HostPapa Review 2021!!
Pros of Using HostPapa Hosting
Upon signing up, we were excited to see what makes them tick. What could possibly cause such a quick ascent?
At first, we were pleasantly surprised by their great uptime (as you’ll see). They also offer a plethora of customer support options to choose from.
So far so good! But can they live up to the hype? Let’s take a look.
1. Good Uptime
We’re happy to report that HostPapa’s uptime has been good since day one.
They’ve posted a 24-month average of 99.95% uptime.
While it sounds trite and obvious, you’d be surprised just how many web hosts struggle with the most foundational element of actually hosting a website — keeping the damn thing live!
Last 12-month average uptime:
- January 2020 average uptime: 99.99%
- December 2019 average uptime: 100%
- November 2019 average uptime: 99.88%
- October 2019 average uptime: 99.70%
- September 2019 average uptime: 100%
- August 2019 average uptime: 99.94%
- July 2019 average uptime: 99.95%
- June 2019 average uptime: 99.98%
- May 2019 average uptime: 100%
- April 2019 average uptime: 100%
- March 2019 average uptime: 99.99%
- February 2019 average uptime: 99.63%
2. Above Industry-Average Speed
HostPapa’s uptime was great and their page loading speed is also decent.
Over the last 24 months, they had a page load time of posting a 705ms, which beats our industry-standard result.
Last 12-month average load time:
3. Extensive Support Options
HostPapa offers extensive support options to help customers in a variety of ways.
You can browse their huge library of self-help videos. They offer 24/7 support through phone, mail, email, and even fax (!).
They provide phone support in 18 countries (which might be the most we’ve seen from any company). They’re one of the only hosts to provide support in different languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German.
As if that’s not enough, they also provide an interesting support feature allowing you to connect in a one-on-one session with ‘Papa Squad Experts’, which are essentially guided walkthroughs using video or telephone conference (also – it’s the best customer support title ever!!).
During our own personal investigation, we received a response in less than a minute from their support staff. Answers to questions were provided within a modest two minutes.
Overall, our experience with Gezim V, our customer service rep, was pretty good.
4. Proactive Security Features
HostPapa’s shared hosting plans come with Panda Cloud antispam protection enabled, as well as a server firewall, monitoring, and intrusion detection. Over 37,000 websites get hacked daily, so HostPapa’s proactive security measures are reassuring.
Their Business Pro plan also comes with additional features including domain privacy protection, a free SSL certificate, a dedicated IP address, and automated website backups.
The last thing you need to worry about is security details like spam protection. It’s nice to have someone else watch your back.
5. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee & Site Migration
HostPapa offers an industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee for most of their hosting plans.
In addition, they’ll gladly help you transfer an existing website from another host (while also throwing in a free domain name too).
6. Good Value for the Price
HostPapa’s basic pricing starts at $3.95 for the first three years. If you’d rather just sign up for a year or two, it’ll be about a buck extra in both cases.
This pricing is also lower for new customers. That means renewal pricing will increase to $7.99/month on this same Starter plan. So not the best news overall, but fairly common.
The good news is that they do throw in a lot of value for this initial pricing. You get two websites, compared to just one that most other hosts offer. You also get free domain registration, 100GB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
Pretty good, right?
But that’s not all. You’ll also get their “Essential Features” which includes a free website migration, Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, and access to their 400+ apps and website builder.
So overall, it’s a pretty good value. Other hosts would make you pay for this stuff, easily pushing the monthly price up well above this initial $3.95/month range.
Cons of Using HostPapa Hosting
Sure, HostPapa had good uptime and decent speed results.
Unfortunately, other customers haven’t shared the same positive experience we had. There are also some issues with hidden fees relating to just how ‘free’ the money-back guarantee and website setup really is.
Take a look.
1. Poor Customer Experience with Support
Personally, our customer support experience went smoothly.
When we conducted a background check into how other customers viewed their extensive support options, the picture wasn’t so rosy.
Despite the HUGE number of available options or avenues to reach HostPapa, the overall customer experience on average is below par.
2. Additional Fees
Most web hosts will set up your website for free. Most web hosts will also offer a ‘free money-back guarantee.’
Apparently, two rights make a wrong…
IF you DO request a refund during that 30-day window, they WILL charge you a $29.95 setup fee upon cancellation.
This means, technically, it’s not a ‘free’ money-back guarantee and it’s not a ‘free’ website setup either.
So thanks, but no thanks.
Overview of HostPapa Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Below is a quick overview of HostPapa’s three shared hosting plans.
Please note: Pricing tends to fluctuate often, and these low advertised prices required a three-year sign-up.
| Starter Plan | Business Plan | Business Pro Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $3.95/month Renews at $7.99/mo | $3.95/month Renews at $12.99/mo | $12.95/month Renews at $19.99/mo |
| Websites | 2 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Storage | 100GB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Other Features | – | • Unlimited MYSQL Databases • 2x More CPU and MYSQL Resources | • 4x More CPU and MYSQL Resources • Domain Privacy • Automated Website Backup • Premium Wildcard SSL and SiteLock Detect |
Quick Facts
- Ease of Signup: Very easy signup process.
- Payment Methods: Credit Card, Paypal.
- Money-Back: 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: Advertised price is only for the first payment term. Renewals are much more expensive. You will be charged a setup fee of $29.99 if you make use of their refund policy.
- Upsells: A few upsells.
- Account Activation: Activation can take a while.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
- Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): One-click installer to install popular apps and CMSs.
