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SiteGround

SiteGround Review

SiteGround is a leading WordPress hosting service provider. They're officially recommended hosting company by WordPress.org and offer automatic WordPress upgrades, built-in WP caching, CDN, one-click staging, and more. They are one of the few companies that provide location-specific hosting with 5 data centers globally.

Table of Contents
Overall
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Features
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Performance
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Support
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Ease of Use
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Pricing
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
FAQs
SiteGround FAQs
User Reviews
1,298 User Reviews
Overall Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Review: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

siteground-godaddy-hosting-alternatives

Having data centers in 3 continents, SiteGround provides superior site experience to your visitors regardless of their geographical location. SiteGround is one of the few top hosting brands that’s not been acquired by Endurance International Group, a leading web hosting company.

SiteGround stacks up against the competition by providing the latest speed technologies and proactive security practices with all their hosting plans. They offer enhanced performance with NGINX, HTTP/2, PHP7 and free CDN.

They also offer optimized solutions for different open source applications including WordPress and Magneto.

If you need a great hosting service, which is stable, secure and super fast, SiteGround is the best choice.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $9.95 / mo. but our users pay $3.95 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
Cheap Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Cheap Hosting Review

siteground cheap hosting

SiteGround offers cheap hosting, also known as shared hosting, which is the best option for users who are just starting out and need an affordable hosting solution. With cheap hosting, many websites will share resources of the same server, which makes the cost low.

Although it’s the SiteGround’s cheapest hosting option available, there’s nothing to be concerned since your files and data will be secure in the server.

SiteGround offers 3 different shared hosting plans: Startup, GrowBig, and GoGeek.

The Startup plan allows you to host only one website. With all other plans, you can host multiple websites.

With every SiteGround cheap hosting plan, you get dozens of one-click installers for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. that help you quickly start a website.

The GoGeek plan offers geeky advanced features like PCI compliant server, WordPress and Joomla staging, and one-click git repo creation.

SiteGround doesn’t have VPS hosting plans, but they do offer cloud hosting, which is an in-between solution for sites that outgrows shared hosting but can’t afford to have a dedicated server hosting.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $9.95 / mo. but our users pay $3.95 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
Dedicated Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Dedicated Hosting Review

siteground dedicated

SiteGround offers premium managed dedicated hosting for resource heavy websites or the ones that attract extremely high traffic. With a managed dedicated server hosting plan, you lease an entire server for your sole use so you can choose the equipment such as RAM, hard drive and processor. Indeed, it costs more than other hosting types because an entire server is allocated for your sole use.

SiteGround offers 3 different managed dedicated hosting plans for you: Entry server, Power server, and Super power server.

Entry Server uses Intel Xeon E3-1230 SSD, 16 GB RAM and 480 GB SSD storage.
Power Server uses Intel Xeon E3-1270 SSD, 32 GB RAM and 960 GB SSD storage.
Super Power Server uses 2 x Intel Xeon E5-2630 SSD, 64 GB RAM and 2 x 960GB SSD storage.

You’ll be allowed to choose a data center location when subscribing to a dedicated hosting plan.

All hosting plans are fully managed, which means SiteGround will keep its software up-to-date, monitor your machine 24/7 and react immediately in case of an issue.

WordPress Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround WordPress Hosting Review

siteground

SiteGround offers WordPress hosting solutions for users who want to host their site on a managed hosting environment. There are no significant differences between shared and managed WordPress hosting plans, except your site will be operated under a WordPress optimized ecosystem.

SiteGround is officially recommended WordPress hosting provider by WordPress.org.

With WordPress hosting, you’ll get an additional layer of protection from WordPress specific vulnerabilities. Your core WordPress and installed plugins will be automatically updated to prevent threats from any known vulnerabilities.

  • Free WordPress install with WP-CLI enabled
  • Auto WordPress updater
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Proactive security
  • Regular price $9.95 / mo. but our users pay $3.95 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
WooCommerce Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Empty   4.0 / 5.0

SiteGround WooCommerce Hosting Review

siteground woocommerce hosting review

If you want to set up an online store with WooCommerce but not sure about the hosting requirements you’ll need, you just have to choose a SiteGround WooCommerce hosting plan. With SiteGround’s WooCommerce hosting, you can quickly build an online store without having to install WordPress and WooCommerce on your account.

