Good Features & Green Energy
Location: Niagra Falls, NY
Year in Business: 2
HostPapa distinguishes itself by offering competitive hosting services that are 100% certified as using renewable "green" energy. What does this actually mean? HostPapa still uses everyday power sources like you and me to support its operations, but it purchases green "tags" from certified green energy suppliers who pump the equivalent of HostPapa's power use back into the traditional power grid using wind and solar energy. HostPapa is effectively restoring its original power consumption with energy that reduces greenhouse gases and helps the environment.
So HostPapa is a responsible company, but what about the hosting? At $6.95 for a two year contract with free set-up, the price is certainly affordable. From a features perspective, everything you need is there to design, build, and manage an effective website. This includes high allowances for disk space and bandwidth, FrontPage extensions, a website builder and hundreds of free design templates, one of the best web hosting control panels (cPanel), and much more.
And the customer service options are good. While phone support is not 24/7, it is available from 8am - 10pm (EDT) during the week and 9am - 6pm on weekends. In addition, there is a reliable ticket system and plenty of self-help options that are available all the time.
If you like the idea of helping the environment as long as the hosting company delivers a good product, Host Papa is a good choice – it gives you the best of both worlds at an affordable price.
Price & Plans
HostPapa offers one comprehensive plan with 3 different payment options:
12 month - $7.95/month
24 month - $6.95/month
36 month - $5.95/month
There are no set-up fees or domain name charges on any of the contracts. Choose a one year contract for more flexibility or a 3 year for more savings. Purchasing the 3 year contract will save about $72 versus re-purchasing the 1 year contract each year. This is the equivalent of a 25% discount.
For comparison sake, the 3 month contract costs a total of $70 while the 24 month costs $143. So for slightly more than twice the cost, the 24 month contract covers a time period that is 8 times longer, making it a much better value.
Features
See table (left) for a list of key features and benefits. For a complete list of features,
visit HostPapa.
Service
Phone support and live chat are available from 8am - 10pm (EDT) on weekdays and 9am - 6pm on weekends. There is also a responsive ticket system and learning center that contains almost 400 articles and answers to frequently asked questions. This means you can help yourself with most questions anytime.
Space
Many web hosts are now offering unlimited disk space. While no host can truly provide unlimited resources, HostPapa easily supports the average website that uses 20 megabytes or less (1 gigabyte = 1,024 megabytes).
Bandwidth
In addition to disk space, many web hosting companies are also offering unlimited bandwidth. Again, no web host can provide infinite bandwidth each month, but HostPapa easily supports the typical website that uses 10 gigabytes or less. If your site has very high traffic (several million page views per month) or is very image intensive, consider a dedicated or VPS hosting plan.
Security
HostPapa utilizes SSL secure servers. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) ensures that any information exchanged between your visitors and the website is encrypted and safe.
Reliability
HostPapa uses a state-of-the-art hosting facility with backup data centers across North America. These facilities include the latest technology and equipment such as back-up power generation, a dedicated diesel generator for power redundancy, redundant climate control systems, dual pre-action fire suppression systems, Cisco powered network, and multiple bandwidth providers. This provides a safe and reliable environment for website and information.
Ease of Use
cPanel, one of the most popular and easy-to-use control panel programs, is available with every account. It enables you to monitor space and bandwidth usage, access website stats, create e-mail accounts, develop MySQL databases, and much more.
Freebies
Every new web hosting account receives a free domain name as long as you are a HostPapa customer. This saves money every year on domain renewal fees. You also receive free search engine marketing credits to help increase website visibility - a $125 value.
Guarantees
All accounts come with a full 30 day money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the service for any reason, just ask for a full refund. Be assured that you have a full month to try the product and service.
Discounts
By purchasing the three year hosting plan, you save 25% versus the one year contract, and more than 10% versus the two year contract. You simply have to determine what's more important, contract flexibility or saving money.