A2 Hosting Evaluation – How speedy is A2 Hosting? Let us research.
A2 Hosting has been in business since 2001 and is well recognized for their fast website load times.
In fact, they have one of the quickest server speeds we’ve ever seen. A2 Hosting also has a high uptime, which makes its hosting service dependable.
The hosting options are designed for developers, and their “anytime” money-back guarantee is a standout feature.
The renewal rate, which increases dramatically after your initial time, is a considerable disadvantage. However, if you want a speedy web hosting service at a low upfront cost that can expand with the development of your business. Then A2 Hosting might be a great fit for you.
After joining up, paying for their hosting service, and putting it to the test, here’s an in-depth look at A2 Hosting’s benefits and downsides.
Overview of General Information and Hosting
| SPEED: | 286 ms (March 2022 to August 2022) |
| UPTIME: | >99.99% (March 2022 to August 2022) |
| SUPPORT: | 24/7 Live Chat, Email, Phone, Ticketing |
| APPS: | WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, OpenCart, and Magento |
| FEATURES: | Unlimited Bandwidth, Free SSL, Cloudflare CDN, Anycast DNS, Anytime Money-Back, Website Staging, DDoS Protection, 100 GB Storage, and more. |
| HOSTING PLANS: | Shared, WordPress, VPS, Reseller, and Dedicated Servers |
| SITE TRANSFER: | Single Free Site Transfer with Shared Hosting ($10/site afterward) |
| PRICING: | Starting at $2.99/mo (renews at $10.99/mo) |
Advantages of Using A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is one of the top undiscovered hosting providers you should be aware of.
Why?
Their speed is good, their uptime is consistent, their customer service is courteous, their security features are extensive, and their refund policy is generous. Furthermore, they are ecologically sensitive.
Let’s take a closer look at A2 Hosting’s numerous benefits.
1. Lightning-fast page loading speed (286 ms)
When you visit A2Hosting.com, you will notice a common theme: speed.
And A2 Hosting is indeed quick. They have achieved an incredible average speed of 286 ms during the last 6 months.
What’s more, what’s even better?
For many years, A2 Hosting has demonstrated improved results. As a result, they are one of the quickest shared hosts we’ve tested.
2. A 99.99% uptime guarantee
A2 Hosting is not only quick, but also dependable.
They ran into issues a few years ago when their uptime failed to meet the industry norm of 99.93%. However, they have overcome the difficulties and attained an average uptime of more than 99.99%. Their servers were offline for only 13 minutes.
A2 hosting’s 6-month average uptime:
- September 2022: 99.94%
- August 2022: 99.98%
- July 2022: 100%
- June 2022: 99.99%
- May 2022: 100%
- April 2022: 100%
- March 2022: 100%
A2 Hosting’s uptime was nearly faultless at 100% for virtually the entire six months (except for one occasion in June 2022), which is rather outstanding.
3. Malware scanning and 24/7 server monitoring
The easiest method to keep your site secure is to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. However, additional scanning, firewalls, or encryption levels can frequently delay users down. A2 Hosting is not one of them. They can continue to work at the greatest level while providing you with a plethora of additional security measures.
“Imunify360,” a 24/7 monitoring solution that monitors for malware and other assaults, protects A2 Hosting servers.
Their data centers are also scalable, which means you’re safe if a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack occurs. These assaults seek to overload your servers and take your website offline. So A2 Hosting has your back when it comes to dealing with unforeseen surges.
4. Free Site Migrations (1-25 Depending on the Plan)
On all plans, A2 Hosting provides free migration of a single existing website to their servers.
If you wish to move numerous websites with the shared hosting plan, it costs $25 per site. However, if you choose Reseller, Dedicated, or Managed VPS hosting, you will receive 25 free site migrations. Their terms of service are quite detailed.
To take advantage of this, contact their customer service department and provide them with your cPanel account details.
If your websites use a control panel other than cPanel, they may charge a modest fee for the extra labor.
5. Content Management Systems (CMS) & Tools for Developers
All major content management systems are compatible with A2 Hosting.
You don’t need a developer to install a WordPress, OpenCart, Drupal, Joomla, or Magento site with a few clicks.
Starting with the “Turbo Boost” plan, A2 Hosting offers performance-enhancing plugins to make these CMSs quicker. All hosting services include a free Cloudflare CDN, which helps to speed things up even further.
Assume you’re a webmaster or a hosting company wishing to host dozens of websites under one roof. A2 Hosting provides developer-friendly tools in this scenario. You can receive server admin access, free server rewind backups, and numerous versions of everything from PHP to MySQL, Apache, Python, Ruby, and so forth.
A2 Hosting also offers a website builder called A2 SiteBuilder. It is, however, not included in the regular hosting plans and must be purchased individually.
6. Money-Back Guarantee at Any Time
The majority of the hosts we’ve researched provide a 30-day money-back guarantee. A2 Hosting, on the other hand, goes a step further and offers a “anytime” money-back guarantee.
This means you are still entitled to a full refund during the first 30 days. However, if you find the service unsuitable, you can cancel at any time and receive a prorated refund for the period you’ve already paid for.
