Hostinger Reviews of 2021
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Our Verdict: Outstanding for Budget Performance
Hostinger offers a variety of web hosting services, a free website builder, and an easy-to-use custom control panel. You can also install WordPress with just one click, and their cloud hosting plans come with Cloudflare CDN.
Our users have given Hostinger an average score of 4.5 out of 5 — they particularly like the amount of value that Hostinger provides with their extra-low prices. Below, we’ll review everything else you need to know about this hosting provider.
About Hostinger
Hostinger started in 2004 as a tool that allowed users to create a website for free.
The company has expanded their product line since then and enjoyed steady growth.
Today, Hostinger serves 29 million customers in 178 countries. Approximately 15,000 new customers sign up for their services every day, according to the company.
Pros and Cons of Hostinger
Before we go into more detail, let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages to using Hostinger:
Pros:
- Great features and performance for the money
- 1-click WordPress installation
- Accepts Bitcoin
Cons:
- No phone support
- Daily backups only available on most expensive plan
Hostinger Hosting Plans
Hostinger offers several types of web hosting, including shared hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting.
Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll have access to:
- The Hostinger website builder
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Hostinger’s intuitive “hPanel” interface for managing your hosting environment
Shared Web Hosting Plans
Hostinger’s shared hosting plans are suitable for those who are just getting started with a small website and need a budget-friendly option.
The DIY website builder is easy for beginners to use.
There are three shared hosting plans available, with prices starting at $0.99 per month.
Note: As is the case with most hosting companies, these starting rates only last for the first term of your contract. Then, the regular rates kick in.
Here’s a quick overview of the differences between these shared hosting plans.
| Single Plan | Premium Plan | Business Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
Starting price/mo. | $0.99 | $1.89 | $3.99 |
| Regular price/mo. | $9.99 | $9.59 | $15.99 |
| Daily backups? | ❌ | ❌ | ✔ |
| Free SSL? | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 24/7 support? | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| 99.99% uptime guarantee? | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Website builder included? | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Domain registration included? | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
The cheapest option, called Single Shared Hosting, allows you to host one website and email account.
SSDs (solid-state drives) are faster and more reliable than HDDs (hard-disk drives).
This plan provides you with 10 GB of SSD storage space, 1 MySQL database, and weekly backups. You’ll also be able to support about 10,000 monthly visits.
If you have more demanding needs, the Premium Shared Hosting plan allows you to host an unlimited number of websites and email accounts.
You’ll also get 20 GB SSD storage, a free domain name, and the ability to support up to 25,000 monthly visits.
The top-tier Business Shared Hosting plan is a great option for those who want a high-performing site, yet aren’t ready to splurge on a more advanced hosting type.
WordPress Web Hosting
You can host a WordPress site using Hostinger’s general shared plans, but you should consider using one of their specialized WordPress plans instead.
These plans are almost identical to the shared plans in terms of resource allocation and bandwidth allowance. The main difference is that they come with several WordPress-specific features, such as:
- 1-click WordPress installation
- Hosting on WordPress-friendly servers
- Enhanced security via BitNinja
- 24/7 support from WordPress experts
- Custom-built LiteSpeed modules on all servers for additional speed
Cloud Web Hosting
Cloud hosting is a good option for those who have outgrown shared hosting, but aren’t quite ready to dive into the complexities involved with using a VPS hosting plan.
Hostinger’s cloud hosting plans are designed to give you the high performance of a cloud network with the simplicity of a shared hosting plan.
Here’s how their cloud hosting plans differ:
| Cloud Startup | Cloud Professional | Cloud Global | |
|---|---|---|---|
SSD storage | 100 GB | 140 GB | 200 GB |
| RAM | 3 GB | 6 GB | 16 GB |
| CPU cores | 2 | 4 | 8 |
All cloud hosting plans get you:
- A dedicated IP address
- Unlimited bandwidth
- A free domain name
- A free SSL certificate
- Cloudflare integration to cache and deploy your website’s resources from a location close to your visitor
VPS Web Hosting
VPS hosting provides you with powerful servers built for speed, but since this is Hostinger we’re talking about, you won’t need to break the bank for any of these plans.
These VPS options are best for those who need a lot of resources to serve their site quickly and are comfortable with the management required of such plans.
In addition to getting a dedicated IP address, VPS hosting users get full root access (which gives you more control over your hosting environment) and SSDs (solid-state drives). The company offers six different options from which you can choose for VPS hosting.
Hostinger Hosting Features
In addition to the resources you need to host your website, Hostinger offers a variety of features and add-ons to make managing your website easier.
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at these items and indicate if you need to purchase a certain plan to access them without incurring additional charges.
hPanel Control Panel
All shared and WordPress plans come with Hostinger’s custom-built hPanel control panel. This is what you’ll use to manage your website and web hosting environment.
The cloud-based hPanel is intuitive and easy to use. Hostinger gathers user feedback and regularly releases updates, new features, and improvements.
