Homestead is a well established hosting company that offers customers a wide range of different features and hosting packages to choose from. They are also one of the oldest continuously running hosting companies, being founded way back in 1996. Overall, they have done a good job in keeping up with the times and making sure all their servers and other equipment are able to support high end websites.
The site is primarily tailored for entry level to midsized websites. Specifically, they offer a nice website building tool that can help people create nice looking sites for virtually any use. They also have free e-commerce tools and stock images that can help build a site up well.
Uptime & Reliability
Reliable hosting with few interruptions
Like most web hosting companies, Homestead offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. They have had some reliability issues in the past, with customers complaining of slow response times on their pages or even 404 errors showing up. Overall, however, customers are generally happy with the hosting services that are provided and don’t run into these types of issues.
Homestead has shown that they are committed to keeping their servers and other technology up to date, which will help ensure they are able to provide reliable hosting for their customers long into the future.
The simple fact that they have been around since 1996 is a testament to how reliable they are in a broader sense of the word. Many webmasters want to avoid working with an unstable company, and if that is the case, Homestead is an excellent option.
Features
Offering many great features to get you started
Homestead offers some excellent features for all their clients. Most of them are primarily focused on those who are looking to create new sites. For example, their advanced site building tools will help you to create a custom site, even if you don’t know any coding. They also offer a number of pre-built sites that you can use and customize to your own needs.
Included with these tools are over a million professional quality stock images, free marketing tools, e-commerce integration and much more.
When looking specifically at the hosting aspects, you will be getting a high quality hosting company that is able to meet all your needs for entry level to mid-level sites. They don’t offer the cutting edge hosting servers that some business class customers may want, but that is not the audience they are targeting.
Support
Excellent entry level support. Strong technical support.
Homestead is well known for going the extra mile for their clients when it comes to helping them get up and running well. In addition to providing assistance with website transfers and initial setup, they also have a good team of people to help you to learn their webpage design tools.
They have premium phone and live chat support from 6AM – 5:30 PM PST during the week and 7AM-4PM on weekends. They also have an easy to use ticketing system for 24 hour per day technical issues.
Pricing
Fair prices for nice services
Entry level hosting packages come with a 30-day free trial, so you can give this company a try with absolutely no risk. They also include a lot of great products, such as the royalty free images in this base price.
As you move up to their more robust hosting packages the prices will remain in line with industry averages for the services they provide.
Summary
Perfect choice for starting new sites
When looking strictly at the hosting services that are provided, there isn’t much that really makes this company shine. Their big benefits come in all the little extras that they are able to provide, including the pre-built sites, website building tools and more. Since most of these perks are focused specifically on newer websites, this hosting is an excellent option for anyone who is looking to start a new website.
The fact that they have been around for such a long time is a good signal, and makes this an easier choice for anyone who is looking to work with a stable company.
Pros:
- Established company since 1996
- Excellent suite of site building tools
- Premium support services
- E-Commerce tools available
- 30 day free trial
Cons:
- Limited number of web pages permitted in each package
- Some history of slow load times & 404 errors
- Restrictive storage
- Domain not included with entry level package