When it comes to web hosting service providers that originated from Europe, Hostinger and SiteGround are two of the heavy-weight hosting companies available. However, they do not limit themselves to only European countries. These two companies have widened the horizon of their services and can now be used on different continents worldwide. In addition to this, they have a lot of data centers in different countries across various continents.
So, if you consider using either of these companies, this Hostinger vs. SiteGround article will provide in-depth knowledge of these two service providers. We also compare their features, security capabilities, pricing policy, performance, customer service, and lots more. Therefore, check out the following comparisons:
Overview of Hostinger
Generally, Hostinger offers affordable hosting services to its clients. To provide exceptional services to its large user base, Hostinger owns 8 different data centers in various continents like Europe, North America, Asia, and South America. With the availability of shared VPS, cloud, and other hosting services, clients can access various packages that fit their needs and budgets. Similarly, Hostinger is also a domain registrar, and their domain registration pricing is comparable to companies like Namecheap and GoDaddy.
Overview of SiteGround
SiteGround is another spectacular hosting service provider that offers shared, cloud, WooCommerce, and WordPress hosting services. This hosting service provider has 5 data centers in Europe, the United States of America, and Singapore. Like Hostinger, SiteGround also provides different pricing packages so customers can use the platform irrespective of their budget.
Having shown the overview of these two hosting service providers, let us compare them with various parameters.
Hostinger Vs. SiteGround: Hosting Features
Hostinger – The main selling point of Hostinger is its budget-friendliness, especially when using shared hosting services. However, if you are using the basic plan, you may miss out on features that can improve your online business. Despite this challenge, Hostinger has enough to help you run your business smoothly.
When using Hostinger, you can access an array of free features, such as marketing packages and unlimited free SSL certificates. Notably, more advanced features, such as hosting for up to 100 websites, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited bandwidth, and a free domain name, are only available on the Premium and Business plans. There is also a free custom website builder that only requires you to drag and drop everything you need to create a website. So, whether you have any knowledge of CMS or not, Hostinger makes it possible for you to build your own website from scratch.
If you want to create a blog or other kinds of websites via WordPress, Hostinger is also an excellent tool. Hostinger features different WP-optimized servers and various add-ons and plugins that are always available and ready to be integrated into your website.
SiteGround – As far as features are concerned, SiteGround is ahead of Hostinger. Foremost, SiteGround has many options that can be used on WordPress and several other CMS platforms. Therefore, this makes it easy for you to customize your website, market your products, and promote and analyze the progress of your various activities.
This tool has a Weebly-compatible platform that allows you to build your own website for free. Using this website builder, you only need to drag and drop the elements required to create an intuitive website. Similarly, SiteGround comes with automated updates, SuperCacher integration, and several other features that ensure that your website operates seamlessly and quickly.
SiteGround also allows you to add WooCommerce and other eCommerce apps and solutions to your platform. These solutions are not only easy to integrate, but they take your e-commerce to another level.
In terms of hosting features, we would have to give the edge to Siteground; however, we were impressed with both hosting providers.
Hostinger Vs. SiteGround: User Experience
Hostinger – Using Hostinger is straightforward as you do not need phone verification or follow complicated registration steps to get started. Also, there is no need for you to go through any complex payment process before setting up or using the service. Another unique feature that makes the user experience of Hostinger great is that you can make payments with BitCoin.
Because Hostinger utilizes an adapted version of cPanel, users can easily find their way around the cPanel and perform the tasks they need. The intuitiveness of Hostinger makes it easy for people to use and find the necessary options.
SiteGround – Things are slightly different with SiteGround as identity confirmation is first required to start. Since it also has an intuitive cPanel adapted to fit the needs of even the least experienced users, SiteGround is also relatively easy to use. Although setting up and purchasing take a few more minutes when compared to Hostinger, you should not have any difficulty using this hosting service.
Generally, both hosting providers offer really user-friendly experiences, which makes them suitable for most people.
Hostinger vs. SiteGround: Uptime
Hostinger: This platform claims to have an uptime of 99.98%, which is quite impressive considering that it is relatively more affordable than other premium hosting services. Its many data centers in Europe and different continents are responsible for this uptime.
SiteGround: Since SiteGround utilizes its own technology and solutions for delivering hosting services, it does not come as a surprise that this platform has a fantastic uptime rate of about 99.99%. Its numerous data centers in many locations also contribute to this excellent uptime.
Hostinger vs. SiteGround: Average Loading Speed
Hostinger – Hosting has always been good when considering the performance, and its average loading speed of around 400ms is considerably better than the average hosting provider. While we hope that Hostinger gets better in terms of its loading speed, you will not be disappointed with this current average loading speed.
SiteGround – This platform also has a better-than-average loading speed. With an average loading speed of around 714ms, you should be able to navigate your website irrespective of the traffic level. The availability of SSD technology on every plan of this platform further improves the hosting services’ performance.
