Hostinger Reviews and Expert Opinion

Now, at the time, there weren’t that many hosting providers out there, and the ones that fit into my budget were generally lacking many of the features I actually ended up needing and forced my hand into paying more to get the full experience.

As such, today, we’ll be looking into Hostinger, a hosting provider that offers monthly hosting for $0.99!?

I cannot even pay for parking for 99 cents, so it genuinely piqued my curiosity, and I just had to test out each part of it to see if it actually delivered on its promises.

Now, obviously, you have more expensive packages, and these are only this price when you get a 48-month subscription, with it being $2.99 a month when you renew it after the first purchase; however, that is still a low cost, even by my standards at the time when my journey began. So even if this hosting provider is 50% of what it claims to be, this is a sweet deal that cannot be missed; as such, let us begin.

Finding Value in the Bargain Bin

When we discuss Hostinger, the elephant in the room is the fact that it is literally one of the cheapest options out there when it comes to web hosting, and not many other companies out there, especially top of the line ones come even close to having such a cheap price tag.

While this offer may seem too good to be true, the reality of the matter is that, if you want these prices, you must commit to annual plans on Hostinger, which means that once they get you, you’re staying with them for quite a long time.

Of course, this sounds brilliant; not only are you getting cheap hosting, but you won't have to look for alternatives anytime soon, right? This is the case if the service is actually good, to begin with, and this is due to the fact that the services in question live up to your expectations.

Think about it, what are you looking for, fast speeds, high processing power, huge bandwidth, a large amount of ram?

As a beginner, you probably are not quite sure how much of this you might need, so the obvious decision in this case to make would be to start off with the cheapest plan and work your way up if you ever need to make an upgrade.

Keep in mind that as you move up the pricing ladder, you won’t have a deal that is quite as solid as the sign-up offers, so with that out of the way, let’s dig deep inside of the world of Hostinger.

hPanel

From the very second you sign up for an account, and purchase a plan, you are greeted by the hPanel.

Here you have a variety of sections, including:

• Home
• Hosting
• Emails
• Domains
• Servers
• SSL
• Website Builder
• Billing
• Help
• Store

We will take a deep dive into each of these features individually, so sit back, relax, and get yourself a drink because this will be one long adventure. Hopefully, by the end of it, you will know if this less-than-a-parking-ticket hosting plan is right for you! If not, you can always go out and park somewhere, that’s cool too, go do some shopping have the best life, but be well protected.

When it comes to comparing hPanel vs cPanel, cPanel offers simplicity, software installers, many hosting providers use it and it has a tested control panel, however, it has a high cost associated with it, while hPanel offers a great graphical interface, is convenient to use, is simple to use and allows you to upgrade the control panel. The disadvantage here is that not as many hosting providers offer it, so it has fewer users.

Hosting

On the hosting tab, you need to set up the Single Shared Hosting.

To do this, click on “Set Up”.

Here you will be greeted by a lady and her cat. My cat jumped in on my laptop the moment he noticed this cat; thank you, Hostinger, for raising my bonding level with Bob.

You can either Buy a Domain Name or use an Existing Domain name that you have purchased on another registrar on the subsequent menu. Keep in mind that some packages of Hostinger even come with a domain name free of charge, so you can always select that package from the ground up if this is your first website.

Enter your website address if you have one, or create a new one, and click on next.

Here you can build a new website, migrate your pre-existing website, or start from scratch.

Here you will be asked if you have the experience, or if you have ever built a website in the past. Now, since I’m obviously an expert, I’ll click on the “It’s my first-time” section just to see what they’d teach people who aren’t.

Now, apparently, Hostinger has its own website builder, which is quite new, but the chances are high that you are building your website in WordPress to begin with, so I’m just going to select WordPress for the time being. The good thing about this is that your choices are varied, even if you are inexperienced, so give both options a shot, who knows, Hostinger might have re-invented website building.

If you are uninitiated, these are WordPress themes, and the specific ones that Hostinger recommends based on their own network and server speed for optimal results, or maybe they are from theme manufacturers who’ve paid to be on this list. We’ll never know, and it doesn’t even matter as you can always change them, but for the time being, just pick one that you like.

