iPage Hosting Review With 7 Facts: Affordable But Does It Meet our Standards?
For many years, iPage has been doing a great web hosting business with many features and professional customer support. Now, with many other hosting competitors, the company has to prove itself as a professional service provider for thousands of customers daily. This article will be the full iPage hosting review with all the hosting features, the iPage Pros and Cons, and everything you need to know about this popular hosting service.
iPage is a US-based company, having customers all over the world, and they claim to have over one and a half million active domains on their system and host over one million websites in their data centres.
The iPage web hosting company is specialized in offering shared hosting plans at a very affordable rate. They also provide a range of bonuses and freebies on signup worth more than $500, and their service is backed with 24/7 online support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Let's explore deep below in this iPage hosting review.
The company was initially founded by Thomas Gorny back in 1998. Now, iPage is owned by the Endurance International Group, the owner of other popular hosting companies like FatCow, BlueHost, and others. The following section of this iPage hosting review will show you the pros and cons of the iPage web hosting company.
Here’s what we’re going to look for with iPage in our iPage hosting review:
- PCI compliance: Necessary for processing the credit card data of your customers. You cannot do this without a PCI-compliant server.
- Dedicated IP: An dedicated IP and an SSL certificate are essential for any website. Those two authenticate your website on the web. Having an SSL certificate ensures your customers that they’re in a safe place.
- Uptime: You don’t want your online store to go down and thus cost you money due to lost sales. Your web host should guarantee good uptime.
- Good server specs: A web server’s performance depends on the server’s hardware. You want good and fast RAM and fast and optimized hard drives.
- Data centre location: You want a server that’s near your audience’s geographical location.
- Good security mechanisms and policies: Security is crucial for a successful website or blog. The more security mechanisms your web host offers, the better.
iPage Web Hosting
Is iPage an Exceptional Web Host?
One thing you should never do when it comes to iPage is let the $1.99 per month entry-level offering fool you. For that, you receive a ton of features from this fantastic web host, most of which are created with the idea that it should be simple for everyone, even beginners, to set up and launch their websites in a matter of minutes.
The website builder is one of the many tools that have been put together to achieve this end. Admittedly, there are other web hosting companies out there that have the same offerings. However, iPage is exceptional for the following reasons:
- Once you register with iPage, you will get your domain name free for a year with all the annual hosting plans.
- iPage provides you with the best apps, and you can also create an online store to sell goods and start a blog or set up a photo gallery.
- Your domain can create unlimited email addresses with email forwarding and autoresponders.
- iPage offers a drag-and-drop website builder that helps non-techy users to create a website without any coding knowledge by accessing their state-of-the-art, choosing from thousands of professional-looking website templates.
- You will receive $200 free ad credits using search engines such as Google and Bing.
- The excellent e-commerce website helps users do business online with its e-commerce functionality, allowing them to create their online store to sell goods, meet customers and enable them to do transactions.
- Analytics helps users track their website performance and web traffic, analyze the business and market research, and improve the effectiveness of a website. It comes included in your hosting account.
- With iPage's 30-day money-back challenge, it’s a call to the users with confidence to decide that they are superior in the market in terms of their ability to satisfy the users. If you feel that iPage doesn’t reach the expectations that the company created for you, they will refund the amount.
- Their website builder makes it easy to launch your new website with drag-and-drop functionality and mobile-friendly templates; we are sure you’ll love iPage's powerful website builder.
Free Domain
The first thing worth noting is that despite already being one of the cheapest web hosting companies in the world, iPage also offers a free domain on all hosting plans.
Although some web hosts provide free domains, this is not something you anticipate from one of the most affordable web hosting packages. For instance, HostGator, whose monthly hosting costs are very reasonable, charges $12.95 for a domain.
Please Note: Only qualified annual plans include a 1-year registration available for a free domain. If you register a free domain through iPage and wish to cancel your account, there is a non‐refundable $15 domain fee if you want to keep your domain.
iPage Web Hosting Deal Best Price
Drag and Drop Website Builder
It makes iPage so exceptional that, unlike most of its competitors, it comes with a drag-and-drop website builder, making it easy for everyone, including beginners, to set their websites up in a matter of minutes.
