A2 Hosting review
I must admit, I was a little late to the A2 hosting but boy am I glad I eventually signed up!
There's so much to like about A2 and what they offer. Speed, reliability and a most importantly a very good price point. These are just some of the reasons that so many people trust A2 hosting with their websites.
F.A.Q.
Some of the more commonly asked questions
Shared hosting starts from $5.99 per month
VPS hosting starts from $5.00 per month
Dedicated Servers start from $119.99 per month
Managed WordPress hosting starts from $26.47 per month
Reseller hosting starts from $19.99 per month
Please note that the above are the standard cost prices. In my experience, they never actually charge these rates and always have offers on their plans, sometimes with as much as 60% off.
Yes, there is a 30 day money back guarantee. If you cancel your plan within the first 390 days then you receive a full refund. In their own word "Just cancel your account within your first 30-days for a full refund, or anytime after for a prorated refund of unused service after 30-days."
For more info read here
Credit/Debit Card (Visa, MC, AmEx, Disc, JCB, DC, UnionPay
Paypal, Skrill, Bank Wire Transfer, Check
You have the option to choose from 1, 2 or 32-year plans. Generally speaking, the longer you sign up for the better the deal you get.
A2 Hosting states that shared hosting plans are repeatedly faster than competitors.
They offer 24/7 customer support for all clients, as well as unlimited resources, reliable servers, and free website migration.
Support for PostgreSQL 9.4, Python, PERL 5.10, Apache 2.2 and Node.js.
You have full FTP/SFTP access to your server environment
Free SSL Certificate
This is one of A2 Hostings best qualities. They have a 99.99% uptime commitment.
The only time you might (I should really underline might!) have downtime is if there is routine network maintenance (which are always well flagged in advance)
DDoS or other malicious attacks against A2 Hosting's servers
Issues arising from your ISP's network or your DNS settings
Browser-related caching issues
If anything else apart from the above list causes your website to go down, A2 Hosting will compensate you in the form of service credit. This is an unlikely scenario but worth pointing out!
If your former web hosting provider supports cPanel, A2 Hosting can manage the migration on your behalf. Migrations are available for shared, managed VPS, and managed dedicated accounts, and this process typically takes less than 72 hours.
If your old host does not provide cPanel, A2 Hosting will manually transfer one website for you.
What are the pros and cons of using A2 Hosting?
PROS
A2 are consistently one of the top rated hosting companies and for good reason.
Free SSl cert
Uptime is consistent and fast speeds are a huge plus.
"Green" Hosting
All accounts get $150 free advertising credits for Bing and Yahoo.
Excellent support
CONS
No website builder. No free domain. This is a non-issue for most people but just be warned!
So many options that it can be overwhelming for a rookie user.
Verdict
Initially, I trialled A2 Hosting as a Siteground alternative. It has similar speeds but offers better pricing. This pricing extends to both new (great signup offers) and existing clients (great renewal offers)
It is definitely in the top tier of shared hosting at very affordable prices. Uptime is excellent and customer support is solid.