The host told us that hPanel uses OpenResty (Nginx web server plus LUA and Redis) for faster response times.
By not having to pay cPanel licensing fees, the host adds that they are able to pass these savings on to their customers.
In addition to managing your hosting plan, billing information, domain names, and email accounts, this is where you would go to find FTP tools.
These tools are used to transfer files to/from your server, and there are auto-installers for optional features like image galleries, blogging suites, forums, and more.
Security
Most plans come with a free SSL certificate issued by Let’s Encrypt. The SSL certificate protects the privacy of transmissions between your server and your visitors.
Hostinger also offers its users protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Domain Name Services
Hostinger is a domain name registrar in addition to a web hosting provider, so the company is capable of registering new domain names and accepting transfers of existing domains from other registrars.
With the exception of the entry-level shared and WordPress plans, all users get a free domain name as part of their package. But if you’re not one of these users, Hostinger does sell domain names for as low as $0.99.
Interested in Hostinger?
You can currently save up to 87% on Hostinger plans by using our special discount link. Includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Website Builder
Hostinger’s website builder is free and user-friendly. It can be used to launch an online store, portfolio, or blog.
You don’t need to have any technical knowledge to use it — anyone can have a new website up and running in minutes.
Email Hosting
Hostinger offers email-only hosting, which is useful if you want to receive messages using a custom domain and you’re not interested in setting up a website.
There are two options from which you can choose:
- Business Email, which gets you a 10 GB account, calendar/task management, spam protection, and an email migration tool
- Enterprise Email, which gets you everything that comes with the Business Email plan plus more storage (30 GB), file and folder sharing, document management, HTML email templates, and alerts/reminders
Annual subscribers to email hosting plans also get a free domain name.
Backups
Depending on your hosting plan, you might get automatic backups. Some plans offer weekly backups, while more premium options will come with daily backups.
You can, however, perform backups manually whenever you’d like using your control panel.
Hostinger Add-Ons
You can find the add-ons available to you by logging in to your Hostinger account and going to the Store.
This is where you would go to get additional domain names, purchase email functionality, find support, and more.
SEO Toolkit Pro
One add-on we want to draw your attention to is SEO Toolkit Pro. SEO, of course, is an important method for attracting new visitors to your site.
SEO Toolkit Pro helps your site rank better by providing you with:
- Search engine indexing statuses (make sure that the search engine crawlers are actually reaching your site!)
- Organic traffic level estimates
- Insights into the keywords that best fit your site
- Assistance with site optimization for mobile users
- Performance reports
- Alerts for broken links, errors, and security issues
- Assistance with on-page SEO improvements, such as meta titles and descriptions
Having a tool that walks you step-by-step through actions that improve your search rankings is particularly useful for beginners.
Datacenters and Technologies
The infrastructure that your web host uses has a huge impact on your site’s performance. Here’s what you need to know about the backend of Hostinger’s services:
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Hostinger’s datacenters are located in Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. Location matters, so having a data center close to your visitors means better performance.
- Hostinger has implemented many fail-safes to keep their data protected. The company also runs frequent backups automatically.
- Hostinger aims for high availability — the company protects their users from malicious attacks and identifies and removes malware as soon as possible
- If the worst were to happen, Hostinger’s disaster recovery feature can restore your account using the most recent snapshot of your environment within minutes
Customer Service and Technical Support
Hostinger’s support and customer service offerings are hit-and-miss.
They don’t offer onboarding services to new users, but the company has provided an informative guide for getting started. They provide detailed tutorials on topics such as WordPress, MySQL, and SSL as well.
How to Get Help
If you need help or have questions/comments, you can get in touch with their support team by sending an email, submitting a ticket, or using their 24/7 live chat feature.
Hostinger maintains a robust knowledge base, however, and there are hundreds of articles covering topics like websites, PHP, domain names, email, and more.
Payments and Billing
Hostinger asks that you pay upfront for your service, but the length of your contract is up to you.
You can choose between 3-month, 12-month, 24-month, and 48-month contracts.
By choosing a lengthier contract, you’ll get a larger discount (those who opt for the longest contract pay the least for hosting in the long run).
Furthermore, those opting for a contract lasting at least one year get bonuses such as a free domain name.
Pay By Credit Card, PayPal, or Bitcoin
In addition to accepting credit cards and PayPal, Hostinger accepts select cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Refunds and Money-Back Guarantee
Hostinger offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to try out your hosting plan free of charge or risk.
Other Hosts to Consider
If Hostinger isn’t the host for you, here are some other options you should consider:
Flywheel
Anyone who wants a specialty hosting plan for WordPress should check out Flywheel. Bonus: Flywheel’s WordPress plans are all fully managed.
SiteGround
If you need a high-performance shared hosting option, look no further than SiteGround.
SiteGround’s offerings are similar to Hostinger’s, but their support is unparalleled.
