Hostinger review 2023: quality features for less

In recent years Hostinger has become a major player in the hosting industry. Its very affordable prices, good performance, and ease of use have definitely played a big role in its popularity.

Hostinger’s prices are some of the lowest in the hosting market. Yet the resources included in web hosting plans are very generous: large storage, unlimited bandwidth, and features like a free domain, SSL, automated updates, and professional email accounts. Plus, its performance is very fast and reliable too.

So to test whether the provider is truly all that, we have conducted our own research and tested the host in terms of ease of use, performance, security, pricing, and customer support.

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Hostinger pros and cons

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Hosting management – is it easy to use?

When it comes to ease of use, Hostinger is incredibly easy to manage as it is designed with beginners in mind. Automatic wizards will take care of 3 setups: hosting, domain, and SSL.

More so, the control panel is not just good-looking – it combines great simplicity and functionality too.

Overall, the setup process is very simplistic as all you have to do is simply follow the instructions on the screen, fill a few fields, pick your server location and you’re pretty much done.

Next step – the hPanel.

Hostinger hPanel and features within

While the most popular control panels remain cPanel and Plesk, Hostinger decided to go with a custom option. It’s called hPanel, and it’s effortless to navigate.

I can definitely see some influence from predecessors of this one. If you've used cPanel before, this will be both an upgrade, and you won’t be lost. Meanwhile, first-timers should not be scared either – every tool has an explanation in it.

Judging by what I’ve noticed over time, Hostinger is committed to its control panel. So much so that the provider is constantly updating hPanel to make it more intuitive and more comfortable for users. So, if it’s going to change a bit while you’re using it, don’t be surprised.

The main things that you'll be doing in hPanel are:

• Reaching file manager,
• Installing applications,
• Migrating your existing website,
• Checking databases,
• Adding domains,
• Using website builder,
• Creating email accounts.

Looking in detail, everything is well-organized. The only issue with hPanel is that it can get slow. However, other than this annoyance (sometimes), I’ve found no issues.

Altogether, hPanel is a good tool to manage your website. It has every functionality needed, and, if you can overlook the speed, there's no other flaws.

Is it easy to install WordPress?

WordPress installation with Hostinger is very simple. All you need to do is find the WordPress icon (it’ll be the first one) in the Websites > One-Click Installs tool and click on it. At the same time, you might never need to use it – WordPress installation can be done automatically in the initial hosting account setup.

If you skipped the first setup or need a second website, then choose WordPress and the installation window will open.

Hostinger picks the newest version of WordPress and creates a new database by default. You can change these settings if you like. And, once you click on the Install button, your website will be ready in a couple of minutes.

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Essential features: free domain and website builder

Now to make the website creation process even more simple, Hostinger includes all the necessary features like a free domain, email accounts, an SSL, and even a free website builder. A combination of all that makes this provider excellent for both personal and small business hosting.

Both Hostinger's shared hosting plans include a free domain name registration, 100 email accounts, and an SSL certificate. Meaning that even the cheapest shared plan is well suited for small businesses to start with – it's cheap ($2.99/mo) and has all the necessities included, so you wouldn't need to spend an extra dime.

The available free TLDs (Top-Level Domains) include: .com; .net; .xyz; .online; .website; .space and many others.

Another topic is how you're going to build a website. WordPress is the #1 choice for many, but Hostinger also has another tool – you can use Hostinger Website Builder.

Generally, website builders are an easier and quicker way to launch a website. That's because all design elements are readily available, and absolutely 0 programming knowledge is needed.

Talking about Hostinger web design builder Hostinger review specifically, here's what you get:

• Over 130+ modern templates.
• Drag-and-drop editor functionality.
• Blogging, SEO, and email services tools.
• Free domain and SSL.
• Prices start at $2.99/mo .
• You can also read a detailed Hostinger Website Builder review that we did.

So if you don't have experience with WordPress at all, Hostinger Website Builder might be the next best thing.

Free website migration

Many people don’t know, but Hostinger also has free website migration. You’d just need to ask a support agent, and they would migrate your website in a blink. But there is literally no information about that.

Whenever I needed a transfer, I’d just go in and ask a support agent. Usually, the same person would handle it on the spot, so I’d be able to follow them every step of the way.

So finally I saw some change. Now you can request your free website migration from the dashboard without contacting anyone.

Still, there’s no info about that anywhere on Hostinger’s website. But if you need it, you’re welcome.

