We’re constantly battling the back-and-forth testing of different hosting services whenever we’re building a new website, because no matter what we’d decided to go with in the past, it always turned out that our chosen hosting provider lacked in some key areas.
This comprehensive Site5 review will put their claims to the test. We will look into the following:
Reliability: Will your website be available 24/7 or there is chance of downtime in the middle of the night or on the weekend?
Pricing: Do they offer competitive prices? If there are any discounts available for Site5?
Performance: When hosted by Site5, how quickly will your website load?
Features: Do they provide everything you need to create a website?
Customer Support: Is Site5 reliable when you need immediate assistance with your website?
Features: Do they provide everything you need to create a website?
This is a comprehensive analysis of Site5, which looks at the hosting service in a great deal of detail. If you don’t have the time to read our full review of Site5’s hosting services, here is a scorecard that summarises our findings and concludes with our recommendation.
WPX Review Summary
Performance grade A
Average load time 147ms
Free SSL No
Free domain name No
Support Live Chat/Knowledge Base
About Site5
Site5 was founded in 1998 and has been in business for over 20 years. Shared hosting, reseller hosting, and fully managed VPS hosting are all available from the web host.
Since Endurance International Group (EIG) purchased Site5 in 2015, a lot has changed. EIG also owns Bluehost and HostGator, two web hosting companies.
Site5 focuses on providing a boutique web hosting experience for designers and developers.
Pros and cons of Site5
Every web host has both benefits and drawbacks. In some cases, the advantages may outweigh the disadvantages, but in others, certain disadvantages may be a deal breaker.
Before making a final decision, consider the advantages and disadvantages of using Site5.
Let’s start with the advantages.
Pros
- Scalable plans: Site5 intends to start small, with monthly fees of less than $5. Following that, there are several upgrade options, allowing you to tailor your plan as your website grows. On the surface, they offer three basic plans, beginning with hostBasic at $4.95 per month, moving up to hostPro at $8.95 per month, and finally Lightning Speed at $11.95 per month. That only applies to their shared hosting plans. You can progress to reseller hosting, virtual private server hosting, and even your own dedicated server.
- Multiple admin capabilities: The ability to host multiple websites from a single account is an excellent feature of Site5’s hostPro plan. Each of those websites will have its own Site5 Backstage admin panel, which will allow you to organise this information. This is not available with the hostBasic plan, which only allows for one domain. Yes, you must use the hosting plan or higher, but this is a fantastic feature that essentially gives you the capabilities of a reseller account for a fraction of the cost. If this capability is a significant advantage for you, this feature may be enough to sway you towards Site5.
- SSL certificate come standard: Any webmaster with an e-commerce site understands the value of SSL certificates, as well as how inconvenient it can be if your web host provides free e-commerce capabilities but charges for basic security. SSL certificates encrypt and protect web transactions, earning you the trust and money of your customers. If you intend to include e-commerce on your website, you will need to obtain SSL certificates in some form. It’s reassuring to know that with Site5, you won’t have to pay extra money for something you may not have budgeted for.
- Lots of experience for real developers: If you have a technical background, Site5 uses developer-speak, which can make you feel like you’ve finally found a hosting provider who speaks your language. They claim to keep their server speed up because they never overload their shared servers with data from too many clients. Their support staff is entirely domestic, speaks English fluently, and has technical experience. Their in-house engineers created the Site5 Backstage portal specifically for your development needs. They begin with the assumption that you, too, know what you’re doing, and that level of trust in you as a client is refreshing.
- Unlimited disk space and bandwidth: All Site5 hosting plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth. Data transfer is not monitored if it is unmetered. According to Site5, 99.95% of customers will have more than enough bandwidth and disc space to meet their website’s requirements. However, the web host also mentions that these resources aren’t limitless and that customers must use bandwidth and disc space in accordance with the normal operation of a website. Unmetered bandwidth should be sufficient to handle any traffic on your website, whether it is a small business website or a large online store, unless you have a very data-heavy website.
