HostMonster.com review

First impression

The website design looks simple and a bit outdated. The plan descriptions contain all of the necessary package details. The website is easy to navigate. Shared hosting include a lot of features and come at an affordable price at the moment as the company is running a promo. But the regular price is higher than average: from $10.99 to $27.99 per month. On the other hand, HostMonster supports video and audio streaming. Most hosting providers restrict streaming even for VPS and Dedicated servers, not to mention shared hosting packages.

VPS servers look nice at first sight: the packages are not large (from 30 Gb to 160 Gb) but not expensive (from $19.99 to $59.99 per month). But when you take a closer look, you can see that this pricing may be applied only if you purchase the server for three years. The monthly pricing is almost twice as much as the promotional one.

As for Dedicated servers, they are quite weak but cheap (at first glance). During checkout you can see that the situation is similar to VPS servers: only the promo pricing is indicated on the website and the regular pricing is much more higher. Moreover, the processors they use are quite old. The most expensive package includes 4 CPU cores (Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2 processor, already discontinued), 16 Gb RAM, 15 TB bandwidth and 1000 Gb disk space. The regular cost is $199.99/mo, which is way too much for a server like this.

All packages include one free domain.

Trial period

HostMonster does not offer a trial period but you can get a full refund for any hosting package within 30 days after the purchase.

Billing cycle

Shared packages have annual, biennial and triennial billing cycles. VPS and Dedicated servers have monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, biennial and triennial billing cycles.

Control panel

cPanel is available for all types of hosting.

Limits

Even though it is stated that Shared hosting packages have unlimited disk space, the number of inodes (files and folders) is limited to 200 000. You can add up to 5000 databases with 10 Gb total disk space usage. Meaning that you will be able to host only a small project with this type of hosting. That’s why we recommend to check the company’s ToS before purchasing a Shared hosting package as they contain more specific information than the plan descriptions. VPS and Dedicated servers limits are indicated in the plan descriptions.

Security

The company offers a firewall and basic anti-DDoS protection. You can also purchase SiteLock and CodeGuard at an additional cost. The first tool is an antivirus and malware scanner and the second one is a monitoring and backup creation tool. Automated backup is offered only for two of Shared hosting packages. So, you have to handle this on your own.

OS

CentOS runs on Shared hosting servers. Debian, CentOS or Ubuntu can be installed on a VPS or Dedicated server.

Support

The company offers 24/7 chat and phone support. The representatives are quick, very proactive but not very attentive and accurate. The knowledge base looks all right.

Conclusion

The company has its pros and cons. In general, they offer services at a very average level. The regular pricing is quite high. Their biggest plus is that they do not restrict video and audio streaming for Shared packages, unlike other providers. On the other hand, these packages are limited to 200 000 inodes, so you will not be able to fully benefit from this feature.