To locate the request for migration, click on your name icon in your account.

To get your website transferred, you'll need to fill out a form. Hostinger can take care of WordPress, cPanel, FTP, and even other control panel migrations.

The only downside is that you need to provide your hosting account password. On the other hand, you're migrating anyway and will probably cancel that account soon enough. Just make sure that you don't use the same password on every account you have. Email, Twitter, and bank account included.

So while Hostinger does not brag about its free website migration, it is there and available for free. If you were afraid to leave your current provider because of the daunting migration, there are no more reasons not to do it.

Can I create free business email with Hostinger?

You surely can have a professional-looking email account with Hostinger. All plans can host up to 100 business mailboxes, with a 10GB storage limit per account.

Here are a few other limitations you should be aware of:

• Send up to 100000 emails per account;
• Daily message limit is 2000;
• Max outgoing email size is 35 MB;
• Max email attachment size is 25 MB;
• Max recipients per message is 100;
• Forward rules per email account – 5 forwarders.

Now as for additional functionalities, Hostinger uses SpamAssassin protection to ensure security, and it makes it easy to set up email forwarding as well as autoresponders.

Now in terms of the actual mailbox, it’s on the basic side but still better than what a lot of other providers are offering for free.

It will work for individual users or small businesses to get their contact form submissions or for contacting partners.

Mind you, for big email marketing campaigns, you’d be better off with a separate email server. That would guarantee good deliverability.

All in all, Hostinger is easy to use. As you saw, the interface is nice and modern, you can reach all the tools easily, and everything works just fine.

Performance – is Hostinger fast?

I can safely say that Hostinger is an example of how web hosting performance should look like. No matter what you pay for it. This host is stable, fast, and can handle quite some traffic even on cheap plans.

I did 3 types of tests to see if there's anything at all that would make this provider flinch.

Hostinger server uptime and response time

I can safely say that Hostinger is an example of how web hosting performance should look like.

While the host comes with a very standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, Hostinger actually maintained a perfect 100% throughout our testing period.

Surely enough, keeping 100% uptime is not possible in the long term. Even for the most expensive providers. There will always be server maintenance involved. So you will see an occasional 1 or 2 minutes of downtime. On the other hand, this shows that Hostinger is very reliable, and there are no server issues. Additionally, the host offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

The tool also tracks and draws average response time, which came up to 511ms. To put it into perspective, a little bit over 600ms is considered average for shared hosting. So Hostinger is above that.

Hostinger speed

For the next test, I compared website loading speeds when tested from different locations. Hostinger nailed this one.

Keep in mind that the host allows you to choose from 7 data center locations – the US, UK, Netherlands, Lithuania Singapore, Indonesia, and Brazil. And by opting for the one your audience is closest to you will be sure to secure the fastest loading times for your visitors.

However, for this test, we have hosted our website in the US data center, so the best performance can be seen when testing from the US – just 479ms till Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Naturally, the further we go, the longer it takes to load. For visitors from Europe, this website would take around 1.3 seconds to load, while visitors from India would have to wait 1.7 seconds.

Google is taking metrics such as Largest Contentful Paint into the account when ranking pages. The lower the number, the better your score. Keep it under 2.5 seconds and you’re good.

479ms, when tested from the US, is one of the best scores I’ve ever gotten. But even when testing from India, we can still pass Google’s test.

What changes if I test a fully built website?

With a fully built website, LCP increases to 849ms. That is still under a second.

While search engines take LCP into consideration, the loading circle only stops spinning when the website is fully loaded. That’s when the user can say 'Oh that was fast!' Will they say that if your website is hosted on Hostinger? Sure they will as there’s almost no further delay – loading time stands at a very low 936ms. More so, fast load time could potentially lower the site's bounce rate. So if you're looking for the fastest web hosting, Hostinger is a great choice.

Now the final and perhaps the most important test. Can Hostinger handle the traffic?

Hostinger stress testing

I’ve sent 50 visitors to my test website. That is a big number. Imagine there would be 50 visitors on your website every single moment – someone leaves, more join in. That would soon add up to 10s of thousands of monthly visitors.

Hostinger handled the test just fine.

As the number of visitors increased (grey line), response time (blue line) remained the same. Hostinger did not slow down apart from a couple of bumps later on. Overall, it stayed as fast as with 1 visitor.

