A cheap host stops being cheap the week your site goes down during a sale. Before you compare prices, work out what you need, then check each provider against the same short list.
Start with what your site needs
A brochure site for a plumber doesn’t need much. An online shop with hundreds of product photos needs more storage and more processing power. A WordPress site with many plugins needs more processing power than its size suggests.
Count your mailboxes too, and think about how much mail your team keeps. Email often takes up more space than the website.
Is the uptime guarantee in writing?
Look for a written uptime guarantee of at least 99.9%, and read what the host does if it misses it. Ours is 99.9%, and it’s on our guarantee page.
Where are the servers?
If most of your visitors are in South Africa, a server in South Africa is closer to them, so pages start loading sooner. Our servers are in South Africa.
What’s included for security?
Free SSL certificates should be standard. SSL encrypts the connection between your site and your visitors, and browsers warn people away from sites without it. Ask how often backups run and how you restore one.
Our web hosting plans include free Let’s Encrypt SSL, weekly backups, a web application firewall and on-demand virus and malware scanning.
Can you manage it yourself?
A good control panel lets you add a mailbox, install WordPress or restore a backup without waiting for support. We use Plesk, with a 1-click installer for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and other open-source applications.
How do you reach support?
Ask which channels the host offers, and read recent reviews from real customers. With us, you open a support ticket, email us or send a WhatsApp message, and we answer as quickly as we can.
Can you grow without moving?
Your first plan won’t be your last. Check that you can move up a plan without changing host. Start on Shared, move to Power for more processing power, or to Business for much more storage and mailboxes.
Compare value, not the price alone
Put the plans side by side and check what’s left out: SSL, backups, email, migration. Ask about anything that isn’t on the price list, and look at the contract term. We have no term contracts and a 60-day money back guarantee on hosting, so you can try us with your real site.
See Shared hosting plans, or Power hosting if you run WordPress with many plugins or an online shop.