Just sign up for a WooCommerce hosting plan and launch your eCommerce store by logging into your WordPress dashboard. You’ll get all the essential tools including free SSL, Storefront theme preinstalled and hassle-free WordPress management.

You can choose a WooCommerce hosting plan for as low as $3.95 / mo.

  • WooCommerce + Storefront installed
  • Auto WordPress updater
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Proactive security
  • Regular price $9.95 / mo. but our users pay $3.95 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
Reseller Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star EmptyRating Star Empty   3.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Reseller Hosting Review

siteground reseller hosting

SiteGround’s reseller hosting is geared towards web designers and developers who want to maintain their clients’ website on a long term basis. With a reseller hosting plan, you get all the powerful tools you need to succeed in your reseller hosting business.

You can start as low as $42 per credit for a year and get special domain name deals.

To join the program, you just need to order 5 reseller credits. One credit is equivalent to 1-year hosting. When you purchase more credits in bulk, you’ll get high discounts. Since reseller credits never expire, you can use them anytime to launch or renew hosting accounts for your clients.

Best of all, with SiteGround’s reseller hosting, you get white labeled cPanel and private DNS upgrade.

  • Start by purchasing 5 reseller credits
  • 1 credit per activation
  • Reseller credit never expires
  • Special domain name deals
  • $42 / year / reseller credit
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
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DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
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DomainNil
Disk Space480 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
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Domain
Disk Space
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
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DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
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DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
Claim Special Offer »

Features

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround comes with a unique set of hosting features that help you create a blazing fast website with ease.

SiteGround Hosting Pros:

Let’s take a look at how SiteGround stacks up against the competition:

  • Choose your data center: Even with a shared hosting plan, you’ll be asked to choose your preferred data center. This way you can ensure your site is hosted on the servers that are closer to your audience geographically.
  • Amazing customer support: SiteGround is well-known for their superior customer support. Best of all, you don’t have to wait more than a few seconds for the next available operator because they overstaff all shifts, so there’s always someone to pick up.
  • Free auto daily backups: All plans come with automatic DAILY backups and they don’t charge for it.
  • Free Cloudflare CDN: Speed up your website with free Cloudflare CDN.
  • SSD storage: Instead of Hard Disk Drives (HDD), SiteGround uses Solid State Drive for storage. Since SSD doesn’t have moving parts, it’s proven to improve your site performance than a website that uses HDD storage.
  • Unmetered bandwidth: The bandwidth is unmetered meaning you’re not charged based on the bandwidth.

SiteGround Hosting Cons:

Here’re some limitations of SiteGround Hosting…

  • Expensive:: Compared to other hosting providers like Bluehost, SiteGround’s pricing is a bit expensive. However, SiteGround offers several unique features than Bluehost for faster page rendering.
  • Website transfer: Free website transfer is only offered with GrowBig or expensive plans. However, keep in mind that some hosting providers, like Bluehost, don’t even offer a free site transfer with any of their plans.
  • On-demand backup isn’t free: Automated daily backups is free with all hosting plans. However, on-demand backup is only free for GrowBig and GoGeek plans.

Performance

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Uptime Guarantee and Speed Tests

SiteGround ensures 99.9% uptime guarantee. Best of all, if you ever experience more than 0.1% downtime on a yearly basis, you will be compensated.

To test the performance of SiteGround’s hosting server for our SiteGround review, we’ve created a test site powered by WordPress, using the default Twenty Seventeen theme and uploaded some dummy content to mirror the production environment on our test site.

We conducted a few different speed tests on our SiteGround site using the following tools:

  • Pingdom
  • Load Impact
  • Bitcatcha

speed test siteground

According to Pingdom’s website speed test, our test site loads in less than a second for a server in Dallas, Texas. That’s faster than 95% of all tested sites.

