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SiteGround Review – The Good, the Bad, and the Everything Else

SiteGround Review

SiteGround is a leading WordPress hosting service provider. They offer automatic WordPress upgrades, built-in WP caching, CDN, one-click staging, and more. They are one of the few companies that provide location-specific hosting with 5 data centers globally.

Table of Contents
Overall
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Features
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Performance
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Support
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Ease of Use
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
Pricing
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0
FAQs
SiteGroundFAQs
User Reviews
1,299 User Reviews
Overall Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Review: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

SiteGround Overall

Having data centers in 4 continents, SiteGround provides a superior site experience to your visitors regardless of their geographical location. SiteGround is one of the few top hosting brands that’s not been acquired by Endurance International Group, a leading web hosting company.

SiteGround stacks up against the competition by providing the latest speed technologies and proactive security practices with all their hosting plans. They offer enhanced performance with NGINX, HTTP/2, PHP7, and free CDN.

They also offer optimized solutions for different open source applications including WordPress and Magneto.

If you need a great hosting service, which is stable, secure, and super-fast, SiteGround is the best choice.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $14.99 / mo. but our users pay $3.99 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
Cheap Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Cheap Hosting Review

SiteGround Cheap Hosting

SiteGround offers cheap hosting, also known as shared hosting, which is the best option for users who are just starting out and need an affordable hosting solution. With cheap hosting, many websites will share resources of the same server, which makes the cost low.

Although it’s SiteGround’s cheapest hosting option available, there’s nothing to be concerned about since your files and data will be secure on the server.

SiteGround offers 3 different shared hosting plans: Startup, GrowBig, and GoGeek.

The Startup plan allows you to host only one website which is great for bloggers and websites of small businesses. With all other plans, you can host multiple websites.

With every SiteGround cheap hosting plan, you get dozens of one-click installers for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. that help you quickly start a website.

The GoGeek plan offers geeky advanced features like PCI compliant server, WordPress and Joomla staging, and one-click git repo creation.

SiteGround doesn’t have VPS hosting (virtual private server) plans, but they do offer cloud hosting plans, which is an in-between solution for sites that outgrows shared hosting but can’t afford to have dedicated hosting.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $14.99 / mo. but our users pay $3.99 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
WordPress Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Full   5.0 / 5.0

SiteGround WordPress Hosting Review

SiteGround WordPress

SiteGround offers WordPress hosting solutions for users who want to host their site on a managed hosting environment. There are no significant differences between shared and managed WordPress hosting plans, except your site will be operated under a WordPress optimized ecosystem. This makes it much easier for WordPress users.

SiteGround is officially recommended WordPress hosting provider by WordPress.org.

With WordPress hosting, you’ll get an additional layer of protection from WordPress specific vulnerabilities. Your core WordPress and installed plugins will be automatically updated to prevent threats from any known vulnerabilities.

  • Free WordPress install with WP-CLI enabled
  • Auto WordPress updater
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Proactive security
  • Regular price $14.99 / mo. but our users pay $3.99 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
WooCommerce Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star Empty   4.0 / 5.0

SiteGround WooCommerce Hosting Review

SiteGround WooCommerce

If you want to set up an online store with WooCommerce but are not sure about the hosting requirements you’ll need, you just have to choose a SiteGround WooCommerce hosting plan. With SiteGround’s WooCommerce hosting, you can quickly build an online store without having to install WordPress and WooCommerce on your account.

Just sign up for a WooCommerce hosting plan and launch your eCommerce store by logging into your WordPress dashboard. You’ll get all the essential tools including free SSL, Storefront theme preinstalled, and hassle-free WordPress management.

You can choose a WooCommerce hosting plan for as low as $3.99 / mo.

  • WooCommerce + Storefront installed
  • Auto WordPress updater
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Proactive security
  • Regular price $14.99 / mo. but our users pay $3.99 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
Reseller Hosting Rating
Rating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star FullRating Star EmptyRating Star Empty   3.0 / 5.0

SiteGround Reseller Hosting Review

SiteGround Reseller

SiteGround’s best reseller hosting is geared towards web designers and developers who want to maintain their clients’ websites on a long-term basis. With a reseller hosting plan, you get all the powerful tools you need to succeed in your reseller hosting business.

You can start as low as $81 per credit for a year and get special domain name deals.