A web page builder, also known as a website builder, is an online editing tool that helps you create a website quickly without needing to know any coding or site design skills. iPage’s web page builder makes creating a website seamless with its intelligent building technology that helps you get your site online in no time.
Just answer a couple of questions and the Ipage website builder will select the right layout, images and initial content for your website.
iPage Hosting Review
You will know what we’re talking about if you’ve ever had a website at WordPress or Joomla.com. Setting up your website or blog with the right tools can take minutes. All you need to do is fill in the options, and you will be ready to go.
Enhanced Security Options
All hosting plans come with the SiteLock Security Suite to help protect you from potential security breaches by regularly scanning for issues such as malware. Depending on your hosting plan, you may include features like detecting and removing malicious content.
In addition, they use a firewall to enhance security further. The $1.99/month price makes iPage look even better, considering many competitors offer it as a paid feature.
Third-Party Application Support
iPage connects with other merchants, making it easy for you to communicate with Google Apps, PayPal, etc. It is handy for e-commerce sites that process secure payment transactions.
In addition, they offer some bonus credits for new accounts in Google Ads, Yahoo Advertising, and Bing Ads.
Green Web Hosting
iPage is a firm believer in the use of green energy. The company buys sufficient Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset all energy their servers use in their headquarters and data centres. Surprisingly, the purchase is enough to offset usage by 200%. So wind energy more than covers all use with plenty left over.
Businesses who choose to have their sites hosted through iPage also benefit from knowing they’re doing something good for the environment:
- The amount of energy offset is equivalent to planting more than 244 new trees.
- More than three million kWh of wind energy is fed back into the power grid over two years.
All companies that host sites with iPage can include a Green Badge on their site. Visitors click the badge, and then they’ll see that you’re doing something positive about your carbon emissions, a selling point.
iPage Performance: Speed and Uptime
Regarding performance, we’re looking at two key metrics: speed and uptime. How does iPage handle the speed test? Let's find out more in the iPage hosting review.
The server performance of iPage.com has a good record regarding reliability, uptime, and server response speed. You might have read bad reviews made by disgruntled customers who expect more service than what they have paid for; that’s expected when a company has thousands of customers. There will be something they are unhappy about the web host. Uptime for iPage is more than 99 per cent, which is reasonable considering you pay less than $4 a month, depending on your chosen plan.
We ran speed tests through GT Metrix to see how well iPage performs from different locations worldwide. Here are the results:
| Location | iPage Performance Score | iPage TTFB | iPage Fully Loaded Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | 0.42 | 531ms | 4.9s |
| Vancouver | 0.7 | 754ms | 3.6s |
| London | 0.64 | 696ms | 4.0s |
| Sydney | 0.18 | 1.6s | 8.1s |
| Average | 0.49 | 1.0s | 5.9s |
As you see above pretty average performance across the board. So after speed analysis, what about reliability? Let’s look at iPage’s uptime. iPage states that it guarantees 99.9% uptime on its website.
Reliability is a massive impact on the world wide web. Any downtime is unacceptable for site owners building an audience or selling online, even for the most affordable hosting provider.
If you rely on your website for affiliate commissions, product sales, or display ad revenue, server downtime could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
iPage Hosting Review
If you cannot afford downtime, you’ll need to find a web host with a 99.9% uptime guarantee to ensure your website and emails keep going strong. However, after reading this iPage hosting review, you will find you like many aspects of iPage. They do give all of their customers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you feel you have any doubts about their services.
As you can see from our real-time tracking above, iPage’s uptime was 100% in the last 24 hours, 99.99% over 7 days, and 99.92% over the 30 days. We monitored a website hosted with them. Although it’s not a perfect score, compared to most companies, still it’s terrific.
Meanwhile, the servers, fueled by 100% renewable energy sources, loaded pages at speeds well above the average rate, making iPage one of our best picks for high-performance, reliable hosting.
Automatic Backups
iPage has a backup service, but it will cost you extra. The competition offers it for free. Its only yearly plans are available. That’s $30.99/year on top of your hosting plan.
