20i review: what does this new provider bring to the table?
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20i is among the freshest providers you’ll find, and in this review, we’ll check if it can compete with the top dogs in the industry. I checked the value, ease of use, performance, security, and customer support departments to find out.
The UK-based provider, 20i is is still among the newest providers in the industry. But it certainly doesn’t lack the experience behind the scenes. The owners of this project have successfully launched such companies as WebFusion, 123-reg, and Heart Internet. 20i is not without its downsides, however, and you may consider some alternatives instead.
So without further ado, let’s explore 20i and see if it’s worth a shot.
| ⭐ Rating: | |
| 💵 Price: | From $10.99/month |
| 📑 Uptime guarantee: | 99.99% |
| ⚙️ Hosting types: | Cloud, WordPress, Reseller, VPS |
| 🌎 Server locations: | 60+ global data centre locations |
| 👨💻 24/7 live support: | Yes |
| 🔥 Coupons: | Cybernews Web Hosting Coupons |
Pros and cons of 20i
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20i pricing and plans
20i is among the more premium options, with the cheapest cloud hosting plan starting at $10.99/month. Other options include WordPress, reseller, and VPS plans.
| Type of hosting | Best for |
| Cloud hosting | Medium-sized business websites and beginner users. |
| WordPress hosting | Users creating WordPress sites and online businesses. |
| Reseller hosting | Agencies and those who want to establish a hosting company. |
| VPS hosting | Flexible and powerful hosting for scaling. |
The prices fall somewhere in the mid-range among other providers. However, the provider is really generous with features.
I personally tested the cloud hosting, as it’s the most affordable, yet highly powerful product with impressive tools included.
20i has 3 cloud hosting providers – 20iCloud, AWS, and Google Cloud. Depending on which provider you'll choose, the variety of server locations, resources, and pricing will vary greatly. Despite that, all providers have something in common – they allow you to choose either monthly or yearly billing with no pricing increases.
| Provider | Features | Price |
| 20iCloud | 7 plans available, with resources ranging from 1 to 16CPUs, 25 to 640GB SSD, 1 to 32GB RAM, and 1 to 30TB bandwidth. | From $10.99/month |
| AWS | 8 plans available, with resources ranging from 2 to 32CPUs, 20GB SSD, 1 to 128GB RAM, and 2GB bandwidth. | From $13.99/month |
| Google Cloud | 8 plans available, with resources ranging from 1 to 64CPUs, 20GB SSD, 3.75 to 256GB RAM, and 2GB bandwidth. | From $45.99/month |
Additionally, providers with all their plans come with: unlimited websites, unlimited email accounts, anti-bot protection, 20iCDN, free Wildcard SSL, daily automated backups, unlimited subdomains, malware scans, DDoS protection, and firewalls.
So overall, server features are pretty generous, as well as security features cover all the most common vulnerabilities you might face.
With a transparent pricing structure, 20i has all the reasons to earn my liking. Plus, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee in case it’s just not for you. So with a $10.99 price tag, there’s no risk in trying it out.
Hosting management: is 20i easy to use?
20i uses a custom control panel that follows all the standard cPanel practices: icon-based interface, account and hosting information on the right, and easy navigation. Right from the start, it leaves a good impression.
However, before you reach the control panel, you might be a tiny bit confused. At least I was.
The account management interface shares exactly the same design as the control panel itself. Plus, it combines both the account and the hosting management tasks. The approach seen and experienced with InMotion Hosting.
You can order services here, buy a domain, or… Manage domains. For a moment, I thought that this was the control panel.
However, just click on the Manage Hosting, and you’ll quickly reach the actual control panel.
The control panel, as per all industry standards, is well organized and features all the essentials: file manager, email accounts, app installations, and database management.
20i also added the CDN section as this is among the top features when you purchase this exact hosting. Because you get to choose among the US or UK servers, CDN helps you cut latency for other locations as well. And 20i includes this service for free.
So overall, 20i has a sleek user interface and intuitive control panel. Some confusion was encountered with the main account area, but that’s not a unique thing known to 20i alone. Other than that, no problems with managing your websites with the provider as everything functions well.
Performance: is 20i fast?
In the performance department, 20i proved to be reliable with 0 outages. Website load times were impressive, and it also handled as much traffic as promised by the plan’s resources.
Uptime and response time
Over the course of 20 days, 20i scored a perfect 100% uptime score. Not a single outage was registered.
The response time averaged at 664ms, very standard for the industry. If not for the spike when I overloaded the server, it would’ve been even better.
So reliability and server performance considered, 20i is as good as they get.
20i speed test
If there’s a single most impressive part in this 20i review, it’s the speed at which it loads websites. Even on the cheapest plan, it managed to deliver speedy and very competitive results.
For a quick reference, we’re looking at 2 core metrics here:
- LCP or Largest Contentful Paint – as dictated by Google, it should be under 2.5 seconds to pass as good. It’s the time when the main content pieces on the page are loaded.
- Fully loaded time – for the best user experience, a maximum of 3 seconds page load time is recommended.
With an empty WordPress website, 20i has 729ms Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) time and 1.1 seconds fully loaded time.
This test gives us a quick benchmark of how fast a provider’s servers are running. And fast with 20i hosting they are.
