostinger
- Cons of Hostinger
- Performance and site speed
- Hostinger customer support review
- Hostinger plans and features
- How to sign up for Hostinger
- Who is Hostinger best for?
- Who is Hostinger not right for?
- Bottom line: Is Hostinger good or not?
Hostinger review: Pros of Hostinger
Here are some of the best features of Hostinger that make it so popular as a web host provider.
Excellent speed
In 2019, Hostinger adopted LiteSpeed Web Servers (LSWS) to replace Apache as their main web server. With LSWS, users can enjoy event-driven architecture, built-in security features, advanced cache engine, HTTP/2, QUIC support, and even more exciting features for improved speed. In other words, Hostinger-hosted sites are really fast.
Site speed is important; no one likes a slow-loading website, including Google. If your site loads slowly, it could hurt your rankings in Google search results. Plus, it could make visitors click away before ever getting to your great content.
If you purchase a hosting plan with Hostinger, slow site speed won’t be a problem.
Easy to set up
You definitely don’t need a degree in web development to create your Hostinger-hosted blog; this service comes with easy instructions on how to set up everything from scratch with a few clicks of a button.
WordPress support
As a blogger, you probably know how important WordPress is to your blogging career. Hostinger lets you install WordPress with an automatic one-click process!
24/7 chat support
Whenever you need help setting up your blog or managing it, you can always contact Hostinger’s chat support team any time of the day, 365 days a year.
Scalable plans
This is especially great if you are a beginner blogger focused on growth and expansion. Hostinger lets you upgrade your plan as you grow your content and audience.
User-friendly control panel
Even with little or no experience in web development, Hostinger’s control panel is easy to use, powerful and optimized for WordPress.
Money-back guarantee
The company will refund your payment within 30 days of signing up if you are not satisfied with their web hosting services.
99.9% uptime
According to most reviews of Hostinger, their sites have a 99.9% uptime, which is a good thing for bloggers who want to retain their readers, boost their traffic, and increase their rankings.
Comprehensive guides
To improve the customer support experience, Hostinger offers a huge knowledge base consisting of articles, how-to guides, and other relevant information to help you set up and manage your blog.
Cons of Hostinger
No Hostinger review would be complete without a look at some of the potential downsides of this service. Here are a couple cons to consider before signing up.
Limited support
The live chat feature is only available for users who have created an account with Hostinger. So, if you are a potential customer who wants to find out more about this service, you may not be able to access the live chat unless you sign up.
Refund exceptions
Even though Hostinger offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, this does not necessarily mean that everything will be refunded. For example, domain name registrations can be refunded only if cancelled within four days of registration. Additionally, privacy protection, domain name renewals and redemption fees are non-refundable.
Performance and site speed
As a blogger, the performance and speed of web hosting services is one of the most important things you need to consider before signing up. As most Hostinger reviews can attest, Hostinger offers one of the fastest web hosting services in the industry thanks to several features.
- LiteSpeed Cache: This is a popular plugin from WordPress that increases website speed and performance. It comes with an exclusive server-level cache and other optimization features to keep your blog up and running.
- HTTP/2: In simple terms, HTTP/2 is an upgrade of HTTP1, which transfers data by binary code. The use of binary code helps reduce data size and increase speed, which makes your blog load even faster.
- NGINX caching: This feature boosts the performance of WordPress by turbocharging the loading speed of static content. This is achieved by streamlining data. In layman’s terms, NGINX caching is a WordPress feature that helps increase loading speed of static content on your blog.
Hostinger customer support review
Earlier in this Hostinger review, I mentioned that customer support is one of the company’s strengths; this section digs deeper to explain exactly how it works.
The process of contacting Hostinger customer support is easy. On their website, simply scroll to the bottom of the home page, and then click on the Contact Us link. You will be redirected to a page that displays different methods to contact the company.
Although Hostinger offers 24/7/365 customer support, there is no option to reach them via phone call. You can either contact them via email or by submitting a support ticket.
Given that the company has a global reach, you may be able to find support in your specific location and language. Here are some of the company’s locations across the world.
Once you have identified your location, simply click on it and you will be redirected to a page that offers customized support services. For example, if you select Spain, you will be redirected to a page that offers support services in Spanish.
Hostinger plans and features
The company offers four main web hosting services: shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting. Don’t worry if you’re not sure which one is best for you; I will explain in detail.
Shared hosting
This is usually the cheapest option in most web hosting companies, because it does not need a lot of hardware. With shared hosting, multiple websites are hosted on the same server. Each client is allocated a certain amount of space and resources.
If you’re a beginner blogger, this would be the best option for you.
Some key features of Hostinger’s shared hosting plans include SSD storage, metered bandwidth, MySQL databases, free SSL certificates, and email accounts.
The shared hosting plan is further broken down into three categories:
- Single: $0.99 per month
- Premium: $2.59 per month
- Business: $3.99 per month
VPS hosting
VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting, but with one main difference: while several websites are hosted on the same server, each user operates independently on their own mini-servers. As a result, blogs hosted on VPS can be up to 30 times faster than those on shared hosting.
