WebHostingPad was founded in 2005 by a team of successful industry veterans with intent on delivering the best value in web hosting. With the growing need for affordable hosting, the company set out to deliver the best web hosting at a price that everyone can afford. Yet, our user reviews have been quite mixed lately so if you decide to sign with them, be sure to let us know how things actually pan out!
WebHostingPad In-depth Review
When it comes to shared hosting, there seem to be too more offerings out there supporting many thousands of additional services, all adding up to one maddeningly complex decision when it comes down to actually signing an host for your new website. However, if you’ve done much research at all into the industry, you’ve likely seen a few choice names appearing again and again in the top ten lists. We’ve already looked at two of these heavy-hitters in the last few months, and now that we’re done performing an in-depth look at HostGator and InMotion Hosting, we feel it’s time to move onto yet another substantial hosting provider: WebHostingPad. The reviews of WebHostingPad are mixed, but no matter how you slice it, the company’s plans are cheap, making them easily worth considering. But without further ado, skip on down below the break to learn more about the web host, their plans, and the services they offer.
Who is WebHostingPad?
As a web hosting provider, WebHostingPad (http://www.webhostingpad.com) was founded almost a decade ago in 2005. From the very outset, they have had one goal, and one goal only: To provide quality web hosting so cheap that absolutely anyone and everyone can enjoy their own, private space on the Internet. Since their inception, the company has been on a veritable warpath, carving out a niche for themselves and garnering the attention of several key awards. Their customer service in particular has been lauded as one of the best in the industry, as have their ultra-low shared hosting plans. To date, the company hosts more than 150,000 domains, and claims a 99.99% guaranteed uptime. The company is also very well known for its lack of any sort of hidden fees, as well as its dedication to the latest hardware and software. All of their server units come with name-brand security, offering superior performance.
However, all of this could very well be a sales pitch from the company. What do they really look like once the bonnet’s been cracked open? To find out, keep reading, Solider. We’ll be taking a look at their shared hosting plans first, before diving into the thick and sticky of their extended plans.
Shared Hosting with WebHostingPad
The Price
Before we do anything else, we feel we absolutely have to mention the lowest price WebHostingPad currently offers for its shared hosting services. Plans with the host bottom out at an unbelievable $1.99 a month, a full two or three times less expensive than some of the other, industry leading hosting companies. This price is only offered as a discount with a full five year service agreement, but even with just a single 12-month term, the company’s rates begin at only $3.99 a month for the basic shared hosting services. Power Plus plans are also offered at twice the usual rate. Still, no matter what tier of hosting you select from the company, you’re still getting a tremendous value, especially when compared to companies like Amazon, Host Gator, or In Motion.
Lastly, if you’re worried about inflation with your accounts renewal charges, you can throw that discontent right into the rubbish bin! WebHostingPad is the only hosting company we know of that offers a full price-lock on each and every one of their accounts. This lock guarantees that, for the life of your account, the provider will never once inflate your renewal costs. If you sign an account for $3.99 a month, that’s the price you will pay for as long as you lease the space from the provider, bar none. Considering every other host we know has raised their prices slowly but steadily over the years, this guarantee is a tremendous advantage, as well as a great reason to sign with the company. Truly, it’s a unique boon for WebHostingPad.
The Features
However, all the lowest prices in the world can only go so far. Without quality features and feature sets to back up their low price selling point, WebHostingPad is just as useless as free hosting. So what does the company offer in terms of features that make them worth considering?
First out of the box, WebHostingPad supports all of the unlimited and unmetered performance you’d expect of an high-caliber hosting service. There’s unlimited disc space, as well as unmetered bandwidth support for both your own FTP accounts, as well as foot traffic from viewers. Likewise, the company welcomes your email accounts, allowing you to host as many accounts desired, complete with an unlimited number of email forwarders, auto responders, and POP access points. In addition, WebHostingPad will also allow you to park as many domains onto your account as you’d like, alongside as many subdomains as you can create within your framework. It’s one heck of a package, but it doesn’t end there. Add to the list an unlimited number of MySQL servers and CGI-Bins, and you’re considering a whopping amount of features for not a lot of bank.
If you’re concerned about website builders and tracking tools, WebHostingPad supplies each and every one of its accounts with a plentiful number. There’s unlimited support for popular blogging softwares like Drupal and WordPress, alongside built-in message board and forum tools to help develop your website into a conversational powerhouse. eCommerce offerings include an advanced firewall, a ready-to-roll shopping cart, password protected directories, and even 24/7 server monitoring. All of this, of course, is only under the most basic of hosting plans.