To join the program, you just need to order 5 reseller credits. One credit is equivalent to 1-year hosting. When you purchase more credits in bulk, you’ll get high discounts. Since reseller credits never expire, you can use them anytime to launch or renew hosting accounts for your clients.

Best of all, with SiteGround’s reseller hosting, you get white-labeled cPanel and private DNS upgrades.

Domain Nil
Disk Space 10 GB
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain Nil
Disk Space 10 GB
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain
Disk Space
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain
Disk Space
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain Nil
Disk Space 10 GB
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain Nil
Disk Space 10 GB
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »
Domain Nil
Disk Space 20 GB
Money Back Guarantee 30 Days
Claim Special Offer »

Features

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround comes with a unique set of features that help you create a blazing-fast website with ease. Let’s take a look at some of the important features you need to look for when hosting a website.

Free SSL

With every SiteGround hosting plan, you get a free SSL certificate. When you host your website on the SiteGround platform, a free standard SSL certificate is automatically enabled without any effort.

SiteGround integrates with the Let’s Encrypt project to provide SSL certificates to its users. An SSL certificate protects user data and helps meet search engine requirements to improve website rankings.

Free Cloudflare CDN

SiteGround offers a free CDN which enables the website to load from the nearest data point for a user. Cloudflare’s CDN, clubbed with SiteGround hosting, ensures your website loads quickly and has the fastest response time.

siteground review free cdn

Free Email Service

SiteGround lets you create a free email address with your domain name. There’s no limit to adding email accounts to your hosting plan.

The email tools include a user-friendly webmail interface, email forwarding option, autoresponders, and more. They also support SMTP, POP3, and other email protocols to deliver your emails smoothly.

Super Caching

By default, SiteGround enables a caching system for all users on their servers. This means your site will load faster than usual from the memory of the server.

It comes with a SuperCacher service to further improve the website loading speed. This service is available specifically for their premium plans (GrowBig and GoGeek).

Free Auto Daily Backups

Many web hosting services don’t back up your site on a daily basis. However, all SiteGround plans come with daily automatic backups, ensuring you don’t have to remember to back up your site regularly.

You can also generate on-demand backups from SiteGround’s provided tools. This service is free on the premium plans and costs a minimal fee on the starter plan.

Website Transfer Tool

When moving a website from one host to another, you need to be careful of traffic, security, backups, and many other things. SiteGround offers a free WordPress plugin that works magically to move your WordPress website without affecting your content or configuration.

SiteGround also provides a professional website migration and transfer service. This is a paid service where a team of experts will move your site while you sit back and relax.

SSD Storage

SiteGround uses solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) for storage. Since SSDs don’t have moving parts, they’ve been proven to improve site performance compared to websites that use HDD storage.

Advanced Security

Security is the key concern when hosting a website with any provider. SiteGround provides free in-house SSH to restrict user account access for your hosting.

It gives an encrypted connection to your hosting account, so web developers and website admins can access the web server in a secure environment. These security features also help manage large files and databases securely.

SiteGround Hosting Pros:

Let’s take a look at how SiteGround stacks up against the competition:

Choose Your Data Center

Even with a shared hosting plan, you’ll be asked to choose your preferred data center. This way, you can ensure your site is hosted on servers closer to your audience geographically.

siteground review data center

Amazing Customer Support

SiteGround is well-known for its superior customer service. Best of all, you don’t have to wait more than a few seconds for the next available operator because they have additional support staff in all shifts, so there’s always someone to pick up the live chat. With the GoGeek plan, you’ll get priority support.

Unmetered Bandwidth

The bandwidth is unmetered meaning you’re not charged based on the bandwidth. SiteGround’s StartUp plan, GrowBig plan, and GoGeek plan come with an unmetered data transfer that you can use as much as you like.

Money-Back Guarantee

SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all their plans. This will allow you to test the service and tools with full options for up to a month and if you feel SiteGround isn’t the host for your site, you can request a full refund.

The refund doesn’t include the domain registration fees. The domain name will be your property anyway.

SiteGround Hosting Cons:

Here are some limitations of SiteGround Hosting…

Expensive Plans

Compared to other hosting providers like Bluehost, SiteGround’s pricing is a bit expensive. However, SiteGround offers several unique features than Bluehost for faster page rendering.

SiteGround Exclusive Plans

No Free Domain

Unlike popular web hosting services, SiteGround doesn’t offer free domain names with their plans. If you’re starting your website, this will be an additional cost to your budget.

