WebHostingPad Review
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WebHostingPad is a Chicago-based company founded in 2005 by a team of well-established industry veterans committed to delivering the best value in web hosting. WebHostingPad provides a wide variety of web hosting services, including Linux Hosting, WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, and Domain Names. They host over a million websites spanning 5 international data centers.
WebHostingPad Price
WebHostingPad has a $1.99/month introductory price for their basic plan, which is a good offer but still in line with many other hosts, and it’s not the reason we’ve given WebHostingPad a 10/10 in this category. What sets WebHostingPad apart when it comes to price is twofold—what you get for $1.99/month, and what you’ll be paying after that introductory rate ends.
WebHostingPad’s $1.99 hosting plan, the “Power Plan”, includes free domain registration, 1-Click WordPress, and email, but supports unlimited websites, and includes incremental unlimited disk space and bandwidth as well. We compared this to the basic plans offered by other hosts at similar intro prices, and almost all of them imposed strict limits on the number of websites supported (usually just 1 or 2.) This makes WebHostingPad the clear choice if you’re planning on running multiple websites, and phenomenal for web developers with multiple clients.
The second reason we’ve ranked WebHostingPad as the best cheap web host is because of their incredibly low renewal rates. The basic plan renews for as little as $3.99/month, and is to-date the lowest hosting renewal rate we’ve seen (barring fixed-rate hosting like HostMetro or 1-site-only plans like DreamHost offers.) Compare this to iPage, which also offers a $1.99/month intro rate for their similar unlimited plan, but renews at $7.99/month—double what you’d be paying at WebHostingPad.
If you need a reliable cheap web host, WebHostingPad is our #1 recommendation hands-down.
WebHostingPad Performance
WebHostingPad seems to easily meet their uptime guarantee of 99%, with not a single second of downtime reported from our test account during a 6-month period. Their terms promise the servers will be up “at least 99% of the time during any given 12-month period” which does offer some leeway, but based on our 6-month stats, WebHostingPad is a consistent and reliable performer.
Load times were also consistently fast (even for bloated WordPress sites) and our HTML test site was lightning-quick. We did notice a delay with our test account on their India-based server, but this is expected in the USA (it takes time for data to travel halfway around the world) and easily remedied simply by choosing a closer server. Considering they have multiple international data centers to choose from, you won’t have to look far for a fast, local server that suits your need for speed.
WebHostingPad Support
WebHostingPad offers 24/7 technical support via phone, email, and chat. Their phone reps, while usually only level 1, seem well-trained and know what they’re doing well enough to be able to explain it. Complicated issues are occasionally transferred to their email system, but with good reason because their email responses were detailed but to-the-point, and without as much bureaucratic back-and-forth we’ve seen with some hosts. (If you’ve ever been transferred from one department to the next to the next before anyone is able to help you, then you’ll appreciate their no-nonsense approach to fixing technical issues.) Plus, WebHostingPad chat is fast—very fast. Our reviewers rarely waited more than 10 seconds before a real person responded—no chatbots, no auto-responses, just answers.
WebHostingPad Usability
Because they cater to small businesses and freelancers, WebHostingPad offers a wide variety of easy-to-use, popular choice features and software. That includes 1-Click WordPress, a non-proprietary control panel, full service SSL installation, WYSIWYG site builders like Weebly and SitePad, and plenty of customizability. Overall WebHostingPad is beginner-friendly, but robust enough for advanced users and websites with specific, individual needs.
WebHostingPad Features
WebHostingPad offers a broad range of features and options to complement their full suite of plans and support a variety of different websites. This includes site building software, such as WordPress, Weebly, and Softaculous Apps; security features, such as SSL Certificates, SiteLock malware protection, and a comprehensive backup service; and email services, such as spam filtering and Business Mail.
These features are a good mix for the majority of websites, covering security to email to design, and a good number are included as part of the hosting plans WebHostingPad offers. They don’t offer advertising credits, which is something to consider if you want to start running PPC campaigns right-off-the-bat, but their other features are very well-suited to small businesses or freelancers, graphic designers or developers, and websites with a lower demand for advertising or extras.
Conclusion
We highly recommend WebHostingPad for their inclusive and comprehensive plans, great performance and uptime, and the most ‘bang for your buck’ whether you’re signing up for the introductory offer or renewing at their incredibly low renewal rates. With the capability and variety needed to support everything from 1-page sites to multi-site projects and international businesses, WebHostingPad provides a strong and reliable foundation for any website.