Editor's opinion
Sean Thompson
I am a full-time web developer & IT professional with more than 18 years experience. I have been working with numerous hosting companies over the years.
First impression
AwardSpace was established in 2003 in Kiel, Germany, following the successful merger of Zetta Hosting Solutions Ltd, primarily offering free HTML hosting services, and AttractSoft GmbH, a prominent software development company. Their primary objective was to provide free LAMP hosting (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) without any ads, enabling anyone to create a website and establish an online presence. In addition to free hosting, they also offer a range of paid services, including Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Domain Registrations, and SSL Certificates.
Currently, they host their continually expanding customer base of more than 2.5 million from their TIER 3+ data center located in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Trial Period
To test their services, they offer free hosting without any ads, providing 1000MB of disk space and 5GB of bandwidth.
For Shared or VPS Hosting, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are dissatisfied with their web hosting service, simply request a refund within 30 days, and they will issue a full refund – no questions asked.
Billing Cycle
Customers on Shared and VPS hosting plans are required to commit to an annual subscription. They currently accept all major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, and PayPal, as valid payment methods.
Control Panel
AwardSpace includes its own custom-built control panel in all its hosting plans. My initial impression was that it looks rather basic, but I have come to find it even more user-friendly than the industry-standard cPanel (although one can definitely sense they used cPanel as a blueprint for the development of their own control panel).
This control panel allows users to manage all aspects of their hosting account, such as domains, the website builder, databases, and more, hassle-free from one convenient location. To my surprise, they even include this on their free hosting plan.
Limits
Their Free Hosting plan limits users to 1GB of disk storage, which I assume is on standard HDDs, and 5GB monthly traffic. Although this plan includes the website builder, Anti-Virus, and Anti-Spam, it doesn’t include a free domain, custom MX, A, or CNAME records, data backups, or SSH access.
Clients opting for Shared Hosting plans can choose between three packages, namely Basic, Web Pro Plus, and Max Pack Plus. All these come standard with Unlimited Disk Space, Unlimited Monthly Traffic, and a Free SSL certificate. However, what sets them apart is that users are limited to 2 websites on the entry-level plan, 10 on the Web Pro Plus with a free domain name, and Unlimited on the Max Pack Plus which also includes 2 free domain names.
On VPS, there are also three plans. The Starter VPS features 1vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB Disk Space, 2TB Monthly Traffic, 50 Mbit/s Bandwidth, and 1 IP address. The Pro VPS has 2vCPUs, 2GB RAM, 50GB Disk Space, 4TB Monthly Traffic, 100 Mbit/s Bandwidth, and 1 IP address, while the Advanced VPS plan boasts 4vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 100GB Disk Space, 8TB Monthly Traffic, 100 Mbit/s Bandwidth, and 1 IP address.
Website Builder
All AwardSpace hosting plans include the Zacky Website Builder. This user-friendly but rather basic website creation tool comes with pre-made designs that are not only fully responsive but also SEO-friendly. It features tools such as tracking for Google Analytics and Facebook pixels.
Security
Their data center, situated in Bulgaria, holds ISO 27001 certification and has implemented systems to manage all risks associated with the security of the data they handle. Their hosting packages are safeguarded by a firewall to protect against all common attacks, a free SSL certificate by Let’s Encrypt, Spam, and antivirus software, and RAID backups in case you need to restore your site.
If you feel the need for a more secure SSL, you can purchase either a RapidSSL, GeoTrust QuickSSL Premium, GeoTrust True BusinessID, or a GeoTrust TrueBizID Wildcard SSL certificate from the "Buy Services" section in the control panel.
OS
AwardSpace utilizes Debian 10 (Buster), a free Unix-like operating system that includes access to a collection of over 43,000 free and open-source software, as the operating system (OS) of choice on their Free and Shared Hosting plans. VPS customers have the option to install their preferred custom Linux distribution or choose among Debian 9 (Stretch), Debian 8 (Jessie), Debian 7 (Wheezy), CentOS 6 and 7, OpenSUSE 42.2 Leap, or Ubuntu 16.04, which comes with one-click installations.
Support
Support is available through Email and a Ticketing System, where you can report issues in the control panel support section. While free plan users have access to round-the-clock support, it may be slightly slower than support on paid plans, which, in my case, averaged a blazing fast 10 minutes. AwardSpace even guarantees responses within an hour for paying clients. Additionally, there is a FAQ section on their website that addresses most questions.
It's worth noting, however, that their toll-free phone lines and Live Chat function on the website are only for sales and not for support.
Conclusion
Pros |
Cons |
- 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee;
- Free SSL Certificates;
- Affordable Plans;
- User-Friendly Control Panel.
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- No Support Live Chat option;
- No Monthly payment options.
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To be honest, I wasn't expecting much - free services usually aren't that great. However, I was wrong. AwardSpace hosting offers more than enough for anyone looking to start their online presence. Their free plans are perfect for startup businesses, personal blogs, or basic websites. For small to medium-sized businesses, their Shared Hosting and VPS plans offer scalable, high-quality hosting complemented by excellent and fast support. An excellent choice for anyone on a limited budget.