As an experienced hosting expert and website owner, I’ve worked with plenty of hosting providers, but this time I’m reviewing Hostpapa. In this article, I will give you my honest thoughts on the performance, pricing, features, customer support, and value for money offered by them.
HostPapa, established in 2006 by visionary Jamie Opalchuk in Canada, has since burgeoned into a global hosting powerhouse. Operating across regions such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, and Asia, encompassing countries from Germany to Singapore and beyond, HostPapa’s expansive reach is evident. As of 2024, with a proven track record, they proudly cater to over 500,000 websites, marking their indelible stamp of excellence across the hosting realm.
From shared and WordPress hosting to VPS and reseller services, HostPapa offers a wide variety of hosting options. HostPapa has plans to suit any digital need, whether you’re a beginning blogger, an expanding e-commerce company, or a web firm seeking for dependable resale choices.
HostPapa has received commendable feedback, earning a rating of 4.3 stars from 591 reviews on Hostadvice and an excellent 4.8 stars from 1,489 reviews on Trustpilot. Their A+ rating on the BBB serves as additional evidence of their commitment to quality and client happiness. Such recognition amply demonstrates HostPapa’s unwavering dedication to providing premium services and winning over customers.
In conclusion, HostPapa stands as a formidable choice in the hosting realm, combining reliability, affordability, and diverse plan options. I wholeheartedly endorse them for anyone looking to elevate their online presence.
Pros
Cons
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | OS | Panel | Number of Sites | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| START | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.95 | Details | |
| Plus | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 10 | $6.95 | Details | |
| PRO | 200 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $6.95 | Details | |
| Ultra | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $14.95 | Details | |
| WP Start | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.95 | Details | |
| WP Plus | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 10 | $5.95 | Details | |
| WP Pro | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $5.95 | Details | |
| WP Ultra | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $12.95 | Details |
While many web hosting providers struggle with keeping a website live, HostPapa Hosting keeps its promise. During the testing period, they maintained an incredible average of 99.98% uptime. And as mentioned earlier, you can track the incidents or downtimes with a single click.
Another thing I liked is the speed of HostPapa Hosting’s servers all around the globe. The conclusions from in-depth testing, including several US, European, and Canadian locations, are an average of a great 121.7 ms.
What I like especially about HostPapa Hosting is its consistency. They maintain their average, with no short-term hiccups or significant variations.
No matter how good of features a web hosting provider claims, what makes one superior is the level of support. I had an option to contact them during my sign-up process, and I was delighted with their responsiveness and expertise. As explained earlier, they resolved my issue in less than ten minutes, which is especially fast.
If you click on My Support in the Menu, you can find all past discussions with the support team.
As you can see, the site gives you the ticket number, support, subject, date opened, last update, and current status.
You can also open a new ticket to the Sales, Support, or Billing department. Here, you need to include your name, email address, subject, and details. Also, there’s an option to attach a file.
The Welcome Emails provide copies of everything you received during the sign-up process for HostPapa services.
I especially liked HostPapa Hosting’s Knowledge Base, consisting of over 2,690 Articles subdivided into 75 Categories. They can assist you in all you need with the tool, such as registering a new domain or all you need to know about SSL and similar.
Next to the Knowledge Base, you can also find the News on HostPapa Hosting’s blog. At last, there is the Support section.
You can choose to contact HostPapa Hosting through Phone, Mail, Email, or Fax.
They provide phone numbers for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Europe, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, or the United States.
The options for Mail consist of Australia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, or the United States.
You can send Fax to Belgium, Canada, Europe, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.
As I have already put their email option to the test, I went for the live chat option this time. The green window is positioned in the bottom right corner.
Here, you can choose whether you need Technical Support or you have a Sales-related question. Once you enter your name, email, question, and domain name, you can start the chat.
As surprising as it sounds, I got support in less than a minute. My Support Agent was friendly and knowledgeable. He instantly provided me with the needed information.
As usual, I asked for a refund. It truly helps me determine how a web hosting provider can handle a request, accept a critic, and stand true to their claims (in this case, the refund policy).
Essentially, the support agent has provided me with a guide from their Knowledge Base. It explains in detail how to cancel a HostPapa service, providing a link to their “Refund and Cancellation Policy” documentation.
To get a refund, you need to go to the My Services section. From there, you need to find your Domain and click on Details. Once you do so, you will see the orange button Request Cancellation.
