BigRock.in review

First impression

BigRock is an India-based web hosting provider that was founded in 2010 by Bhavin Turakhia, a serial entrepreneur and one of India’s youngest Billionaires, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

They are an ICANN-accredited domain registrar that forms part of the Endurance International Group (EIG), which also includes the likes of Bluehost, Hostgator, and several other prominent companies, and offers a complete suite of affordable and scalable hosting products, including Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Cloud Hosting, as well as Business-class Email services and Marketing services such as Managed SEO and Website Design.

A Brief Video Introduction from Big Rock

Trial Period

This leading provider does not offer any free trials to test out their hosting service, but they do however have a 30-day money-back guarantee on all their Linux And Windows Shared hosting plans. 

It is important to note that they don’t provide money-back guarantees on their VPS, Dedicated Server, Add-on services, or Domain registrations.

Billing Cycle

BigRock offers its clients the flexibility to choose from various subscription durations for their hosting services. For Shared Hosting, clients can opt for annual, biennial (2 years), triennial (3 years), or quinquennial (5 years) subscriptions. Meanwhile, VPS and Cloud Hosting clients have the option to pay on a monthly, quarterly (three months), semi-annual (six months), annual, biennial (2 years), or triennial (3 years) basis. Opting for longer commitment periods entitles clients to some significant discounts.

They currently accept Indian Debit Cards & Net Banking, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, and RuPay as valid payment methods.

Control Panel

They include the industry-leading cPanel on their Shared Linux-based plans and Plesk on Windows-based packages. Both are feature-rich control panels, that make it easy to create sites, deploy applications, and more, and come with up to 300 web apps that users can install with a single click.

Limits

Shared Hosting comes in four super affordable plans, namely Starter, Advanced, Pro, and Ultimate, and customers can choose between hosting their sites in India or in the USA. All their plans feature unlimited databases (MySQL for Linux and MSSQL and MySQL for Windows), free SSL certificates, and daily backups. There is a catch though – although the daily backups are included as standard you will still need to pay a nominal fee should you need them to provide it.

Their Starter plan comes with 20GB SSD disk space, 100 GB bandwidth, and 5 POP/IMAP Email Accounts, and in my opinion, is pretty decent for an entry-level plan. The Advanced, Pro, and Ultimate plans all come standard with Unmetered SSD Disk Space, POP/IMAP email accounts, databases, and a free domain for the first year. What sets these plans apart is that the Advanced plan will only allow you to host a single domain (Pro and Ultimate allow for unlimited), and the Ultimate plan boasts a Comodo 256-bit SSL instead of a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate.

Their VPS plans also come in four options, the Standard plan, Enhanced plan, Premium plan, and Ultimate plan. The entry-level option starts with 2 Core CPUs, 2GB RAM, 20GB SSD storage, and 1TB Bandwidth, while the top-tier plan features 4 Core CPUs, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD storage, and 2TB Bandwidth. All VPS plans come with free website migration and a dedicated IP address (except for the Standard plan).

Website Builder

BigRock has designed its own custom-made Website Builder, simply named the BigRock Website Builder. This builder is a user-friendly tool that enables both individuals and businesses to craft websites without the need for technical expertise or coding skills. It features a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to select from a wide array of templates and design elements, resulting in the creation of distinctive and professional-looking websites. Moreover, the platform offers built-in image editing capabilities, seamless social media integration, and eCommerce functionality. In my personal experience, I have found this builder to be exceptionally easy to use. The only negative is that this builder is not provided free of charge and comes with an additional monthly fee.

Security

All of BigRock's data centers are highly secure facilities equipped with an array of security measures. These include surveillance cameras, biometric locks, access policies based on authorization, and on-site security personnel. Their networks are fortified with a round-the-clock firewall protection system and a Network Intrusion Detection System. These systems work together to deliver swift, accurate, and comprehensive protection against targeted attacks, traffic irregularities, spyware/adware, network viruses, rogue applications, zero-day exploits, and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks.

For hosting security, BigRock offers free SSL certificates by Let’s Encrypt as a standard feature on all Shared Hosting plans. Additionally, customers who subscribe to the Ultimate plans (Linux or Windows) for 12 months or longer will receive an upgrade to a 256-bit encrypted Positive SSL Certificate, backed by a $10,000 warranty from Comodo.

For those seeking extra protection, BigRock provides optional security tools. SiteLock, a cloud-based security tool, scans your website for malware and vulnerabilities, while CodeGuard offers automated website backup, monitoring, and restore services. These additional security features are available for an extra monthly fee.

OS

BigRock's Shared hosting plans are configured to run on CentOS, which is a free, open-source, and community-supported operating system, as the default choice. Their VPS plans offer the flexibility to select from CentOS, Debian, or Ubuntu for your specific requirements.

Support

They provide 24/7 customer support through Phone, Live Chat, and an Email Ticketing System. Their support agents are not only friendly but also exceptionally knowledgeable, and I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of support that BigRock offers. When using Live Chat, I received a response within 3 seconds every time I reached out, which I did approximately 10 times in total. As for email support, you can expect a reply within an hour or two. In terms of support, I can't find any fault with their service.

Conclusion

BigRock offers dirt-cheap and feature-rich plans along with decent security and great server uptime. I was blown away by the level of support they offer, and while there may be some negative reviews online, my personal experience with BigRock was quite the opposite. I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone seeking affordable and high-quality Shared or VPS hosting services.