That’s all there is to it, click on “Finish Setup” and you are good to go.

Let the virtual workers known as bots do the heavy lifting for you.

Once it has been installed, you can go to the “Manage” section on the right side of the screen.

Here you’ll have multiple menus.

WordPress

Here you’ll have access to Dashboard and Plugins.

Beginning with the dashboard, we have:

• Force HTTPS
• Flush Cache
• Maintenance mode
• WordPress Updates
• Speed & Security including WebArx, LiteSpeed, SSL Certificate and Cloudflare.
• You can even install another WordPress.

Litespeed offers a lot more speed to the website when comparing it to alternatives such as Apache and W3 Total Cache, and after deploying it, you will see noticeable performance improvements. Many of the WordPress websites saw an improvement, and the LiteSpeed engineers even created their own LiteSpeed Cache Plugin for WordPress. It even features SSL/TLC, QUIC and integrated security features that are enabled by default.

You also have a clear view of the PHP Version as well as the version of WordPress.

On the Plugins tab, you can review your installed and active plugins.

By default, you’ll have a few installed, but you can enable or disable them as you see fit. It’s all nice and cozy.

Order

Here you have access to Order Usage, Renew, Upgrade and Set Main Domain.

On order usage, you can review the CPU usage, the Memory usage, the Processes and the Entry Processes.

On the Renew tab, you can renew your subscription.

Upgrade, as the name might imply, gives you the chance to upgrade your package. You can upgrade to a better, shared hosting service, or even a dedicated hosting service.

Each of them has its own benefits, and this decision is ultimately based on your website content, function and level of traffic.

Once you click on “View Plans”, you can see all of your upgrade options.

On the shared plans page, you have:

On the Cloud Plans, you have:

On the set main domain, well, you can set your new main domain. This feature has a simple function, and that is to re-name your hosting account name. It has no influence on the website files themselves.

Accounts

On the accounts section, you have two options, including Details and Change Password.

The details section showcases your nameservers, website details, e-mail details, and file upload details.

Change password, as the name might imply, simply allows you to change your password. It’s that simple.

Emails

Emails are where the fun begins! Here you have email accounts, email forwarders, autoresponders, Edit Mx Record options, and Mail Service Control.

Now, when it comes to email accounts, you can purchase a business email subscription that allows you to create up to 50 emails for $0.99 and offers email storage of up to 10GB per account.

All you have to do is enter the email and password.

Email forwarders re-send an email message delivered to one email address to another email address. You can create up to one forwarder.

Email autoresponders, as the name might imply are in a way scripts that are automatically sent to people who send you an email. You need to create an email account before setting up an autoresponder.

An MX or a mail exchanger entry tells a client what server receives a mail sent to a domain name. To get this email delivered to another server, you need to edit the current pre-existing MX record by using this form.

When it comes to mail service control, you can enable managed Sendmail services and managed SMTP services.

Domains

You have the subdomains, parked domains, add website section, redirects section, and Cloudflare section.

On the subdomains tab, you can create a new subdomain.

On the parked domains section, you can park a new domain on top of your pre-existing one.

On the add website section, you can add a new website, by adding the domain name and password.

On the redirects page, you can create a redirect.

For those who are uninitiated, a redirect page is a way through which you can send users as well as search engines to a different URL from the one they originally requested. This uses a 301 redirect type.

Finally, you have the Cloudflare control section. Here you can speed up your website and protect it against DDoS attacks for a fee.

Website

On the website section, you have:

• The auto installer
• The import website function
• The Migrate Website function
• The Error Pages
• The Learn to Code Section
• The SEO Toolkit

Auto installer enables you to automatically install WordPress, WooCommerce, Joomla and other CMS services for your website.

The import website function allows you to import your website from a previously downloaded archive from another web hosting provider.

The Migrate Website function allows you to migrate your previous website onto the Hostinger hosting service. You can do so by requesting a hosting migration.

Here you have a few migration options, including:

WordPress Migration

cPanel Migration

Other Control Panel

Other FTP migration

This offers you as a user a lot of flexibility when it comes to migration.

