Brightbox Reviews and Expert Opinion

Reliability

Secure and Reliable Load Balancing

Brightbox provide a load balancing system which helps the performance and reliability of your server, so you don’t have to worry about being bombarded with server requests or poor service. They also offer a flexible backup schedule, where you can choose to backup twice daily if you need to with 6 month retention.

Flexible restores are also available by contacting the helpdesk at any time. Redundancy power systems are in place with 24/7 monitoring on the network and server infrastructure.

Features

Plenty of Features and Additional Services

Brightbox aren’t the cheapest out there but for a Ruby on Rails setup they offer good value for money. The Nano plan offers 384MB of RAM, 10GB storage and 100GB bandwidth each month. If you are looking for a little more room then the small or medium plans provide 1.5GB and 3GB or RAM, and 30GB or 40GB of storage.

The top tier plan comes with 6.1GB of RAM, 50GB of storage and 1600GB of bandwidth.

All plans offered by Brightbox comes with Passenger and New Relic.

Support

Everything You Need From a Company

Brightbox offer varying service levels dependent on what you are paying, for a complete hands-on-service you will be expected to pay up, but there general support is good enough.

A blog, Wiki, and FAQ section are all present in the main navigation, along with a contact page which provides you with a direct email address, telephone number for UK customers and a postal address. You can also login and place a support ticket if you need to.

The great thing about the support is that all agents specialise in Ruby on Rails so you can’t get much better.

• 24/7 support
• Direct Email, Phone and Address
• Knowledge Base
• Ticket System

• No Live Chat
• No Social Help

Pricing

Slightly Higher Than Your Average

There are a total of 5 plans that you can choose from which range from Nano right up to Large, and each comes with a different price. There are no hidden fees, setup fees, and you can cancel, upgrade or downgrade at any time you want.

You can either pay monthly or yearly, and the yearly options usually offer a decent discounts for you and you can often see yourself saving anything from £60-£70 to hundreds. The cheapest plan, the Nano, fall in at £39 per month whilst the largest plan is offered at £379 per month (or £315 per month when taken out over a year).

Each plan also comes with a 30-day money back guarantee should you not be happy with the level of service you have been offered.

User-Friendly

A Well Thought Out Site

In general the Brigthbox website is nicely laid out and you can navigate to any section without issue. The products on offers, features, tool  sets and prices are all presented well, but do note that the price you see on the plans doesn’t include VAT, which for most VAT registered businesses isn’t a massive issue but for some setups you may want this to be a bit clearer.

You will also have full control of your server environment, with better redundancy and root access so you can install and tweak anything you need without worrying about loss of power.

Remember though, that Brightbox is for Ruby on Rails.

Summary

The Perfect Solution for Ruby on Rails

It’s hard to compare Brightbox with most of the hosting reviews we have here at Host Advice because they are a specialist hosting company for Ruby on Rails. If Ruby on Rails hosting is the type of hosting you are looking for then you will fit right in.

Support options are detailed and you shouldn’t have any issues getting answers to questions, and with a tight and secure server setup that provides reliable and high-performance results, you can’t beat Brightbox.

Prices are on the high side, so if you are held back by budget restrictions then you might want to look elsewhere.

Pros

• Excellent Support
• 30-Day Money Back Guarantee
• Packed Full of Features and Tools
• Ruby on Rails Specialised

Cons

• Only for Ruby on Rails
• Slightly High in Price
• Missing Live Chat