GoDaddy
If you want to work with a one-stop shop for all things related to the internet, consider GoDaddy.
In addition to being a web host and domain registrar, you’ll find website building tools and professional services, such as marketing packages.
GoDaddy also has plenty of English-language video tutorials on YouTube.
Wix/Squarespace
If website-building functionality is your biggest priority, consider Wix (the less expensive option) or Squarespace (more expensive, but better looking and slightly easier to use).
Most Popular Hostinger Alternatives
Starts at:
$8.95
per month
(Billed as $0.80 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate.
Usual price: – Get % off!
Ready for a great hosting deal?
Save up to 87% on Hostinger plans today. Use our special discount link to get the deal. 30-day money-back guarantee included.
Hostinger Review Conclusion
Hostinger offers strong options for those seeking budget-friendly yet high-performing web hosting.
Indeed, if you’re interested in a no-frills option and don’t mind the lack of phone support, go ahead and give this provider a try.
About Dale Cudmore
Freelance blogger by day, developer by night, Dale is a freelance writer who specializes in technology and digital marketing. He studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo before becoming a freelance writer.Connect with Dale
Hostinger Frequently Asked Questions
Hostinger Reviews by Our Community
Overall Rating from 44 Reviews by Hostinger Customers
| Support | |
|---|---|
| Quality | |
| Features | |
| Value |
Most Helpful Reviews
Austin D myhexa.co
Jan 30, 2018
We love Hostinger! At Hexa, we needed an affordable, fast host to host our website and customer data on. Our current host had not been what we thought.
They claimed to have 99% uptime, but our site would go down multiple times each week. This isn’t reliable when paying customers are trying to access your service when Your Site is down. Then, we found Hostinger!
Ever since we’ve had 100% uptime. Hostinger makes everything easy and their control panel is simple and elegant. We would never switch back. We ❤ Hostinger!
Rajil Paloth razaruspit.com
Sep 29, 2018
I’ve only been using Hostinger for Three days now. The truth is, the domain that I bought was an impulse buy. I was freaking out about something and ended up getting my own domain, although I’ve wanted to do it forever.
So once I bought it. I had zero idea, Zero idea about what to do next. I was under the impression that hosting a site came along with buying a domain.
I did not know I had to pay to do it. So once I knew about having to pay again, I searched for the lowest priced hosting deals and I came across Hostinger. It was very affordable even for someone like me (student out of college without a job) and I instantly got a short term deal.
This was three days ago. After that, I have not looked back. The designing part was so simple and fun.Whenever I had a problem, the community managers were always online and made sure they helped me through it.
It’s just been three days but I would definitely extend my subscription to lifetime if I could afford it. So there, that’s why I think Hostinger rocks. It’s easy, has lightning fast customer support and is fun to use.
Owen Sullivan sulliops.co
Jan 30, 2018
Well, I’ve been using Hostinger‘s services for more than a year now, and in doing so have never experienced any major downtime. They’ve created a customized management panel that is full of features, yet still easy to use. I especially love that they offer live chat for support, when available, because it really helps me get over the issues that I can’t fix myself (despite having probably caused them). My websites are speedy and reliable, like they should be, and the price is next to nothing compared to that of other hosting providers.
Deb
June 22, 2019
That little extra bit of hand-holding when I started out was so helpful…got me back on track and the website is coming along great now!
Russ
June 24, 2019
Quick responses from support staff to my queries. When the problem was discovered, it was resolved quickly, so my experience has been positive so far. I’m only using basic email so I perhaps won’t notice downtime. Pricewise, this is also great value.
nadeemkasim
June 30, 2019
Hi I tried to register with hostinger but it was always redirecting to error and with difficulties i managed to resister and then my account got deleted automatically, It was nightmare and waste of time,I would highly recommend for people to not waste time on Hostinger and choose other good alternatives like Bluehost or Wp.
Team Hostinger
July 9, 2019
Hello, Nadeem,
Thank you for your feedback. We are really sorry to hear about your experience with us! We take all the cases very seriously as our customers are #1 priority to us and we seek to provide the best experience to every one of them.
We would like to dig deeper into this issue that you have experienced, it should never happen again! It would be great if you could provide us more details and information about your account and login errors you got. Could you please write us a message to [email protected]? Our Customer Success agent will write you back ASAP and will make sure you never have this issue once again.
Best regards,
Team Hostinger
Erdal
November 10, 2019
Hi,
It would be informative for your viewers if you displayed the currency of the price of the offer you are promoting. The offer was displayed as 4.65/mo, I thought it was in dollars but I found out it was actually my local currency. I had already bought that plan for 0.80 dollars, that is why I checked if there was a mistake. Some may not notice this.
Les
March 12, 2020
If you need access to server logs, this is not the host to pick. They do not have the traditional cPanel implementation and as such you won’t be able to access any logs, including IP addresses. If this feature is important to you, you’ll need to pick another host.