HostPapa Hosting

HostPapa Hosting Review 2017

In this hosting review, we’ll take a look at HostPapa hosting. Though they also offer VPS plans, we’ll be primarily focusing on HostPapa’s shared hosting plans.

Launched in 2006, HostPapa offers affordable and reliable shared hosting. One thing that sets them apart is that they power their sites with renewable energy (and were one of the first companies to make that switch). While this doesn’t affect your hosting directly, it’s nice that they care about the environment.

In our real-world tests, HostPapa offered reliable uptime, though lackluster performance when it came to speed. Keep reading to learn more about HostPapa’s features and our real-world testing data!

Overview of HostPapa Features

• Unlimited bandwidth (all shared plans)
• Unlimited storage (starting from medium tier plan)
• Unlimited websites (starting from medium tier plan)
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Free domain name
• One-click software installs
• 24/7/365 multilingual support (English, Spanish, French, and German)

HostPapa Performance – Real Testing Data

We tested the real-world performance of HostPapa’s New York data center.

Let’s start with the positive. In our tests, HostPapa achieved 99.94% uptime, which was in the upper tier of the shared hosts we tested. This also exceeds their 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Unfortunately, HostPapa didn’t perform quite as well in our speed tests. We tested both “Time to First Byte” (a measure of server responsiveness) and average page load time for our test site.

HostPapa’s Time to First Byte was 1.3 seconds, which ranked third-to-last of all the hosts we tested. Their average page load time was similarly poor at 3.86 seconds, which again ranked third-to-last (points for consistency!).

So, according to our testing data, HostPapa is reliable, but fairly slow when compared to other shared hosts.

HostPapa Data Centers

HostPapa has data centers in Canada and New York. Data centers are the actual physical location where your website is hosted. You want them to be as near as possible to your target audience.

HostPapa’s lack of international data centers makes them a poor choice for internationally-targeted websites. But, anyone targeting a North American audience will be fine. Additionally, using a CDN (content delivery network) can help mitigate this lack of international data centers.

HostPapa Unlimited Bandwidth, Storage, and Websites

HostPapa offers unlimited bandwidth on all of their shared plans. Starting with their Business plan, they also offer unlimited websites and storage, which make them a good option for anyone needing to host a large number of websites.

Even on their cheapest plan, you still get 100GB of storage and can host up to two websites, which is more generous than many other hosts’ cheapest tiers.

HostPapa Green Energy Commitment

One of the things we really like about HostPapa is their commitment to green energy. They purchase 100% of the power for their data centers from green renewable energy sources. To calculate their usage, they use “green energy tags” from a certified green energy supplier.

HostPapa is by no means the only host offering green energy-powered hosting, but they are one of the most affordable green energy hosts.

HostPapa Support – Four Different Support Languages

HostPapa offers 24/7/365 support via phone, live chat, and email. That’s fairly standard in the hosting industry. But here’s where HostPapa differentiates itself in the support department:

They offer multilingual support in four different languages. Currently, you can get support in English, Spanish, French, and German, which is definitely a nice feature for non-English speakers.

HostPapa also offers a massive support knowledge base with around 1,800 articles. So, if you like to find solutions yourself, you should have plenty of information!

HostPapa Shared Plans and Pricing

HostPapa offers three different shared hosting plans: Starter, Business, and Business PRO. With all their shared plans, the minimum commitment is 12 months. The lack of a monthly billing option is disappointing.

Their Starter plan offers hosting for up to two websites, 100GB of storage, and unlimited bandwidth for $5.95 per month (billed for 12 months) or 3.95 per month (billed for 36 months).

Their Business and Business PRO plans both offer unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth. The only difference is that the PRO plan offers improved performance with added RAM and CPU power.

The Business plan is currently on sale for $3.95 per month (billed for 36 months) and the Business PRO plan starts at $12.95 per month (billed for 36 months).

Obviously, if you can catch the Business plan on sale like it is currently, that’s the best value for your money.

HostPapa VPS and Reseller Hosting Plans

In addition to their shared plans, HostPapa also offers VPS plans starting at $49.99 per month for unmetered bandwidth, 50GB of storage, and 1.5GB of RAM.

For those looking to resell hosting, HostPapa offers reseller plans starting at $24.95 per month for 50GB of disk space and 500GB of bandwidth.

Should You Choose HostPapa Hosting?

HostPapa offers competitive prices and their uptime was reliable in our real-world tests. They also have a great commitment to green energy and multilingual support, which sets them apart from their competition.

The only disappointing aspect of HostPapa was their speed. Both their Time to First Byte and average page load speed were some of the lowest we tested.

Those looking for reliable green energy hosting should give HostPapa a look. But if you’re concerned with speed and performance first, you should probably look for a different shared host or consider going with the Business PRO plan for increased performance.

HostPapa offers a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can give their hosting a try without risking anything.