Objective review 1&1 IONOS.com
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- 🌐 Country: USA
- 🎂 Founded: 1988
- 👨 Customers: 8000000 (~15.42 % market)
- 🌎 Servers Location: Spain, USA, Germany, Europe, United Kingdom
- 🖥️ Control panel: Custom built, Plesk, cPanel
- 📅 Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Participants in ratings (the place occupied in the rating is indicated in brackets):
Countries: Spain (2), USA (31), Germany (10), Europe (23), United Kingdom (19). Alternatives and competitors: A2Hosting.com (12), Namecheap.com (9), DreamHost.com (8), Cloudways.com (12), Squarespace.com (8). Disk type: HDD (4). Data centers: US DCs (1). Payment methods: Visa or MasterCard (28). Control panel: Parallels Plesk (14). Technologies: ASP.NET (16), MySQL (25), PHP (25). Domains: Domain registrars (9). Other: Unlimited hosting (20), Secure hosting (13), DDoS protection (17), Website builder (2). OS: Linux (35), Windows (23). Free trial: Moneyback (40). CMS: WordPress (30), Drupal (26), MODX (13), TYPO3 (16), vBulletin (14), Magento (26). Type of hosting: Cloud hosting (17), Shared hosting (31), VPS-VDS (33), Dedicated server (29). Hosting for: Corporate website (33), Web-portal (25), Forum (27), E-mail (29). Hosting price: Price-quality ratio (27), Expensive hosting (30), Cheap VPS hosting (22)Overview
First impression
IONOS's history goes all the way back to 1988 when they first opened their doors as 1&1 in Montabaur, Germany, with the aim of making information technology and hosting easy for everyone to use. In 2003 they expanded their operations to the USA with the launch of 1&1 Inc, and quickly ranked among the top ten web hosting providers in the United States. The name later changed to 1&1 IONOS before finally settling as IONOS in 2020. They are currently the largest hosting company in Europe.
This industry-leading provider offers Shared Hosting (including ASP.net Hosting), VPS Hosting, Domain Registrations, and Microsoft 365 products to customers around the globe. They are made up of a team of over 4000+ highly capable hosting professionals that manage more than 8 million customers and over 12 million domains from their 10 proprietary, geo redundant, and ISO 27001 certified data centers.
Trial Period
As with most Web Hosting companies, IONOS doesn’t offer a free test period on their plans, but they do have a 30-day money-back guarantee in place. If you are not satisfied with a package you have ordered and still fall within the first 30 days, you can submit a formal cancellation from within your IONOS Account for a full refund.
Billing Cycle
Monthly and yearly billing cycles are offered on both Shared Hosting and VPS packages, with the annual options adding a slight discount for the first year of service.
They accept all major Credit and Debit cards, as well as PayPal as valid payment methods. Clients are advised to make sure their Credit Cards are not connected to any Cash Apps should they want to make use of card payments.
Control Panel
IONOS offers its own, custom-built control panel on its Shared Hosting plans. It features a user-friendly and interactive UI (User Interface), from where you can manage all aspects of your account and website, and is more aesthetically pleasing than the traditional cPanel.
On their server contracts, cPanel is included free of charge on Linux and Plesk on Windows-based plans.
Limits
Their Shared Hosting plans come in four options namely, Essential, Starter, Plus, and Ultimate. The Essential plan comes bundled with 10GB storage, 384MB PHP Memory, 512MB RAM, 10 MariaDB or MySQL databases, and you are limited to hosting a single web project. This in my opinion is suited for nothing more than a personal blog or website. The Starter plan comes slightly better equipped, with 100GB space, 384MB PHP memory, 512MB RAM, and 50 data.
Plus, their best-selling plan, and Ultimate both feature unlimited space, databases, and websites allowed, as well as 768 MB PHP memory with up to 6 GB RAM and 896 MB PHP memory with up to 19 GB RAM respectively.
All Shared plans come standard with a Domain (free for the first year), a Wildcard SSL, and a 2GB POP3/IMAP email account.
Although their Shared plans still make use of outdated HDD storage, they are running on dual-platform technology (web servers and storage are on the same platform) with the latest version of PHP and JIT compiler (to improve the performance of Java programmes), which means visitors to your website will still get faster performance.
VPS plans, all running on super-fast NVMe SSD drives for increased performance, scalability, and efficiency, and unlimited traffic up to 1 Gbit/s, come in various options. The entry-level plan features 10GB SSD space, 1GB RAM, and 1vCore CPU, whilst their most powerful plan, the VPS XXL, boasts 12vCore CPUs, 24GB RAM, and 640GB SSD space.