Apart from Pingdom, we also used a testing tool called Load Impact to figure out how SiteGround handles visitors during a traffic surge. Load Impact sent some virtual users (VUs) to our site and gradually built up to 100 visitors at a time.

loadimpact-siteground

In the chart, you can find a blue line (VUs active) which shows the number of virtual users sent to our SiteGround site and a green line (VU load time) which represents how much time it would take to load a web page for a user.

SiteGround performed almost consistently except for a spike when there were 50 users on the site. It quickly recovered and page load time remained steadily low even with more users.

It’s worth noting that the site never went down during our speed test. Take a look at the report below.

siteground uptime

SiteGround Server Response Time

The content on your website has a huge influence on page loading time. For instance, if your site has too many images, it will take more time to load than a lightweight site. In fact, images account for most of the downloadable bytes in a typical site.

To get accurate results, instead of the analysis of page load time alone, we decided to test the actual server response time by entirely ignoring the content of our SiteGround site.

To track our SiteGround server response time, we used a tool known as Bitcatcha. Bitcatcha works differently from Pingdom.

Bitcatcha ignores the content of your page and records the page loading time from eight different global locations: New York, LA, London, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. The speed for each location is measured three separate times, and then the results are averaged.

response time siteground

From the result, it’s evident that SiteGround is the perfect choice if your target audience is mostly located in the United States. In the United States, the server responded in just fraction of a second. In all other locations, except Japan, the server responded within less than a second.

If your target audience is mostly located in Japan, it’s in your best interest to move your site to their Asia-Pacific data center for the best results.

Support

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Customer Support

Most hosting providers advertise excellent customer support, but SiteGround is the one who actually delivers it. SiteGround’s customer service team is well-known for their quick response time and resolving customer issues quickly.

SiteGround offers 24/7 support via 3 modes: tickets, live chat and phone.

With SiteGround, you don’t have to wait more than a few seconds for the next available operator. They also have extensive documentation that walks you through every aspect of web hosting with SiteGround. You can also find a webinar series where they share hands-on knowledge on the industry trends.

Ease of Use

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround allows you to manage your website and hosting account with cPanel.

They also offer dozens of one-click installer for popular website scripts such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

You’ll also get a basic drag and drop builder with every SiteGround hosting plan to create a website the way you want.

Pricing

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Pricing

SiteGround offers one of the most competitive prices in the industry for its level of service and performance.

To make it even better, they’re offering our users an exclusive discount if you use our SiteGround coupon code.

Here are some of the hosting plans offered by SiteGround.

PLANDISK SPACEBANDWIDTHPRICE
Shared Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.95 /mo.
WordPress Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.95 /mo.
Cloud Hosting Entry 40 GB 5 TB $80.00 / mo.
Dedicated Hosting Entry Server 480 GB 10 TB $269.00 / mo.
WooCommerce Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.95 /mo.
Reseller Hosting 10 GB Unmetered $42 / year / credit

FAQs

Having helped thousands of users choose a web hosting plan and start their website, we have answered just about every question you can think of. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about SiteGround.

Why should I choose SiteGround to host my site?

Below are a few features that make SiteGround hosting sets apart from its competitors:

Even with the basic shared hosting plan, you’ll get…

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Your files will be stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive), which doesn’t compromise on page speed and overall performance.
  • You’re allowed to choose from 5 different data-centers of SiteGround for the best performance.
  • Unlike most other hosting companies, SiteGround never hard sell hosting addons when you purchase a hosting account.

Which SiteGround plan should I get?

It depends on your hosting needs. If you’re just starting out, we recommend you to choose one of the SiteGround’s shared hosting plans. If you want to quickly launch a WordPress site without having to install WordPress manually, you may choose a WordPress hosting plan. If you’re after an online store powered by WooCommerce, you may choose one of their WooCommerce hosting plans designed to handle eCommerce websites.

Where are SiteGround servers located?

SiteGround has data-centers in five different locations:

  • Chicago, USA
  • London, UK
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Milan, Italy
  • Singapore

Can SiteGround handle high traffic?

