Hostinger: Everything You Need to Create a Website
- Hostinger: Everything You Need to Create a Website
- Hostinger: Everything You Need to Create a Website
- Pros of Hostinger
- Cons of Hostinger
- Hostinger Impressive Features
- Enough Resources
- Freebies
- LiteSpeed Performance Optimization
- Managed WordPress Features
- Security Features
- Daily Automated Backups
- Hostinger Academy (Tutorials)
- Hostinger User Experience (hPanel)
- Hosting and Domain Setup Process
- Is the hPanel user interface beginner-friendly?
- Is AI Website Builder Helpful?
- Hostinger Customer Support
- Hostinger Costs
- Renewal Prices
- Domain Name Pricing
- Hostinger Compared with Other Web Hosts
- Bluehost
- GoDaddy
- HostGator
- FAQs about Hostinger
- You Might Like
Hostinger Detailed Review for 2024: What You Need to Know
I have been using Hostinger for three years and now share my experience in a straightforward review.
Is Hostinger a good web host choice for 2024? Let's find out in this detailed Hostinger review.
Hostinger: Everything You Need to Create a Website
Hostinger Detailed Review: Real User Opinion, Performance Test, Pros, Cons, Considerations & More!
Hostinger is a popular web hosting service that has operated since 2004. It has connected with over one million users across 150+ countries. Hostinger provides several services, including Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Cloud Hosting, eCommerce hosting, Minecraft hosting, and Email Hosting. Additionally, customers can also register domains with them.
Hostinger caters mainly to new website owners and beginners who want to enjoy good performance without breaking the bank. However, large websites tend to avoid Hostinger because it lacks some advanced features.
Upon further investigation, we discovered that Hostinger's high-end plans are affordable compared to other companies' basic plans. Their excellent performance is attributed to LiteSpeed integration, CDN, and many data centers worldwide.
Furthermore, Hostinger provides several freebies to attract customers, such as free domains, CDN, SSL, and more. Fortunately, hidden fees and cheap upselling tactics are not commonly found here.
Before delving further into Hostinger, let's examine the pros and cons we identified during our review.
Pros of Hostinger
Hostinger has much to offer, making it a popular choice among website owners. Here are some of the standout features:
Lightning-fast Loading Speeds: Hostinger's servers are optimized for speed, ensuring your website loads quickly and keeps visitors engaged.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee: Downtime can be a website owner's worst nightmare, but with Hostinger, you can rest easy knowing that they offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
User-Friendly Interface: Whether you're a beginner or an experienced user, Hostinger's intuitive control panel makes managing your website a breeze.
Excellent Customer Support: Need assistance? Hostinger's support team is available 24/7 to resolve any issues.
Free SSL Certificate: Security is a top priority, and Hostinger includes a free SSL certificate with all their hosting plans to keep your website and visitors' data safe.
Cons of Hostinger
While Hostinger has a lot of positives, it's important to consider the potential drawbacks as well:
Limited Live Chat Support: Although Hostinger offers 24/7 customer support, their live chat feature is unavailable for all plans, which can be a downside for some users.
Higher Renewal Prices: Hostinger's introductory prices are attractive, like many hosting providers, but remember that renewal prices may be higher.
Restrictions on Cheaper Plans: Some of Hostinger's cheaper plans have limitations on features and resources, so be sure to choose a plan that suits your needs.
Hostinger Impressive Features
Hostinger Detailed Review for 2024: What You Need to Know
Enough Resources
Hostinger offers excellent SSD storage ranging from 50 GB to 200 GB and unlimited bandwidth. However, while the storage allocation is appropriate in their top three plans, the Cloud Startup plan could benefit from more disk storage.
After subscribing, details about RAM and CPU cores are only available in hPanel, or you can directly discuss them with their customer support agents.
If you're running a resource-intensive eCommerce website and on a tight budget, the Hostinger Business shared plan is a great option. It provides adequate resources and eCommerce features.
In our experience, our sites usually have sufficient resources regardless of being on a shared server. We haven't encountered resource-related limitations in the past 2-3 years. After monitoring our resource usage, we found Hostinger's resource allocation process is quite effective.
