Users reviews
For sure, many people would agree that many factors should be considered when choosing the best web hosting services. Some features are more business-focused, like server location and e-commerce, while others appeal more to the general customer base like storage and pricing.
Fortunately, Siteground offers excellent customer support, a plethora of performance-enhancing tools, a decent number of web hosting types at a reasonable price. Unlike most web hosts, this hosting service provider may lack VPS and Windows servers. Still, it is a reliable and top-notch quality web hosting service for individuals and small businesses.
Keep reading this Siteground review to learn about its web hosting offerings, all the features it provides, the Siteground pricing, reasons to use this service, and its drawbacks.
Click on “open” if you want to see exactly what we will talk about in the rest of this article:
Quick Overview
What is Siteground?
Siteground is a trusted and popular web hosting provider that offers multiple hosting options, such as WP hosting, Cloud hosting instead of VPS hosting, Shared, Enterprise, Reseller, Dedicated Servers.
This Bulgaria web hosting company was founded in 2004. Since then, the web hosting provider has grown steadily. It is now home to nearly two million domains and more than 500 employees.
The Siteground customer support team is professional, friendly, and available 24/7. All Siteground’s hosting plans come with email accounts, CDN, and SSL certificates.
Are you in a hurry? Then, this Siteground review section is for you to have a quick overview.
- Server Locations: United States (Chicago), Europe (Germany, Milan, Amsterdam), United Kingdom (London), Asia-Pacific (Singapore), Australia (Sydney)
- Uptime: 99.99% (Jan 2021 to Dec 2021)
- Speed: 457 ms (Jan 2021 to Dec 2021)
- Feature Highlights: Daily Backup, Free CDN and SSL, Free Email, Website Builder, 10 GB Storage
- Hosting Plans: WordPress, Cloud, Shared, Enterprise, Reseller, Dedicated Servers
- Pricing: Starts at $3.99/month (renews at $12.99/month)
- Site Transfer: Yes
- Customer Support: Knowledge Base, Phone support, 24/7 Live Chat
- Apps: Supports over 500 apps
- Current Deal: Up to 73% OFF
Siteground specifications
Features | Backup / Shared server / WordPress optimized |
Best suited for | Freelancers, Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Large enterprises |
Website languages | Deutsch / English / French / Italian / Spanish |
Website URL | Visit official website |
Support link | Support page |
Live chat | No |
Company address | 3rd Floor, 11-12 St James' Square, London |
Year founded | 2018 |
Pricing
Siteground pricing: How much does Siteground cost?
Siteground WordPress hosting costs from 3.99€ to 10.79€/month. It differs only depending on the number of websites, storage and monthly visits. So for 1 website, it will cost you only 3.99€/month.
Pricing range | From 3.99€ to 10.79€/month |
Pricing types | Annual subscription / Monthly subscription |
Free plan | No |
Free trial | No |
Money back guarantee | Yes, 30 days |
Pricing page link | See plans |
Siteground pricing plans
Individuals and business owners who wish for a wide range of hosting solutions can rely on Siteground. The service provider offers different hosting solutions, from shared to WP hosting. Here is an overview of Siteground hosting plans and prices:
- StartUp Shared Hosting: $3.99 per month
- StartUp WordPress Hosting: $3.99 per month
- Business Plus Cloud Hosting: $300.00 per month
- Super Power Cloud: $400.00 per month
- GrowBig Shared Hosting: $6.99 per month
- GrowBig WordPress Hosting: $6.99 per month
- Entry Cloud Hosting: $100.00 per month
- GoGeek Shared Hosting: $10.69 per month
- GoGeek WordPress Hosting: $10.69 per month
- Business Cloud Hosting: $200.00 per month
Features
Siteground features: What can you do with it?
This web host delivers unbeatable and highly recommended services. It is suitable for serious projects, and those require more performance down the line as it allows an upgrade to premium hosting.
In this Siteground review section, you will learn the different Siteground specifications.
Ease of Use
The web hosting’s backend is easy-to-follow and is intuitive. So, users will not get lost in any of its subpages and pages. It is administered through its own visual interface, allowing users to customize and adapt to their needs. For example, they can tweak whether they want to display some sections. The backend was redesigned entirely in 2019, making it look very modern.