SiteGround is capable of handling high traffic around the clock. They offer different hosting packages to their customers and it all depends on which plan you’re on. If your site is found to consume too many resources, they’ll request you to upgrade to a higher plan.

Can I upgrade my SiteGround plan later?

Of course! When you’re starting out, you can choose the most basic plan. As you grow, you can always upgrade to a higher plan per your needs.

Does SiteGround offer a month-to-month payment option?

SiteGround does not offer month-to-month payment options for their shared plans. For higher plans like dedicated servers, they do offer monthly payment options. However, it’s important to note that they offer significant discounts for longer-term deals.

Can I create subdomains in SiteGround?

Yes, you can easily create subdomains in SiteGround using the cPanel.

Do I have to register my domain name with SiteGround?

No, you do not have to register your domain with SiteGround. You can use Godaddy, NameCheap, or any of your preferred domain name registrar.

Does SiteGround offer free SSL?

Yes, SiteGround offers free SSL with all of their plans. eCommerce plans come with dedicated IPs and private SSL.

Do I need to purchase the addons that SiteGround offers me?

No, you do not need to purchase any addons at the time of purchase. Should you decide that you need them later, you can always add them to your account.

How good is SiteGround support?

SiteGround offers 24/7 support via 3 modes: Live chat, phone, and ticket. SiteGround is well-known for their speedy response. Unlike other hosting providers, they don’t make you wait more than a few seconds for the next available support agent. Their extensive documentation helps you walk you through every aspect of web hosting.

Can I create an ecommerce site on SiteGround?

Absolutely! SiteGround’s WooCommerce hosting plan comes pre-configured with all the things you need to start an online store.

SiteGround vs Other Hosts

Wondering how SiteGround stacks up against other web hosting companies? See our side-by-side comparison to see for yourself.

Final Recap

SiteGround is the best choice for users who need an excellent customer support without compromising on server performance and page speed. SiteGround offers SSD storage for all hosting plans as opposed to HDD like other companies, which has proven to boost the server’s performance.

On top of that, they spend a lot of resources on training, hiring, and managing a great support team. Unlike other web hosting service providers, SiteGround’s support team does not shy away from application-specific questions.

If you want a web hosting provider that keeps the perfect balance of latest technology and excellent customer support, SiteGround is the best bet for you.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $9.95 / mo. but our users pay $3.95 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
Claim Special Offer »

User Reviews

(1,298)
  1. I signed up with them recently. So far, so good but I haven’t really used the server yet. I did need to contact support for a couple minor issues in the setup, but they fixed it right away. I also saw why this forum is filled with people praising them for support. Basically after each live chat on their site (which they really do answer pretty quick), it gives you the standard options to rate and review the person you chatted with. The review portion redirects here. On one hand, kudos to them for allowing people to review on an open 3rd party forum. On the other hand, I’d like to hear more detailed experience from people on the host(s) I’m looking at. Until I chatted with them myself (pre-sale) and saw that they were redirecting post-chats here, I wondered if the gushing reviews here were not legit. There are quite a few hosts out there that are not above putting out (or paying people to put out) good things about them.

  2. Good point. Report back and let us know your experience. Maybe people just really really like the fact that they can get real help from a real person when they need it.

  3. hung in there with me until I got it. Not bad for the first day. Support so far so GOOD

  4. I just moved to SiteGround, it’s true, their staff is amazing. But I’m a little worried that every review is focused on their customer support.

    I didn’t had to go too much to my last providers customer support, because I didn’t needed to. I decided to change because of the speed of my sites.

    Should I be worried that everyone has to go to support for some kind of issue in their server :S with SiteGround?

  5. Just paid and waiting to be contacted about the transfers….never had customer service like that before…..1 word “Perfect”

    Very much looking forward to having a team of WP experts there to help me!

    My only slightly negative point, if you can even call it that is I was told the price without VAT…in the EU VAT is not standard, I dont mind paying it but would rather have known about it before….

    Looking forward to a happy and profitable relationship

    Marc –

  6. can i give six stars? awesome awesome support and far more competent tech support folks than my last provider. we just transferred from Fatcow and couldn’t be happier!