Hostinger vs. SiteGround: Security
Hostinger: With the aid of several specific tools, Hostinger guarantees an excellent security package that should keep the data of its users safe. If you are concerned about detecting and getting rid of malware, Hostinger performs well here, as it boasts several integration capabilities and features.
A few of the security packages of Hostinger include:
- Daily and weekly updates based on your subscription
- Capabilities to add SpamAssassin and CloudFare, which can get rid of malware
- BitNinja security package has various security features such as scam prevention, DDoS, and XXS fraud protection. All these features secure your website.
- Free SSL encryption – Unlimited SSL certificates for users on any plan, including the single shared hosting plan.
Although Hostinger has various exceptional security features, you must realize that most of these features are not available on the basic plan. As a result, if you want to take advantage of Hostinger’s excellent security features, you’ll need to upgrade to a more expensive plan.
SiteGround – Using the newest state-of-the-art technologies, SiteGround can offer features that track malware, protect against hackers, store all data, and so on. SiteGround also has a system Firewall filtering feature that ensures that DDos and harmful elements cannot attack your software and hardware.
Also, SiteGround developed HackAlert, which scans your PC to detect any malware or other threats. It also has an IDS/IPS system primarily designed to protect your site against hackers and malicious elements.
Hostinger vs. SiteGround: Pricing Policy
Hostinger – As stated earlier, the pricing policy is an excellent weapon of Hostinger. So, you can expect affordable pricing plans from this platform. Hostinger has three affordable plans, so you can choose any one you like without breaking the bank.
The 3 main shared plans of Hostinger are:
- Single plan – This is the cheapest and most basic plan of Hostinger. It costs only $1.99 monthly. This plan gives you 100GB of bandwidth and offers you the freedom to create one website using its simple drag-and-drop tool. The major downside of this hosting plan is that it lacks more advanced security features. So, if you need to host more than just 1 website and your websites receive a high amount of traffic, we recommend starting with at least the Premium plan.
- Premium plan – The premium plan cost is $2.99 per month. It features weekly backups and unlimited bandwidth. You can also use this plan to create up to 100 websites.
- Business plan – Costing $3.99 per month, the business plan is the most expensive plan of Hostinger. Free daily and weekly backups, unlimited bandwidth, creating up to 100 websites, and a WordPress staging tool are some of the core features of this advanced plan.
SiteGround – SiteGround has three major Shared hosting plans for websites:
- StartUp plan – This plan costs $3.99 monthly. It has basic features and is recommended for websites with a few special requirements.
- GrowBig plan – If you own a medium website, the GrowBig plan should be able to take care of your needs. Starting from $6.69 per month, this plan provides unlimited websites, 20 GB of storage space, unlimited bandwidth, a staging environment, and 30% faster PHP.
- GoGeek Plan – Costing $10.69 monthly, the GoGeek plan has all the features provided by the GrowBig plan. In addition, it also offers PCI-compliant servers, free private DNS, free website transfer, advanced priority support, and lots more.
Hostinger vs. SiteGround: Customer Support
Hostinger: Hostinger allows prospective and existing customers to contact them through various means, including Live Chat, a ticketing system, and email. All these support systems can be accessed by users that are already registered and logged in to the platform. However, the options are limited for prospective users as they cannot utilize the Live Chat feature. In other words, they cannot ask questions and receive responses instantly. Even if prospective customers use the conventional ticketing system, a response from Hostinger can sometimes be delayed. This is an area we believe that Hostinger can and should improve upon.
If you need assistance on how to use Hostinger or encounter any issues, there are loads of resources online. You can access guides, video tutorials, and other materials. As a result, you are always in good hands when having issues with your website.
SiteGround: In line with our Hostinger vs. SiteGround debate, SiteGround has a better and more responsive support team than Hostinger. You can speak to the support team through different means, including Live Chat, phone, and email. Similarly, these different means often provide fast and satisfactory responses to any issues you might be dealing with. These different means can be used by both prospective and existing users.
Furthermore, SiteGround has a vast knowledge base. This is because there is a bunch of documentation, webinars, and video tutorials to help you deal with common issues. Regardless of your problems with your website hosted on SiteGround, you are always guaranteed a solution.
Closing Words
As you can clearly see from our Hostinger vs. SiteGround comparison, Hostinger and SiteGround are great and popular web hosting service providers. Nevertheless, if you value outstanding performance and excellent features that allow customization, marketing, e-commerce, and other capabilities that will make your website more unique, SiteGround should be your choice among these two. It provides varying special features that will serve your website immensely. Though Hostinger also has good features, SiteGround wins easily due to the versatility and flexibility of its various features and security.
However, suppose you need a budget-friendly solution that still manages to deliver good features that can help you do all the basic things you need on your website. In that case, Hostinger is definitely a better option, and its budget-friendliness has continued to give it an edge over others. Furthermore, its advanced plans compete favorably with the plans from other top-level hosting service providers.
Finally, before choosing any of these two, decide what you really need in a hosting service. Afterward, take your time to go through this Hostinger vs. SiteGround comparison and then make a choice. Notably, there are other hosting service providers that you can also check out before choosing any one of these two.