When setting up a blog or website, one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is your hosting provider. This can be the biggest decision you have to make – and the only way to ensure you get it right is by doing the research.
There are a ton of different web hosting providers out there to choose from. The sheer amount of choice can seem paralysing. One popular option is 1&1 IONOS. Founded in 1998 by United Internet, a Germany-based company, it’s one of the biggest web hosting companies around.
1&1 IONOS now has over 7,000 employees, offices in ten different countries, and data centers all around the world. It’s the largest web hosting company in Europe and promises to offer the very best in power, reliability, support, trust and value for money.
But is this larger web hosting provider the right choice for you? We’ve done the hard work, tackling the ins and outs of the service, plus looked into genuine verified customer reviews to find you the answer.
We’ve answered the frequently asked questions about 1&1 IONOS, Based on all of this review information, we can offer you all that you’ll need to decide whether 1&1 IONOS is the right choice for you.
And if it’s not? Have no fear – we’ve also done the round up of a whole bunch of alternative options, so you’re guaranteed to find the right web hosting provider for you. Let’s dive into this 1&1 hosting review and see if it’s a win for you and your team.
Table of Contents
Is 1&1 IONOS Good: The Bottom Line Up Front
1&1 IONOS makes great claims about everything it can do for you and your small to medium-sized business. The company has been around for quite a while, 30 years to be precise, in the web hosting game and has a powerful cloud infrastructure, dedicated customer support with a one-on-one personal consultant, and flexible and transparent payment plans. But how do these claims actually stack up in real life? Read on to find out.
Pros
There are undoubtedly many attractive aspects to hosting through 1&1 IONOS. But here are a few which customers particularly draw attention to.
Value For Money
In terms of what you get for your cash, 1&1 IONOS offer customers exceptional value. Its packages are cheap, and for what you pay, you get an almost unmatched level of service.
Dedicated Customer Support
The help and support 1&1 IONOS customers receive is undeniably impressive. The company offers each customer a dedicated personal consultant to walk you through the set-up and help you tackle any problems you may face.
Help is available through phone, email, and webchat, and can be accessed twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and
Security Features
1&1 IONOS offers every customer an SSL Certificate as standard. This is a means of encrypted website protection, which can be an essential step to avoid any security breaches on your site. Having this option as part of the basic package is a nice bonus.
Dependable Uptime
1&1 IONOS boasts almost 100% uptime. This is essential for even a small business, as you always want to be available to a customer. If you aren’t, a customer may just not bother using your service, and even go to a different competitor – which is not what you want!
World Wide Service
Because 1&1 IONOS has data centers in five different countries around the world, it has a worldwide presence and can guarantee a certain level of speed and reliability no matter where you are.
Cons & Problems
In spite of all these benefits to going with 1&1 IONOS, the service is by no means perfect. Here is what people disliked the most.
Tricky User Experience
Some users draw attention to how non-intuitive the usage of 1&1 IONOS can be. The backend control panel of the service looks dated and can make getting even simple tasks done more difficult than it should be. Some report multiple form submission errors even on relatively simple tasks. WHile the customer support can make up for this, it’s still irritating for those wanting to work more quickly and efficiently.
Not Beginner Friendly
Instead of using cPanel, which makes using the service seem easier and more related to other internet services, 1&1 IONOS has their own control panel which is tricky to get the hang of. It also seems to be designed to be easier for those who host their domain through 1&1, rather than those who have their domain registered elsewhere. Some found this really annoying.
Real Customer Reviews: What People are Actually Saying
Finding out what actual customers think about a web hosting service is one of the best ways to properly understand whether or not it’s worth the hype. We’ve tracked down a whole bunch of genuine customer opinions to help you make the most informed choice.
On dedicated customer review site www.g2crowd.com, 1&1 IONOS has a relatively positive reputation, and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. We’ve broken this down into actual pros and cons to help you understand the customer experience in a well-rounded, balanced way.
Good Things People Are Saying
Fair Pricing
Customers draw attention to the low cost of hosting through 1&1 IONOS. There are a variety of different plans, and each is labeled clearly to help you properly understand what you’re getting for your money. Each of the plans is competitively priced, too.
Unlimited everything for a reasonable price.
g2crowd.com
High Quality Customer Support
Users also draw attention to how easy it is to get in contact with 1&1 IONOS in times of need. The fact that the company can be contacted by phone, mail and live chat means they’re always easy to reach, and in a manner which suits you. The customer service workers are experienced and helpful, too.
Very responsive every time I contact them.
g2crowd.com
Bad Things People Are Saying
In spite of the generally positive reception 1&1 IONOS has online, there are still certain problems users draw attention to. Knowing the common gripes users have with a service can be the most useful method of determining if the service is a good fit for your needs.
Glitching Issues
Some 1&1 IONOS users draw attention to the inconsistencies and glitches the provider can experience. Although the exact source of these problems in unknown, it’s not great for a large web provider to be known for inconsistency and outages.
Occasional very short outages that cannot be explained.
g2crowd.com
Website Set Up and Development
Does 1&1 IONOS Offer WordPress Hosting Specifically?
The company offers specific WordPress hosting, plus a wide array of different packages. This includes shared, cloud, VPS, and dedciated hosting. The company is also compatible with other specific web hosting, like Joomla and Drupal.
Do You Get a Free Domain Name When You Sign Up? (Some Hosting Providers Offer This)
The Entry Level 1&1 IONOS package offers you on free domain name which you can keep for as long as you use the service. If you want to host more than one site, though, you’ll have to pay.