Domains
Siteground allows its users to create unlimited sub-domains. They can even add more than one domain name. In the StartUp Plan, users can only enjoy one website. However, if they want to host unlimited websites, they can go for other plans. Users can install their websites on the free Siteground subdomain, which they find convenient when creating a test site.
Databases
This web hosting company enables users to create as many databases as they want. However, the maximum size is 1 GB for every database. If they purchase the Cloud hosting plan, they will get unlimited storage and use PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Emails
Aside from the unlimited email accounts, Siteground also allows users to connect their email service to Gmail and other services.
Applications
Users can use the interface to install more than 500 applications, like ZenCart, Moodle, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, WordPress, etc. The app installation process is quick and easy, taking only a couple of minutes.
Server Location
Like other web hosting companies, Siteground allows users to select which data center they wish to host their websites. The web hosting service provider has several data centers across the world: United States (Chicago), Europe (Germany, Milan, Amsterdam), United Kingdom (London), Asia-Pacific (Singapore), Australia (Sydney).
Users concerned about retention laws or data privacy often choose the European data center. If most of their users are from Asia, they choose the Asia-Pacific center.
Webspace Limit
Siteground offers varying webspace limits depending on the web hosting plans.
- StartUp Shared Hosting: 10 GB
- GrowBig Shared Hosting: 20 GB
- GoGeek Shared Hosting: 40 GB
- Entry Cloud Hosting: 40 GB
- Business Cloud Hosting: 80 GB
- Business Plus Cloud Hosting: 120 GB
- Super Power Cloud: 160 GB
- StartUp WordPress Hosting: 10 GB
- GrowBig WordPress Hosting: 20 GB
- GoGeek WordPress Hosting: 40 GB
Monthly Data Transfer Limit
Users have nothing to worry about monthly data transfer limit because Siteground allows them to transfer data as much as they want.
FTP Accounts and Secure FTP
With Siteground, anyone can create as many FTP accounts as they want. Users can also take advantage of SFTP and SSH connections.
Uptime
The servers offer excellent availability. If the uptime is under 99.99%, users can enjoy a return of their monthly cost. Most users agree that the uptime testing never goes below 99.97%.
Server Speed
Siteground utilizes high-speed SSD disks; however, some web hosting providers offer faster speed. Each Siteground plan comes with a caching system dedicated to users’ dynamic content, which helps boost speed. Plus, the loading times are impressive.
Security Features
When it comes to security, web hosting isolates all accounts. So, users remain confident even if they have vulnerable IP neighbors. They can utilize the Let’s Encrypt feature to add an SSL certificate for free in any Siteground plan. They can also enable the two-factor identification for an extra layer of security to their account. They can even use the WordPress-focused Siteground security plugin they have customized.
Backups
Siteground makes daily on-demand backups, and users can even ask the web hosting company to restore one of the last 30 days due to an emergency. If they purchase the GoGeek or GrowBig plan, they can get more options to create and access their own on-demand backups.
Server Features
This web hosting service provider uses PHP, and its users can choose from PHP 8.1. 8.0, 7.4, and 7.3. The highest plan offers the faster PHP version called Ultrafast PHP. Users can utilize PostgreSQL and MySQL to manage their databases.
The Shared hosting plans come with a 768M PHP memory limit. If users require more, they can opt for dedicated hosting plans or Cloud services.
CDN
CDN may not be directly included in Siteground plans; users can integrate Cloudflare in a matter of a single click. Cloudflare also includes a free plan.
Assistance and Support
Users can easily contact Siteground’s customer support via email, phone, and live chat. Most users experience positive tech support from the customer service team. They can also use a ton of easy-to-follow guides and priority support materials.
Web Hosting Types
Siteground Web Hosting Types
Sitegroud provides everything an individual or business owner would ask for in a web host. Interested individuals and businesses can choose from different hosting types such as cloud and shared hosting packages and WordPress host plans. Special packages are also available for enterprise clients, WordPress users, and resellers.
Does Siteground offer VPS hosting?
The answer is no, but it provides cloud and shared hosting instead.
