If you want a web hosting service for enterprise or private causes, take a look at HostMonster—however pay attention to its shortcomings. The net host affords many shared, devoted, and digital non-public server (VPS) internet hosting choices for constructing web sites, however has a number of points (equivalent to the shortage of cloud, reseller, and WordPress internet hosting plans) that hold it out of the league of DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds, the general PCMag’s Editors’ Choice winners for hosting companies.
Shared Web Hosting
HostMonster does not provide month-to-month hosting choices, which is a strike in opposition to the service. Instead, it requires you to enroll in an annual plan. HostMonster throws a couple of financial savings bones your method, must you join a two- or three-yr plan, however those that don’t desire prolonged commitments ought to flip to the wonderful HostGator, the Editors’ Choice for shared hosting, in the event that they wish to pay on a month-to-month foundation.
The Linux-based Basic shared internet hosting bundle (beginning at $9.49 monthly with a one-yr contract) features a free area identify you may hold so long as you utilize HostMonster, free area switch, 50GB of storage, limitless month-to-month knowledge transfers, 5 electronic mail accounts, and the power to host a single web site. The HostMonster Plus bundle (beginning at $12.49 monthly with a one-yr contract) consists of 150GB of storage, the power to host 50 domains, 100 electronic mail accounts, and spam prevention. The Prime bundle (beginning at $14.99 monthly with a one-yr contract) tops all of HostMonster’s shared internet hosting plans with a devoted IP handle, an SSL certificates, and limitless web site internet hosting and electronic mail.
Still, HostGator additionally has limitless storage, electronic mail, domains, month-to-month knowledge transfers, and Windows-based servers. That’s why it is PCMag’s high shared internet hosting decide.
VPS Web Hosting
If you want a hosting setup that is extra highly effective than shared hosting, however inexpensive than devoted hosting, HostMonster has excellent Linux-based VPS packages beginning at $29 monthly. Regardless of the tier you choose—there are 4 in whole—you will take pleasure in limitless electronic mail and a free area identify.
The $29.99 monthly Standard plan consists of 2GB of RAM, 30GB of storage, and 1TB of month-to-month knowledge transfers. The $59.99 monthly Enhanced bundle ups the RAM, storage, and month-to-month knowledge transfers to 4GB, 60GB, and 2TB, respectively. Next up the ladder is the $89.99 monthly Premium plan, which comes with 6GB of RAM, 90GB of storage, and 2TB of month-to-month knowledge transfers. The high-tier Ultimate bundle, which is $119 monthly, blesses you with 8GB of RAM, 120GB of storage, and 3TB of month-to-month knowledge transfers.
Those are good plans, however our Editors’ Choice for VPS internet hosting, Hostwinds, tops them with limitless month-to-month knowledge transfers and Windows-based choices, beginning at $13.50 monthly.
Dedicated Web Hosting
If you’re contemplating HostMonster’s dedicated servers (beginning at $109 monthly), you’ve gotten a wide range of configurations from which to decide on. The servers could be outfitted with a Linux-based working system and as much as 1,000GB of laborious drive area, 16GB of RAM, and 15TB of information transfers monthly—roughly the identical specs because the devoted internet hosting service provided by Bluehost (the online hosts have the identical mother or father firm).
Those are strong choices, however Hostwinds—the PCMag Editors’ Choice for devoted hosting—one-ups HostMonster with a selection of Linux and Windows working programs and limitless month-to-month knowledge transfers, beginning at $99 monthly.
WordPress, Cloud, and Reseller Hosting
Unfortunately, HostMonster lacks optimized WordPress internet hosting. The customer support rep who I spoke with (extra on that in a bit) instructed that I take a look at BlueHost’s choices, as that firm is HostMonster’s sister web site. I would not.
Instead, I recommend trying out TMD Hosting, the Editors’ Choice for WordPress internet hosting. TMD’s pre-constructed WordPress atmosphere (beginning at $8.95 monthly) comes with many WordPress-pleasant options, together with dwell malware safety and curated plug-ins which might be designed to boost your expertise.
HostMonster does not provide cloud hosting, both. If you are within the hunt for that sort of internet hosting, please examine DreamHost, the PCMag Editors’ Choice in that area.
As you would possibly anticipate, HostMonster additionally does not have any reseller hosting plans. Hostwinds does, nevertheless. It’s our Editors’ Choice for the class, so you must positively give it a glance.
Setting Up a HostMonster Hosted Site
HostMonster offers you many instruments for constructing a web site, together with Weebly, a nicely-identified selection amongst net-primarily based website-builders. Weeby’s drag-and-drop performance let me rapidly construct a lovely web page full with slideshows, contact types, social media hyperlinks, and extra.
Weebly’s free model offers you fundamental Weebly performance (you may create six pages and add customized HTML), however upgrading to the $8.95 monthly Professional tier affords much more flexibility (customized themes, password protected pages, and extra). Check out our Weebly review for a more in-depth take a look at its choices.
E-advertising and marketing and E-commerce
HostMonster affords Mojo Marketplace, which has electronic mail advertising and marketing instruments equivalent to DaDa Mail (beginning at $34.95 per yr), software program that permits you to ship electronic mail-primarily based newsletters to a subscriber listing.
Mojo Marketplace additionally comprises Magento (an e-commerce utility), which let me create a lovely retailer in just some minutes by dragging and dropping web site components.
Security Features
HostMonster hosting packages include a slew of security measures, together with antispam and hotlink safety. That mentioned, if you need greater-finish safety, join HostMonster’s Business Plus bundle, which comes with a SSL certificates and two sorts of antispam safety.
HostMonster’s electronic mail helps DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication know-how for added safety.
Solid Uptime
Website uptime is likely one of the most essential points of a internet hosting service. If your web site is down, shoppers or prospects might be unable to seek out you or entry your services or products, which is clearly dangerous for enterprise. You merely cannot take the possibility that they’re going to go to another person’s enterprise and presumably be misplaced to you ceaselessly as a buyer.
For this testing, I used a web site monitoring software to trace my HostMonster-hosted take a look at web site’s uptime over a 14-day interval. Every quarter-hour, the software pings my web site and sends me an electronic mail whether it is unable to contact the positioning for not less than one minute. The knowledge revealed that HostMonster could be very secure; it did not go down as soon as throughout the testing interval.
Customer Service
I hit up HostMonster’s tech help (by way of net chat) on a weekday afternoon to ask a consultant in regards to the variations between the corporate’s numerous choices. A rep rapidly fielded my query however did not appear to fairly perceive my query. I’m unsure if that was as a consequence of a language barrier or being overwhelmed and skimming the chat.
I later fired up the online chat on a weekday morning to ask a consultant about the way to import my WordPress.com setup into HostMonster. A rep got here to my assist a couple of seconds later and pasted a really useful hyperlink into the chat that contained step-by-step directions. The particular person on the opposite aspect of the pc additionally instructed calling the 24-hour help squad if I wanted step-by-step steering.
HostMonster internet hosting packages include a 30-day cash-again assure, however Dreamhost one-ups it with a formidable 97-day refund window.
There Are Better Options
HostMonster makes establishing a web site or WordPress weblog a breeze, however DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds—PCMag’s total Editors’ Choice winners for hosting companies—merely provide extra options and suppleness. HostMonster is nice at what it does however sadly, lacks the optimized WordPress, reseller, and cloud options that may assist it compete with the massive boys. Furthermore, its lack of month-to-month pricing plans could flip off some customers.
