HostMonster Review

HostMonster is a shared hosting provider that has been online since 1996, and it has since gone on to serve thousands of online business owners and general Webmasters. While HostMonster is not the cheapest Web host around, you do get a lot of features. Not only that, but you won’t be hit with a huge hosting charge after the introductory period, because the regular price is only slightly higher. This Web host is dedicated to helping customers get the most out of their websites, and you can see that through their extensive list of features.

HostMonster Shared Hosting Plan Features

Like most shared hosting, you get an unlimited amount of all the essentials. You get an unlimited amount of disk space, bandwidth, databases, subdomains and email accounts. However, it’s outside of these basic areas where HostMonster starts to really show its strength.

Most Web hosts only provide MySQL databases, but HostMonster allows you to choose between MySQL or PostgreSQL. HostMonster also supports many programming languages, including PHP5, Perl 5, Python, Ruby and Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, Flash and DHTML.

There are also easy-to-install applications and scripts, like Drupal, Joomla, Moodle and WordPress. You also gain access to e-commerce features like SSL security, OS Commerce and Agora shopping carts and generated certificates.

HostMonster Shared Hosting Plan Prices

HostMonster offers several different membership levels and prices, based on how much hosting you want to buy immediately. Their main price is $6.95 per month for regular hosting and $24.95 for pro hosting. Here are the introductory rates:

• 12-Month Pricing: $6.95/month
• 24-Month Pricing: $5.95/month
• 36-Month Pricing: $5.95/month
• 12-Month Pro Pricing: $19.95/month

The regular pricing is common shared hosting, which is good for small websites. Medium websites, or websites that get a lot of traffic, should consider pro hosting. It gives you access to less crowded servers, and you get more memory, better responsiveness, faster loading speeds and more bandwidth. While this isn’t quite as good as dedicated hosting, it is a good intermediary.

Find out more about HostMonster’s shared hosting plans at HostMonster.com.

HostMonster Shared Hosting Plan Security

Nobody wants their website to go down or get hacked, and HostMonster offers several helpful security features that should keep this from happening, or they should limit the downtime.

For one, HostMonster only uses the best servers with quad processor support. They also have UPS back-up generators, ensuring that power will only be down temporarily if anything happens. When you sign up with them, you also get free site backups, which will make sure that your website never loses data, even if it crashes.

For hacking, HostMonster has security programs to minimize any damage to websites, and they offer 24/7 monitoring. This means that if someone is able to get through their security, HostMonster will be able to quickly quell the problem.

HostMonster Customer Service/Technical Support

HostMonster excels at providing phone support, and the technical support and sales support line are always open. There are several phone numbers, so you can easily reach the department you want without having to sit through a huge list of automated prompts.

Both the customer service and technical support teams were very polite, and they also provided service quickly and efficiently. There were a few times where the representative had to check information, but these instances were rare.

You can also email HostMonster and make a support ticket if you are not interested in talking with somebody. The team will respond within about 24 hours, and the answers they provide are generally what you need. A few questions required several other emails back and forth, but that should be expected with the limitations of email communication.

HostMonster Overall

HostMonster has a huge list of features, making it a very good choice in the shared hosting department. While the price is slightly more than other hosts, the features make up for it if you need the extra support featured by this service provider.

While VPS service is not offered, the pro hosting can be good for medium-sized websites. However, if you need a VPS or Dedicated Server, you’re better off with GreenGeeks. Otherwise, you can visit HostMonster.com to order the shared hosting plan that suits your needs.