IONOS Hosting Review

Server performance is crucial for any website. IONOS will have good loading speeds without sacrificing other areas of its web hosting packages.

Despite the favourable loading speeds, the server response time still falls behind the industry average, which is a crucial measure of web server performance. Even though response times might be higher, IONOS performance is on par with other web hosts, and loading speeds are very good.

We’ve noticed that the Time To First Byte (TTFB) is a little higher than other hosts, but generally, we observed a TTFB time of 650 to 700 ms in our IONOS web hosting review.

With IONOS, users can expect a smooth and seamless hosting experience with minimal downtime. The web host uses top-of-the-line hardware and employs various optimizations, such as server-level caching, to ensure fast and efficient website loading times.

Regarding website uptime, IONOS brings a solid and reliable web hosting experience. With uptime consistently staying above the advertised 99.9% percentage, IONOS ensures that your website remains accessible to visitors almost always.

It’s important to note that the uptime offered by IONOS remains the same for users anywhere, regardless of your geographical location. IONOS’s dedication to delivering a dependable hosting environment for its clients is demonstrated by the consistent uptime across different regions. To enhance your website’s stability and performance, you can take advantage of the complimentary CDN, protection against DDoS attacks, and automatic daily backups. These features are designed to boost the website’s reliability further.

Knowing you’ll be taken care of in after-sales support is critical when choosing a web host. With IONOS, you can expect a robust support system to assist you throughout your hosting journey.

Setting up your account and activating your personal assistant is easy. Then, you gain access to support through live chat, phone, and email. We were satisfied with the prompt support we received from IONOS, thanks to their large team of over 2000 employees. 

It’s recommended to browse through the help centre on IONOS, which covers a broad range of topics, before seeking additional assistance. The “Digital Guide” blog on IONOS is updated regularly with new content. Our IONOS review showed that their customer service was excellent, with quick and helpful support.

These were the average support wait/response times encountered during our testing:

Although the control panel isn’t the same as the widely used cPanel, it’s evident that IONOS has made it user-friendly.

IONOS has designed its control panel with user-friendliness in mind, aiming to create an interface that’s accessible to beginners. While some users who are familiar with cPanel may have initially expressed reservations, most users find IONOS’s control panel easy to navigate and use.

What’s more is that IONOS offers easy one-click installations for popular software like WordPress, making it an appealing hosting provider, particularly for beginners.

Overall, IONOS prioritizes the ease of use for its customers, despite its control panel being different from the industry-standard cPanel. Combined with easy one-click installations, IONOS is a friendly web host, especially for beginners.

Pricing is a crucial factor to consider when choosing your next web hosting provider. We’ve seen on this IONOS review that it offers competitive pricing options, starting at just $1/mo USD for its Plus plan in shared hosting. 

However, it’s important to note that the pricing ramps up to $10/mo USD after the six-month promotional period, which is a significant jump over the starting price. The Essential plan, priced at $4/mo for the initial billing cycle, is suitable for a single website or project.

While IONOS’s starting price may be attractive, the high renewal prices are worth considering. These higher costs upon renewal will make many users explore alternative options that come with more features at similar or even lower prices. It’s important to weigh the long-term affordability and value of IONOS’s hosting plans.

These are the shared hosting prices IONOS offers to its customers:

• Essential: Suitable for one website, this plan costs $4/mo USD and can reach $6 when it renews in 12 months. The plan offers 10GB storage, 10 databases, basic CPU and memory resources, a free Wildcard SSL certificate, and a free domain name included for 1 year. 
• Starter: Ideal for up to 10 websites and projects. This plan costs $6/mo USD and renews at $8/mo after the first 12 months. It comes with everything in the Essential plan and 100GB of storage.
• Plus is aimed at larger web projects, and it’s, according to IONOS, its best-selling hosting plan. It offers everything in the Starter plan and support for unlimited websites, storage and databases, and enhanced CPU and memory resources. All that comes at $1/mo USD for the first 12 months. Then, the plan renews at a whopping $12/mo.
• Ultimate: The final shared hosting plan offered by IONOS is designed for larger corporations and businesses. However, there’s some overlap between this plan and the Plus plan. While it comes with even more web server resources, there isn’t an option for a free domain name for 1 year, and there’s even an inode limit.

One thing to note in this IONOS web hosting review, is that it offers limited payment options in USD, British Pounds or Euros, depending on your region.

Solid performance and uptime exceeding the advertised 99.9% mark are some of IONOS’ traits that are available to anyone. Its integrated status monitoring allows users to address potential issues, maintaining optimal performance proactively.

In our IONOS review, the support team is prompt and responsive, although there have been occasional reports of delayed or insufficient responses. 

When it comes to pricing, IONOS offers some initially competitive options, but it’s important to consider the high renewal prices. Potential customers should carefully evaluate the long-term affordability and value of IONOS’s hosting plans which is questionable. However, the inclusion of a 30-day money-back guarantee provides a level of assurance for those considering its services.

The performance we measured in our IONOS review was decent, and with additional services such as Cloudflare, CDN can become much better. In conclusion, IONOS delivers good performance; it’s user-friendly and has adequate support and uptime.