As versatile as Hostwinds may be, it's not for everyone. For example, it may not be the best choice for global businesses with customers dotted around the world as it only has data centers in the U.S. and Europe. Speaking of which, it only has two data centers in the U.S., in Seattle and Dallas, so it may not be ideal for businesses with large traffic volumes from the East Coast. Additionally, it's not a choice for those who prefer support by phone as it only has support by live chat and tickets.
Hostwinds offers a variety of web hosting plans, including shared, business, virtual private server (VPS), dedicated, cloud, and reseller hosting. Its shared hosting plans are unique in that all plans come with unlimited disk space (SSDs) and bandwidth, a free dedicated IP address, free business email addresses, free secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates, web monitoring, unlimited file transfer protocol (FTP) accounts, access to Weebly's code-free website builder, 24/7 support and more. The main differentiator between its shared hosting plans is the number of free domain names they each include, ranging from one to unlimited.
Hostwinds has a number of suited plans for small businesses, but the best value for small businesses on a budget with basic needs is its Shared Basic plan. It starts at $5.24 per month with its introductory pricing and increases to $6.99 per month upon renewal. It stands out for its long list of features that rival many web hosting providers' midtier and top-tier plans. For example, it includes unlimited SSD storage, a free dedicated IP address, free website migration service, and round-the-clock support. It also includes many money-saving extras, such as one free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and unlimited free business email.
For those looking for enhanced performance, consider the Business Basic plan which includes everything from the Shared Basic, plus Cloudflare CDN, route-optimized networking and it boasts using Litespeed as its web server.
Unlike many of the leading web hosting companies that offer web hosting plans as well as a myriad of website-related services, such as domain names, website security tools, and professional marketing services, Hostwinds focuses solely on feature-rich web hosting plans. So, while you can get a competitively priced hosting plan that's packed with features for one flat price per month, you cannot shop from a variety of other a la carte services or tools.
The support team at Hostwinds is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week giving users round-the-clock assistance by live chat and a ticketing system. Unfortunately, support is not available by phone--despite the fact that it displays a phone number in the header of its site (that's for sales).
Personally, I have had good experiences with the Hostwinds support team, which aligns with the experience of many of the reviews on Trustpilot. Not only has support been quick to assist, but they have also been quick to assist with technical issues as well as generic WordPress-related problems. What I also like about its support is that it typically gives responses that suit all experience levels, including recommended plugins if there are any that solve a WordPress user's issue or answer their question, such as Site Health plugin to obtain PHP limits.
Hostwinds is regarded as a secure hosting service thanks to its advanced security protocols. For example, data that is transferred between the server and user is encrypted in order to keep data secure and private, it employs firewalls to help prevent unauthorized access and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and in case of an attack, it gives users peace of mind with its automatic backups that enable you to restore your site.
Hostwinds receives solid marks from reputable sources, with a 4 out of 5 star rating from PCMag and TechRadar. Both mention that it is reliable with a great uptime and offer quality support. Over on G2, it has an unheard-of rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars from over 430 users. Of which, 95% of users gave it a perfect 5-star rating, with users frequently commenting that they're happy with their site's performance and that support is very helpful. On the other hand, less than 1% of its users gave it a 1-star rating. Those who did experience issues with getting a refund, issues with its VPS hosting service, and slow speeds.
With introductory pricing that starts at $2.95 per month for your first year, Scala Hosting is the more budget-friendly web hosting provider. However, while Hostwinds starts at $5.24 per month, its pricing increases to just $6.99 per month upon renewal. Meanwhile, Scala hosting jumps to $10.95 per month with annual billing -- and its entry-level plan comes with 10GB of storage compared to Hostwinds which offers unlimited SSD storage. In terms of features, both include unlimited free business email and SSL certificates and while Hostwinds includes a free domain, Scala Hosting includes free daily backups (a $3 per month add-on with Hostwinds).
Hostwinds and Liquid Web are both web hosting providers, yet they offer two very different hosting services. While Hostwinds offers budget-conscious businesses affordable shared hosting plans with unlimited SSD storage, Liquid Web is on the other end of the spectrum with more expensive, performance-focused features. Its entry-level plan, the Managed WordPress plan starts at $17.50 per month with annual billing and includes 15GB of SSD storage and 2TB of bandwidth. Granted, Liquid Web is optimized for performance with 28 data centers -- compared to just three with Hostwinds.
Hostwinds is a good choice for those seeking a low-price, high-value hosting service. With its unlimited disk space and bandwidth, it can grow with your business while offering performance and security-enhancing plans with its VPS and dedicated options. In other words, it provides users with an affordable hosting solution that they can grow with and with helpful 24/7 support, it's also a good choice for those who are new to web hosting and development as its team is there to help users troubleshoot any issues they may have along the way.