iPage boasts plenty of useful website-building tools, but you may encounter uptime issues once your online destination is up and running.
iPage is a web hosting service that has the potential to become one of the best in the business. It boasts an unusually generous shared hosting package, as well as rock-solid advanced options for those who need a more powerful hosting foundation. Pretty good, right? Unfortunately, iPage lacks Windows-based hosting and a few options that prevent it from contending with DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds, PCMag’s overall Editors’ Choices.
Unlike HostGator, the Editors’ Choice for shared web hosting, iPage does not offer month-to-month shared packages. Instead, it has one-year, two-year, and three-year plans. If you need hosting for just a short time, or if you’re just not up for a long-term commitment, iPage may not be for you.
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iPage has a single shared, Linux-based hosting plan, which starts at $2.99 per month for the one-year plan. That’s an attractive price, one that makes iPage one of our favorite cheap web hosting services. As with other annual-based plans, the monthly prices drop as you agree to longer plans. iPage’s shared hosting features unlimited disk space, monthly data transfers, and email addresses, so it has the chops to grow along with your business.
iPage’s shared hosting offerings are good, though HostGator’s top them. The Editors’ Choice has a similar entry-level plan that also features unlimited storage, monthly data transfers, and email addresses, but goes the extra mile with a choice of either Linux- or Windows-based servers. Don’t underestimate the importance of a Windows server option. If you plan to build (or migrate) a site built on an ASP. NET framework, you’ll appreciate the Windows option.
iPage also has VPS hosting, starting at $24.99 per month. If you expect high traffic volumes, or have specific compliance requirements that prevent you from using shared servers, these are good options to consider, especially if you don’t want to pay dedicated web hosting’s relatively high prices.
There are three configurations for the Linux-based servers: Basic, Business, and Optimum. Basic plans start with just 1GB of RAM, 40GB of storage, and 1TB of monthly data transfers, for $24.99 per month. Business plans $59.49 per month and offer 4GB of RAM, 90GB of storage, and 3TB of monthly data transfers. The Optimum plan, which starts at $99.99 per month, has 8GB of RAM, 120GB of storage, and 4TB of month data transfers.
iPage’s virtual private server plans are quite good, but Hostwinds, the PCMag Editors’ Choice for VPS web hosting services, edges it out with unlimited monthly data transfers and a choice of either Linux- or Windows-based servers.
iPage’s three middle-of-the-road, Linux-based dedicated server hosting plans aren’t radically different from what BlueHost, HostMonster, and JustHost offer. The Startup server comes with 4GB of RAM 500GB of storage, 5TB of monthly data transfers, three IP addresses, and a free domain name, all for $149 per month. Next up is the Professional plan, which costs $194 per month. It includes 8GB of RAM, 1,000GB of disk space, 10TB of monthly data transfers, and 4 IP addresses. The Enterprise server goes for $239 per month and has the same storage space as the Professional server, but includes 16GB of RAM, 15TB of monthly data transfers, and 5 IP addresses.
Those are solid numbers, but Hostwinds, the PCMag Editors’ Choice for dedicated web hosting, is a superior choice, thanks to the ability to outfit servers with up to 3TB of storage, 128GB of RAM, and unlimited monthly data transfers. You also get a choice of the Linux or Windows operating systems.
Like many of its competitors, iPage offers WordPress hosting, starting at $7.49 per month for the WP Starter plan and $10.49 per month for the WP Essential plan. The two are similar in that they both offer a domain name and unlimited storage, email, and monthly data transfers, but WP Essential builds on that with enhanced security and expert WordPress customer service.
However, neither plan is of the managed WordPress variety, a type of WordPress hosting that gives your installation the white-glove treatment. For that type of hosting, check out TMDHosting, the Editors’ Choice for WordPress hosting. TMD also has a curated list of WordPress plug-ins.
When you get around to setting up your site, you’ll want a functional, attractive blog design. For that, you can check out our feature on how to find the best WordPress themes for your site.
If you’re looking to get into the web hosting business, but you don’t want to deal with infrastructure matters, check out iPage’s reseller hosting packages. The plans, starting at $49.95 per year, let you apply your own branding to the servers you rent, as well as to the email. iPage handles customer support duties by supplying 24/7 tech support.
Still, Hostwinds goes the extra mile with more generous specs in a variety of server categories. Hostwind’s plans, starting at $25 per month, have unlimited email, storage, and data transfers. On offer are dedicated and VPS packages of both the Linux and Windows variety, as well as shared hosting, which is limited to Linux. The servers have the same RAM and storage amounts as those that Hostwinds supplies directly, which is not always the case. Hostwinds also lets you apply your own branding to the servers you rent, and it supplies 24/7 tech support, too. As a result, Hostwinds is the Editors’ Choice for reseller hosting.
Most people will likely stick with the basic drag-and-drop site builder, which happens to be Weebly, one of our top choices for website builders. You can upgrade to the premium version or just use the basic one, which I thought were just fine for most purposes. Weebly’s drag-and-drop functionality let me quickly build an attractive page complete with slideshows, contact forms, social media links, maps, and photo galleries, and more.
Setting up a test WordPress installation was easy because the database was already in place and ready to go. I clicked the WordPress icon and was directed to a page on the Mojo Marketplace where I indicated that I wanted to install the blogging software. I selected where WordPress should be installed, and the installer created our username and password and set up the entire site. The process took a little longer than with some other hosting providers, but since the marketplace queues all requests, I was able to navigate to other parts of the site and pick out other software packages while I waited.
I am pleased to see that iPage offers an import button that lets import an existing WordPress blog. Even though WordPress makes the import process easy enough from its interface, it’s always nice to see the step simplified even further.
iPage offers an online store as a built-in e-commerce feature. To get started, you click the ShopSite Starter icon and then a button to enable ShopSite. The e-store bundled with the Essential plan is the basic version, with a 15-product/5-page limit, no third-party application integration, and limited design options. You can upgrade to the Manager version ($29.95 per month) or Pro ($49.95 per month).
While it took a few minutes to turn on in testing, setting up the online store was fairly easy.