Here are the different Siteground hosting options:
With StartUp shared hosting plan, users enjoy 10 GB of storage, one website, unlimited emails, web performance support, Cloudflare security service, and up to 10,000 monthly visitors.
Siteground Shared hosting plans are ideal for a small business website, new websites, bloggers, and a startup online venture. It is recommended for low-traffic websites because users share resources with other sites hosted on the server.
WordPress Hosting
WordPress is more than just a blogging platform; a lot of businesses rely on it. The world’s most famous e-commerce software application is a WordPress plugin called WooCommerce.
WP hosting is the shared hosting plan’s optimized version. It features in-house WordPress optimization, allowing users to improve their website’s performance.
WooCommerce Hosting
There is no much difference between selling products in an online store and a brick-and-mortar store. The only extra step to online selling is shipping. Fortunately, Siteground enables its users to do this through the most cost-effective plans, where they can access OpenCart, PrestaShop, Magento, and more.
The plans also allow business owners to do dropshipping. In other words, they can sell products they do not even keep in their inventory. It gives an opportunity to grow their online store faster.
Business owners who run WordPress can use Siteground WooCommerce hosting to turn their existing websites into e-commerce ones. Those with e-commerce hosting that is particularly demanding can consider purchasing the GoGeek plan. This plan offers features and resources to handle online stores’ high traffic volume.
Cloud Hosting
Siteground Cloud hosting plans are famous for being a distinct optimized version of Shared and WordPress plans. These plans are ideal for those with plenty of website visitors, store a lot of data, or have a lot of calculations to do.
The Entry plan comes with 40 GB of SSD storage, 8 GB of memory, and 4 CPU cores. As for the Super Power plan, users can enjoy 160 GB of SSD storage, 20 GB of memory, and 16 CPU cores.
All cloud plans come with 5 TB of data transfer a month. This hosting type is usually an excellent alternative to dedicated hosting.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting is suitable for businesses that need to host websites as a primary business. It is also ideal for those who need to add hosting as an extra. A web designer, for example, can offer hosting to their clients. All reseller plans allow users to host websites with an unlimited number of customers.
Who is it for?
Who is Siteground best for?
If the question requires an extremely broad answer, Siteground is best for people who need to host their websites on WordPress.
However, if looking for a specific answer, Siteground is an excellent option for small website owners with little to no experience running a website. It is also suitable for those who expect their website to grow over time. Since the service comes with excellent customer service and flexible plans, it is recommended for scaling over time and beginners.
How does it protect your websites?
How does Siteground keep websites safe and secure?
Siteground strictly deploys intrusion detection and prevention systems that constantly scan and block viruses and malware. The web host’s proprietary systems help fix the issues as quickly as possible and even foresee potential problems to ensure proactive actions, unlike other web hosts that only perform scans once daily or once a week.
In April 2017, the web host launched an AI platform to block malicious bots efficiently. Remember that bots cause alarming cyberattacks by using massive server resources to hack the login to websites.
Aside from the AI platform, Siteground also offers a unique isolation system, protecting websites from hacking and other cyberattacks. The web host’s managed WP hosting effectively handles core and plugin updates. Beware that outdated plugins are vulnerable to frequent hacks, so this service is advantageous to WordPress users.
Even if the server security is the web host’s responsibility, your application or website’s security is still your responsibility. If you leave your coding poor, it becomes vulnerable to hackers.
Fortunately, Siteground offers an early warning system called Hack Alert. This feature will notify you once hidden malware in your website is detected before it activates. The web host’s data center security includes:
- Video surveillance
- Bulletproof lobbies
- Access control man traps
- Biometric access points
- 24/7 human monitoring of servers
- Redundant electric supply via uninterruptable power supply, power generators, and multiple power feeds
Pros and Cons
Siteground pros and cons
For this Siteground review section, the web hosting’s pros and cons are carefully discussed.
What Makes Siteground Special?
Web hosting services can either have similar features or have their unique characteristics. When it comes to Siteground, it offers the following factors that make it stand out:
- Well-trained and experienced in-house Siteground support team
- An enthusiastic and welcoming community where mentor users and Siteground staff meet to conduct Joomla Days, sponsor WordCamps, and other tech conferences
- Availability of software solutions that help improve website performance and security, like AI to protect sites from hacks and reliable operating system improvements
- Hosting architecture’s advanced optimization to deliver an excellent speed and performance
- Frictionless scaling dedicated to small business owners
- In-house developed web hosting solutions
It displays an authentic commitment and transparency to helping its customers grow and succeed in their online business. What’s more, the web host goes above what users often expect by providing virus or malware scanning software combined with isolation technology that protects websites against hacking.
