iPage isn’t only popular for its cost-effective services but rather, the thing that put it on all of our radar was its green initiative.
Pros
Affordable plans offered
Free daily backups
Detailed Knowledgebase area and tutorials provided
Unlimited database, traffic and emails offered
24/7 live chat support offered
Cons
Costly renewals in long term plan
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iPage
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As far as hosting services go, iPage has been around for a while. It doesn’t only offer cheap web hosting plans and provides users with a wide range of features they can choose from. Web hosting can often get tricky for new businesses which is what makes customer support so crucial for them. Whether it is the weekend or a holiday, iPage offers users round-the-clock customer support for their convenience.
One thing you might not know about iPage is that the technology it uses is powered with the help of wind energy! For quite some time now, iPage has been on our radar and we have been waiting to write a detailed review for our readers. Go with us on this journey as we explore the cons and pros of the web hosting services provided by iPage.
iPage hosting comes under the label of Endurance International Group (EIG) which is a well-acclaimed partner of the biggest hosting giants today namely BlueHost, StartLogic, Dot5Hosting, and many more. On top, iPage has been praised by netizens due to their cost-effective services for almost 20 years now. With over 1 million websites linked to their platform and two data centers in the United States of America,iPage helps start-ups grow into enterprise-level businesses.
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iPage Hosting Average Uptime
Average Uptime falls among one of the top things to consider when choosing a web hosting service. You could have the best of the features out there, but what good will they be if a site faces casual crashes?
Having said that, iPage stands apart from traditional web hosting providers by offering 100% uptime. Their average uptime meets subscribers’ expectations most of the time. While 99.99% uptime and above is considered essential, iPage hosting has proven itself at providing users with 100% uptime for up to 30 days.
24/7 Uptime Monitoring
iPage isn’t without some flaws as everything on the internet runs into an error at some point. The important thing about this web hosting service is the proactive customer service provided to users at all times of the day. This essentially means that whenever users run into an issue that they cannot resolve on their own, an expert will handle the issue for them.
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Is iPage User-Friendly?
In addition to all the features, service standards, and performance levels, user-friendliness is an aspect that every subscriber looks for in a service like this. iPage has kept its site builder sleek and simple, making it easy to understand for users. This is one of the reasons why users love this hosting service so much and prefer it over most.
Customer Support
Despite its cheap plans, iPage has made its customer service promise, unlike many other hosting providers in the market. iPage also offers 24/7 assistance through its toll-free helpline. A representative on live chat is always there to answer any and all queries.
Not only this, online tutorials and email support are offered to provide a detailed solution for complex queries. In case of an elaborate issue, a user will have someone get in touch with him/her through email within a day.
Pricing
If there is one thing you should have no doubts about by the time you are done reading this article, it is the cost-effectiveness of this service. Being priced at $1.99 per month, iPage is probably one of the most inexpensive web hosting services that you will discover.
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Security
All their plans are interlinked with Site Lock which acts as the first line of defense in protection against all cyber threats. This means you can be at peace knowing it will handle everything by itself and intercept any malicious threats coming your way. To top everything off, they also use a firewall to protect you against any data leaks.
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Free Data Backup
To ensure you lose no data if something goes wrong, iPage offers a day-to-day backup plan they charge no additional amount for.
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
A money-back guarantee provides subscribers with satisfaction, ensuring they will get their money if you do not feel comfortable with the provider. That said, iPage claims to refund your full amount within a month of purchase. Though this would make a user expect sort of a catch here luckily there isn’t one! However, a user would still have to pay for the domain name.
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Eco-Friendly Hosting
By having an EPA Green Power Partnership, iPage claims to be a green hosting site, so its data centers and web servers are powered by renewable energy. iPagebelieves in eco-friendliness and keeps environmental hazards at a minimal rate.
Pricey Renewal Cost
Though this is one of the cheapest web hosting options you will find there is a thing you must keep in mind. Once your plan period ends, the amount you will be charged to renew it will not be as inexpensive. Therefore, in the long term, it turns out to be much more expensive than you initially thought and planned.
Pricey Domain Names
Their declaration of refunding your money within 30 days of purchase does not include the amount charged for the domain name. A big chunk of $15 will be subtracted from the refund you are to receive and that is much more than a domain name investment would cost you otherwise.
Below is what iPage clearly states about this policy:
Control Panel
Every web hosting package uses some sort of control panel, the most popular one being cPanel. Unlike other sites, iPage hosting does not use cPanel. Instead, it uses a vDeck web hosting control panel which doesn’t give you as much control as you would like to have over your website.
You tend to miss out on some of the advantages of cPanel like having access to a number of features, user-friendliness, portability, and reliability.
Limited Use
Contrary to what they claim, iPage doesn’t essentially provide unlimited hosting. Proof of it can be found in their terms and conditions. Your disc space usage should be according to their guidelines and any account with files or MySQL/PostgreSQL tables exceeding their limit will face detrimental effects such as termination of account as well as poor performance.
iPage Hosting Plan
Now that we have reviewed all the pros and cons of iPage web hosting, let us take a look at the hosting plans it provides its users. The plans we have reviewed so far seem adequate enough to fit user requirements but ultimately, you will be the judge of that. So in order to start, we will give you a basic review of your options.