Hostinger Resources Usage
As your website grows, your resource consumption also increases. Hostinger provides clear information through its resource usage panel, making it easy to upgrade your plan when needed.
Another unique feature of Hostinger is the 24-hour plan boost (for free) that temporarily increases your hosting plan limits. This feature comes in handy during traffic spikes and when you need to test a higher-tier plan's performance.
Boost Website Performance
Hosting plan boosting for 24 hours is available one time per month!
Freebies
Hostinger is a popular web hosting provider known for offering its customers many freebies. One of the most notable freebies is a free domain worth $9.99, but they also provide other features like CDN, SSL, backups, emails, WHOIS privacy protection, free migration, free staging, and more.
However, it's important to note that most of these freebies are included in their other plans, not the single site plan. Therefore, if you are interested in the single-site plan, you might not receive as many extras, which could be considered a drawback.
LiteSpeed Performance Optimization
Are you curious about what makes Hostinger perform so well? The primary factors contributing to Hostinger's impressive performance are NVMe SSD, CDN, multiple data centers, and LiteSpeed support. It's not common for web hosts to be completely compatible with any performance optimization plugin.
Most web hosts integrate server-level caching, which increases costs. However, Hostinger is different. They have made their servers fully compatible with the free LiteSpeed plugin, a WordPress plugin that optimizes your site completely.
LiteSpeed Performance Optimization
Hostinger has been successful in providing excellent performance even after cost-cutting. Installing LiteSpeed on Hostinger can give a 20-30% performance boost, which is not just something they mentioned but also proven by test results. Additionally, they have data centers located in 7 popular destinations worldwide, including the Netherlands, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, USA & Brazil.
Hostinger Data Centers Location
When purchasing web hosting, it's important to review the server location. The best web hosts, like Hostinger, allow users to switch server locations anytime.
Managed WordPress Features
Hostinger has made a significant effort to provide users with a managed WordPress experience compared to fully managed web hosting services such as Kinsta or Cloudways. In the hPanel, you can find numerous features you can manage without entering technical mode.
For example:
One-click Force HTTPS feature
Activating Maintenance mode with a click
Enabling LiteSpeed with the best configuration
Buttons for Object Caching and flush cache
Enabling Automatic WordPress Updates
Setting up a staging environment with a single click
Updating Plugins and themes within hPanel
Automated migration is a significant advantage
WordPress multisite support and more
Hostinger Managed WordPress Features
I'm impressed with Hostinger's commitment to offering the most affordable managed WordPress hosting solutions. They're making it easy for everyone to get online and start creating!
Security Features
All Hostinger plans include a range of Security features. We can't compromise on Security, right? Hostinger is secure, as I didn't find any breaking news on Reddit or elsewhere.
Hostinger – Malware Scanner
SSL is automatically applied to all your Hostinger sites for a lifetime, free of charge.
DDoS Protection safeguards against threats and unauthorized access.
Vulnerability detection in Plugins and themes is included.
Cloudflare DNS protection firewall enhances Nameserver security.
A Malware Scanner offers continuous monitoring.
Secure Access Manager allows you to control team access.
Domain WHOIS Protection is an added perk.
2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) is available.
IP Blocking and Password-Protected Directory features are supported.
Daily Automated Backups
Hostinger provides free daily to weekly automated backups, eliminating worries for big sites that need daily updates.
In Hostinger, the user can:
Restore a complete website or specific files in a single click
Generate a new backup manually
Download/Backup/Restore website files & database separately
Another thing I appreciate about Hostinger is that they save your site's last 30 days' backups on a different server rather than the server where your site is hosted – Meaning no impact on the performance & server uptime.
Hostinger Academy (Tutorials)
Hostinger Academy is a comprehensive resource that can help you kickstart your online journey. It provides all the necessary resources for creating, managing, and growing a successful website. You can learn how to build and grow your website with the best content creators and always stay ahead of the game. Whether you're a beginner building your first website or a professional looking to fix an issue, you'll find a video with all the answers.
At Hostinger Academy, you'll find various topics related to website building, marketing, a glossary, troubleshooting, and everything about WordPress. Moreover, you can join live webinars with experts and participate in the conversation via live Q&As. By joining Hostinger Academy, you'll have all the necessary tools to help you in your online journey.