A++, Hostinger passes all of my tests and earns a place among the fastest and most reliable hosting providers. The provider is fast, reliable, and powerful enough to handle considerably big loads of traffic.

As a whole, performance-wise, Hostinger appears to have no weak links. The technology used by the provider is the cause for the great Hostinger performance review results I got.

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What makes Hostinger load time fast?

Personally, I find it very interesting how such cheap provider can deliver performance results comparable to much more expensive hosts like SiteGround or A2 Hosting.

So, what exactly is Hostinger doing to be fast?

• Battling latency – If the server is far from the visitor, it will take longer to load a website. Just like if you are further from a Wi-Fi router, the connection is weaker. Hostinger tackles this problem by offering 7 server locations worldwide – the US, UK, Netherlands, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore, and Indonesia. So when setting up your hosting account, pick the location that is closest to your audience.
• Up to dated tech – Hostinger keeps its tech upgraded – from SSD drives to the latest PHP versions or fast LiteSpeed web servers. Once anything new comes up, Hostinger will follow the best practices.
• WordPress optimization – WordPress websites benefit the most from the latest technology and its optimizations used by Hostinger. In fact, the provider checks all the boxes when it comes to optimizing WordPress: it offers the latest PHP version, both HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 (Quic) are there, IPv6 is enabled, and an advanced caching is possible.

Hostinger security

Hostinger has pretty good security features and measures in place, although they are more on the basic side. The servers are taken care of by security experts while yours and your visitors’ data is safe with free SSL. Depending on the plan, you also get weekly or daily backups, and it is possible to set up 2-factor authentication (2FA).

Shall we get into more details?

• Internal server security – the servers are monitored 24/7, and they are equipped with essential security modules like mod_security and PHP open_basedir. Data centers themselves take care of high redundancy. That is definitely not the weak link.
• Free SSL – each of Hostinger’s plans comes with a free SSL certificate, and it took me just a few clicks to install it during the initial website setup. This feature encrypts all data that travels from and to your server so no third party can steal it. By the way, it is a Google ranking factor too, so there’s literally no reason not to activate SSL.
• DDoS protection – there are several layers of protection against DDoS attacks. Traffic is analyzed and blocked through Wanguard that generates firewall rules. There are also Bitninja or Imunify360 web application firewalls on each server. Additionally, you can set up Cloudflare protection on your own or purchase the service from Hostinger. Cloudflare protection distributes content across different servers world-wide and masks server IP address, protecting from DDoS attacks.
• Daily or weekly website backups – imagine if you could roll back time. For example, one minute your website is functioning fine and the next – there’s some major error. You simply go to the backup manager and roll back the latest version of your site that’s functioning. Time-spinner, no less. Weekly backups are included in all of the plans, while daily backups are provided for the Business plan users.
• 2FA – even if your password gets into the hands of other people, they won’t be able to log in as the password is simply not enough anymore. Alongside your regular password, you’ll need to use a second layer of security – confirmation via code which only you have access to via an app.

All things considered, Hostinger has security essentials in all of its packages. It might not seem like a lot, but it is definitely enough to protect your website from the most common vulnerabilities. Such a variety of tools place Hostinger among top-3 most secure web hosting companies on our list.

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Hostinger pricing and hosting plans

By far the most popular and affordable option offered by Hostinger is shared hosting – starting price is just $2.99 a month. Other options include cheap WordPress plans, Cloud hosting, and VPS.

It’s obvious that no matter in what stage your project is, there’ll be an option suited for it.

Shared hosting is what most people start with off. 1 thing to note immediately – SSL and a free domain name registration are included with both plans. Keep in mind that it's only free for a year – Hostinger's custom domain name renewals will eventually catch up to you. Though they are pretty affordable – .com renews at $10.99/year.

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Hostinger is very generous and transparent when it comes to server resources. Especially the storage limit is much higher than a lot of competitors hide under their unlimited buzzword. By the way – unlimited email accounts is not a thing anymore either. All plans allow you to create up to 100 accounts for each domain.

But not everything is equally valuable.

In my personal opinion, there are 2 options that are worth the money:

1. You can pick Premium if you are just starting out. The resources you get are very generous with all the necessities like free domain registration, SSL, and email accounts are included.
2. Pick Business to get the best value possible – resources included are significantly higher than with Premium, plus you get daily backups.

No doubt, Hostinger is unbeatable in the pricing department. Introductory prices and renewal price considered.