WebHostingPad also offers a second tier of pricing schemes called the Power Plus plans. These accounts offer all of the features already listed, in addition to a wealth of statistical and analytical utilities to help you track the progress and growth of your Web presence. Another selling point with these more expensive accounts is their remote hands-on support, allowing WebHostingPad’s representatives to access your account directly should you need assistance with un unexpected problem.
All in all, WebHostingPad offers all of the selling points we typically look for in a shared hosting service. There’s the unlimited and unmetered account points, as well as the superior support for modern coding languages and softwares. However, that’s no guarantee WebHostingPad performs as well within the realm of VPS hosting: So without any more babbling on, let’s take a look at the virtual private server services offered by WebHostingPad, as well as what they mean for you!
Virtual Private Servers from WebHostingPad
If you’re looking for an in-between option stuck directly between a shared hosting account and a full-on (and pricy) dedicated server, there’s really no better option than a virtual private server. The technology makes it unbelievably easy—and cheap—to have your own, dedicated unit with which to run your Web presence and media. However, not all VPS hosting plans are created the same, and if you’re not careful, you may find your host scalping you for these kinds of plans. So how does WebHostingPad stack up?
First and foremost, the pricing: Virtual private server plans with WebHostingPad start as low as $9.95 a month, which is a fair five to ten dollars cheaper than almost any other hosting provider we can name. Additionally, this low price earns each and every consumer that decides to sign with WebHostingPad 10 gigabytes of disc space, 100 gigabytes monthly bandwidth, and a guaranteed 128 megabytes dedicated memory. Setup is also free, and comes with a free dedicated IP address.
Like all the other pricing tiers in WebHostingPad’s VPS hosting experience, this low level offering can be billed at a variable rate, either monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. We really appreciated this flexibility, as it allows the consumer to pay their web hosting bill whenever it is most convenient for them, while still not running out their budget.
If you’re willing to spend just a little more per month, WebHostingPad’s VPS plans allow for as much as 100 gigabytes of storage, an unlimited amount of bandwidth data transfer per month, and 512 megabytes of dedicated memory. Another selling point we look for with virtual private server plans is burstable memory: This is the additional performance power that works to bail out your server when demand on your data is unbearably high, such as during a peak traffic moment. The lowest amount of burstable memory one can find with WebHostingPad starts at 512 megabytes—a decent size for the middle tier price—and the highest possible is a whopping two gigabytes. That’s one heck of a lot of memory, and if you’re willing to pay the (still cheap) price of $39.95 a month, that quality can be yours.
All in all, if you’re looking to host your site with a quality virtual private server offering, WebHostingPad appears to be a decent way to do it. Aside from raw statistics, the company also offers reseller ready and fully managed VPS hosting, allowing you more freedom on the front-end with less initial work. And to us, that’s always a bargain!
Money Back Guarantee and Money Upfront
So, we’ve now had a look at the various hosting plans offered by WebHostingPad, but we have yet to talk about everything else involved with an hosting experience. First and foremost, we tend to look for some kind of money back guarantee within a company’s hosting plans, and thankfully, WebHostingPad does not disappoint in the slightest. All of the hosting provider’s plans come backed with a full 30-day money back guarantee that will refund any and all money put into your hosting investment, barring the cost of the domain name itself. What this means for you, the consumer, is simple: The host is willing to stand by their uptime, service, and customer support claims. Should you find any of these lacking—or entirely false—the provider offers you the option to return their service at no charge, even a full month after first signing. This is an incredible value, and if you’ve been hesitating to sign onto a virtual private server or optimized shared hosting experience, there’s no better time to get on the band wagon.
If you noticed in our heading there, we mentioned money offered upfront, as well. We weren’t kidding, as WebHostingPad offers all of its users, no matter what plan they’re signed onto a full $200 in free advertisement credit. This includes Google AdWords, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, and even WordPress blogging tools. The provider even throws in a wealth of AccessGuardian credits to keep you safe and secure in your hosting decision. Typically, we’re used to seeing $75 to $100 in advertising credit, making a value of $200 nearly unprecedented. No matter how you slice it, it’s a lot of free money to work with, and if its the dealmaker in your decision to host with WebHostingPad, we wouldn’t blame you.
WebHostingPad Support and Help System
When it comes to web hosting, especially shared web hosting, we tend to have one, all-important rule: Know your hosts support will be great, because no matter how good the service or the experience are, you’re going to encounter problems during your first few months of service. WebHostingPad is no different, and as such, we took great pains to investigate each and every nook and cranny of their support and help system. Thankfully, we’ve got some pretty good items to point out—at the least, it’s a mark in their favor.