However, there are a few stumbling blocks.
The first is that any refund request made beyond the original 120-day period is handled by PayPal. Another point to consider is that ‘extra’ services such as domain registration, setup, or migration costs are nonrefundable. You can retain anything that isn’t returned, such as your domain name.
7. Eco-Friendly Web Hosting
Ann Arbor, Michigan, is affectionately known as “Tree Town.” They are said to contain around 50,000 trees and 150 parks. As a result, A2 feels a moral commitment to assist in the fight against global warming.
They have joined forces with Carbonfund.org to promote sustainable energy and reforestation. They also have a green hosting plan called “FutureServe” in place to assist offset emissions from their servers.
This is unlikely to be a determining factor in choosing a web host. However, knowing that your employer cares about the environment is a pleasant added bonus.
8. Prompt Customer Service
A2 Hosting offers live chat, email, tickets, and phone assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also have a large knowledge base if you wish to discover an answer or learn something new on your own.
Our favorite, though, is a live chat that we frequently use.
We asked a straightforward query regarding their shared hosting services and were quickly assigned to a customer care representative.
The customer service representative was kind and educated, and she responded swiftly to our queries.
Furthermore, we are pleased to notice that A2 Hosting has resumed giving a live chat option to all customers. Not long ago, live chat was exclusively available to registered users.
The Drawbacks of Using A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting provides numerous advantages, yet we discovered a few flaws.
Here’s a closer look at each of these disadvantages.
1. It is not possible to obtain a free domain name.
A free domain name is not included in any of A2 Hosting’s shared hosting plans. This is not a regular occurrence in the hosting market because the majority of the hosts we’ve assessed provide a free domain name (at least for the 1st year).
To register or transfer a domain name with A2 Hosting, for example, you’d have to spend $16.99/year for a.com extension (renews at the same price).
2. High Renewal Rates (And a 15-Day Deadline)
With long-term subscriptions, A2 Hosting provides reduced costs. They also provide promotional pricing on their plans when you sign up for your first term, which reduces the usual price by more than half.
After the introductory term, the automatic renewal takes effect at the “normal” cost. The renewal cost is typically three times the monthly average price you first paid.
It only gets worse.
You must send a written cancellation notice “15 days before the commencement of the Renewal Term” using their customer portal or by emailing [email protected], according to their conditions.
What if you miss this 15-day deadline? You will be responsible for paying the next renewal plan, which will renew automatically, and you will not be entitled for a refund.
3. Restrictions on the Most Affordable Plan
The starting pricing for A2 Hosting’s most affordable shared hosting plan (“Startup”) is presently $2.99/month. That isn’t the lowest price we’ve found, but it is reasonable.
However, there are certain limitations to the cheapest plan. You only get one website and 100 GB of SSD storage, and services like automated backups and server rewind are lacking. Starting at $5.99/month, the next tier plan already has unlimited websites and SSD storage, free automated backups, and 2x more resources.
It makes you wonder whether the lowest plan exists just to promote a low price while the actual helpful elements for developing a website begin at a somewhat higher priced plan.
A2 Hosting Pricing, Hosting Plans, and Quick Facts
For shared hosting, A2 Hosting offers four pricing tiers:
| Startup Plan | Drive Plan | Turbo Boost Plan | Turbo Max Plan | |
| Pricing | $2.99/month Renews at $10.99/mo |
$5.99/month Renews at $12.99/mo |
$6.99/month Renews at $20.99/mo |
$12.99/month Renews at $25.99/mo |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 100 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Other Features | – | • 2x Server Resources • Automatic Backups |
• 2x Server Resources • Automatic Backups • Site Accelerator • Chacing Plugins |
• 5x Server Resources • Automatic Backups • Site Accelerator • Chacing Plugins |
Fast Facts
- Domain name: This is not included with any of their shared hosting options.
- Free features: SSL, CDN, and DNS
- Signup Process: Three-step signup. It’s not that tough.
- Accepted Payment Methods: Credit card, PayPal, check or money order, bank transfer, Skrill, UnionPay, and PayU Latam
- Hidden Fees & Clauses: Renewal prices are greater than those offered during the promotional period. You must cancel 15 days before the renewal term or you will be charged automatically. Purchases of domain names are not refundable.
- Upsells: There are several subtle upsells during the enrollment process.
- Account activation: immediately.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: CPanel
- Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): At checkout, you may install WordPress and other popular CMS alternatives.
Do We Suggestion A2 Hosting?
We do, indeed.
For numerous years, A2 Hosting has continuously supplied best-in-class speed. They’ve also enhanced server uptime, which is now quite dependable. Furthermore, all of their shared plans include a free SSL certificate and free site migration.
And, if you have any problems while you are a customer, you can request a refund for the prorated balance of unused time.
We don’t like how high the renewal rates are, and how stringent the restrictions beyond the first time are. Furthermore, even if you subscribe for the most costly shared plan to host infinite websites (“Turbo Max”), you only get one free site migration. Not to add that none of their shared hosting options feature a free domain name.