There’s one more thing we need to discuss. That's the money-back guarantee. I know that the majority of you won’t read the terms of service (can’t blame). So I did it for you.

Here are a couple of things you should know:

• The host offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• If you paid with cryptocurrency, then your purchase is non-refundable.
• Extra services like G Suite, domain privacy protection, and SEO toolkit are non-refundable.
• Country code top-level domains (e.g. .in, .uk, .sg) are non-refundable.

That’s a standard set of terms, but nonetheless, good to know.

All in all, there’s currently no cheaper option than Hostinger (and when it appears, believe me, I’ll test it). You can get a simple yet good-value web hosting plan for less than $3 or pick the best value for your buck with the more advanced options. Do not forget to check out our Hostinger Black Friday deals list for even higher discounts.

Hostinger for business

Since Hostinger seems to be the Jack of all trades, it's no surprise that in addition to shared hosting the provider offers many fairly-priced solutions with helpful tools for businesses too.

Hostinger WordPress hosting overview

Among good options for business websites, Hostinger has WordPress hosting plans. These are pretty much the same as shared hosting, yet include a bigger features package. The prices start at $1.99/mo.

All Hostinger WordPress hosting plans include email accounts, SSL, WP-CLI integration, and WordPress-specific features such as WordPress dashboard with caching management.

At the same time, starting with the second, Starter plan ($2.99/mo), WordPress multisite and Jetpack are pre-installed. Meanwhile, Business ($3.99/mo) includes daily backups and Cloudflare CDN too. If you'd like to get a paid version of Jetpack – WordPress Pro ($11.59/mo) includes Jetpack Personal license free of charge.

Usually, I shoo people off the WordPress hosting plans as they tend to be completely the same as the regular shared hosting. In Hostinger's case, we can see differences in features as well as pricing. So if you're looking to host a WordPress site – compare which option offers the best value for you and if there are special discounts/terms available.

Hostinger Cloud hosting overview

Among the best business hosting options is cloud hosting. Rather affordable, very much scalable, and powerful, it's a gateway to VPS and a private server. Pretty good Hostinger Cloud hosting packages start at $9.99/mo.

Hostinger Cloud hosting is seriously business-focused – free domain, email, and SSL are there as well as daily backups, Google Ads credits, and CDN.

The resources go from 3GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, and 200GB storage to 12GB RAM, 6 CPU cores, and 300GB storage. Plus, the Cloud Enterprise plan is hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure.

This is a powerful option for those that have large online stores, membership sites, and commercial blogs – additional security and dedicated resources are there to support it.

I have an online store hosted on Hostinger's cheapest Cloud plan and haven't had any issues in a year so far. So it's a personal recommendation too.

Hostinger VPS hosting overview

For advanced users, VPS hosting is the cheapest most powerful option to look at. Hostinger's VPS plans start at $3.99/mo.

Hostinger's VPS hosting is semi-managed. This means that you get a custom VPS control panel and full root access – OS and script installers, easy server reboot, and permission management are done in a visual interface, while root access allows you to customize the server from the backend. Meanwhile, Hostinger takes care of the server launch and maintenance. Not very beginner-friendly, but a manageable option if you are willing to learn.

VPS resources can go from 1CPU, 1GB RAM, and 20GB storage to 8 CPUs, 9GB RAM, and 160GB storage based on the number of slices you need.

Essentially, the resources are dedicated to your account entirely, even though the server is shared. That's why you can customize it and optimize it the way your project requires.

So overall, VPS is the cheapest way to host a popular website/app that requires dedicated server resources.

Hostinger Minecraft hosting overview

Hostinger is among the few classic providers that offer a dedicated Minecraft hosting environment with all the tools to easily launch and manage your Minecraft server. The prices start at $8.95/mo.

Hostinger's Minecraft servers are launched instantly after you make your purchase and include a Multicraft gaming control panel with an automatic mod pack and plugin installation. Also, 99.99% uptime SLA and DDoS protection are in place, meaning that chances of getting your game disrupted are minimal.

The resources go from 2GB RAM and 2 CPUs for smaller Minecraft communities to 8GB RAM and 8 CPUs for the possibility to monetize your server.

Overall, among Minecraft-specific services – Hostinger tops the recommendations list. That's due to affordable prices, ease of use, and powerful hardware with dedicated resources.