Website Builder
IONOS offers an intuitive, AI (Artificial Intelligence) assisted builder, simply named the MyWebsite Now Builder. From as low as $1 per month, it allows you to create stunningly beautiful and responsive websites within minutes, by either editing an existing professional template or letting AI handle the design (including all text and images), simply by providing a few details.
Security
The IONOS data centers, located in the USA, UK, and EU, are all ISO27001 (the international standard for information security) certified for maximum security and reliability, as well as Georedundant to ensure your hosting stays uninterrupted even during maintenance and outages.
All Shared Hosting plans come standard with DDoS (distributed denial of service) protection, a free WildCard SSL certificate to safeguard your domain and up to 10,000 subdomains, Site Scan to check your webpages for threats and vulnerabilities, Anti-Spam and Anti-Phishing filters, and Daily Backups of up to six days, that will allow you to recover files from restore points.
VPS plans include SIEM (Security information and event management), Firewall Management where you can define individual rules to control traffic according to your configuration, as well as IDS (intrusion detection system) and IPS (intrusion prevention system), to detect and prevent security incidents and imminent threats.
One should note though that on VPS plans, backups are not included as standard but can be added for an additional monthly fee.
OS
IONOS offers both Linux and Windows-based Shared Hosting plans. Their Linux packages run on Debian, a free open-sourced and community-supported Operating System (OS), whilst Windows-based plans run on Windows Server 2022 (it includes the ASP.NET 4.8 and .NET 6.0 framework).
VPS plans offer the latest stable versions of AlmaLinux, CentOS, Debian, Rocky Linux, and Ubuntu, as well as Windows Server 2019 or 2022 for Windows-based servers.
Older PHP Versions, from 4.0, 5.2, 5.4, 5.6, 7, 7.1, and 7.2 are all still supported by IONOS.
Support
When it comes to support, IONOS goes above and beyond. They offer expert help via Phone, Email, or Live Chat. Although support is available 24/7, the Live Chat option is only available from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST time.
What sets them apart from most providers is the fact that they assign each customer their own personal consultant to answer any questions they might have and to help them succeed online. Should your personal consultant be unavailable, an experienced colleague from their team will step in to provide assistance.
Response times on email vary, with an average of about an hour, but Live Chat is blazingly fast! Each time I tried them out a friendly, well-trained agent replied within 5 seconds.
Conclusion
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IONOS has been around for longer than most and has a solid reputation worldwide. Their hosting plans are scalable, reliable, and complimented with excellent customer support and low-cost intro fees. Having dealt with them personally on multiple hosting projects, I have first-hand experience of how good their services are and can definitely vouch for them. An excellent choice if you are in the market for a quality hosting provider.
Plans
Essential | Starter | Business Windows | Plus | Ultimate | |
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DDoS Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Websites | 1 pcs | 10 pcs | 1 pcs | ∞ | ∞ |
Database | 10 pcs | 50 pcs | 25 pcs | ∞ | ∞ |
Disk Space | 10 Gb | 100 Gb | 100 Gb | ∞ | ∞ |
Platform | linux | linux | windows | linux | linux |
Control panel | - | - | - | - | - |
Details | Details | Details | Details | Details |
VPS Linux XS | VPS Linux S | Cloud Server S | VPS Windows S | VPS Linux XXL | |
Price |
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Memory (RAM) | 1 Gb | 2 Gb | 1 Gb | 2 Gb | 24 Gb |
DDoS Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Disk Space | 10 Gb | 80 Gb | 40 Gb | 80 Gb | 640 Gb |