Hostinger User Experience (hPanel)
Managing and configuring a web hosting service's cPanel a decade ago was challenging, especially for beginners. However, with the growing need for user-friendliness, companies have started designing cPanels and hosting dashboards that are easy to use and perform well.
This section will look closer at Hostinger's hPanel (cPanel) and answer various user experience-related questions to provide all the necessary information.
Is Hostinger's user experience beginner-friendly?
My overall impression of Hostinger's user experience is highly positive. I find Hostinger's complete user interface to be quite impressive. The initial setup wizard, the design of hPanel, the organization of tabs, the straightforward access to the admin panel & tools, the inbuilt instructions for advanced configurations, the handy search feature, and the auto-installers are just a few of the small but significant benefits that make hosting management a lot simpler for beginners.
Hosting and Domain Setup Process
Establishing domains and hosting services can be daunting, particularly for novice users. From choosing the right plan to configuring numerous settings before making your website live, it can be an overwhelming experience. Therefore, it is essential to determine whether Hostinger's setup process is also challenging and if there is a need for any improvements. Let us delve into the details!
First and foremost, selecting a hosting plan was reasonably straightforward. Hostinger's pricing page provides detailed information, making it easy to understand which plan to choose. After the plan selection, we were required to register an account. The registration process was equally uncomplicated, as we opted for the Google automated signup system to register our account. The payment process was quick and seamless.
Afterward, we were directed to the home dashboard, which displayed a notification for pending setup:
Hostinger – Pending Setup Status
As soon as we clicked on “Setup,” the onboarding process began. The first question was whether we wanted to create a new website or migrate our existing site.
Hostinger Onboarding Setup
One of the best aspects of the onboarding process was that we could exit it whenever we wanted without losing our progress.
Upon selecting “Creating a new website,” we were presented with two options: designing a website using their AI Builder or proceeding with WordPress installation. The AI Builder option is a recently introduced feature that caters to beginners who wish to have their website live in under 5 minutes.
Hostinger Setup Step
We chose WordPress because it's familiar.
We created a new admin account and skipped choosing plugins and themes.
We easily began the process of naming the website.
We were asked to register a new domain or point to our existing one from another hosting service.
Hostinger Domain Name Setup
Domain Name Setup
Registering a new domain name may seem like a simple task. However, linking an external domain name to Hostinger can be a bit tricky. Initially, we believed we would need to contact customer support or watch tutorial videos for assistance.
But, fortunately, the reality is different. Hostinger's user interface now provides step-by-step instructions to guide users in pointing their domain name directly. This feature was unavailable for some time, but it was introduced last year and has proven to be very helpful for beginners, saving them a lot of time.
Our previous nameservers were with Bluehost, which Hostinger automatically detected, providing clear instructions on pointing the domain name server from Bluehost to Hostinger. This is fantastic!
Although it may seem like a small detail, tasks like DNS configuration were quite intimidating when I entered the website business 10 years ago. Things have completely changed today, and I appreciate how Hostinger has made website setup easy for beginners.
Point to Domain Name Server
“Hostinger” gives us instructions on how to point out the domain name server directly from the user interface.
Hostinger – Change Nameservers
Our hosting setup is almost complete once we've identified the domain name. Before finalizing the setup, Hostinger shows a summary to the user and provides options to change server location, CMS, and more.
Hostinger Setup Summary
It's a simple process. If I were to share my personal experience, it would take me 20 minutes to purchase a new plan and complete the hosting setup. However, this time could be reduced by half if I used the AI website builder instead of WordPress.
We didn't require website migration to Hostinger. Nevertheless, I extensively evaluated Hostinger's migration process for our users.
Website Migration to Hostinger
Migrate a Website
One of the great things about Hostinger is that migration is free of cost. Hostinger's migration specialists also handle all technical configurations for you, so there's no need to worry about that. The entire process is automated and simple; you only need to provide your WordPress (or other cPanel) log in credentials, and the specialists will take care of the rest.
Hostinger Migration Request Form
Although Hostinger provides support for migration from major CMS like WordPress, Joomla, and others, it is important to note that if your website is currently hosted on platforms like Blogger, Wix, or Shopify, you won't be able to migrate to Hostinger. This could be disappointing news for some users as it is one of the few limitations associated with Hostinger.
