| Plans | Price Per Month |
|---|---|
| Personal Hosting | $1.99/month |
| VPS Hosting | $9.99/month |
| Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Min disk space allowed | Unlimited |
| Min Bandwidth Allowed | Unlimited |
| Addon domains | Unlimited |
| Free Domain | yes |
| Free site builder | yes |
| CGI/BIG Access | yes |
| SSI Access | yes |
| FTP Access | yes |
| HTTPS Support | yes |
WebHostingPad Review
Website: http://www.webhostingpad.com
Based out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Webhostingpad offers some of the lowest prices in the industry for web hosting. They’ve been in business since 2005, and they’ve surpassed 150,000 domains. The company is intent on “delivering the best value in web hosting,” and with frequent sales sinking their prices to as low as $1.99 per month, it would be hard to argue otherwise.
Webhostingpad Highlights
Like the vast majority of web hosts, Webhostingpad offers unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, mySQL databases and email accounts with their hosting service. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee as well as a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Besides the usual offerings, Webhostingpad does stand out from the competition in several ways.
Unbeatable Monthly Rate – Although it requires a long commitment, Webhostingpad’s current sale offers hosting for $1.99 per month. That is well below the price of almost any other hosting plan anywhere. If you or your project has an extremely tight budget, Webhostingpad’s prices could allow you to stretch your limited resources.
Upgradable Hosting Plan – Customers that want a little more hosting power can upgrade to Webhostingpad’s “Power Plan Plus,” which adds SSH access, an SSL certificate, spamfiltering and some very “hands-on” remote support. Despite the added upgrades, the “Power Plan Plus” keeps it’s price tag at a lowly $3.99 per month.
Webhostingpad Weaknesses
Scary “C minus” Rating With The Better Business Bureau – Yikes. On a grade-school scale from A to F, The BBB rates Webhostingpad “C minus” due to nearly 200 formal complaints against the company. Given that the company has about 150,000 customers, that means only one in a thousand went as far as to register a complaint with the BBB. Still, a low “C” based on the bureau’s complex criteria is hard to ignore. To give you a basis for comparison, HostGator has an “A plus” rating and HostPapa and HostMonster have “A minus” ratings.
Long Commitments For Low Prices – To take advantage of Webhostingpad’s strongest selling point – their rock-bottom prices – you have to sign multi-year agreements. Their unprecedented $1.99 per month deal comes with a mandatory 3-year obligation. If you sign up for 1 year (the minimum contract length) instead, the rate rises to $3.99 per month, which ends up being comparable in price to every other $5 hosting plans available.
Worrysome Website, Stagnant Social Media – While it’s far from essential for a company to have a strong social media presence or a lively company blog, Webhostingpad has a few shortfalls that are apparent after some very basic exploration. They seem to have lost control of their ideal twitter handle – which sports a single tweet from December 2008 – and ended up with the next best option, @webhostingpadco. And, their facebook page has some mildly unflattering complaints about their tech support (You know you can delete those, right?). Additionally, their flagship website has a glitchy footer, which rearranges their “Power Plan Plus” to become the “Power Plus Plan” (and sometimes links to this 404 page). Lastly, the social media badges in the footer (that should lead to their twitter, facebook and blog areas) all link to the dreaded “#” symbol on every page other than the homepage. If they’re not taking excellent care of their own website, will they take good care of yours?
Conclusion
Although Webhostinpad’s prices are untouchable, their service may be unbearable. Negative reviews by The Better Business Bureau and customers alike have put up clear warning signs that their prices are low for a very good reason. I suppose ‘you get what you pay for,’ or in the case of more than 100 formal complaints, ‘you don’t get what you pay for.’ Plus, there are some rookie mistakes on their own website that dampen customer confidence.
I assume that most people are more than willing to pay a few dollars more per month to avoid headaches and aggravation. Webhostingpad has chosen to be cheaper than all the rest, and there is a cost associated, albeit not one measured in dollars. If you really do want the lowest price in the industry, Webhostingpad’s rates are the absolute lowest. But, if you want a better product instead of a cheaper one, I’d shop around.
Webhostingpad Customer Quotes
“Don’t be fooled by them. Stick with the top brands…”
“I admit I was skeptical at first about their $1.99/mo. price. I’ve been with them for about a year now and have had no issues.”
“I am moving to a new host as soon as my 1-year contract is up. I’d rather pay more and get a real host.”
“I have quite a few websites on my hosting account and the cost is unbelievably low compared with other hosting companies. Despite this low price I’ve actually found their support to be very good.”
“I’ve had a couple of issues over the past year that have taken more than 5 emails to resolve. To their credit, Webhostingpad just keeps going with different operatives until the issue is resolved.”
“After searching for the best deal on web hosting I decided to go with WebHostingPad. Over the last 4 months I am happy to say I made the right decision in my choice. Reliable hosting, prompt support and customer care, and all of it at a great price! “
“I signed up for Webhostingpad a few months ago after being let down by another host. Initially attracted by the price of their offering I’ve been impressed with the timely and helpful support”
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