DomainKing.ng review

First impression

DomainKing is a Nigerian web hosting services provider that was founded in 2016 by Opeyemi Awoyemi, a serial entrepreneur that also co-founded Jobberman, a leading recruitment and career platform in the country. DomainKing was acquired by HostAfrica (a prominent South African service provider) in 2021, and currently offer services such as domain registrations, shared hosting, reseller hosting, SSL certificates, as well as a website builder.

Trial Period

Unfortunately, this provider doesn't offer any free trials for potential customers to try them out before signing up, but they do, however, have a short 7-day refund policy in place on their hosting and website builder plans, allowing users to get a full refund should they feel unhappy with the service and have cancelled their plans within this time frame.

As with the majority of providers, this policy doesn't apply to domain registrations.

Billing Cycle

Their shared hosting plans offer users the choice of paying either on monthly, annual, biennial, or triennial billing cycles, each with slightly more discount than the previous plan, with up to an incredible 75% off on the 3-year commitment, while their website builder plans offer users to choose between paying monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annually.

They currently accept payments via Interswitch, Verve, Visa, and Mastercard through the Flutterwave payment gateway, as well as EFT, PayPal, and even some Cryptocurrencies.

Control Panel

They split their shared hosting into two categories, one with the cPanel control panel, and one with the DirectAdmin panel. The standard shared hosting plans (which are the more affordable options) come bundled with the DirectAdmin control panel, a lightweight and super-efficient Linux-based control panel that excels in terms of speed and simplicity, ideal for those who want a no-frills, performance-optimized hosting experience. For users who prefer the industry-standard control panel, they also offer more premium plans (also more expensive) bundled with cPanel, which delivers broader functionality and familiarity.

Limits

Their shared hosting plans are available with either the cPanel control panel or DirectAdmin, each with its own options to choose from. On cPanel, there are three choices. The 'Soldier', their entry-level option, comes with 20GB SSD disc space, 4 MySQL databases, 1 subdomain, and a limit of 1 website - great for small business websites or personal blogs. Next up is the 'Minister' which features 40GB SSD storage space, 10 MySQL databases, 9 subdomains, and you are allowed to host up to 5 websites, while the 'King', their top-tier cPanel shared hosting plan boasts 100GB SSD disc space, with unlimited MySQL databases, subdomains, and no limit on the amount of sites you can host, suited for larger business or ecommerce websites. cPanel plans also come standard with a complimentary .com.ng domain, unlimited POP/IMAP email accounts and bandwidth, as well as a free SSL certificate by Let's Encrypt.

DomainKing's DirectAdmin shared hosting plans, on the other hand, come in four options that range from 1GB disc space, 2 subdomains, and 2 MySQL databases on the 'DA Recruit' plan, up to 100GB storage space, 500 subdomains, and unlimited MySQL databases on the 'King' plan. It is worth noting that these plans run on standard HDDs and not fast SSD drives.

Website Builder

They offer the Site Builder website builder in three paid-for plans, differentiated mostly by storage capacity (ranging from 5GB SSD disc space to 20GB disc space), POP/IMAP email account allowances, and the number of websites you can host (single-site up to 5 websites). Site Builder provides a drag-and-drop interface with mobile-responsive templates, integrated SEO tools, and basic e-commerce functionality, perfect for small businesses or entrepreneurs needing a quick, code-free online presence. If you prefer to build your site with a CMS such as WordPress or Joomla, you are in luck as all plans come standard with Softaculous, which offers one-click installs for these content management systems.

Security

DomainKing packs a serious security punch to keep your online presence rock-solid, which doesn't come as a surprise, as they are owned by HostAfrica, which I know has a strong focus on security. Their infrastructure is guarded by enterprise-grade DDoS protection, deflecting even large-scale attacks to ensure your site stays up when it matters most. Behind the scenes, automated malware scanning neutralizes threats before they can cause harm. Every site also benefits from a free SSL certificate by Let's Encrypt. There are daily automatic backups in place, giving you one-click restore power when needed. For businesses, their email hosting includes smart outgoing spam filters that keep your communications landing in inboxes, not junk folders. While they're missing some advanced features like web application firewalls or two-factor authentication for cPanel, their core protections deliver reliable security without the complexity.

OS

This provider utilizes the CentOS operating system (OS) on their hosting plans. A solid choice in my opinion. This OS is a free, open-source Linux distribution derived from the commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) source code, which offers a stable and reliable platform for servers and enterprise environments, and is widely used in the industry.

Support

I have always liked the support HostAfrica offers, and one can see the influence here! Their super-friendly and knowledgeable agents (every single one I dealt with) are available around the clock via live chat, support tickets, or email. Response times are quick, too! On emails, expect a reply within 2 hours, while tickets are answered within an hour. Truly a pleasure to deal with!

Conclusion

If you are based in Nigeria and on the hunt for a new hosting provider, be sure to check them out. Their shared hosting delivers solid performance with SSD storage and a choice of DirectAdmin or cPanel (a rare flexibility), while inclusion of free SSL certificates, daily backups, and malware scanning covers security basics well, though advanced users might miss features like staging environments. In my opinion, DomainKing punches well above its weight, but just don’t expect enterprise-grade bells and whistles, or VPS options.