At this point, you need to select the services you wish to cancel and provide a reason for your doings. Also, once you check the boxes in the Web Hosting section, HostPapa will open an additional window where you need to choose when to cancel. You can either cancel immediately or at the end of the term.
Once I confirmed my cancellation, I got the following information.
HostPapa Hosting takes security seriously. Their servers come with enhanced security features, firewalls, and intrusion detection. What’s more, all hosting is secured with a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. As part of their proactive security offer, you can also find DDoS attack prevention and responses, RAID-10 redundancy, network monitoring, brute force detection, and more.
As mentioned before, they don’t hesitate to add on security at different user experience points. You can receive a verification for your card as I did. Also, you can add security questions to protect your account further.
In the sign-up process, you can also add Automated Website Backups or Power Website Security. But you can also choose to opt these features out.
HostPapa Hosting also offers Automated Website Backup, starting at $35.88 a year. Keep in mind that you might encounter a discount on top of this offer.
The HostPapa Automated Website Backup comes with the following features:
As you are well aware, there are many web hosting providers on the market. You are the one that needs to choose the one best suited for your business needs.
Here’s what makes HostPapa Hosting different and valuable:
As soon as you enter HostPapa’s website, it will warmly greet you with a limited discount offer. I especially loved this idea, as first impressions always matter.
It’s true that these limited deals eventually end. But worry not, the team always comes up with a new one. Chances are, you will always stumble upon an exciting offer to take advantage of.
In general, hosting providers provide significant discounts for all first-time users. However, they usually come attached to one- or two-year term plans. The rule of thumb is, the longer the period, the better the discount.
To get a grasp of what I am saying, let’s see what was on promotion when I entered the site. HostPapa offered me up to 74% discount on the Shared Hosting and WordPress Hosting plans (here you can see more WordPress hosting providers) If I quantify this deal, it produced starting prices of $3.95 and $5.96 per month, respectively, which is not bad at all.
As mentioned before, HostPapa offers several types of hostings. Still, I decided to go for Web Hosting, as it’s the most basic one. Of course, pricier plans provide enhanced features. And it’s entirely up to your needs and preferences whether you decide to invest further.
Once you enter the Web Hosting category, you can go in two directions, leading to the same result. You can either scroll a bit down to see the plans or click on “Get Started Now.”
Either way, you will find the three plans, Starter, Business, and Business Pro.
With the applied discount, the Starter Plan and the Business Plan are the same prices. However, these prices will differ on renewal. So, it would be best not to rush your decision at this point. Instead, identify what your business truly needs in the longer term.
You can spot differences in the number of websites and email addresses, certificates, amount of SSD Web Space, and additional features offered in each plan.
For instance, the Started Plan (which I will be using in this review) comes with a maximum cap of hosting two websites, 100 GB of SSD Web Storage, and 100 email addresses. So, if you need more, it would be best to choose either the Business or Business Pro plan instead.
If you click on the arrow next to “Server location: United States” on any plan and scroll down, you’ll get even more details.
Here, you can choose your billing term for 12, 24, or 36 months. As expected, the latest comes with the best discount, but it requires commitment and a higher initial investment. What I didn’t like here is that I couldn’t purchase a 1-month plan.
Depending on your location and target region, you can also change the server location to Europe or Canada.
Finally, there is the “Add these website essentials” section.
If price is not your primary concern, you can also get some additional features to improve your service.
One thing to look out for here is that the first two are checked by default. So, if you don’t want to add the features to your purchase, make sure to uncheck the boxes.
Now, let’s see what HostPapa Hosting has to offer.
The HostPapa Hosting team developed this feature to protect you from hacks, infections, or Google security notices. With trained security experts available 24/7, you will receive proactive monitoring, advanced CDN, and real-time alerts of potential vulnerabilities. Their ultimate goal is to provide you with a fully operational site.
As the name suggests, HostPapa Hosting offers automated website backup for all web files, databases, and emails with a single click.
The SSL Certificate serves as a guarantee to your visitors that they are on a secure site. It also ranks you in Google’s Chrome browser as a safe domain.
The last is probably the most interesting add-on of them all. The PapaCare+ feature ensures your priority support and ongoing expert advice at all times. With this enhanced support level, the team aims to improve your website’s performance and security.
If you have skills or experience in this niche, you might not need this added support. However, if you are a beginner, it might as well come in handy.
I genuinely like this Menu because you can always track your order. There is a detailed report on your primary plan and all added essentials on the right side of the screen.
As you can see, I went for the 12-month plan and turned all add-ons off. I wanted to go as low as possible with the price to test how it works first.