Performance

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Uptime Guarantee and Speed Tests

SiteGround ensures a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Best of all, if you ever experience more than 0.1% downtime on a yearly basis, you will be compensated.

To provide our users with real facts, we built a WordPress test site environment and perform several speed tests using the following tools:

  • Pingdom
  • Load Impact
  • Bitcatcha

speed test siteground

According to Pingdom’s website speed test, our test site loads in less than a second for a server in Dallas, Texas. That’s faster than 95% of all tested sites.

Apart from Pingdom, we also used a testing tool called Load Impact to figure out how SiteGround handles visitors during a traffic surge. Load Impact sent some virtual users (VUs) to our site and gradually built up to 100 visitors at a time.

loadimpact-siteground

In the chart, you can find a blue line (VUs active) which shows the number of virtual users sent to our SiteGround site and a green line (VU load time) which represents how much time it would take to load a web page for a user.

SiteGround performed almost consistently except for a spike when there were 50 users on the site. It quickly recovered and page load time remained steadily low even with more users.

It’s worth noting that the site never went down during our speed test. Take a look at the report below.

siteground uptime

SiteGround Server Response Time

The content on your website has a huge influence on page loading time. For instance, if your site has too many images, it will take more time to load than a lightweight site. In fact, images account for most of the downloadable bytes in a typical site.

To get accurate results, instead of the analysis of page load time alone, we decided to test the actual server response time by entirely ignoring the content of our SiteGround site.

To track our SiteGround server response time, we used a tool known as Bitcatcha. Bitcatcha works differently from Pingdom.

Bitcatcha ignores the content of your page and records the page loading time from eight different global locations: New York, LA, London, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. The speed for each location is measured three separate times, and then the results are averaged.

response time siteground

From the result, it’s evident that SiteGround is the perfect choice if your target audience is mostly located in the United States. In the United States, the server responded in just a fraction of a second. In all other locations, except Japan, the server responded within less than a second.

If your target audience is mostly located in Japan, it’s in your best interest to move your site to their Asia-Pacific data center for the best results.

Support

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Customer Support

Most hosting providers advertise excellent customer support, but SiteGround actually delivers it. SiteGround’s customer service team is well-known for its quick response time and for resolving customer issues quickly.

SiteGround offers 24/7 support via 3 modes: tickets, live chat, and phone.

With SiteGround, you don’t have to wait more than a few seconds for the next available operator. They also have extensive documentation that walks you through every aspect of web hosting with SiteGround. You can also find a webinar series where they share hands-on knowledge on industry trends.

Ease of Use

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround allows you to manage your website and hosting account with cPanel.

They also offer dozens of one-click installer for popular website scripts such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

You’ll also get a basic drag and drop builder with every SiteGround hosting plan to create a website the way you want.

Pricing

(5.0 / 5.0)

SiteGround Pricing

SiteGround offers one of the most competitive prices in the industry for its level of service and performance.

To make it even better, they’re offering our users an exclusive discount if you use our SiteGround coupon code.

Here are some of the hosting plans offered by SiteGround.

PLAN DISK SPACE BANDWIDTH PRICE
Shared Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.99 /mo.
WordPress Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.99 /mo.
Cloud Hosting Entry 40 GB 5 TB $100.00 / mo.
WooCommerce Hosting Startup 10 GB Unmetered $3.99 /mo.
Reseller Hosting 10 GB Unmetered $6.69 /mo.

FAQs

Having helped thousands of users choose a web hosting plan and start their website, we have answered just about every question you can think of. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about SiteGround.

Why should I choose SiteGround to host my site?

Below are a few features that make SiteGround hosting sets apart from its competitors:

Even with the basic shared hosting plan, you’ll get…

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Your files will be stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive), which doesn’t compromise page speed and overall performance.
  • You’re allowed to choose from 6 different data centers of SiteGround for the best performance.
  • Unlike most other hosting companies, SiteGround never hard sells hosting addons when you purchase a hosting account.

Which SiteGround plan should I get?

It depends on your hosting needs. If you’re just starting out, we recommend you choose one of SiteGround’s shared hosting plans. If you want to quickly launch a WordPress site without having to install WordPress manually, you may choose a website hosting plan. If you’re after an online store powered by WooCommerce, you may choose one of their WooCommerce hosting plans designed to handle eCommerce websites.

