Created in 1998 by Chis Russell, WestHost merged in 2008 with the UK2 Party. One of the oldest web servers out there is WestHost hosting. It is also worth noting that MidPhase hosting is also owned by UK2 Group. Let’s Dive into a Detailed WestHost Review.
They claim to provide secure, inexpensive web hosting. To find out what other customers think, we closely study them using the service and do a background check. Our independent analysis lets you know whether or not WestHost is worth it.
To make our review accurate, we purchased WestHost‘s “Personal Plan” and discovered a basic WordPress website to check its uptime and speed.
Did WestHost perform tolerably to drive our recommendation?
Read on to search.
Table of Contents
General Info & Hosting Overview:
| OUR RATING: | Our Verdict: 4.0  |
| SPEED: | 678 ms |
| UPTIME: | 99.99% |
| SUPPORT: | 24/7 Live Chat |
| APPS: | WordPress, AbanteCart, Joomla, PrestaShop |
| FEATURES: | Unlimited email accounts, 50GB disk space & 1000GB bandwidth |
| HOSTING PLANS: | Shared, WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated Servers |
| SITE TRANSFER: | Free website migration |
| PRICING: | Starting at $1.00/mo (renews at $5.00/mo) |
Pros of WestHost Hosting
WestHost offers a free name at all times, along with a couple of other useful “extras.”
1. A Free Domain Name for Life
You heard it right. If you persist with WestHost, you will be charged $0.99/ for the first year Domain name, then for the name renewal charges (which is around $16.59/Year). They will ensure you get a free name while staying with them. (Free domain comes with Preferred and Enterprise level plans only.)
2. Solid Uptime (99.99%)
Over the past 6 months, WestHost had an average uptime of 99.99% with a touch of more than 14 minutes of downtime.
Overall, WestHost has shown excellent uptime results most of the year. There have only been four months in total where uptime was 100% ideal.
Last 6-month average uptime:
- August 2022: 100%
- July 2022: 99.98%
- June 2022: 100%
- May 2022: 100%
- April 2022: 99.99%
- March 2022: 100%
3. Good Page Load Time (678)
Our test revealed that the average page load time was 678ms for the last 6 months, which is not the simplest we have seen, but still fine to earn an area in our pro section.
The good news is that WestHost has shown improved load times throughout the year.
4. Free Migration and 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
WestHost can help you move your website and data to your server from your existing web server. They are now giving a full refund backed by their money-back guarantee of 30 days. If you opt to make your service not available to you within 30 days of signing up for some reason, you will be completely refunded. This only applies to their arrangements for joint hosting.
5. Instant Activation
You do not have to wait hours or days for your account to be enabled, unlike most web servers (especially in Motion Hosting and Web Hosting Center). With WestHost, it will unlock your account immediately.
6. Enhanced Security with Nightly Backups
With regular nightly backups for many of their web hosting plans, support for Cloudflare CDN, and automatic malware removal for their plans, WestHost seems to be a really safe host.
7. One-Click Apps and Website Builder
WestHost offers a one-click install for several of the best applications on the web through Softaculous. Which has everything from WordPress to Joomla, Drupal, and Magento.
However, while those apps are tailor-made for savvy webmasters, novice bloggers may need a bit more help.
Fortunately, WestHost also provides a website designer for DIY and options for online stores.
The website builder includes more than 165 drag-and-drop themes plus an all-in-one plan that has a website name, hosting, and email addresses. Basically, everything you would like to start your first site under one roof.
And at just a $4.46/mo starting price, it’s still a reasonable and convenient option, so you don’t need to manually figure out or connect all of those things.
8. Responsive Customer Support
WestHost offers ticketing support, a knowledge domain, and 24/7 live chat. We tested the latter.
We asked a simple question about their shared hosting plans and reached out to the representative from l customer in a couple of minutes. The responses were a bit late but overall still informative and helpful.
Cons of WestHost Hosting
Unfortunately, WestHost also had a few drawbacks.
Let’s look at these intimately.
1. Not “Truly” Unlimited
While some WestHost shared hosting plans promise unlimited files, bandwidth, and databases, it’s important to note that their fine print says otherwise. Here’s an instant quote from their Terms and Conditions page:
“Our unlimited shared hosting is intended to meet the requirements of most small businesses and private websites; It is not designed to meet the requirements of large companies or customer services that deviate from the typical usage pattern of shared hosting and should be better suited to hosting plans that offer extended features.
Accounts with a large number of files (inode counts in excess of 200,000), databases that exceed 5 GB in size, or a cumulative size of all databases greater than 10 GB can have a large impact on performance. Server performance. We reserve the right to request that the number of inodes (files and directories) and/or the size of the database be reduced to help ensure server performance. Failure to comply with these requests may result in the termination of your account. “
Essentially, even though they promised unlimited hosting, your account should generally not have databases that exceed 10GB accumulated. If they find that your files are too many and your databases are too large, they will ask you to shrink your files or upgrade to a much better plan. If you don’t try, your account will be canceled.
We are not pleased that they have hidden what their “unlimited” hosting actually allows on their Terms and Conditions page.
That being said, we believe that there is no such thing as “unlimited hosting” and that WestHost is generous enough for the costs it provides.
2. Cheaper Plans Come with a 2-Year Commitment
With most of their plans, especially their shared hosting plans, the costs are too high and not properly communicated: for example, the private plan is advertised as $1.00/mo, but you will only get that price if you buy 1 to 2 years. Directly. The price, in particular, is $5.00/mo; therefore, the minimum term you will buy is 24 months at $3.75/month.
3. Some Restrictions…
Some of their plans are too restrictive. For example, their WordPress hosting plans only allow 1 name per server. We think they will do better than this.
4. Intro Pricing Period is Too Short
All web servers will attract you with an incredibly low starting price. It often sounds too good to be true because it is: After your first term, the value of the copy jumps to normal levels (often 2 or 3 times the initial rate).
The silver lining is that most hosts will allow you to keep that rate low for up to 3 years. So you are saving a lot of cash during that point period.
The problem with WestHost is that while they initially have a very affordable rate ($1.00/mo), you will only buy it for one year. Then the value goes up to $5.00/month.
WestHost‘s cheapest shared hosting option (the Personal plan) does not offer a free name, dedicated IP address, or SSL certificate. Only their most expensive plans include those things. Then all of a sudden, what seemed quite affordable at $1.00/mo now ends up looking really expensive once you think about all those “hidden” costs.
WestHost Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Here’s a quick overview of the various hosting plans WestHost offers:
| Personal Hosting Plan | Preferred Hosting Plan | Business Hosting Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $1.00/month (Renews at $5.00/mo) | $1.00/month (Renews at $7.00/mo) | $1.00/month (Renews at $9.00/mo) |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | 1000GB | 2500GB | Unmetered |
| Storage | 50GB | 200GB | Unmetered |
| Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Other Features | – | • Free Domain | • Free Domain • Free SSL Security • Free Dedicated IP |
Quick Facts WestHost Review
- Free Domain: only in Business + Preferred plans
- Ease of Signup: fast registration process.
- Money-Back: 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Payment Methods: MasterCard, Paypal.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: Shared hosting accounts must not exceed 200,000 inodes or a total database size of 10GB.
- Upsells: No upsells.
- Account Activation: Instant Activation.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
- Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): Quick installation of popular applications and CMS through Softaculous.
Do We Recommend WestHost?
Yes and no.
Overall, WestHost is not a disgusting hosting company.
However, they need medium uptime, medium page load speeds, and really medium support.
If you want a cheap price, you should give it a try. If not, keep trying to find better options.
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