- Moneyback guarantee: Site5 offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on shared and reseller hosting plans, as well as a 15-day money-back guarantee on VPS hosting plans. That is, if you are dissatisfied with Site5’s shared or reseller hosting services within 45 days of signing up, Site5 will refund your money in full. Most website hosting companies, including Hostinger and SiteGround, provide a 30-day money-back guarantee. So the extra 15 days from Site5 are a plus. However, it is not a universal guarantee. It’s worth noting that the money-back guarantee does not apply to domain registrations, transfers, or renewals. Even if you’re on a free trial, the countdown to the guarantee period begins when your account is activated. The money-back guarantee does not apply to semi-dedicated and managed or unmanaged dedicated hosting services, according to the guarantees page. However, we were unable to locate these services on Site5’s website, demonstrating yet another example of inadequate documentation.
- Daily backups: Site5 offers daily automated backups for all accounts on all hosting plans, giving you the tools you need to manage, back up, and recover your website files. The backup process is performed by the web host every night so that it does not interfere with peak traffic hours. In addition to the nightly automatic backups, Site5’s built-in backup functionality allows you to perform manual backups. You can also download the backup for added redundancy.
Cons
- No SSD: Without an SSD, your entire website operation is based on old, mechanical hard drives, which can significantly slow down your website. Almost every other web hosting provider worth their salt includes solid-state drives as standard equipment. Sure, Site5’s servers are never overloaded with clients. But that could just be because their rusted old hardware can’t take it.
- No prorated refunds: It’s one thing to offer a money-back guarantee for a limited time – the industry standard is 30 days. Site5 offers a money-back guarantee of 45 days. Every other hosting provider I’ve ever seen, on the other hand, will offer a prorated refund once you’ve exceeded the delimiter mark, which in this case is 45 days. Site5 will not refund your money. If you pay for six months of hosting and cancel on the 46th day, you will not be refunded. Furthermore, in order to get the best price on most plans, you may have to pay in advance for two years of service. That’s a lot of money to put down up front, so take advantage of the free trial before you buy.
- Pretty hefty price: Site5 is adequate. However, we see no reason why they are priced as they are. A2 Hosting outperforms Site5 in terms of speed and uptime for roughly the same price. SiteGround, another similarly priced option, provides truly exceptional customer support that blows Site5 out of the water. Or, for roughly half the price, HostGator offers all of the same features as Site5 plus a few extras.
Site5 Performance
When choosing a web host, cost is frequently the most important factor to consider, but performance should never be overlooked.
As a result, we decided to conduct our own tests in order to conduct a thorough analysis of Site5’s performance.
Site5 Speed Test Results:
One of the most important metrics to consider when looking for important performance metrics is speed. A faster website not only improves user experience, but it also improves your website’s search engine optimisation.
A one-second delay, for example, can result in a 15% decrease in customer satisfaction, a 6% decrease in conversions, and a 10% decrease in page views. All of these changes can occur in a single second.
Pingdom’s website speed testing tool was used to assess the performance of our tests. As a result of the circumstances, we obtained the following results:
As you can see, it loaded in under a second (147 milliseconds, to be exact).
It’s a great speed.
Site5 Support and Service
Site5 provides live chat and email customer support 24/7 for any outstanding technical issues. We tested how their customer service team responds through live chat as usual, and we were connected to an agent in a matter of seconds.
The agent quickly responded to our inquiry and provided links to additional resources that could assist us further. This is supported by feedback from Site5 users. The majority of Site5 customers have found their support to be responsive and helpful. Nonetheless, Site5 no longer provides phone support. Site5 also has a large knowledge base with over 500 articles divided into over 70 categories.
You can find how-to guides on everything from getting your website online to protecting your website from malicious PHP scripts.
Nonetheless, the knowledge base is not kept up to date on a regular basis.
Bottom Line
Site5 is a perfectly adequate host with an aesthetically pleasing and knowledgeable veneer that will appeal to designers and developers. Their services have some significant advantages that make them an excellent value for webmasters with specific needs. However, if you’re a beginner webmaster looking for a low-cost host, there’s no reason to pay a premium for mediocre services.