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WordPress Hosting
Regardless of the fact that iPage’s hosting plans and models reflect a bit of the plan offered by FatCow, users basically get their money’s worth. No matter what your needs are, you can always start with a basic WordPress hosting plan and then add more features to your plan later on as add-ons. The basic plan that iPage offers are called the iPage Essential Plan which comes in the form of personal shared hosting. All you have to do is avail of these services at $3.50 a month and you are good to go.
Apart from the cheap price, you get a ton of services in this package. iPage will give you access to disc space that is enough for all of your needs. You can transfer from an old domain or make use of a new one. You get access to unlimited domain names as well as MySQL databases. The only drawback to this hosting plan is that you get these features with most hosting services out there. The difference, however, is how efficient iPage is when it comes to helping its customers.
Highlighted features:
- Free domain registration
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Custom control panel
- Preinstalled themes and plugins
- Malware removal
- SiteLock security
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Dedicated Hosting
From the performance point of view, a dedicated server from iPage would most definitely be your best bet. There are however a few downsides that exist to this. Dedicated servers offered to you by iPage web hosting are slightly pricier than their other options. They can also be a bit tricky and complicated to maintain. That being said, it is the best option for those who know their way around web hosting. If you have been in the game for quite some time, then dedicated hosting will be just what you need, regardless of its upkeep.
Highlighted Features:
- Free one-year domain registration
- cPanel customization
- More than 5 IP addresses
- More than 5TB of bandwidth
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VPS Hosting
Are you someone who has been running websites for quite a while and are looking for a hosting plan that fits all your needs? Becoming a web hosting reseller just got a whole lot easier with the help of iPage’s Reseller Hosting plan. It allows you to jump into the game yourself with the best package that won’t be heavy on your pocket with VPS hosting. With only $47.99, you get a bargain deal and a ton of features.
Also known as the Wholesale Plus Program, iPage has really upped its game with this hosting plan. Every account that you get comes fully equipped with marketing as well as management tools that give you the opportunity to have complete control over the server that you lease. You will have complete access to the technical support offered by iPage to deal with the issues that are too hard for you to manage alone. You get a private name server as well as the most powerful reseller consoles in the entire industry with this hosting plan. If you change your mind about this plan at any time, you have a 30-day money-back guarantee from iPage.
Highlighted Features:
- Storage options
- Disk space
- Minimum 1TB of bandwidth
- Free domain registration
- cPanel
- Minimum 1 IP address
Shared Hosting
The shared hosting plan that they are currently offering is called the “Essential Plan” costing a special monthly amount of 1.99$ (renewal cost will be additional, of course). This plan comes with great website builder tools, templates, free domain registration, email address, ad credits, and some of the best apps to start.
WordPress Hosting
The 2 iPage WordPress hosting plans offered are called “WP Starter” and “WP Essential”
WP Starter
It comes with a basic package costing $3.75 monthly, providing you with free domain registration and search engine tools, a customized control panel, and pre-installed themes and plugins.
WP Essential
This monthly package of $6.95 includes additional WordPress support provided by trained experts, extensive security options with the help of Site Lock and an added firewall, and speed up to 2.5 times faster than usual.
Domain Name Pre-Registration
New domain extensions (nTLDs) are launched every week. For the ones that have not been released yet, you can pre-register for availability. However, this is only to increase your chances of getting the domain name that you want. Registering in advance does not mean you will necessarily get it and in case you don’t, your registration fee will be refunded.
Marketing Services
The marketing plan that they provide makes it very simple to use. You can start off by requesting a free consultation with an internet marketing expert for complete satisfaction. They offer some of the best marketing strategies with prime importance given to search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), and designing a website that is not only appealing but also mobile-friendly.
You can chat and interact with experts from all three fields, who will provide you with all the right information and design an effective marketing strategy. Being certified by Google Adwords and having partnerships with Yext and BBB makes them a trustworthy option you should definitely consider.
E-Commerce
eCommerce sites are made a whole lot better as you can create your own online store with an extensive set of options and tools. To ensure complete safety for your customers they have a secured software layer (SSL) that protects any information fed. Integrated with PayPal, you can merge with many shopping carts such as Zen Cart Shopping Cart, OpenCart Shopping Cart, etc.
iPage Review – Final Thoughts
We reviewed all of the features that iPage web hosting has to offer its users along with its hosting plans, pros, and cons of services. However, it is now time to talk about our final thoughts on the matter. Keeping in line with the testimonials page of the official website of iPage, we can agree that iPage is leading in the market when it comes to providing proper customer support to all of its users that is fast and reliable. iPage isn’t only popular for its cost-effective services but rather, the thing that put it on all of our radar was its green initiative.
There was, however, one issue that we would like to address in this conclusion and that is the unlimited plan issue. While iPage claims to provide its users with unlimited data storage, there are limitations that are only mentioned in the terms and services section of its website. This can throw some users off as they might go unaware of this for a while. But we would like to add that it should be your priority to always read the terms and conditions before agreeing to anything. Apart from that, we would like to consider iPage for our own selves in the future for web hosting services, we were that impressed with all of its features.
Having said all this in the iPage review, you may or may not be happy with the control panel and the fact that plan renewals are costly and so are domain names, so be prepared.
We would rate its services a solid 4 out of 5, deducting only 1 for the limited storage issue. When deciding on what web hosting service would be best for your needs, always read reviews to be sure. We provide our readers with an unbiased version of events. iPage may have some kinks that it needs to work out but as far as the web hosting industry is concerned, it doesn’t only get the job done, it does it well. So it is fair to say that this web hosting service should most definitely be on your top 5 web hosting services out there.