Once you click on the orange button “Next Step” you will get to Domain Selection.
Here, you get a new domain or use one you already own. I’ve been in this industry for a while, so I have a domain that I can use. That’s why I went for the second option and transferred my existing domain name to HostPapa.
On the next and final Menu, the Account Setup, you need to enter your account details.
HostPapa Hosting requires your First, Last, and Company Name, Country, State, Address, City, Postal/Zip Code, Email Address, and Phone Number.
Once you enter all this information, you will get to the Payment information. At this point can use your credit card or pay through a PayPal account.
You can also use a promo code. Once you fill all this up, you can place your order and begin your hosting adventure. HostPapa Hosting will greet you with the following screen.
Click on Exit.
One thing I would like to mention is the unique email I received upon signing up. To be clear, I really liked it!
I used my sister’s card to pay for the service. As it’s the end of the month, I’ve run out of funds on mine. So, I didn’t think it was a big deal. But HostPapa Hosting certainly did.
When I followed the link provided in the email, the camera on my laptop automatically opened. Instead of wasting my time taking a photo of my card, I just showed it to the camera. And the process was done.
I was impressed both by their effectiveness in detecting fraud and the efficiency of the verification process. Other providers don’t usually take these extra steps for better precaution.
Once I submitted the documents, I got this screen. They received my submission, which was fast.
Still, I had to wait a few hours before actually getting to set things up and use HostPapa Hosting.
At first, they didn’t activate my account. So, I decided to contact their support team in the morning. Fortunately, they were highly responsive and resolved my issue in less than 10 minutes.
After this conversation, my account was approved, and I could log in. That wasn’t the end of the security features.
When I entered my Client ID and Password, HostPapa Hosting took me to the following screen.
You can set up security questions for account authorization and the prevention of fraudulent activity.
As soon as you log in to HostPapa Hosting, you will find the Menu below the logo. It’s a user-friendly interface that is especially easy to navigate. And you cannot not like this, even as an expert.
There is an option to change the language from English to French, Spanish, or German in the top right. You can also find your Contact Info, My Invoices, Change My Password, or Logout next to it.
In Contact Information, you can find and edit your Name, Address, Telephone Number, and Email. There are also options regarding the payment method, adding users to your account, changing your password or security questions, or associating your HostPapa dashboard with social media accounts.
While all Web Hosting Plans offer mobile-friendly, responsive design templates, the difference lies in the number of pages and e-commerce options. As the Enterprise plan provides for the best features, it comes at the highest price.
Let’s dig into the Website Builder’s features:
If you choose to add any of the plans, as explained in this section, HostPapa Hosting will once again require your payment information.
Now, back to the Menu.
My Billing once again takes you to the history of your invoices, where you can also print your files. My Profile, in turn, redirects you to your contact information, so there is no need to explain this again.
With all the testing I performed today, I can say that HostPapa Hosting stands true to its reputation. They have a vast amount of plans appropriate for different customer or business needs. They offer Web, WordPress, VPS, and Reseller Hosting, along with Online Store and PapaCare+.
I love that they prioritize security at all stages in their service. The second best thing, in my opinion, is the support team. Apart from it, the plans come with lots of unlimited and free add-ons. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, you can benefit from the easy-to-use or navigate cPanel and Website Builder.
On the other hand, HostPapa Hosting lacks speed-enhancing software and free automatic backups. Also, as a customer, you need to pay attention to the hosting provider not to add any features to your account.
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | OS | Panel | Number of Sites | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| START | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.95 | Details | |
| Plus | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 10 | $6.95 | Details | |
| PRO | 200 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $6.95 | Details | |
| Ultra | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $14.95 | Details | |
| WP Start | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.95 | Details | |
| WP Plus | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 10 | $5.95 | Details | |
| WP Pro | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $5.95 | Details | |
| WP Ultra | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $12.95 | Details |
HostPapa Hosting is a competitive and eco-friendly web hosting provider. They have remarkably consistent 99.99% uptime, fast servers, enhanced security features, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
No, HostPapa Hosting is a Canadian-based, privately-owned company. Still, they provide hosting services globally, including Europe, Australia, and the US.
HostPapa is a privately-owned hosting provider located in Canada. It offers Web Hosting, WordPress Hosting, Online Store Hosting, VPS Hosting, Reseller Hosting, PapaCare+, Website Builder, and Do-It-For-Me services worldwide.
Answer a few simple questions and find the perfect solution for you!
Start Hosting Search
