A2 Hosting was founded in 2001, which makes it one of the oldest web hosts. It comes from Michigan, where its operations are still based. A2 Hosting reviews emphasize the host provides fast loading speeds.
But is that so? What are the main advantages and disadvantages of this web host? Let’s find out!
A2 Hosting Pros & Cons
The host has several essential features, which distinguish it from the competitors. In general, its upsides outweigh its downsides. Have a quick look at them:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
Great response time
Anytime money-back guarantee
Several server locations to choose from
Free SSD
Free site migrations
Unlimited storage and bandwidth
Windows options
Green website (partnership with Carbonfund.org to reduce carbon footprint of the servers)
|
Mediocre uptime
Limited simultaneous HTTP connections (15-100)
High renewal prices and renewal cancelation limitations
Confusing checkout page
|
A2H in Brief
| Characteristic | Information |
|---|---|
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% |
| Server response time | 172 ms |
| Support options | 24/7 email, phone, and live chat |
| Plans | Shared, WordPress, reseller, VPS, cloud, dedicated server, email |
| CMSs | WordPress, Joomla, Magento, OpenCart, Drupal |
| Features | SSL, free site migration, Cloudflare CDN, anytime money-back guarantee |
| Service locations | USA (Michigan), USA (Arizona), Europe (Amsterdam), Asia (Singapore) |
| Starting price | $2.99 a month |
When to Use A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is an excellent choice for those who need much storage and bandwidth for a reasonable price. Besides, you should consider this provider if speed is your price concern.
New bloggers and beginners can choose A2 Hosting as a reliable host, making website building more comfortable. Besides, small and medium-sized businesses will also find suitable options.
On the top of it, the provider offers a lucrative opportunity to host a Windows-based project.
When Not to Use A2H
As our brief A2 hosting review above suggests, the provider doesn’t have too many disadvantages. However, they may be crucial for some customers. If uptime is of prime importance for you, you’d better consider some other provider options.
A2H has some limitations for larger web projects. In particular, limited concurrent HTTP connections may prevent you from getting more traffic.
Performance
A2H uses SwiftServer technology with the top level of specification, ensuring outstanding performance. Its Turbo servers enable sites to load 20 times faster. The Turbo plans offer more resources and fewer users per server.
SwiftCache is another performance-booster. It uses RAM or any hard disk together with Turbo Cache, providing a fast web experience. Quadruple redundant network allows users to stay connected even if several data center links go down.
A2 Hosting has special plugins to make the content management systems faster. By the way, you can install those CMS with a few clicks. No need to ask a developer to do that!
Besides, RAID-10 SSDs provide extra protection from hardware malfunctions. It is a storage configuration, using multiple hard drives to store data. If one hard drive fails, its data can be recovered from other ones.
Speed Test Results
Any A2hosting review emphasizes this provider’s speed. It uses SSDs, solid-state drives, which work faster than traditional HDDs, in almost all plans. Besides, A2H utilizes Cloudflare CDN – a popular content delivery network. Such global networks of servers help to deliver web content faster, depending on a user’s location.
But does it work? Here are the testing results:
| Test | Average Loading Time |
|---|---|
| GTmetrix test | 3.8s |
| Pingdom test | 2.36s |
| PageSpeed Insights (Google) | 4.25s |
Thus, the provider ensures a decent loading speed. That isn’t the best result for the industry, but still quite close to the top players.
A2 Hosting Uptime Guarantees
A2 Hosting has a 99.9% uptime commitment, i.e., less than 9 hours of downtime a year. What are the exceptions? They include network conditions across the internet, DDoS attacks, problems with browser or DNS caching.
The provider offers a 5% of the monthly fee in-service credit for every hour when the website was unreachable.
The A2hosting reviews suggest that an average uptime for the last year was around 99.97%. That’s above an industry standard of 99.95%, but not excellent. If each minute your site is down costs you a lot of money — look for the providers with 99.99% uptime.
A2 Server Response Time
We’ve already tested an average loading time. It shows how fast all data on the website comes to a user. It includes both plain text and images or video, which take much longer to load.
But there are instruments measuring server response times more accurately, without loading data. One of them is Bitcatcha, which we used for this analysis.
A2H servers all around the world responded under a fraction of a second. That’s a great result, the provider scores A+, and its servers are described as “exceptionally quick.” No matter where your target audience is, you should get a good loading speed with A2 Hosting.
A2 Hosting Site Migration
Many providers are eager to eliminate any challenges of transferring sites to their servers. A2 Hosting is not an exception. The host offers website migration for free in each plan.
The whole procedure is quite simple. You should fill out the migration request form, providing details about domains, SSL, current control panel, FTP, and SSH. Most of this information is on a central page of your current host. A2 Hosting migration specialists will take care of the rest. Most migrations are completed within 24-48 hours.
Another way is to obtain a cPanel based backup of your current account. Then you can use FTP or the cPanel File Manager to upload it to your account at A2 Hosting. Open a support ticket and provide the full path to the file. A2 Hosting migration team will perform the restore.
