HostMonster and JustHost are two of the biggest names in web hosting companies. Easy to use and affordable – both services offer similar features and benefits, making the task of choosing between the two a little tricky. While both hosting companies are smart choices, there are some distinct differences that should help you choose the one that is right for your website.

Compare HostMonster & JustHost on Our Expanded Comparison Chart

Pricing
With regard to pricing, JustHost costs slightly less than HostMonster. For a two to three-year contract, JustHost charges $2.95 a month when you use the 50OFF coupon code. Plus, regardless of what contract length you choose, there are NO set up charges and a free domain number is always included. In comparison, if you choose a 24-month contract at HostMonster, it will cost $3.95 a month. While there is typically also a $30.00 set-up fee and $10.00 domain registration charge, both are waived if you choose a 12, 24, or 36-month contract.

Update: In February 2011, HostMonster changed its minimum contract to 1 year and now charges $4.50/month whether you purchase a 1, 2 or 3 year contract. There are no set-up fees and a free domain still comes with every package. If price is your primary concern, BigHosts.com is one of the only places where you can purchase JustHost.com for only $2.95/month!

Features
Many features of the two web hosting companies are the same. Both JustHost and HostMonster use cPanel, the most popular web hosting control panel out there. Both services offer Fantastico and a wide selection of free software and scripts; allowing you to start a blog, build your own e-commerce enabled website for small business, conduct polls and surveys, build a forum, and much more.

One key difference is that JustHost is designed to allow you to easily accept PayPal payments, where HostMonster is not. However it is still possible to set up this functionality through PayPal.

Both plans offer unlimited domain names and email accounts per contract, have shopping cart capabilities, spam filters, streaming audio/video options, and MySQL databases. FrontPage extensions allow you to customize your website with both companies. Both also offer basically unlimited bandwidth and disk space.

Security
JustHost and HostMonster pride themselves in employing industry best practices to ensure optimal security. Both use SSL and encryption to secure any information exchanged between your customers and your website. HostMonster also provides SSH or Secure Shell Access, which means you have a secure channel to use when making changes to your site. This feature is also available with JustHost for an additional $19.95/year.

Customer Service
Customer service is a critical component of a web hosting service – both JustHost and HostMonster have strong reputations for fast and friendly support. Both companies offer 24/7 phone support, email support and live chat. HostMonster guarantees a wait time of two minutes or less for phone support and all HostMonster calls are handled within the United States. For self-help customers, JustHost offers a video tutorials library for customers to access to try to fix issues on their own – a service not provided by HostMonster.

Bonuses
Both companies offer bonuses to new contracts. HostMonster offers $75 in free search engine advertising credits, as well as free domain name for life, free set up (with two-year or longer plan), and free domain privacy service. JustHost offers a free domain name, free set-up, and $50 in advertising credits. Both offer a no-questions-asked 30-day money back guarantee. JustHost backs up their service with a 99.9% uptime guarantee – if not, you’ll receive a free month of hosting.

Conclusion
HostMonster and JustHost both offer reliable, secure web hosting with excellent customer service. The main differences are the difference in price and set up costs when choosing shorter contracts. Use these factors to help you make your decision as you choose between these two top 10 web hosting companies.