Siteground Pros
Good Performance
When it comes to uptime performance, Siteground offered nearly perfect performance in 2021. The average 99.99% uptime made the web hosting one of the most reliable hosts we have reviewed.
So, it’s no surprise why many website visitors were happy. Above all, a strong uptime performance ensures that a website works around the clock. So, business owners will not miss out on anything, especially when their customers want to make a purchase.
Above-Average Site Speed
Load time is another critical factor when choosing a web hosting service provider. Most people leave a site if the page does not load as quickly as three seconds. Website owners cannot do much to fix a slow host or try to compress images to reduce the weight.
They may also load them through CDN to remove some pressure from the service. However, those things will not make much difference if the hosting does not deliver a reasonable speed.
Thankfully, Siteground offers 457 ms, which is an above-average loading time. It may not be the fastest, but the web host has delivered faster speeds throughout 2021, which is 200 ms faster than the last testing period.
Excellent Customer Service
With the knowledge base for customers, Siteground’s every user can find their own answers with ease. They can also contact the customer support team over the phone or via 24/7 live chat.
The live chat option allows users to connect with the customer representative in less than a minute. Unlike other hosting providers, users can expect no delays in answers. Customer representatives know what they talk about and answer each question professionally.
Free SSL Certificate and CDN
SSL protects any information sent back and forth between the website and user’s device, including credit card numbers, IP addresses, and other personal detail. Hackers can easily intercept this information if left unsecured. That is why Google Chrome has warned people to only access websites with an SSL certificate setup.
The good news is that Siteground offers SSL certificates on all plans for free. Not only that, but the web hosting service provider also provides a free Cloudflare CDN, which stores large files on different servers in many locations worldwide. In return, the files are stored close to website visitors for faster access.
Since Siteground has servers in different continents, users can expect fast loading times and an excellent customer experience.
Free WordPress Migration
Not all DIY migration options are great; some of them only put more burden on the customers. However, Siteground is an exemption. The web host offers a WordPress migrations plugin for free that users can upload to their sites.
Users may still have to do a little work. On the bright side, they can migrate as many websites as they want. In comparison, some providers offer free migrations but cap them after only a few. As a result, they are forced to pay after that certain point.
Siteground offers free WordPress migration on their higher-tier plans. Once users exceed the limits, they have to pay a $30 nominal fee for each additional website.
Features for Beginners and Advanced Users
Siteground offers an incredible set of features for everyone. For example, bloggers and beginners can install popular site builders like Weebly, which features a simple drag-and-drop editor for full control over the website’s look and feel.
Aside from Weebly, the web hosting also offers deep integration with Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. Each of these apps comes with a quick and easy installation.
For web developers, Git pre-installed is available on bigger plans alongside phpMyAdmin, SFTP, WP-CLI, and SSH. Multi-level caching and multiple PHP versions are also available. Users can access staging environments necessary for website tests or preparation before introducing new features.
Siteground also helps users double the security using AI-bot prevention too. This tool will snuff out any new attack before it hits.
Guaranteed 99.99% Uptime
Under Siteground’ Service Level Agreement, the web host guarantees a 99.99% network uptime per year. If the company fails to deliver that promise, its users will receive compensation in the form of free months of hosting. Undoubtedly, the web host company ensures they will not falter because it will cost them a significant amount of money.
Meanwhile, a few conditions are involved in calculating the uptime. For instance, any emergency or scheduled maintenance issues are an exemption. If users do something that caused downtown, like terms violation, app installations that do not work, or exceeding resources, the web host company will not take responsibility. Plus, any external attack on the system can also sidestep that policy.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
All shared hosting plans offered by Siteground come with a full 30-day money-back guarantee. Like other web hosting service providers, extras like domain name fees are often not refunded.
Siteground’s refund policy is only applicable to its brand new clients. In other words, they will not receive refunds on any renewal plans.