Is the hPanel user interface beginner-friendly?
Hostinger offers hPanel, a modern, user-friendly, and robust alternative to cPanel. The user interface of Hostinger is one of its most notable features, making it a top choice for beginners. The recently released hPanel interface has several enhancements. Unlike the traditional cPanel dashboard, where all options are arranged in a top-to-bottom order, the hPanel interface has a more organized layout, with separate pages for every category.
The New Hostinger hPanel
(In the new Hostinger hPanel) The hPanel looks better and is easy to navigate, as it organizes all the functions into separate tabs.
I like the new interface, which doesn't overwhelm the user. The “Dashboard” is the unique tab with a quick shortcut to access the most common functions (Backups, File Manager, WordPress dashboard, etc).
Are Quick Access Panels helpful?
What you saw above was the Hosting dashboard (hPanel). But now, we are talking about the quick access panels in the navigation bar. Are these helpful for users?
Hostinger Quick Access Navigation Bar
Home gives users quick one-click access to all installed Hosting, Domains, and Emails. It also reminds website owners of pending payments, which are often overlooked.
Websites: This section displays all the websites you have set up through Hostinger. A separate section is also provided if you wish to migrate a website, which can be helpful.
Hosting: This page lists all subscribed hosting accounts and shows the resources used within each account—another plus point.
Emails: Shows configured Email hosting accounts.
Domains: Provides a view of installed domains and allows quick domain registration or transfer.
Is AI Website Builder Helpful?
A website builder is attached to all Hostinger plans. Have you noticed it?
Hostinger website builder, Or in other words – The Zyro page builder, is included in Hostinger.
Hostinger Website Builder
By integrating with Zyro page builder, Hostinger can provide professional editable templates for users to create their sites quickly.
Hostinger Builder – Popular Templates
I prefer using page builder plugins like Elementor, which are only available within the WordPress platform. However, those not interested in starting a blog or website on WordPress can use Hostinger's website builder to create any site, including an eCommerce store or a blog.
Hostinger's website builder is user-friendly and doesn't require any skills. You need to drag and drop the elements provided in the templates to create your site in less time.
Whether or not to use Hostinger's website builder is a subjective decision. It offers great benefits but may not be suitable for those who prefer the WordPress CMS platform.
Hostinger Customer Support
Like a web hosting's performance matters, having top-notch technical customer support is equally crucial. Typically, budget-friendly hosts don't prioritize customer support quality. Let's investigate whether Hostinger sets itself apart by offering outstanding support.
When looking at Hostinger's plans, you'll see that priority support is only available in their cloud plans. However, since our websites are on their premium plan ($2.99/mo), which isn't considered top-tier, we must check how good their customer support is.
Hostinger offers customer support in 3 ways: 24*7 Live Chat, Email & via Knowledge Base.
We tested Hostinger's customer support through Live Chat and email. We started with simple questions and later asked more technical ones related to website security, performance, DNS, and email issues. This helped us assess the quality of Hostinger's customer support.
We have observed several changes in Hostinger's customer support dashboard interface in recent years. When you log in to hPanel and click on the chat widget in the bottom right corner, you are redirected directly to Hostinger's helpdesk dashboard.
Hostinger Helpdesk Dashboard
As you can see, Hostinger first suggests that you search for your query in their knowledge base. If you still can't find a solution, you can access live chat support or contact us through email.
How is the Hostinger Customer Support Overall Quality?
Hostinger's customer support is quite good. They respond quickly through Live Chat and email; their agents are helpful and patient. However, they mostly use English, which might not work for everyone. While they provide guidance, users often have to do the fixes themselves, especially for complex issues. Overall, it's 4.4/5, but they could improve by offering support in more languages and assisting with hands-on solutions.
Hostinger Costs
After carefully considering users' different needs, I am confident Hostinger offers significant savings with its highly affordable web hosting plans.
Hostinger is known for having the cheapest plans in the competitive market, and they truly mean it. During the subscription process, we were not offered any extra add-ons that would increase our charges. This means there are no hidden charges or upselling problems to worry about.
