Web hosting company Hostinger review

Like many others, I’ve decided to use one of many Black Friday offers. I think this is absolutely the best time to try one of the web hosting providers. Too bad for me, I have a huge list of companies I want to try, so I’ve been doing that for years. Sometimes I keep using that same provider, and sometimes I just cancel the subscription when the renewal time is up. Since I ran a small web hosting business back in 2006 and sold it in 2011, people often ask me for recommendations and opinions. Often I attend web hosting conferences such as WorldHostingDays (now rebranded as Cloudfest). Not to mention I do own several personal websites besides operating on WhoAPI. So, plenty of reasons for me to check out potential web hosting companies and write this Hostinger review.

Sign up process on Hostinger.com

The signup process is really simple! Click on the “Claim deal” button in order to, guess what? Claim the deal and start the order process. Yes, it’s that simple, and it doesn’t get any harder. By default, they add a two-year subscription to your cart, which you can remove. But it’s not uncommon to purchase three years in advance, either. Right now, they have a massive 80% discount on 36 monthly plans. Saving $207 in the process. Nice! Good stuff doesn’t end there. You also get a free domain name and SSL certificate. I’ll go into the details of the package and prices later, but these three perks I had to mention right away.

I got an SSL certificate for free

You will probably need a domain name anyway, so the free one is helpful. But if you know a better place to register a domain name you can register the domain name elsewhere and then point it to your Hostinger web hosting. Speaking of SSL certificates, there was a Google update that seemed to reward websites with SSL certificates. Besides, you want to provide your website visitors with the best experience. So security should be a priority for every website. In the future, Chrome browser may even warn users they are not on a secured website (if the SSL is not installed). That’s why I think it’s smart that Hostinger includes one for free.

What web hosting package did I choose?

I decided to take their professional web hosting package because I want to host as many websites as I need to. I also like the fact my websites will be on an SSD disk. Since I am not your average newbie first-time user, I wasn’t interested in the business web hosting package that has Deluxe Live Support. Besides, I don’t own that many personal websites. Also, I didn’t want to worry about the number of FTP users, email accounts, MySQL databases, and bandwidth. I can’t believe some companies still limit their packages that way. Anyway, I was happy to see Hostinger doesn’t do that. They really try to speak your language, also in a literal way. If you are not reading this from the United States, check if they are in your country! They have localized their service in 39 countries.

Hostinger – around the world

What about the server location?

I know what you are thinking cause I was thinking the same thing. If they are around the world, where are the servers? Once you complete your order, you have 4 locations to choose from: Netherlands, UK, North America and Singapore for Asia and Oceania. If you haven’t already, look at your Google Analytics traffic numbers. Check where the majority of your traffic is coming from, and there you have it. Pick the location closest to that. Don’t let the location fool you; hundreds of factors determine the website load speed. So, do pick the closest location, but also optimize your website as much as possible. Update your WordPress, optimize your images, optimize your code, update your WordPress plugins, and I better stop here.

Is it hard to get going with Hostinger and control my progress?

Hostinger has a very simple control panel (if you ever log into cPanel, you are good to go). Here you can add subdomains, emails, FTP users, access PHP my Admin, you name it. I can’t predict if you are into some advanced mumbo-jumbo, but the standard actions are listed here. For any advanced actions you may need, you will probably have to check with their support. On the other hand, if you just want to install WordPress and hit the ground running, that couldn’t be easier. As soon as you finish your setup, before you even log in to the control panel, Hostinger offers you some options (image below). And there’s a giant yellow button “Install WordPress”. Just click that and follow the steps.

Easy WordPress installation on Hostinger

Prices on Hostinger (as of April 2023)

There are several packages to choose from.

1. $1.99 per month (good for one website and up to 50GB of storage)
2. $2.99 per month (good for 100 websites and up to 100GB of storage) This package gets you the free domain name
3. $3.99 per month (good for 100 websites and up to 200GB of storage) You get a free domain name as well

Remember that when you renew your web hosting packages, these prices go up a lot. So $1.99 becomes $3.99. The $2.99 package becomes $6.99 monthly, and $3.99 becomes $8.99! This is based on the length of the contract. Don’t expect to pay $1.99, $2.99 or $3.99 every single month either! You need to pay months or years in advance. So your first invoice from Hostinger won’t be $1.99, $2.99, or $3.99, let’s see how much it could be for a $2.99 plan.

Hostinger prices for a web hosting package with 100 websites and 100GB storage –  April 2023

Also worth noting, these prices don’t contain taxes. Instead of $35,88 (12 months X $2,99), you could be charged a total of $44,85 based on your location due to taxes & fees ($8.97 in this particular case).

Unfortunately, the free domain name is free only for the first year. The price of .com domain renewal on Hostinger costs $13.99.

I suppose the end experience could be better or at least simpler regarding prices. But in the end, if you host, for example, ten websites for $44,85 during the first year, or a total of $179.40 for the first four years, I think that’s money well spent. You could also host as many as 100 websites with 100 GB of storage for four years for that same amount! So obviously, the more clients and websites you have, the more affordable this web hosting becomes. In case you were wondering how to host 100 websites, well, you need to get many web hosting clients, and I wrote a guide that might help you.

Hostinger review conclusion

I would say Hostinger is a great solution provider that’s been in the industry (under different names) since 2004. The Hostinger brand was created in 2011. Their prices are affordable compared to other industry leaders, but with any additional discounts such as the Black Friday offer, it becomes a no-brainer. Who should really look into this offer? Let’s say you have a personal website, money-making blog, or small to a medium company website. Also if you are a web designer managing dozens of websites for your clients, you should check it out as well!