Afrihost.com review

First impression

Afrihost is a well-established South African web hosting provider, established way back in 1999 by three high-school friends Gian Visser, Brendan Armstrong, and Peter Meintjes. The business was initially operated from Gian's house but rapidly expanded, and went on to become a multi-award-winning business with over 51,000 happy customers. They offer services such as Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, Domain Registerations, and Internet Connections. 

Trial Period

Unfortunately, Afrihost doesn't provide a free trial with their hosting packages and services. But, they do have a 60-day, double money-back guarantee! If, after signing with them and in your first 60 days, something doesn't make you happy with their service and you feel that they've fallen short of your expectations, you can end your subscription, and Afrihost will refund you an amount equivalent to twice what they received from you. No strings attached and no questions asked!

Billing Cycle

Their Shared and VPS Hosting plans are only offered on a monthly payment basis. While it's actually possible to prepay 6 or 12 months, this must be arranged with their accounts department, and there are no discounts on this option.

Payment methods accepted are Visa, Mastercard, and debit orders by monthly deduction.

Control Panel

Their Linux-based Shared Hosting plans come standard with the cPanel control panel, a very popular control panel that simplifies the management of web hosting accounts. It provides users with a graphical interface, as well as tools to easily manage all aspects of their websites and hosting spaces without requiring any technical knowledge. Windows-based plans on the other hand comes with the Solid CP control panel, a hosting control panel designed for Microsoft environments and support products including ASP.net, ASP, MS Access, Microsoft SQL Server, or VBScript.

Limits

Afrihost offers different scalable Shared Hosting packages with Windows and Linux alternatives. TheirLinux plans start with the 'Silver' plan, which comes with 1GB disk space, 50 POP/IMAP email accounts, and 1 MySQL database. On the top end of the spectrum is the Platinum Pro plan, which features 50GB disk space and unlimited POP/IMAP emails and MySQL databases. With Windows, plans start with the Bronze option with 1GB of storage space, 25 POP/IMAP email accounts, and 1 MariaDB database, and end with the Platinum Pro option with 50GB of disk space, unlimited POP/IMAP email accounts, and 3 MySQL and/or MariaDB databases. Unfortunately, these plans run on normal HDD drives and not on speedy SSD drives. 

Their VPS plans are also available with multiple options. Their entry-level 'Bronze' plan has 100GB of disk space, 1 vCPU, and 2GB of RAM, while their premium high-end 'Platinum Pro' plan has 8TB of disk space, 12 vCPUs, and 32GB of RAM. All VPS plans come with unlimited traffic as standard.

Website Builder

They include the SiteBuilder website builder free of charge with all their shared hosting plans. The builder provides facility to build professional sites with a simple drag-and-drop editor. It provides over 500 fully responsive themes in various categories, so it's simple to customize as needed. Because it's cPanel integrated, it's easily accessible from your control panel. It also features over 40 widgets, some of which are Rich Text, Media, Google Maps, and more. 

Security

Looking at their security, they have the basics covered. They have a network firewall in place to ward off unwanted traffic, advanced DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attack protection, and complimentary Spam Filtering and Anti-Virus measures. Afrihost also provides a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate with all hosting plans.

OS

Afrihost's Shared Hosting plans operate on the Rocky Linux 8 operating system (OS), a reliable, secure, an open-source, stable, and secure enterprise OS based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For Windows-based plans, they use Windows Server 2022. Additionally, VPS users can choose between AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, or CentOS as their preferred operating system.

Support

Afrihost provides technical support through various channels, including Email, Support Tickets, Phone (available from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday), WhatsApp, and a Call Me Back service. Their agents are courteous, friendly, and willing to assist, although I've noticed they may lack some technical expertise. However, they are proactive in seeking solutions and follow up promptly. Response times are almost immediate on WhatsApp and within an hour via email or support tickets. Additionally, their website features a helpful 'Help Centre' acting as a knowledge base for self-assistance with common issues.

Conclusion

Afrihost is a reputable and affordable host, great if you are based in South Africa! Their plans are suitable for beginners and mid-level users alike, but if advanced solutions are needed, you might want to look elsewhere. I've used various of Afrihost's services personally for many years and can personally recommend them with confidence.