Types, Features, and Pricing
A2 Hosting provides a wide variety of packages. It offers shared, WordPress, VPS, dedicated server, reseller, and cloud plans. Therefore, different users, from blog owners to large corporations, can find a suitable option.
Shared hosting
It is the most popular type of hosting, satisfying basic demands for a low price. A2 shared hosting prices start from $2.99 a month for a Startup plan.
However, it comes with a 3-year contract and has some restrictions (1 website, 100GB Storage, no automatic backups). Note that Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, and free website builder come complimentary with each plan.
WordPress
A2H WordPress hosting packages are divided into shared and managed. Both include Turbo Optimized and Optimized WordPress features. ‘Turbo’ means up to 20 times faster loading, as the provider claims. Nevertheless, managed plans also come with WordPress Backups, site staging, pre-installed WP-CLI, and free Jetpack Personal License.
VPS
Such hosting can be useful for medium or large websites. The provider offers you shared and managed VPS plans. The latter are more expensive, but you don’t have the burden of managing technical details on your shoulders.
The most advanced Mach-plans include faster Turbo servers and NVMEe drives. Those features enable you to handle nine times more traffic and offer three times faster read and write speeds.
Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting provides the best flexibility and scalability. Your data is stored on different servers so that you can use resources from a variety of places.
That is an excellent solution if you expect traffic peaks. Runway 1 plan starts from $4.99 a month for 1GB of RAM, 150GB of SSD storage, and 2TB bandwidth.
Reseller hosting
Reseller hosting means that you rent bandwidth and storage from your provider but don’t use it yourself. Instead, you act as a web host, reselling those resources to a third party. Reseller is useful mostly for developers or aspiring web hosting companies.
A2H prices for reseller hosting start at $18.99 a month for a 3-year contract. The basic plan includes 60 GB of storage space and 600 GB Bandwidth.
Dedicated Server Hosting
Dedicated hosting is the most expensive type of hosting. But getting the whole server for your project means having the most significant scalability and power. You will probably need such a package if your site is too complicated and is likely to get hundreds of thousands of visitors a month.
An unmanaged server from A2 Hosting will cost you at least $99.59 a month. You will get the full management and free cPanel control panel for an extra $20/month.
Ready to choose your plan?
Go to A2 hostingSecurity
A2H takes security quite seriously. Free SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) is included in every plan. It is a digital certificate verifying a website’s identity and encrypting data exchange between the website and the server. An SSL certificate is vital for sites to accept payments.
The host uses “HackScan,” a 24/7-monitoring service, to check its servers for malware and other attacks. The data centers can be scaled to protect you from a DDoS (denial of service) attack. Such attacks try to overload your servers with traffic and bring your site down. A2 Hosting can handle such unexpected surges.
Each A2H server is enclosed in a cage. The staff uses keys instead of passwords to access them. As keys are less unlikely to be stolen, the risk of unauthorized access is lower.
Support
The provider points out its support team’s quality, calling it The Guru Crew, never an outsourced one. The support is available 24/7/365 to help you at any moment. You can contact them via online tickets, global phone lines, or a live chat. However, the latter option is available only for registered users.
Besides, you can use a searchable knowledge base to find some information. It is quite useful for answering simple queries, although complex issues may be quite hard to solve.
The A2hosting.com reviews suggest that email support provides quick informative answers in a friendly, easy-going manner. You might have to wait a little to get a response via a live chat. Nonetheless, they will still provide you with the information you need.
A2H Quick Facts
| Fact | Information |
|---|---|
| Website migration | included in each plan |
| Free features | SSL, CDN, and DN |
| Control Panel | cPanel |
| Email accounts | unlimited |
| Bandwidth | unlimited |
| Webspace | 100GB for the Startup plan, no limitation for other |
| CDN | pre-integrated Cloudflare |
| Hidden fees and clauses | Renewal prices are higher than the introductory ones. You have to cancel 15 days before the start of the renewal term |
A2 Hosting Review: Do We Recommend It?
Yes, we do. A2 Hosting is renowned for its loading speed. It has improved its uptime record and tries to keep up with the competition. Its plans include various features for free, like SSL certificate and migration. The bandwidth and storage (in many cases) are unmetered for shared hosting.
Managed hosting options allow you to focus on your business, leaving technical issues to the experts. Besides, 24/7 support is always there to help you.
The packages are diverse enough to suit almost any customer. Unless you have some particular and complex solution, A2 Hosting will provide everything you need for a reasonable price. Besides, the moneyback guarantee allows you to quit at any time.
Ready to choose your plan?
Go to A2 hosting hostingA2H Alternatives
A2H is the right choice for your website. Want to have several options on the table? Here are some providers to pay your attention to:
- Siteground provides top loading speeds and quality support. Besides, it offers numerous features for e-commerce;
- InMotion is one of the most popular providers with a flexible pricing policy and excellent customer support. It provides top-notch VPS packages;
- Bluehost — one of the largest web hosting companies in the world with great WordPress options;
- GreenGeeks is another eco-friendly website hosting. It claims the websites of its clients to be 300% green. The company offers shared VPS and WordPress hosting.