First and foremost, WebHostingPad offers a multitude of ways to contact their representatives, which is always a good sign. Most quality hosts offer at least these methods, and WebHostingPad has them all covered in spades: Live chat, email support, live customer service lines, and an email ticketing system. We especially dug the email ticketing system, which uses a separate log-in panel to mange all of your open tickets. Through this management, it’s unbelievably easy for users to upload their problems for inspection. Along the way, they’ll receive updates when their ticket has been opened, as well as information on when they can expect an end delivery of a solution. It’s smooth, fluid, and works like a charm.
We also loved the option to live chat with a technical support representative. We’ve used live chat services for everything from our cell phones to our automobiles, and we love the fact it’s here with WebHostingPad. If you’re in need of a speedy solution during normal working hours, it’s a quick and painless way to find an answer.
If you’d like to go ahead and contact WebHostingPad about any of the points we’ve already discussed, or about some other question we haven’t yet covered, feel free to do so at any of the points listed below:
Physical Address:
WebHostingPad.com, Inc.
5005 NewPort Dr Suite 503
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Email
Technical Support: support login center
Sales: sales@webhostingpad.com
Billing Support:billing@webhostingpad.com
Telephone
Toll Free: (877) 998-4678
Local: (847) 346-1801
Fax: (847) 342-6299
Before moving on to a few more points about WebHostingPad as well as our final roundup, we’d also like to mention the incredible knowledge base the provider offers. We like any company that’s willing to help educate their users, and WebHostingPad is a prime example. Users are free to peruse and add to the provider’s extensive databank of server-side issues, common coding practices, and general web maintenance manuals. If you have a solution you’d like to work out on your own, WebHostingPad is more than willing to help you do it.
On a similar note, the company also boasts an extensive web glossary designed to get the new web master up to speed in as little time as possible. Keep seeing terms you’re unfamiliar with while shopping for a good web host? WebHostingPad understands your pain and wants to help, offering a full compendium of some of the more commonly uttered phrases and words in the business. If you’d like to learn a little bit more about Ajax, or just forget forget the difference between a CDN and a CMS, WebHostingPad is there to help.
Overall, we found ourselves very impressed with the sum total of WebHostingPad’s support and help system. Obviously, we haven’t got any way to test the service over a period of years, but initial expectations are set very high. We like the face of the package, and we have a feeling the inside rocks, too.
The Softaculous
Another selling point we particularly like about WebHostingPad is its unique dedication to supplying consumers with as much critical data about their server-side software as possible. The provider manages this through their control-panel based auto-installer Softaculous. This plug-in behaves in much the same way that a Linux distro’s package manager does, serving as a sort of repository for any number of add-ons and programs the average user might need or want to use. Furthermore, the provider isn’t just content to serve up the latest stuff, but makes an effort to include ratings, suggestions, and detailed information about each package too. In other words, WebHostingPad worked to create a utility that simultaneously makes the end-consumers web hosting experience easer, while also providing a utility for the discussion and advancement of the technology itself. We’re tempted to geek out over that, but long story short, it’s a level of commitment we just aren’t seeing anywhere else in the industry.
WebHostingPad Awards and Recognition
Since its inception, WebHostingPad has been winning a number of awards consecutively, including Best Budget Hosting from Web Hosting Awards and Web Hosting Directory, as well as Highest Recommended Hosting from Upper Host. Lastly, the company has also been recognized and awarded with the Editor’s Choice Award from Web Host Magazine and Buyer’s Guide, in addition to the Top 10 Budget Hosting Award from Host Review. Most of these awards and accolades have also been received within the last two years, meaning WebHostingPad is not content to rest on its laurels, but has been striving with each new year to better its services.
WebHostingPad: Common Customer Complaints
Where cheap shared hosting is concerned, we have yet to see any one name thrown around more than WebHostingPad. The provider has been giving out cheap and reliable hosting for as long as we can remember, and during that time, they’ve racked up the awards, pushed the envelope, and generally made a lot of people very happy. However, just because we’ve seen loads of favorable reviews doesn’t mean the web hosting provider is quite as golden as we might think. In fact, their paper promises may not be real life gains in the slightest. How’s a burgeoning web master to find out before signing that digital lease? Simple! Read the customer reviews we’ve accumulated, and then stashed below for safe keeping. Beyond the jump you’ll find a number of categorized and common complaints we’ve received from our users about the web hosting provider, sectioned off for easy reading. However, before we get into the gritty details of those reports, why not have a closer look at the web hosting company itself? So without further ado, may we present an appetizer of one, quick WebHostingPad summary!
Is WebHostingPad a Good Deal?