Even though it’s irritating to your pocket, the features are mouthwatering. You can create up to an unlimited number of archives for your websites. Backups also take place automatically overnight in the basic tier.
The Pro version is one of the best that we’ve seen around. It can store up to five records daily. Likewise, you can manually generate the archives of your site on demand. Should things go south, you’ll be able to jump back online using the restore option.
The iPage Support
The customer service team was always quick to answer any questions, and when there was a minor hiccup with the service, their techs were on hand to give us the kind of step-by-step instruction that had us back up and better than ever.
If you have ever dealt with a hosting service, you probably know that Live Chat is like first-line support. They fix the easy stuff, change settings and point you in the right direction.
Based on our experience, second-line support does its job usually within 24 hours. In the case of server outages, you won’t have to wait that long.
iPage Control Panel Options
All the customers can utilize the facility of Weebly and WordPress. And they also have access to essential website builders through iPage’s selected control panel, vDeck. To complete your website design, you are provided templates for every choice, guiding you through simple and easy-to-understand steps. That will ultimately lead you to complete your website successfully.
You can even design your first five pages for free using the website builder CM4all, which is provided by iPage. We have used CM4all and through the first 9 pages were free, we found the interface design and template a little slow and dated. Another setback was a lack of flexibility and limited access, which made it less user-friendly than the standard cPanel of other industries.
Here is the iPage control panel’s screenshot to get an overview of what you get in your web hosting account.
Some of the main features we discussed below in the iPage hosting review, which are included in vDeck that make it an excellent addition for iPage users, include:
- Easy Website Management: It includes a drag-and-drop site builder tool to create and build your website, while the file and FTP management tools are incredibly easy-to-use.
- E-Commerce: You can set up a flexible shopping cart, set up a credit card payment system, and even build in gift card options.
- Marketing Tools: When you first sign up for iPage’s web hosting services, you receive an abundance of free Google, Yahoo, and Facebook advertising credits. vDeck already has them integrated into the system, so you can use them immediately and purchase more if you like.
- Account Management: Managing your account setting and checking billing information is incredibly easy through vDeck. You can manage your support tickets and make payments directly from the panel.
Under the FTP management panel, you can check your FTP details, and create, edit, and delete FTP users. You can set the default directory location too.
FileManager is a simple tool used to do the same stuff you can do via FTP but without a client. That’s uploading and downloading files. You can create new files from scratch and edit existing ones as you like.
The Mojo Marketplace is the 1-Click Installer called at iPage. That’s a simplification because Mojo has more than that. It’s a marketplace connected to the 1-Click Installer. There is a lot of free stuff up there, like themes, plugins, graphics & logos, and all kinds of add-ons. The installer is quite simple, but Mojo also provides many services in this area if you need any help setting something up.
The one called My Installs (SimpleScripts) is, in fact, the same thing as the Mojo market. It just shows you what is already installed on your account.
MySQL is a simple way to tap into the power of Structured Query Language. Mojo adequately handles creating databases when you use them to install your scripts. But if you are a power user, you can directly edit any field in the database.
Some other improved iPage control panel features include:
- Simplified Design – The sleek new layout reduces clutter and provides a consistent experience across functional areas.
- Quick Access to Most-Used Tools – iPage has eliminated outdated links and icons and brings your favourite features to the front for easy access.
- Improved Billing Central – Access to invoice and billing information at your fingertips for quick review and update.
- Easy sign-up – Simplified your ability to change or add products directly from the Control panel like SiteLock or SSL to protect your site.
- Consistent navigation and experience – Want to explore or make a change? The iPage control panel updated design follows you through the products so it’s easy to make adjustments.
- Faster Website Creation – With quick access to most needed tools, and an improved WebsiteBuilder, it’s easier than ever to publish your site and make changes as often as you need
Overall, most website owners experienced with cPanel will probably be disappointed that iPage does not offer it as an option.
Expensive Site Migration
iPage migrates sites from other hosting providers. However, the price is quite scary because $150 per site is a lot.
You might find it technically challenging if you want to move your site manually from another hosting provider that uses, say, cPanel. iPage uses vDeck Control Panel. Visually, its design may resemble cPanel, but the backend is not the same, making any transfer challenging.
