A2 Web Hosting Review – Cons & Pros (+ Speed Test)

4. Site Migrations at No Cost (1-25 Depending on the Plan)

On all plans, A2 Hosting provides free migration of a single existing website to their servers.

If you wish to move numerous websites with the shared hosting plan, it costs $25 per site. However, if you choose Reseller, Dedicated, or Managed VPS hosting, you will receive 25 free site migrations. Their terms of service are quite detailed.

To take advantage of this, contact their customer service department and provide them with your cPanel account details.

If your websites use a control panel other than cPanel, they may charge a modest fee for the extra labor.

5. Content Management Systems (CMS) & Tools for Developers

All major content management systems are compatible with A2 Hosting.

You don’t need a developer to install a WordPress, OpenCart, Drupal, Joomla, or Magento site with a few clicks.

Starting with the “Turbo Boost” package, A2 Hosting offers performance-enhancing plugins to make these CMSs quicker. All hosting services include a free Cloudflare CDN, which helps to speed things up even further.

Assume you’re a webmaster or a hosting company wishing to host dozens of websites under one roof. A2 Hosting provides developer-friendly tools in this scenario. You can receive server admin access, free server rewind backups, and numerous versions of everything from PHP to MySQL, Apache, Python, Ruby, and so forth.

A2 Hosting also offers a website builder called A2 SiteBuilder. It is, however, not included in the regular hosting plans and must be purchased individually.

6. Money-Back Guarantee at Any Time

The majority of the hosts we’ve researched provide a 30-day money-back guarantee. A2 Hosting, on the other hand, goes a step further and offers a “anytime” money-back guarantee.

This means you are still entitled to a full refund during the first 30 days. However, if you find the service unsuitable, you can cancel at any time and receive a prorated refund for the period you’ve already paid for.

However, there are a few stumbling blocks.

The first is that any refund request made beyond the original 120-day period is handled by PayPal. Another point to consider is that ‘extra’ services such as domain registration, setup, or migration costs are nonrefundable. You can retain anything that isn’t returned, such as your domain name.

7. Eco-Friendly Web Hosting

Ann Arbor, Michigan, is affectionately known as “Tree Town.” They are said to contain around 50,000 trees and 150 parks. As a result, A2 feels a moral commitment to assist in the fight against global warming.

They have joined forces with Carbonfund.org to promote sustainable energy and reforestation. They also have a green hosting plan called “FutureServe” in place to assist offset emissions from their servers.

This is unlikely to be a determining factor in choosing a web host. However, knowing that your employer cares about the environment is a pleasant added bonus.

8. Prompt Customer Service

A2 Hosting offers live chat, email, tickets, and phone assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also have a large knowledge base if you wish to discover an answer or learn something new on your own.

Our favorite, though, is a live chat that we frequently use.

We asked a straightforward query regarding their shared hosting services and were quickly assigned to a customer care representative.

The customer service representative was kind and educated, and she responded swiftly to our queries.

Furthermore, we are pleased to notice that A2 Hosting has resumed giving a live chat option to all customers. Not long ago, live chat was exclusively available to registered users.

Cons of Using A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting provides numerous advantages, yet we discovered a few flaws.

Here’s a closer look at each of these disadvantages.

1. It is not possible to obtain a free domain name.

A free domain name is not included in any of A2 Hosting’s shared hosting plans. This is not a regular occurrence in the hosting market because the majority of the hosts we’ve assessed provide a free domain name (at least for the 1st year).

To register or transfer a domain name with A2 Hosting, for example, you’d have to spend $16.99/year for a.com extension (renews at the same price).

2. High Rates of Renewal (And a 15-Day Deadline)

With long-term subscriptions, A2 Hosting provides reduced costs. They also provide promotional pricing on their plans when you sign up for your first term, which reduces the usual price by more than half.

After the introductory term, the automatic renewal takes effect at the “normal” cost. The renewal cost is typically three times the monthly average price you first paid.

It only gets worse.

You must send a written cancellation notice “15 days before the commencement of the Renewal Term” using their customer portal or by emailing [email protected], according to their conditions.

What if you miss this 15-day deadline? You will be responsible for the next renewal plan, which will renew automatically, and you’re not eligible to receive any refund.

3. Restrictions on the Cheapest Plan

The starting pricing for A2 Hosting’s most affordable shared hosting plan (“Startup”) is present $2.99/month. That isn’t the lowest price we’ve found, but it is reasonable.

However, there are certain limitations to the cheapest plan. You only get one website and 100 GB of SSD storage, and services like automated backups and server rewind are lacking. Starting at $5.99/month, the next tier plan already has unlimited websites and SSD storage, free automated backups, and 2x more resources.

It makes you wonder whether the lowest plan exists just to promote a low price while the actual helpful elements for developing a website begin at a somewhat higher-priced plan.

A2 Hosting Pricing, Plans, and Quick Facts

A2 Hosting has four pricing tiers for its shared hosting:

Quick Facts

• Domain name: Not free with any of their shared hosting plans.
• Free Features: SSL, CDN, and DNS.
• Ease of Signup: Three-step signup. Not too difficult.
• Payment Methods: Credit Card, PayPal, Check or Money Order, Bank Transfer, Skrill, UnionPay, and PayU Latam.
• Hidden Fees and Clauses: Renewal rates are higher than the introductory period. You have to cancel 15 days before the renewal period; otherwise, you’ll get automatically charged. Domain name purchases are not refundable.
• Upsells: Some subtle upsells along the signup process.
• Account Activation: Instant Activation.
• Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
• Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): The option to install WordPress and other popular CMS options is available at checkout.

Do We Recommend A2 Hosting?

We do, indeed.

For numerous years, A2 Hosting has continuously supplied best-in-class speed. They’ve also enhanced server uptime, which is now quite dependable. Furthermore, all of their shared plans include a free SSL certificate and free site migration.

And, if you have any problems while you are a customer, you can request a refund for the prorated balance of unused time.

We don’t like how high the renewal rates are, and how stringent the restrictions beyond the first time are. Furthermore, even if you subscribe to the most costly shared plan to host infinite websites (“Turbo Max”), you only get one free site migration. Not to add that none of their plans provide free domain name shared hosting plans.

Visit www.A2Hosting.com