RAID.co.il review

First impression

Founded in 1999 by Israeli tech entrepreneur Eyal Ravid (who still owns and runs the show today), Raid operates from its Rishon LeZion headquarters as one of Israel’s longest-standing hosting providers. They offer services such as shared hosting, VPS hosting, domain registrations, and dedicated servers, all running on enterprise-grade hardware in their local data centers.

Trial Period

This Israeli company doesn’t provide a free trial period for any of their hosting services, so you can’t test them out and make sure they are a good fit before committing. They also don’t have a money-back guarantee in place, meaning once you sign up for their hosting plans, refunds aren’t on offer should you change your mind.

Billing Cycle

When it comes to choosing a hosting plan on Raid, you’ll notice they keep things straightforward with just two billing options. You can either pay monthly or pay for the year upfront. The annual plan, as expected, usually comes with a discount, making it a solid choice if you’re in for the long haul. 

Valid payment methods include all major credit cards, as well as PayPal.

Control Panel

All their shared hosting plans come with the cPanel (the full version, not a Lite variant) control panel, the ever popular, and industry favorite panel for managing websites, emails, and databases through its familiar interface. Users that upgrade to VPS hosting, though, are provided full root access with no pre-installed control panel, letting you install cPanel/WHM, DirectAdmin, or anything else (for an extra fee, naturally) yourself.

Limits

Their shared hosting plans, available in both Linux and Windows, are available in three options each. The Linux-based plans start with the RAID1 plan, which comes with 2GB of disc space and a limit of a single website (the only one with a website limit). Next up is the RAID5 plan which comes with 5GB storage space, while the RAID Unlimited features unlimited disc space. All plans come standard with a complimentary SSL certificate by Let's Encrypt, as well as unlimited MySQL databases and POP/IMAP email accounts. Windows-based plans are similar but come with a little less disc space. The RW1 plan has 500MB, the RW5 comes with 1GB, and the RW10 has 2GB storage space. One needs to note though that their shared hosting plans run on standard HDDs and not super-fast SSD drives.

Raid's VPS servers are fully customizable and they don't offer set specifications to choose from. Users can decide how much CPU power, RAM, disc space, and bandwidth they need and RAID will configure their desired server for them.

Website Builder

Raid doesn't offer a sort of website builder as part of their plans but luckily that's not a train smash. If you need a website, you can always set one up yourself using a CMS like WordPress, which is a popular and flexible option. This CMS can be installed with a single click and allows you to create professional-looking websites without effort or coding knowledge.

Security

Raid's security comes in the form of free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates which come standard with all their plans, while their network-level DDoS protection (tested to absorb 500Gbps+ attacks) runs silently in the background. Shared hosting accounts are jailed in isolated LVE containers (so your neighbor’s hacked blog doesn’t become your problem). For VPS users, they offer optional CloudLinux OS with kernel-level hardening, plus encrypted backups stored off-site for 14 days. This I feel covers the basics but it would have been nice if they included web application firewalls (WAF) and maybe 2FA (two-factor authentication) to secure accounts.

OS

Raid runs its shared hosting exclusively on CloudLinux 7/8 for Linux-based plans, the workhorse distribution that keeps accounts isolated and server loads stable, and Windows Server 2008 or 2012 on Windows-based options. For VPS plans, you get full root access to install pretty much anything: CentOS 7/8, Ubuntu 20.04/22.04, Debian 10/11, or AlmaLinux 8 (CentOS does come installed by default). If you need a Windows Server, you will need to pay extra for the Windows licenses. The options include Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022. 

Support

If you ever run into a snag with your hosting on Raid, you’ve got a few ways to get help. Their support team is reachable by phone, email, or support tickets, so whether you prefer a quick call, a detailed message, or just logging an issue, they’ve got you covered. What’s really handy is their knowledge base—a well-organized collection of guides and FAQs that lets you troubleshoot common problems on your own. Their support however is below par in my opinion as they take ages to answer even simple queries. Definitely room for improvement!

Conclusion

For small to medium businesses, bloggers, or anyone running a Hebrew or local Israeli site, it’s a good contender thanks to its reliable uptime, local data centers, and well-priced plans. However, if you’re running a large-scale international site, need advanced cloud solutions, or expect 24/7 instant chat support, you might find Raid a bit limited. Verdict? Great for local projects, but power users may want to look elsewhere.