Of course, for $150, you can get things set up without hassle.
iPage Hosting Pricing Details
iPage has one plan or pricing structure for their regular shared web hosting. When it comes to their WordPress hosting, this is then broken up into two different plans. While this makes sense for the consumer, you should note that this is unlike their competitors, who bundle the plans and offer more across various price points.
Each plan is incredibly different to ensure the needs of their customers are met. It provides no matter where you are on your business journey. There is an option for a beginner right through to someone who wants that clear WordPress support.
Their regular web hosting service is described as ‘Everything you need to get online at an unbeatable value.’ Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, this hosting plan gives you the tools you need to get your website online at a budget-friendly price.
iPage Go Plan
iPage’s Go Plan is based on shared hosting. It offers all the necessary features: scalable bandwidth, unlimited MySQL databases, and email support. On the security side, you get a free basic SSL for encrypting your site.
While hosting unlimited sites is possible, you only get your first domain for free. You have to pay to purchase additional iPage domains. The prices start at $1.99/year, which is decent.
You also get design tools. You can use the web builder, customizable iPage templates, and quick set-up wizards.
GO PLAN
Get the tools you need to take your site online. Perfect for a small business, blog, and personal website.
- Unlimited websites and storage.
- FREE SSL certificate & domain for a year.
- FREE standard email address.
- FREE website builder & 24/7 support.
Starting at $1.99/month
WordPress Hosting Options
Secondly, in terms of their WordPress hosting offering, they currently have two plans. These are WP Starter and WP Essential
WP Starter: WP Starter is priced at $3.75 per month for 12 months. It is described as ‘A great place to get started, and perfect for a small website or blog.’ by iPage Included in this plan are:
- One website
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain registration for one year
- Unlimited storage
WP Essential: WP Essential is currently priced at $6.95 monthly for 12 months. It is described as ‘Make the most out of WordPress. Ideal for websites who are ready to realize their potential.’ Included in this plan is:
- Unlimited websites
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain registration for one year
- 24/7 WordPress support
- Automatic malware removal
- SiteLock professional security
They have similar claims across both, including built-in style and function, optimal speed and security, and high-level WordPress support. Ultimately, iPage offers reliable and robust plans that should meet your business’s needs, whether you are just starting a website or have an established one.
The WordPress Starter plan is ideal for anyone starting a blog or small business website. Suppose you are looking to grow your current website and add extra security. In that case, the WordPress Essential plan is perfect for you.
For New Blogs
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Pre-installed themes & plugins
- 24/7 WordPress support
Most Popular
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Pre-installed themes & plugins
Most web hosts offer a money-back guarantee, and iPage is one of them, but this company has a more sincere refund policy than its competitors: there are no hidden clauses. In contrast, some web hosts will not refund you if you use more traffic than the limit or a specific payment method.
iPage states that there is nothing wrong with their money-back guarantee, but some fees (such as setup and domain registration fees) are non-refundable.
These are iPage’s Strong Points: iPage Hosting Review.
- iPage offers one of the best-shared hosting plans, with low prices and many features and resources.
- All other plans are affordable and decent in terms of quality. So overall, iPage is a good budget host.
- Customer support is overall decent. The nice thing is the simplicity and efficiency of the help portal.
- iPage is easy to use, and we think it has one of the most efficient customer portals/control panels.
- Performance is overall good (but probably not good enough for everyone).
Here’s Where iPage Falls Short: iPage Hosting Review
- While the uptime will be okay for some, it’s probably too risky for anyone who needs consistently strong uptime. Plus, the response times are always way higher than average.
- Although the existing iPage plans are decent, there aren’t many options for those needing top-tier products. Specifically, those requiring the latest servers and the highest amounts of RAM or storage should look elsewhere.
- There is no email support, only live chat and phone support. Additionally, there are no further resources on the site beyond the knowledge base, which isn’t the most detailed (although it’s overall okay).