Error pages showcase which of your pages are showcasing users some kind of an error so you can resolve them.

Learn to Code is an option in collaboration with BitDegree.org that teaches you everything you need to know about coding as a service.

The SEO toolkit helps you discover and manage your website through Search Engine Optimization.

Files

The files tab has a file manager, a backups function and FTP accounts section.

The file management section allows you to manage the files within your website, this includes both the system files as well as the individual images and documents attached to the website itself.

Backups allow you, as the name might imply, to generate backups and restore previously generated backups; this is an excellent feature for people who want to try out new WordPress plugins and experiment without the risk of breaking their website completely.

FTP accounts allow you to set up multiple accounts. FTP accounts are used to upload and manage files on the website.

Databases

When it comes to the Databases section, you have MySQL Databases, phpMyAdmin, and Remote MySQL.

You can create a new MySQL Database here, and once you do so, it will appear on List Current MySQL Databases and Users, where you will be able to manage it freely.

phpMyAdmin allows you to access the database, and you do so by clicking on Enter phpMyAdmin.

Before you can connect to these databases remotely, the IP working through remote connections needs to be allowed on your account’s side. To allow this remote connection, you need to access your hPanel and navigate to the Remote MySQL menu in the Databases section and create a remote database connection.

You will see the IP (IPv4 or IPv6) field here, and you need to fill in the IP addresses from which the remote connection will end up being initiated. You can connect from any IP by clicking on the “Any Host” checkbox.

Advanced

Advanced has a multitude of features, including DNS Zone Editor, PHP Configuration, Cron Jobs, PHP Info, Cache Manager, GIT and SSL.

The DNS Zone Editor allows you to quickly and efficiently change DNS records for your domains.

DNS servers create DNS records in order to provide important information about a domain or hostname, specifically the current IP address. The most common DNS record is the Address Mapping Record which stores a hostname and its corresponding IPv4 addresses.

PHP Configuration essentially allows you to change the PHP Version, the PHP extensions and the PHP options.

The Cron Job menu allows you to create a new Cron Job.

A cron job is used for scheduling tasks to run on the server and they are most commonly used for automating system maintenance and administration.

PHP Info shows you everything you need to know about your PHP configuration.

Cache Manager, as the name implies, manages your cache in order to speed up your website. Here you can enable automatic cache. This improves SEO.

The Git Menu allows you to create a new repository and deploy an application directly from the public Git repository.

The SSL menu allows you to set up your SSL certificate, either through an automatic setup or through a Custom SSL.

Other

The Other tab gives you access to:

• Password Project Directories
• IP Manager
• Hotlink Protection
• Folder Index Manager
• Fix File Ownership
• Activity Log
• Reset Account
• Deactivate Account

Password Protect Directories allow you to keep your directories secure, by setting up an individual password to each and every directory.

Simply select the directory you want to protect and enter both the username and the password.

The IP Manager allows you to allow IP addresses as well as block IP addresses.

Hotlink Protection allows you to prevent other websites from directly linking to files and pictures on your website. They will only be able to link to a file or an image that you do not specify.

The Folder Index Manager allows you to set up the indexing type.
This can be:

• Default system settings
• Fancy indexing (filename and description)
• No index
• Standard indexing (filename only)

The Fix File Ownership menu allows you to resolve any issues with editing or deleting files that you might have accidentally deleted from the public_html folder.

The Activity Log menu allows you to see what has occurred within the server throughout a certain time frame.

Reset Account, as the name obviously implies, allows you to reset your account. Here you can also stop running processes. This will allow you to refresh your account with default settings and remove all your account files. This change is permanent.

The Deactivate account many gives you the opportunity to cancel your hosting account either immediately or at your expiration date.

Emails

Now, when it comes to the email plan, it is typically generated with your hosting, however, you can create a new email plan for, you guessed it, $0.99 a month! Hostinger is literally the dollar store when you think about it.

What I love here is that you have plenty of options on the sidebar. This allows for easy navigation. Here you can set up email accounts, email forwarders, autoresponders, edit MX records and access the mail service control center.

