HostClear Introduction

HostClear is a US-based web host that has been in business since 2009. They specialize in low cost, unlimited web hosting and simplified website development.

Services and Specializations

HostClear’s unlimited plan offers just about everything you could ask for in shared hosting, and there’s no need to decide which plan is right for you, because that’s the only plan they offer.

With HostClear, you get unmetered disk space and bandwidth, unlimited domains, unlimited SQL databases, and unlimited email addresses. Each email account has access to webmail, email forwarding, autoresponders, customized spam filters, and virus checkers. And all your services and features are easily accessible via cPanel, the world’s most popular control panel.

To get your site up and running quickly, HostClear accounts include a free drag and drop website builder with thousands of templates, as well as a blog setup wizard. Or, if you prefer to have a bit more control, you can also install many of the most popular content management systems, including WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.

If you are looking to set up an online retail site, HostClear includes a free online store with your choice of shopping carts and PayPal integration. And to help you get noticed, they also include a Google AdWords offer, credit for Yahoo! and Bing sponsored searches, a free Yellowpages.com listing, a free US-based toll-free number, and plenty of online marketing guides to help you along the way.

Like most shared hosting plans, there are some restriction on the use of disk space and bandwidth. Disk space is for web applications only, and cannot be used for online storage. Though each account includes unlimited email boxes, each mailbox is limited to 500MB or 10,000 email messages. 

HostClear also runs regular usage test to identify any accounts that are using higher than normal resources. If your account is identified, they will provide a minimum of 48 hours for you to make adjustments. If you continue to overuse resources, they will take your account offline. While this may seem harsh, it’s important to remember that these are shared accounts, so anyone using abnormally high resources is impacting the experience of everyone else on that server.

Support and Customer Service

HostClear has an in-house support team available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via phone, online chat, or email.

HostClear offers free domain transfers; however, they cannot make any guarantees regarding the time required to complete an account transfer or their ability to transfer all of your data. If you plan on taking advantage of his service, it’s a good idea to do your own backups first and make sure to give yourself a little cross-over time, when you will have access to both your old and new accounts, just in case.

Backups

HostClear performs weekly backups of all their servers and maintains those backups until the following week’s backups are run. These are considered a courtesy and are in no way guaranteed. Additionally, if your account exceeds 20 gigabytes, they will exclude your storage from their backups and instead only create backups of your databases. 

As with any hosting service, you consider setting up your own backups. This is particular important with this host, since their backups are stored for such a short period of time, and any major issues will likely go back farther than a single week.

Uptime Guarantee

HostClear plans are backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If HostClear fails to meet that guarantee in a given month, you may be eligible for a one month credit to your account.

Billing and Payment Policies

Payments are typically made via a major credit card, though other payment options are available upon request. All plans are auto-renewed, and it is your responsibility to ensure your payment information remains up-to-date. If HostClear is unable to process your payment, your account may be suspended.

Host Clear offers a 45-day money back guarantee with every new account. If you decided to cancel at any time during the first 45 days, you will receive a full refund, minus the cost of domain registration. This only applies to first-time account owners. If you cancel after the initial 45 days, you may receive a partial refund for any unused, full months. Refunds are not available if you pay via wire transfer, Western Union, check, or money order.

Conclusion

HostClear occupies the ever-growing realm of low-cost, shared web hosting. What sets them apart is their abundance of features, their unlimited and unmetered resources, and the simplicity of signing up and getting your site online. There’s no need to painstakingly review each plan to decide which features you need or how many email accounts you’re likely to use, because there is only one option. And it’s priced low enough that their single option should work for just about anyone interested in shared hosting.