Hostinger’s VPS hosting plans come in six subcategories. They include:
- VPS 1: $3.95 per month
- VPS 2: $8.95 per month
- VPS 3: $12.95 per month
- VPS 4: $15.95 per month
- VPS 5: $23.95 per month
- VPS 6: $38.99 per month
Here’s a look at some of the key features of their VPS hosting plan.
Cloud hosting
This option works best for bloggers who don’t mind paying extra to keep their website 100% running and to have the option of adding more resources whenever they need them. In simple terms, picture cloud hosting as being able to rent a huge mansion and also use the neighbor’s yard to host parties whenever you want.
The company’s cloud hosting service comes in three subcategories: Startup, Professional and Global.
WordPress hosting
Hostinger’s WordPress hosting plans are an ideal option for bloggers, given that WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging platform. With Hostinger’s WordPress hosting, bloggers can enjoy enhanced security and safety, easy to use interface, an array of plugins, and hundreds of themes.
Their WordPress plan also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and four options to choose from. They include:
- Single WordPress for beginners
- WordPress Starter for personal websites
- Business WordPress for small and medium businesses
- WordPress Pro for revenue generating businesses
How to sign up for Hostinger
Now that you know what Hostinger is, how it works and how much its web hosting services cost, you might be interested in creating your account. This step-by-step guide will help you create a Hostinger account, choose your plan, and activate your subscription.
Step #1: Create your account
To create a Hostinger account, head to Hostinger.com, and then click on the Log In button at the top right corner next to the shopping cart. At the bottom of the Sign Up page, click on the Sign Up Now link.
On the next page, choose your web hosting plan from the available options. Once you have selected your preferred plan, click on Add To Cart. For demonstration purposes, I chose the Single Shared Hosting option.
The next page provides a summary of the selected plan, the pricing, and the subscription options. To select your desired hosting period, click on the radio button next to the available options. You will see additional details for the selected option.
Step #2: Fill out your information
The next step is to provide important information about your account. You will be required to provide your email address, or sign up with GitHub, Google, or Facebook.
#Step 3: Pay and hit submit
Once you have provided your account information, the next step is processing your payment. Hostinger payment methods include debit/credit card, PayPal, Google Pay or CoinPayments.
Choose your preferred payment method by clicking on the button next to your desired option, just like you did when selecting the hosting period in Step #1 above.
Provide the required details for the selected payment method, and then click on Submit Secure Payment. Once your payment has been processed, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to proceed to the next stage, which basically involves signing into your host account and setting up your blog.
Who is Hostinger best for?
There is no doubt that Hostinger is an ideal choice for hosting a website that’s up and running all the time. However, this web hosting service can be especially beneficial for new bloggers who have a tight budget but still want to build an audience.
Hostinger is one of the most affordable hosting services in the industry; at the time of writing this Hostinger review, the Single Shared Hosting service was $0.99 per month for new users, and up to $2.99 after renewal.
This option is great for beginners who want to venture into blogging but have little or no following just yet. It can support up to 10,000 monthly visits, which is not a bad start for new blogs. However, once this limit has been reached, users have the option to upgrade their plans to Premium Shared Hosting or even Business Shared Hosting, depending on their traffic.
The only disadvantage with the Single Shared Hosting option is that it doesn’t come with a free domain and Google Ads credit; these two features have to be purchased separately. In my opinion, instead of purchasing a domain and Google Ads credit separately, it is even cheaper to choose Hostinger’s Premium Shared Hosting option.
The availability of WordPress hosting is also another reason Hostinger is ideal for bloggers. Its Single WordPress plan costs only $1.59 per month. Even though the price is subject to change, it is usually below $10, which is cheap considering the many benefits that come with WordPress.
With this option, users have a free SSL certificate, one email account, WordPress acceleration tools, and much more.
Who is Hostinger not right for?
Unfortunately, this web host lacks dedicated hosting.
This type of hosting is usually designed to serve only one user, which is the direct opposite of shared hosting. Given that this hosting option comes with dedicated features and security, Hostinger is not the best web host for customers in need of such. This may include medium-sized and large businesses and websites with heavy traffic.
Also, the lack of a Windows option may be a bit concerning for some users. However, as a beginner blogger or an established one, you can do just fine even without the Windows feature.
In addition, if you are the kind of blogger who needs phone support, Hostinger may not be the best option . You will be required to submit support tickets or use the live chat feature to solve any problems you run into with your account.
Bottom line: Is Hostinger good or not?
Yes, Hostinger is an outstanding option for web hosting. It’s fast, secure, affordable and easy to set up.
What’s more, the cons that I mentioned earlier in this Hostinger review will not stop new bloggers from successfully launching their blogging career with this web host.
If you are a new blogger, Hostinger will help you save money while learning the basics of setting up and managing a blog. As your traffic grows, you may want to scale up to a more advanced plan, which Hostinger offers.