- iPage doesn’t have cPanel on most of its hosting plans. We think this is fine because the iPage control panel works just as well, but any staunch cPanel fans might find this an issue.
iPage Offered Unnecessary Software Without Clarification About Pricing
When we signed up for iPage, we were overwhelmed with many free business marketing trials. There was a pretty impressive long list of all the supposedly free trial marketing services in the control panel of iPage. The list included marketing services like Constant Contact, Sponsored Search Credits, Free YP.com Listing, Email Brain Small Business, and more.
Along with that, a Free Toll-Free phone number and Google Webmaster Tools are also available. The list was long and went on and on.
Maybe it’s a good thing, but the fact that these services are only available during the trial period means that many customers aren’t aware of this. The customers must pay for these services once their trial period has been exhausted. Many users are among those who activate the trial may be accidentally or something, and later, they neglect the date on which the trial period gets over.
We were very disappointed when we assumed a notification would be given during the trial. The extra charge was very unpleasant to our limited budget. Please do not make this mistake.
Who Should Use iPage Hosting Service?
For sure, iPage is not for everyone. If you are a small business looking for an affordable and quick way to get online, iPage is a good solution.
iPage essential plan enables beginners to start their website quickly.
iPage Hosting Review
If you want to set up an online store, you can do it with iPage. However, their shared plan is not suitable for an online store. You can opt for a VPS server and set up an open-source shopping cart, but it requires some technical background.
For those looking to start a blog, iPage is the perfect option. With iPage, you can easily install WordPress or another free blogging platform you may prefer. Although iPage’s shared plan is unsuitable for hosting larger-traffic blogs, it is a good option.
Is iPage Good for Beginners?
If you are a beginner looking for a good and cheap way to get started online, iPage is a good choice.
The signup process is straightforward. You need to fill in your personal and payment details, choose a domain name, and you are done.
iPage’s control panel is intuitive and easy to use. If you might get stuck, the iPage knowledge base is full of valuable articles, which will help you to learn their platform quicker.
You can also ask for their support through live chat if you have any questions. So, iPage is indeed beginner friendly. When we started our first website, we launched it on iPage.
FAQs About iPage Hosting Review
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What is EIG iPage?
The Endurance International Group (EIG) is the parent owner of iPage web hosting. It also owns lots of other popular hosts on the planet. You might recognize BigRock, HostGator, and Bluehost.
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Is iPage a good hosting site?
In short, yes. iPage is a good web hosting option for most everyday website owners, whether you want to use the site builder or WordPress to host your site. Although it doesn’t offer the most advanced features or the sleekest user experience, it takes care of all the hosting essentials.
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Does iPage use cPanel?
Although iPage offers cPanel as the default hosting control panel for its VPS customers, shared and WordPress hosting customers will use iPage’s in-house control panel. Most iPage reviews agree that the control panels are intuitive, although they could do with an updated design.
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Can I get a customized email with iPage?
Yes, you can get many customized emails! You can also have additional emails for your employees and friends. It’s an easy setup; you can point your emails to any collective source you want.
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Do I need to buy the iPage Identity Theft Protection Package?
While everyone is worried about identity theft these days, there isn’t any real advantage to buying the iPage package because traditional options handle all initial concerns. Domain privacy hides any personal information from your WHOIS records, and that’s all you need.
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Can I transfer my domain to iPage?
Yes, you can transfer your domain. It is a super easy process that requires very little from you. All you have to do is change your DNS settings at your other registrar. That way, your nameservers are sent to iPage. It is that simple.
iPage Hosting Review Summary in Details
iPage Hosting Review: Do We Recommend It?
Yes, we do, in a way. However, there are better options available. There’s a lot to like about iPage. You can get many third-party apps and good customer service at a very cheap cost.
However, there were a few mixed performances, especially regarding uptime and speed. Also, the core plans have good features but don’t come with the most ‘extra’ options.
iPage also lacks too many features for severe users (e.g., developers). For example, their backup options are useless unless you get their (paid) add-on. Other functions you may miss are SSH access, staging areas, or a server-side caching system.
So even though we’d recommend iPage overall, they’re budget-friendly and stable but not fast as other options like Bluehost or Dreamhost. Still, if you were looking for a hosting service that’s very cheap (for the first term), then iPage could be a good match, provided you don’t mind the low performance you’d get.