Where are SiteGround servers located?

Here’s a list of the SiteGround server locations:

  • IOWA, USA
  • London, UK
  • Eemshaven, Netherlands
  • Frankfurt, DE
  • Singapore
  • Sydney, AU

Can SiteGround handle high traffic?

SiteGround is capable of handling high traffic around the clock. They offer different hosting packages to their customers and it all depends on which plan you’re on. If your site is found to consume too many resources, they’ll request you to upgrade to a higher plan.

Can I upgrade my SiteGround plan later?

Of course! When you’re starting out, you can choose the most basic plan. As you grow, you can always upgrade to a higher plan per your needs.

Does SiteGround offer a month-to-month payment option?

SiteGround does not offer month-to-month payment options for their shared plans. For higher plans like dedicated servers, they do offer monthly payment options. However, it’s important to note that they offer significant discounts for longer-term deals.

Can I create subdomains in SiteGround?

Yes, you can easily create subdomains in SiteGround using the cPanel.

Do I have to register my domain name with SiteGround?

No, you do not have to register your domain with SiteGround. You can use Godaddy, NameCheap, or any of your preferred domain name registrar.

Does SiteGround offer free SSL?

Yes, SiteGround offers free SSL with all of their plans. eCommerce plans come with dedicated IPs and private SSL.

Does SiteGround offer free CDN service?

Yes, SiteGround has a partnership with Cloudflare CDN to provide free content delivery network (CDN) service to all its customers. This will help speed up your website loading time for users in different locations in the world.

Do I need to purchase the addons that SiteGround offers me?

No, you do not need to purchase any addons at the time of purchase. Should you decide that you need them later, you can always add them to your account.

How good is SiteGround support?

SiteGround offers 24/7 support via 3 modes: Live chat, phone, and ticket. SiteGround is well-known for its speedy response. Unlike other hosting providers, they don’t make you wait more than a few seconds for the next available support agent. Their extensive documentation helps you walk you through every aspect of web hosting.

Can I create an eCommerce site on SiteGround?

Absolutely! SiteGround’s WooCommerce hosting plan comes pre-configured with all the things you need to start an online store.

SiteGround vs Other Hosts

Wondering how SiteGround stacks up against other web hosting companies? See our side-by-side comparison to see for yourself.

Sorry, we do not have any comparison data for this web host.

Final Recap

SiteGround is the best choice for users who need an excellent customer support without compromising on server performance and page speed. SiteGround offers SSD storage for all hosting plans as opposed to HDD like other companies, which has proven to boost the server’s performance.

On top of that, they spend a lot of resources on training, hiring, and managing a great support team. Unlike other web hosting service providers, SiteGround’s support team does not shy away from application-specific questions.

If you want a web hosting provider that keeps the perfect balance of latest technology and excellent customer support, SiteGround is the best bet for you.

  • Free auto daily backups
  • Free Cloudflare CDN
  • Free Let’s Encrypt SSLs
  • Files are stored in SSD (Solid State Drive) storage as opposed to HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
  • Regular price $14.99 / mo. but our users pay $3.99 / mo!
  • Get started with SiteGround today!
DomainNil
Disk Space10 GB
Money Back Guarantee30 Days
Claim Special Offer »

User Reviews

(1,299)
  1. As always SiteGround support has been able to provide superior support with no hassle and thorough solutions. They answer your questions giving you the step by step explanations and no pressure to buy additional products like other Hosting Providers. Love this host!

  2. I am astounded by the quick and professional service… I only have a Startup account, but SiteGround came through on many levels that should go beyond Startup. For example, I mucked about with setting up an SSH account on a 3rd party product that went south, causing all 4 my websites files to be deleted. Luckily I use UpdraftPlus (free account) on all my sites with regular backups.

    Not a problem for SiteGround; they asked me to upload the backups to the server after which they promptly restored my sites.

    Kudo’s for SiteGround!

  3. good job resolving my expired domain. had no idea. but maybe notification it was coming due would have been helpful. surprises like seeing my website ‘cannot be found’….are not good for my health, mental or physical!

  4. Jean-David Gandjeto November 16, 2016 at 10:37 am

    Extremely pleasant customer service (fast, friendly and reliable).
    i asked for a refund and they were very quick to respect my decision and proceed with the refund, they gave a couple of recommendation on why i should stay but were not trying to make me feel bad or something they just gave their professional opinion and if i was interested in an international hosting service (i wasn’t) i would pick them 100%.
    as soon as i made up my mind on the refund they gave it immedietely and were very nice about it.
    10/10 !