Meanwhile, for the second test, we upload a big theme with all of its demo content to see some real-life conditions.
It was not an issue for 20i. LCP is at 1.6 seconds, and fully loaded time is 2.1s.
I must remind you that we are testing the cheapest plan. It makes the results even more impressive.
Also, with 20i, you get to choose your server location: either the US or the UK. Pick the one closest to your target audience. Meanwhile, performance for other locations can be optimized by enabling CDN.
Briefly, 20i is a well-optimized service that will help you achieve fast website loading times. Even on the cheapest plan.
Stress testing
For the last test, I checked how 20i handles the increase of traffic. As a benchmark, I send 50 virtual users to the website and decrease the number by 5 if the test fails until it’s passed.
As suggested by the 100GB monthly bandwidth limit, 20i handled 10 visitors.
In this test, we are mostly looking at the blue line which represents the speed, the red line that represents the HTTP failures, and the grey line that represents the number of visitors.
As the number of visitors increased, some failures appeared. Out of a total of 16 621 requests, 819 were failed – a completely normal and, really, minimal number of failures.
So if 10 constantly changing visitors would constantly be on your site, that would add up to around 100GB bandwidth a month. And that’s exactly what 20i promised.
Altogether, 20i is a reliable and speedy provider. The performance testing results reveal a well-optimized service that doesn’t go over its limits.
Security: is 20i secure?
In the security field, 20i is among the strongest providers – it offers not only free SSL but also daily backups, DDoS protection, and malware scanning, among other features.
The complete list of all features covered:
- Wildcard SSL to protect both domains and all subdomains;
- Automatic daily backups;
- 1 Tbps+ DDoS Protection;
- Automatic Malware Scanning;
- FTP Security Lock;
- Block visitors by IP or Country;
- Web Application Firewall;
- File Permissions Checker;
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA);
- Website Password Manager;
- Hotlink Protection;
- Brute force login protection;
That’s an extensive list of features with barely anything missing. 20i earns 5 starts for the security coverage across its services.
Will 20i support help me?
The main way to reach 20i customer service is a convenient 24/7 ticketing system. However, live chat and phone are available too, yet working hours are not specified. Additionally, there’s a well-structured support database for some self-help.
The most convenient option for support is, of course, live chat. It’s available from the main page of the provider. However, it’s not specified to be working 24/7, which can be a bit of an issue.
Ticket support is the 20i preferred way of helping its customers. And I get it – the agents get enough time to really look at each issue in detail.
Last but not least, the knowledge base is well-structured and easily accessible. It covers all the technical aspects of your account and hosting management.
So while 20i is still a young hosting provider, we are yet to see the standard 24/7-everything support options. Nonetheless, the provider is helpful with the options it has right now.
20i review: the final verdict
Briefly, in this 20i review, the provider proved to be a very promising new provider in the industry. Extensive features, convenient billing, good control panel – it has all you need to manage a website. Oh, I forgot to mention reliable and speedy performance.
Here’s a quick overview of all the features:
| Feature | Extremely promising provider | |
| Pricing | Pricing is on the premium side, starting at $439.99/month. Yet, the introductory discount will bring the first month's price down to just $10.99. | |
| Ease of Use | The control panel is modern and convenient, featuring all the standard hosting management modules. | |
| Performance | In the performance department, 20i stood out as a very reliable and speedy provider. | |
| Security | Security covers all the common vulnerabilities your site might encounter. That’s among the most extensive features list I’ve seen. | |
| Support | Customer support is mostly dealt with via email, while phone and live chat are available too. |
In the end, 20i is a good emerging hosting option. While its main focus remains on reseller hosting, it has some excellent offers for cloud plans, too.
Alternatives to 20i
20i is an attractive option, but you might be looking for something else. For this reason, I’ve looked at some of the best web hosting options to find a couple of fitting alternatives.
Bluehost
Bluehost is among the cheapest providers you can get, with pricing starting at just $1.99/month. It offers a versatile selection of hosting types, including cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, WooCommerce, VPS, and dedicated hosting, making it easy to upgrade as your needs grow. With Bluehost, you'll have access to a website builder, AI tools, 24/7 customer support, reliable performance, and robust security – all at a budget-friendly price.
Hostinger
Hostinger stands out as the most affordable alternative to 20i, with prices starting at $2.69/month. Just like 20i, it strongly focuses on performance, so the quality here is not a sacrifice. Apart from that, choosing Hostinger, you’ll also get a modern control panel, good customer support, and strong security measures.
HostGator
HostGator is a classic beginner-friendly and affordable web hosting option. With prices starting at $3.75/month, the provider includes the standard cPanel, 24/7 live chat customer service, and a free website builder. Perfect for those who are just dipping their toes in the web hosting industry.
20i FAQs
Who owns 20i?
20i is owned by 2 brothers, Tim and Jonathan Brealey. They are experienced in the industry with companies such as WebFusion, 123-reg, and Heart Internet launched previously.
Where is 20i located?
20i is located in the UK, Nottinghamshire. It has servers both in the UK headquarters and in the US.
Is 20i legit?
Yes, 20i legit. It is a reliable, UK-based company established in 2016 by experienced web hosting professionals. In our 20i review, we’ve also confirmed that it offers high-quality web hosting services.