Hostinger CyberPanel hosting overview

For users looking to host VPS easier, or those that simply prefere CyberPanel, Hostinger offers CyberPanel hosting. The panel enables users to manage their VPS services much quicker and more securely. Best of all, prices start at just $3.95/mo.

In terms of variety, there are 8 CyberPanel hosting plans to choose from. All plans come with a free SSL, a caching module, ModSecurity package, and automated backups.

The main difference between said plans are the resources included: ranging from 1 CPU to 8 CPUs, 20GB to 250GB storage, 1GB to 16GB RAM, and 1TB to 12TB bandwidth.

As a whole, CyberPanel offers a more efficient way to host VPS. Not only does it make site management easier, but it also offers command line interface for experienced users too.

All things considered, Hostinger has all the basic and premium features required for business hosting. Starting with all-inclusive plans, easy ways to build a website, and finishing off with good scalability options for every budget.

Hostinger for anonymous and adult hosting

Interestingly, one of the very few providers to be confident enough to allow anonymity and adult hosting is Hostinger. Whether you’re protecting your identity or need an adult website (it’s not just porn, you, dirty-minded reader), this one provider has the means to help you.

So why exactly is Hostinger suitable for anonymous hosting?

Well, for one thing, it allows you to make payments using cryptocurrencies. Due to their nature, nobody can track them down and see where the money comes from. Your identity is perfectly safe. Hostinger accepts all major cryptocurrencies, and you can choose this method of payment when you check out.

Secondly, when you purchase a plan from Hostinger, you don’t have to go through the account and identity verification. In hopes of preventing fraud, other providers require identity verification. One good example is Bluehost.

So, there you go. You have two good reasons for which Hostinger is excellent for anonymous hosting.

As far as adult content is concerned, Hostinger will accommodate you in this case too. Hostinger is perfectly okay with adult content as long as it is legal and not copyrighted.

I’m not referring here to pornography only, but to gambling, alcohol, and tobacco-related content as well.

Hostinger customer support

Like any other self-respecting hosting provider, Hostinger offers a great variety of customer support options. I’m talking about a 24/7 live chat, a ticketing system, email, as well as an extensive knowledge base. However, phone support is not available.

When talking about customer support, several things are crucial:

• Can I reach customer service any time?
• Will they respond fast?
• Do they know how to help me?

TL;DR Hostinger ticks all of the boxes. Most of the time. For more details, let’s continue.

First things first, a pinch of constructive criticism.

Remember 2020 pandemics? Well… Hostinger was not ready and that resulted in the live chat becoming completely unavailable. The only option left was email. However, now the chat is functioning well.

Therefore, I contacted the support several times when writing this Hostinger review. Just to ask for clarifications or guidance. On average, I’d get the first response in around 24 minutes.

That’s quite a long time. Providers like Bluehost or GoDaddy usually respond immediately. So that is a downside, definitely. On the other hand, all interactions were very helpful and professional.

Every agent I talked to was very well trained and answered all my questions with grace. Here, I asked about server location choice.

Not only did the agent provide the full list of data centers and explain why I couldn’t choose some of them, but he also offered to make a transfer.

Lastly, while there is no phone support, the live chat was more than enough for me to not feel the lack of it.

Knowledge base

Hostinger has a big knowledge base. And when I say big, I mean, 'How can they know everything I wanted to ask?' sort of extensive. But I find that pretty great, especially if you’re a beginner. You’ll find tutorials there too.

From what I can see, the knowledge base is updated constantly. Daily, even.

Hostinger has articles and tutorials both on basic web hosting stuff such as software installation as well as marketing. Plus, there are many troubleshooting guides for common control panel or email problems.

All in all, Hostinger’s customer support service is good. The agents are knowledgeable, incredibly friendly, and they do their best to answer your questions. Unfortunately, the wait times can get long, but in the meantime, you get to scroll through a vast and helpful knowledge base.

Hostinger video review

Here's a quick video overviewing Hostinger and all its perks that place it among the best web hosting solutions in the market.

Hostinger review – the final verdict

Throughout this Hostinger review, we proved that this web hosting provider had not lost its way. It is still a cheap option that is easy to use. But more importantly, it’s the one that’s both reliable and can be a strong foundation for a fast website.

In summary, how does everything look?

Who do I recommend Hostinger to?

Hostinger is the best option for beginner users building their first websites. It’s cheap yet high-quality, not to mention easy to use. At the same time, more expensive options will be great for small businesses – the performance definitely competes with the top dogs of the industry.

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