Platform | linux | linux | linux | windows | linux |
Control panel | Plesk | Plesk | Plesk | Plesk | Plesk |
CPU | - | - | - | - | - |
CPU Cores | 1 pcs | 2 pcs | 1 pcs | 2 pcs | 12 pcs |
Details | Details | Details | Details | Details |
AR6-32 HDD | L-16 SSD | IX6-32 HDD | AR12-128 NVMe | 3XL-192 NVMe | |
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Memory (RAM) | 32 Gb | 16 Gb | 32 Gb | 128 Gb | 192 Gb |
DDoS Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Disk Space | 2000 Gb | 960 Gb | 4000 Gb | 1920 Gb | 2000 Gb |
Platform | linux | linux | linux | linux | windows |
Control panel | Plesk | - | - | - | Plesk |
CPU | 3.6 GHz | 3.5 GHz | 3.2 GHz | 3.1 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
CPU Cores | 6 pcs | 4 pcs | 6 pcs | 12 pcs | 12 pcs |
Details | Details | Details | Details | Details |
.biz 20.00 USD 18.2 EUR 27 CAD 15.6 GBP 30.2 AUD 1654.6 INR 143.8 CNY 2959.4 JPY 1806.8 RUB 765.2 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .com 10.00 USD 9.1 EUR 13.5 CAD 7.8 GBP 15.1 AUD 827.3 INR 71.9 CNY 1479.7 JPY 903.4 RUB 382.6 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .life 11.50 USD 10.47 EUR 15.53 CAD 8.97 GBP 17.37 AUD 951.4 INR 82.69 CNY 1701.66 JPY 1038.91 RUB 439.99 UAH | .name 15.00 USD 13.65 EUR 20.25 CAD 11.7 GBP 22.65 AUD 1240.95 INR 107.85 CNY 2219.55 JPY 1355.1 RUB 573.9 UAH |
.net 12.00 USD 10.92 EUR 16.2 CAD 9.36 GBP 18.12 AUD 992.76 INR 86.28 CNY 1775.64 JPY 1084.08 RUB 459.12 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .org 7.00 USD 6.37 EUR 9.45 CAD 5.46 GBP 10.57 AUD 579.11 INR 50.33 CNY 1035.79 JPY 632.38 RUB 267.82 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .pro 10.67 USD 9.71 EUR 14.4 CAD 8.32 GBP 16.11 AUD 882.73 INR 76.72 CNY 1578.84 JPY 963.93 RUB 408.23 UAH | .co 40.00 USD 36.4 EUR 54 CAD 31.2 GBP 60.4 AUD 3309.2 INR 287.6 CNY 5918.8 JPY 3613.6 RUB 1530.4 UAH |
.io 36.00 USD 32.76 EUR 48.6 CAD 28.08 GBP 54.36 AUD 2978.28 INR 258.84 CNY 5326.92 JPY 3252.24 RUB 1377.36 UAH | .me 5.00 USD 4.55 EUR 6.75 CAD 3.9 GBP 7.55 AUD 413.65 INR 35.95 CNY 739.85 JPY 451.7 RUB 191.3 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .us 15.00 USD 13.65 EUR 20.25 CAD 11.7 GBP 22.65 AUD 1240.95 INR 107.85 CNY 2219.55 JPY 1355.1 RUB 573.9 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year | .ws 15.00 USD 13.65 EUR 20.25 CAD 11.7 GBP 22.65 AUD 1240.95 INR 107.85 CNY 2219.55 JPY 1355.1 RUB 573.9 UAH |
.city 21.00 USD 19.11 EUR 28.35 CAD 16.38 GBP 31.71 AUD 1737.33 INR 150.99 CNY 3107.37 JPY 1897.14 RUB 803.46 UAH | .today 23.80 USD 21.66 EUR 32.13 CAD 18.56 GBP 35.94 AUD 1968.97 INR 171.12 CNY 3521.69 JPY 2150.09 RUB 910.59 UAH | .xyz 12.00 USD 10.92 EUR 16.2 CAD 9.36 GBP 18.12 AUD 992.76 INR 86.28 CNY 1775.64 JPY 1084.08 RUB 459.12 UAH | .online 5.00 USD 4.55 EUR 6.75 CAD 3.9 GBP 7.55 AUD 413.65 INR 35.95 CNY 739.85 JPY 451.7 RUB 191.3 UAH FREE Free domain registration is available when purchasing a web hosting package from 1 year |
.guru 35.00 USD 31.85 EUR 47.25 CAD 27.3 GBP 52.85 AUD 2895.55 INR 251.65 CNY 5178.95 JPY 3161.9 RUB 1339.1 UAH | .agency 20.40 USD 18.56 EUR 27.54 CAD 15.91 GBP 30.8 AUD 1687.69 INR 146.68 CNY 3018.59 JPY 1842.94 RUB 780.5 UAH | .news 24.00 USD 21.84 EUR 32.4 CAD 18.72 GBP 36.24 AUD 1985.52 INR 172.56 CNY 3551.28 JPY 2168.16 RUB 918.24 UAH | .club 0.95 USD 0.86 EUR 1.28 CAD 0.74 GBP 1.43 AUD 78.59 INR 6.83 CNY 140.57 JPY 85.82 RUB 36.35 UAH |
Contacts
- Address: 2 Logan Square 100 N 18th St., Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA
- Phone number: 1-484-254-5555
- E-mail: info@ionos.com
- All
- General impression
- Support
- Reliability
- Price
- Website performance
- Website interface
- Control panel
- Livechat
- Payment process
- Security
Reviews (16)
- Sorting
In terms of speed, I found their hosting to be quite fast and responsive. My website loads quickly, and I haven't experienced any significant downtime or slow loading times. The server response time is also quite impressive, which is a big plus.