  7. I am a very happy SiteGround user. I wrote this article about them:

    Since I wrote that article in April 2015, I have moved most of my own sites to SiteGround as well as putting several new clients on SiteGround and my opinion has not changed.

    Their space for email on their shared server is limited to 2GB which is way too small. But you shouldn’t be depending on a shared server for email anyway. I use it for limited purposes.

  8. I’m so happy with SiteGround, I want to tell everyone! It’s so easy to get someone on chat or phone to help. And they are quick and friendly!
    I have been with several hosting companies within the last 10 years, but never had such a wonderful – friendly – competent – fast – excellent support and service as here. Thank you all so much.

  9. I have contacted the SiteGround support a couple of times and they have responded quickly, effectively, and supportively. So glad I chose to use them as my site’s server! I have used others that weren’t nearly as helpful or supportive. Great staff!

  10. Thanks. That’s why I choose siteground support for the second time. The reason is that you helped me with wordpress. Other host say that this is not their business.

  11. Since joining SiteGround, I only have praise for their service. My WordPress site went from turtle mode to cheetah mode in no time. Whenever I have a question, silly or not, I always get a quick answer. The personnel is engaging, respectful and really helpful. Thanks.

  12. Without doubt, a 5-star service provider! Much appreciated.

    I had a fairly complex web hosting / SSL / TLS problem, involving several support tickets at Seiteground.com.

    My contact at SiteGround was remarkably helpful, friendly, in resolving the problem, explaining the options, traps to avoid, etc.,, even to the extent of providing suggestions that could initially lower their sales, on this occasion – though I somehow think their sales will increase as a result of such forthright practice. And deservedly so.

    Highly recommended as a competent, helpful web hosting provider.

  13. Good question. I would also be curious who they went to. I found this review page while researching this host and others. Sounds like most people are happy with Siteground.

  14. Why post a review like that and not mention who you’ve gone to !

  15. Rennison Okemwa February 1, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    Awesome staff ready to help.

  16. Really awesome support.
    Technically very strong , Quick resolutions, You name it They have it .
    Definitely rely on Siteground for all web products.

  17. best support ever 🙂

  18. Awesome, there support is out of this world, they will help you track down the issue and get it solved. Servers are really fast to.

  19. Amazing service straight from day 1, literally, I received a phone call while at work 12 hours after signing up asking if they could walk me through the basics, which is great because this is my first try at running a site and learning simple PHP. and javascript.

  20. I had to cancel via SiteGround only because my sites are not ready. But I will be back soon for sure.

    Professional and ethical company.

  21. After many years of being frustrated with previous hosts and shopping around I’ve been super impressed with Siteground. Seriously excellent support and great features!

  22. I’m a web developer and have worked with well over 50 different hosts – SiteGround has provided some of the best, most affordable support and services out there. I just moved all my personal sites (40+) to them and everything is quick and flawless.

  23. Simply AMAZING!!! Best tech support ever!!!

  24. Absolutely horrendous customer service. I will never use Siteground again and I will inform everyone I talk to about websites not to use Siteground. The support techs were either incompetent or lying. I was with them for several years.

    They kept shutting down my site claiming traffic problems that could not be identified in the logs. They told me again and again I just needed to upgrade to one higher level and everything would work fine. I upgraded once and within a month suddenly my traffic problems (which could not be identified in the logs and there were no IP’s to block) magically doubled to the level of my new package. Then they hounded me to upgrade again.

    I spent tens of hours trying to identify a mystical problem for which they could provide no help, direction, or logs to identify and ultimately proved to not be a real problem as verified by switching to the other host (ace-host.net).

    I took the exact same site, same files, same database, a mirror copy to another host and had zero problems. I’ve been operating there for months now and we haven’t touched our siteground account. As far as I can tell, Siteground is a scam trying to trick customers to upgrade again and again to get more money. It’s a shame, because I was very excited about this host when it first launched.

    BTW, my page speeds improved dramatically after leaving the slow Siteground.

  25. Honest and good support .

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