If you’re unfamiliar with WebHostingPad.com, let us be the first to give you the total rundown. Firstly, the hosting provider offers one of the cheapest plans we have seen anywhere on the net, clocking at just under two bucks ($1.99 per month). That’s a ridiculously low number, even for a shared host. And for that money, you’ll be able to enjoy the full retinue of unlimited options we’ve come to expect from an industry ready hosting company. This includes unlimited bandwidth, disc space, email accounts, and MySQL databases. To top it all off, you’ll also get access to popular hosting services and softwares like Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, PHP, jQuery, Apache, etc. All of these are represented, and at that price, it looks like a bargain that’s hard to argue with.
However, what do our reviewers have to say about the company? To find out, just head on down the break to view our categorized and common complaints about WebHostingPad.
Sales Complaints:
SSL Ain’t Free: Apparently, though their website states otherwise, you won’t be looking at a free SSL-enabled server with WebHostingPad. In fact, the company will charge you an additional $70 a month just to have access to this kind of much-needed security. This has been reported by multiple users, so we’re inclined to think it’s more than just a case-by-case basis. If you’re in desperate need of a secure access method, we suggest you maybe look at a different budget web host.
Auto Renewal Issues: We’ve seen this kind of complaint from multiple web hosting providers, but never quite to this extent. Apparently, WebHostingPad makes it quite hard to turn-off or otherwise disengage the automatic renewal of your website lease. Not only that, but if you refuse to pay for the services you don’t want, WebHostingPad will actually send a collection agency after you. This is really quite troubling, and if it’s as common as we think it is, a tremendous notch in the WebHostingPad getup.
Tech Support Problems:
Disappearing Tech Reps: In an interesting (though horrifying) display of what’s possible with shared hosting tech support, it appears that quite commonly a WebHostingPad tech support representative will announce that the problem is on the servers, and then close the live chat window without any further instructions. Considering tech support is the last line of defense between your website and endless downtime, this is really quite a troubling pattern. All in all, we’re willing to bet that you can’t quite bank on WebHostingPad tech support to get you through a server-hosted crisis.
No Depth At All: This is a first for our complaint compendiums, as we haven’t seen it anywhere else with any other web hosting provider. Apparently, WebHostingPad is occasionally speedy with their tech support responses, though the answers given are typically not very deep in any satisfactory sense. What we’re assuming is happening is that a tech rep will give a user an answer as to why the problem exists, though an answer that does nothing to fix or address the problem. Obviously, this doesn’t make matters worse, and it doesn’t give us much more confidence in the tech support WebHostingPad is offering.
Slow Ordering: Interestingly, we’re also hearing that ordering new services with WebHostingPad is quite a slow and painful process. We’re surprised to hear this as, typically, this is the area in which web hosting providers are quickest to pony up and take your money.
Functionality Problems:
Unlimited Isn’t Quite: We’ve seen this at several other web hosts, and to be honest, we aren’t quite knocked off our rocker to see it listed here. As is par for the course, the so-called unlimited options offered by WebHostingPad don’t quite stack up to the promises. As it turns out—or at least in our reader’s experiences — WebHostingPad starts out each new account with a 10% total space cap, limiting the amount of performance and bandwidth the user can access to host their site. This is an understandable way of doing things, but not when an unmetered limit is advertised.
Steady Downtime: In a pattern that reminds us of World of Warcraft, it appears that WebHostingPad’s will go down for maintenance (or various other reasons) with some frequency, and at usually the same intervals. It appears that every two weeks or so the servers will disappear for a few hours, leaving our reviewer’s sties in the dark. This is really quite a disturbing trend, as the continual downtime of a company’s servers hardly does any good as far as establishing their functionality and stability.
The Final Roundup
In our eyes, WebHostingPad looks to be one of the best options out there for cheap web hosting. The company offers nearly unbeatable prices, or at the least, we haven’t found any providers willing to go much lower than WebHostingPad. Their feature sets look promising, as do they technical support avenues, should some of the features go awry within your first few months of service. On that note, the 30-Day Money Back Guarantee safeguards you from any unwanted commitments up to a full month after the ink on the contract has run dry. Add to this an impressive number of hosted domains, as well as a continued stream of awards and a lengthy history, and we feel certain we can safely recommend the host to those still in need of a budget option.
Still, our WebHostingPad reviews have been mixed, leading us to believe you should consider a few of our other choice favorites before signing onto the WebHostingPad experience. We particularly favor Web Hosting Hub and InMotion Hosting. Considering other hosts may be just as prudent, but when it comes to features and guarantees, we can’t promise any other hosts will be on-par with what WebHostingPad is creating and doing. All in all, the company still looks quite promising on paper, and if you decide to sign with them, be sure to let us know how things actually pan out!