In simpler words, you have everything you might initially need, and you are getting a solid deal for a dollar.

Now, the domains section showcases your domains, you can also transfer a domain here, get help, or even get a new domain. That’s all there is to it, so we’ll move along to servers.

VPS Servers

Okay, so Virtual Private Servers are essentially servers that act as virtual machines which are sold as a service by an internet hosting service.

These virtual private servers mimic a dedicated server environment within a shared server. VPS hosting is popular due to the lower costs associated with it when comparing it to dedicated hosting. It also provides better reliability, security, and performance than shared hosting.

This is all fine and dandy, but since we only have a dollar to work with, we’ll be carrying on for the time being. I can buy an entire burger for $3.95, you’re not taking away my burger, Hostinger!

However, if you notice that your website is getting quite a bit of traffic, and you do require that extra horsepower, “Plan 1” offers a solid deal on the cheap side, giving you a single 2.4GHz core processor, 1 GB of ram and a 20 GB SSD with 1000 GB bandwidth.

SSL Certificates

SSL certificates essentially enable your website to go from HTTP to HTTPS. Don’t worry if that sounded confusing, it did to me as well. But, to understand it on a deeper level, an SSL certificate is a data file that is hosted on the website’s server. These make SSL/TLC encryption possible and they contain a website’s public key, its identity, and other information.

Okay, so all of this in simple language means that it won't be in plain text when you transfer data from your pc to the website, but it will actually end up being encrypted, and nobody can understand it as a result. This is excellent if you want to make an account or a purchase on a website, as it keeps your credit card information and passwords secure. So the next time you want to get something online, check if it has an SSL certificate. Oh and yeah, definitely enable this on your site if you want to be trustworthy.

Once you click on “Setup”, click on “Install SSD”.

Bada-bing you are now secure, Hostinger makes things that simple.

Website Builder

This is a custom-build website builder from the Hostinger company known as Zyro.

It offers a wide range of features, makes website building simple, and is very similar to drag and drop website builders out there such as Wix and Squarespace. If you are a fan of these, go right ahead and use them, as it’s a nice little feature you get for your buck.

Pros and Cons of using Hostinger

When it comes to the Pros of using Hostinger:

• You get a free domain name with certain packages
• It has a low-cost option starting at $0.99
• You get a wide range of features for the cost

When it comes to the Cons of using Hostinger:

• Slower than the average response time for their support team
• Average performance results when it comes to speed
• Uptime that is not as reliable as the competition

Pricing

When it comes to the pricing, you have plenty of packages, all of which offer different goodies.

• You have the Shared Web Hosting section where you can buy a single plan for $0.99/month, a premium plan for $1.99/month, and a business plan for $3.99/month.

• You have the Cloud Hosting Plans section where you can buy a Startup plan for $9.99/month, a Professional plan for $18.99/month, and a Global plan for $69.99/month.

• You have the VPS Hosting plans section where you can buy VPS1 for $3.95/month, the VPS2 plan for $8.95/month, the VPS3 plan for $12.95/month, and the VPS4 plan for $15.95/month.

• Then you have the Windows VPS Hosting plans that start at $26.00/month for Windows 1, $62.00/month for Windows 2, $120.00/month for Windows 3, and $250.00/month for Windows 4.

• Email hosting starts at $0.99/month for the business plan and remains at $2.49/month for the enterprise plan.

Summarizing Hostinger

Now, I’m fully aware that this review was a mouthful to read, to say the least, but if you made it this far, congratulations, you yourself are on the path of becoming a host service expert.

Hostinger is the perfect hosting provider for people who are just starting out and are on a budget. I wished for this kind of service when I was starting out, and from my perspective, you are genuinely getting a lot for your money here. It offers decent speeds and knowledgeable support staff. However, you can experience some downtime, especially if your website gets high in traffic and your package is not up to the standard it requires.

In my opinion, this hosting provider deserves to be experienced by people who are genuinely warry of their budget and expenses and serves to be a great starting point for people who are, for the very first time, entering the world of online website hosting.