When it comes to security, Ionos offers several security features to protect your website from potential threats. They provide daily backups, SSL certificates, and DDoS protection, among other security measures. I feel confident that my website is well-protected with their hosting.
Their customer support is somewhat good. Can't say it's very good. Since I am a developer, i didn't need much effort from them. I had a few questions during the setup process, and their support team was quick to respond and very helpful.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with Ionos WordPress hosting. I would need much effort from them on the support side .
- The hosting packages they offer are quite cheaper than the other hosting companies I know.
- They also offer cheap domain registrations in the first year as well.
- They have 30MBG so you're free to get out in case you don't like the hosting.
- They offer scalable hosting performance so if your website is running slow, you can easily upgrade from the Control Panel.
- They have good customer service and wouldn't make you feel stupid for not knowing something.
Cons:
- If your issue needs to be escalated, there's no way to reach out to the admins/developers to properly understand what's going on and what's causing it.
- They have removed the chat support feature or it's probably for selected customers only. It could've been easier to reach them through that especially for some countries that need to pay to call them.
But, they need to work on REAL-TIME Live Chat support/Technical support to attract more customers. Because there is no great hosting without great technical support that cares about your website.
One of the cheapest hosting providers on the market
Every customer receives a dedicated support assistant
Cons:
Dated and unintuitive backend control panel
Not very beginner friendly
Overall, I am fully satisfied with 1&1 Ionos services and happy to recommend if you are looking to host your website and domain in a single account. Just go for it.
They had a very quick and responsive chat team but now they do not answer well I am not satisfied with their customer services. The price is very reasonable though and one can easily afford it they have a small website to host. But still, my verdict is not recommended because as a customer all I need is support which in my case is not very helpful.
I have not seen any down time and their sites load pretty quickly.
I think they're normally priced, they meet the standard of pricing for the industry.
I have not experienced support as I have not needed to, they seem to be a pretty good company, I have not had any issue with them so far.
They are giving almost free plans for one year but next year they will try to steal their accounts.
We highly recommend not to purchase the cheapest hosting package. Usually, they come with a row of issues: the server is often down, the hardware is outdated, lousy and slow support, registration and payment errors, etc.
For your convenience, we have created a tool that can help you to choose the right hosting package for you just by answering a few simple questions.
CMS is a content management system. A lot of hosting providers offer so-called CMS optimized packages. However, this is a marketing trick because most CMSs do not have special software or hosting requirements.
Trial period is a period of time, usually from 7 to 30 days, during which you can use the hosting services for free to test them.
Moneyback policy allows the customer to receive a refund for his order within a certain period after the purchase.
OS means the operating system is installed on the server. We recommend to choose Linux hosting unless your website requires another OS.
Bulletproof hosting - it’s a type of service that allows to host almost any type of content, even the restricted one (adult content, warez, spam etc). Bulletproof hosting providers do not remove your content in case someone reports an abuse.
Unlimited hosting - refers to companies that provide packages with unlimited disk space, bandwidth, number of domains, databases or email accounts, etc. This is usually a marketing trick but sometimes you can find something worth a try.
Secure hosting - it’s a type of service when the hosting provider is mostly responsible for the security of the user’s account: updates the software installed on their servers, provides an antivirus and malware scanner, firewalls and basic anti-DDoS protection, etc.
DDoS-protected hosting - companies that provide packages that include anti-DDoS protection. These packages are considerably more expensive than regular ones. Nevertheless, they’re totally worth their price because the company will ensure that your website is secured from cyber attacks.
Most websites require MySQL and PHP installed on the server to work correctly. Almost all hosting providers support these technologies.
ASP.NET is a Microsoft web application development platform.
The more comfortable the control panel is, the easier will it be for you to change the website and hosting account settings.
Most hosting providers that are in TOP20 in our rating offer user-friendly control panels, such as cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin. That’s why we recommend to pay attention to other, more important parameters, while choosing a hosting provider.