Real-time Monitoring
Many web hosts track their servers in 1-15 minutes intervals, but Siteground is different. This web host delivers real-time tracking.
As a result, it detects server issues immediately or once they occur to fix them as quickly as possible. The real-time monitoring is combined with innovative server technology to deliver minimal downtime.
Siteground Cons
Higher Renewal Rates
The cheapest hosting plan offered by Siteground is the StartUp that features $3.99 per month. This plan may not have the cheapest price as seen in other hosts, but it is still reasonable.
However, almost all web hosts we have reviewed before use the same trick. The web hosting service providers will get people’s attention using low introductory dates and then double or even triple the prices when it is time for them to renew their plans.
For instance, Siteground’s $3.99 per month rate will jump to as high as $12.99 when their users renew. Other hosting plans even hike up to $22.99 or even $34.99 per month. So, the best solution here is to choose the longest term to take advantage of the low rate for as long as users can.
Lack of Free Domain Name
Many web hosting service providers on the market offer freebies to attract brand new customers and make them stay. For example, new customers can take advantage of additional services like migrations and emails or low introductory rates. Some customers even enjoy a free domain name during the first year.
Unfortunately, Siteground does not offer a free domain. If individuals or businesses still have no domain name, the web host will charge them from day one to get one that usually starts at $15.95 per year for .com.
Limited Cheap Hosting Plans
At first look, Siteground offers attractive pricing on their lowest hosting plan. So, interested customers will see it as a good deal. On the other hand, we have noticed that the features do not line up exactly.
Suppose users get one site with 10 GB of web space that will handle about 10,000 visits per month. The hosting plan also includes an unmetered bandwidth or unlimited traffic. On the other hand, performance will suffer if their websites reach limits.
In other words, small websites better not hit those thresholds in the meantime. However, if the websites start to grow, users may need to upgrade and pay more to enjoy additional resources.
Limited to Linux-Based Servers
Unfortunately, this web host only provides Linux-based servers. As a result, web hosting becomes unfit for individuals or business owners who use or want a Windows option.
Professional Migrations
Siteground offers a WordPress migration plugin that users can utilize for free. However, if they want a support agent from the wen host to handle the website migration, especially if they have less experience, they have to pay $30.
Storage Limitations
Most website owners will not bother having low storage on Siteground’s shared hosting plans. However, if their websites grow beyond 40 GB, they need to pay for more expensive hosting plans.
As mentioned earlier, the web host’s StartUp plan only supports 10,000 website visitors per month. So, if their website traffic grows beyond that, they have no choice but to upgrade their current plans into the ones that can handle their growing website traffic.
Conclusion
Siteground review: Why you should use it?
Web hosting services can either have similar features or have their unique characteristics. When it comes to Siteground, it offers the following factors that make it stand out:
- Well-trained and experienced in-house Siteground support team
- An enthusiastic and welcoming community where mentor users and Siteground staff meet to conduct Joomla Days, sponsor WordCamps, and other tech conferences
- Availability of software solutions that help improve website performance and security, like AI to protect sites from hacks and reliable operating system improvements
- Hosting architecture’s advanced optimization to deliver an excellent speed and performance
- Frictionless scaling dedicated to small business owners
- In-house developed web hosting solutions
It displays an authentic commitment and transparency to helping its customers grow and succeed in their online business. What’s more, the web host goes above what users often expect by providing virus or malware scanning software combined with isolation technology that protects websites against hacking.
After reading this unbiased Siteground review, you may wonder if this web hosting is the best option for your website and business. If you prefer a fast and reliable web host service coupled with excellent tech support, custom web application firewall, and site tools, Siteground is what you are looking for.
The web host offers a variety of hosting plans that suits every budget. Plus, each hosting plan includes an impressive set of features. Hopefully, you can now decide whether to take advantage of Siteground or not.
Alternatives
Siteground Alternatives
Before subscribing to Siteground, it’s always a good idea to check out the competition and find the best wordpress hosting for your needs. You can find the Siteground alternatives here.
Here are some versus to compare Siteground with its competitors:
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
For sure, you still have questions in mind about Siteground. So, in this Siteground review section, we have prepared some of the most frequently asked questions.