  5. No matter how silly, stupid the questions I have asked, these folks are always happy to help.
    I have moved into some areas of development(Magento) that I would have never been able
    to do without their support.
    Patient, thorough, and always there.

    I have been in IT for over 35 years and have dealt with MANY support groups,
    these guys rank #1 in my book!!

  6. Hi Di,
    I switched to Lightning Base. They don’t offer phone support but otherwise their support is great!
    You need to ask if the host is running the latest versions of cPanel and Apache or Nginx or Lightspd etc.
    Steve

  7. Which company did you switch to? Or even better, what particulars did you require for security should we ask for when choosing a hosting company? Thanks.

  8. Very patient support help, with my awkward figuring this stuff out.

  9. The absolute best customer service I have ever experienced.

  10. Once again, the SiteGround Customer Service group demonstrated superior knowledge and a great service attitude. I’m really wishing I had changed to SiteGround years ago… it would have saved me a lot of headaches! Thanks, Stefan!

  11. I cancelled my SiteGround hosting Cloud plan due to security issues (running outdated versions of cPanel and Apache). I pointed these out to SG support and they said they were aware of the issues but because of all the custom modifications they implemented for their environment upgrading to the latest versions was a huge job.

    I asked for a refund for the 3 months I had pre-paid for and had yet to use. They said “all sales are final” and refused to give me a refund.

    I cancelled anyway and went to a company that understands the inherent security risks running out dated server software entails.

    BUYER BEWARE!!

  12. Amazing service. Support so far has been fantastic.

  13. Incredible customer services and competitive pricing. Great, responsive support whenever I need it.
    The chat response is very quick & issues get resolved.

    The sales team were willing to work with me to figure out how to make a package work. They were friendly, efficient and accommodating.

    I am very satisfied with Siteground as a host provider & highly recommend them without reservation.

  14. Once again – awesome customer service. These guys rock!

  15. Totally satisfied! Operators are always kind. Problems are get over whitin no more than 5 minutes! Siteground it’s the best!

  16. I am very happy with the assistance. Thank you

  17. I always come away with a little something extra when I contact SiteGround support. If they see a problem, or sense I’m having difficulty, they offer to jump in and fix the issue for me. Even though my questions are probably naive in the extreme, the answers are always clear, helpful and respectful.

    I’m very happy I chose SiteGround.

  18. Graham Underwood November 3, 2016 at 12:13 am

    I have had two occasions to contact the support staff at SiteGround by live chat in the past two days. Both were my fault – finger trouble. On both occasions, SiteGround assistance staff was VERY prompt at initiating the chat, and on both occasions the issues were resolved in less than 8 minutes. Very impressive. I am very glad I chose this site to host my website!

  19. I got fantastic help from SiteGround tech support. They explained getting my URL from GoDaddy, where’s it’s registered, to the SiteGround DNS servers. While it takes up to 72 hours for the URL propagation to take place at SiteGround, I get to work on my website so it can get up and running sooner. Very pleased with SiteGround so far.

  20. Great support and useful information and kindness provided. A great professional person. Thank you!

  21. I just switched to Site Ground from another web host whose has been having all sorts of server problems and other technical issues for about the past year. I’m a one-person business, so webmaster is one of the many hats I have to wear – and it admittedly is not my strong suit. The pervious host was absolutely no help when I had a problem and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. They didn’t seem to realize that not all of their customers are webmasters. After switching to S-G I ran into a problem with being unable to access my new site. Unlike my previous hosting service I was able to start a chat with tech support right away and didn’t feel as though the tech was conducting 30 different chats at the same time. I was able to start a chat with SG tech support in about 2 minutes. they were able to get the problem fixed right away and also patiently answered a few of my (what probably seemed to them like) stupid questions.
    So far I’m very impressed.

  22. Great website support from the site ground technicians again.

  23. Brilliant chat helpdesk. Well staffed with people who know their stuff, and with a very short wait time. Other people could learn from this!

  24. Always quick and amazing support – couldn’t be happier!

  25. The customer service is impeccable. I was helped by support staff. I would rate this website 10 stars if I could!

    I highly recommend them!

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