Their plans are based on the number of sites and storage needs. For the well-being of their customers, most plans include a free domain, free backup, free CDN, free SSL, free migration, and other freebies. Because of such initiatives, Hostinger can offer affordable plans.
If you are a beginner and require web hosting for a single website, you must acquire at least a premium plan, which costs you $2.99/month. It has 100 site support, a free domain, an extra SSD, and unlimited bandwidth.
Alternatively, you can approach a Business plan ($3.99/mo) if the website's monthly traffic exceeds 50k visitors and you require a FREE CDN. And if your site receives 100k or more monthly visitors, the Cloud Startup plan ($9.99/month) is available.
If you are ready to commit to Hostinger for one year minimum, you can claim Hostinger plans at the lowest possible pricing.
Renewal Prices
We used to think that existing users got the same discounts as the ones we see on Hostinger's homepage for new users. But that's not the case. It's not shocking at all. Most hosting companies offer discounts to new users and charge regular prices for existing ones.
When it comes to Hostinger, renewals are thankfully not as high as some others. For instance, renewing Hostinger's premium plan for one year will cost you $7.99/month, cheaper than Bluehost's entry plan, with a renewal cost of $11.99/month.
Domain Name Pricing
Did you know that Hostinger is a reliable domain name registrar? With all Hostinger web hosting plans, you can get a free domain name for one year. However, if you only want to register a domain name, you can do so here.
Separate domains on Hostinger are available starting from $0.99 per year, which is generally the same pricing as other domain name registrars.
Moreover, Hostinger offers an impressive tool called the “Domain Name AI Generator,” which allows you to generate unique domain names for your website using artificial intelligence.
I recommend using DomainsKit to help you find the best domain for your business. Just enter your keyword, and he will give you many great ideas with several extensions.
Hostinger Compared with Other Web Hosts
Hostinger is first picked by the majority when the pocket is tight, and the aim is top-notch performance.
Out of that list, here are the 3 most popular Hostinger alternatives you might want to consider:
Bluehost
Hostinger plans start from $2.69/mo; Bluehost plans start from $1.99/mo. Compared to Hostinger's average loading time of 2.014 seconds, Bluehost loaded slightly slower and recorded an average of more than 3 seconds. Hostinger leads with performance, but Bluehost customer support is unbeatable.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is another popular web hosting service that starts from $5.99/mo. In comparison, GoDaddy is ahead of Hostinger in phone support, while Hostinger takes the lead in features, pricing, and performance.
HostGator
HostGator has high pricing ($3.75/mo) but offers unlimited storage, which would be the primary factor in HostGator's taking the lead. Otherwise, beating Hostinger in pricing, freebies, number of data centers, and user-friendly advantage is tough.
FAQs about Hostinger
Hostinger Detailed Review for 2024: What You Need to Know
You'll discover some frequently asked questions about Hostinger below.
Who should use Hostinger?
Hostinger is a perfect web host suitable for everyone (from small to big enterprise-level eCommerce sites.)
Which Hostinger plan is best?
If you are looking for a web hosting solution that is both simple and affordable, then Hostinger's shared plans are your best bet. WP hosting servers are the way to go if you specifically require a cheap but optimized WordPress server. For those needing high performance, Hostinger's cloud servers and VPS servers are great options to consider.
Does Hostinger offer cPanel?
No, Hostinger doesn't offer the traditional cPanel. They have developed their own custom control panel (hPanel), which is easy to use for beginners.
Does Hostinger offer a live chat?
Hostinger offers customer support through live chat, but this service is only available for existing customers and not for website general visitors seeking information about their hosting or features. However, you can contact them through email at any time if you have any hosting-related queries.
Does Hostinger offer cloud hosting?
Hostinger provides cloud hosting plans starting at $9.99 per month, and each plan includes a free domain name.
Is Hostinger suitable for WordPress?
Yes, Hostinger is a good hosting choice for WordPress users. Hostinger also provides exclusive WordPress-optimized hosting plans with guaranteed 99.99% uptime.
What is the uptime of Hostinger?
99.987% – The last month's average uptime of Hostinger.
What's the Hostinger money-back guarantee?
All Hostinger's plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, your domain registration fee is NOT refundable.