Do They Have Nameservers or Offer DNS Services?
Yes, 1&1 offers DNS services, although some users complain that these services are more difficult to use than with some competitiors.
Migrating a Site To 1&1 IONOS (and Transferable Installs): How Easy Is It?
While site migration is possible, many claim it isn’t as easy as it could be. Some users accuse 1&1 IONOS of being heavily biased to make things easier for those who use the company’s services exclusively.
1&1 IONOS Control Panel (Cpanel): Do They Offer One To Manage Your Hosting?
1&1 do have a control panel, but it isn’t the cPanel many will be used to .This is a slightly strange choice, as it makes the learning curve of getting used to the service much steeper than it needs to be. If you’re used to the cPanel, you may find your initial experiences with 1&1 to be needlessly complicated and hard to get the hang of.
FTP & SFTP: How Easy Is It to Connect?
The company makes sure it’s easy to connect FTP and SFTP when using their service.
Do They Offer Staging Environments and Temporary Urls?
Yes, the company offers temporary staging platforms for you to help build your website, particularly through WordPress.
Templates & Blueprints: Do They Offer Site Setup Templates?
The company offers thousands of different site setup templates. They’re even helpfully
PHP Versions: Do They Support Legacy and The Latest Versions?
The company is dedicated to
Do They Support Git or Command Line Tool Integrations?
Yes, 1&1 IONOS supports GIT and other command line tool integrations. They offer a full user guide to this, available here.
SSH Connection: Do They Support It?
Yes, the company supports an SSH connection in many of their current packages.
1&1 IONOS Speed & Load Time
It’s safe to say speed is not one of the selling points of this web hosting provider. Although not the worst option out there by far, they don’t boast any particularly impressive speeds or load time. In spite of this, they can be as good as, or better than, a variety of popular main hosts.
For the majority of small business needs, it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed. Put simply, the speed and load time won’t blow you away – but it shouldn’t cause users to give up on your site and look elsewhere, either.
Services and Goodies Offered With Hosting
Uptime, Outages & Down Time
1&1 IONOS does shine in terms of uptime. Although 100% uptime is impossible to promise, this company does come close. In many independent tests, the service boasts scores of over 99.9% uptime, which is excellent even in comparison to other web hosting providers.
Do They Offer a CDN With Hosting?
Yes, this company offers a CDN with their web hosting packages.
Does 1&1 IONOS Offer Shared Hosting and Dedicated Servers?
Yes, the company offers a wide range of different web hosting options. These include shared hosting and dedicated servers, plus cloud or VPN options, too.
Https: Do They Offer SSL Certificates or Letsencrypt?
The company offers SSL certificates and Letsencrypt, although they have to be added on to your package, rather than included as standard.
How Do Site Backups Work?
The company makes daily backups of your site. With a LINUX based package, you can ensure easy restoring of any of the past version of your site, too. Any site backups and past versions of your site are stored for only seven days, though – so if you do need to go back, you’ll have to act fast.
If you think you may need an older version of your site for longer, it’s possible – but you’ll have to manually store a version of the site youself.
Redirects: Do They Support Server Level Redirects?
Yes, the company support server level redirects from one domain to another. The company site has a full user guide to this process, available here.
Do They Support Multisite & Subdomains?
Yes, 1&1 IONOS support both multisite hosting, and subdomains. For more information on multisite hosting, check out this guide.
Does 1&1 IONOS Offer Email Hosting?
Yes, the company offers email hosting – although it works as an add on so costs a little extra to their basic package.
Security & Past Hacking Incidents
Based on our research, there are no past incidents in terms of security with 1&1 IONOS. In terms of hacking, there isn’t any worrying information online.
1&1 IONOS Pricing, Plans & Money Back
Pricing, Packages & Plans
The company offers low costs for their different packages, and can be a great place to find a bargain. There are three different packages, each with different options.
The Business package is the cheapest option everyone picks. The first twelve months are $1 per month, which then goes up to $8 per month. It offers one site, 100 GB of storage, twenty-five email accounts, and a free domain for the first year.
The Pro package is the intermediate option. The first twelve months are $5 per month, which then goes up to $10 per month. It offers up to five sites, 250 GB of storage, one hundred email accounts, and a free domain for the first year. It also offers more security and malware protection.
The Expert package is the priciest on offer. The first twelve months are $9 per month, which then goes up to $14 per month. It offers up to fifty sites, 500 GB of storage, five hundred email accounts, and a free domain for the first year. It also offers more security and malware protection and a more professional CDN.
Do They Have a Monthly and Annual Plan Payment Option?
You can choose to pay for your first year in one go, or a monthly billing system. After the initial price rise, you can still pay either in monthly or annual instalments.
Do They Offer Unmetered or Unlimited Bandwidth Plans for Hosted Websites?
If you go for the Expert plan with 1&1 IONOS, you get an unlimited bandwidth plan, plus a huge amount of scope for different sites.
How Does Canceling a Plan Work?
If you ever need to cancel a 1&1 IONOS plan, you can do so using their handy user guide.
After cancellation, you’ll be billed for up to fourteen days before your contract is terminated.
Promo Codes & Discounts: Do They Have Special Offers?
From time to time, you can find discount codes for the different packages online. Before making a purchase, shop around to make sure you’re getting the first deal. Plus, this service offers a first-year discount, which can be excellent if you’re just beginning a new gig and need a lower price.
Does 1&1 IONOS Have a Satisfaction or Money-Back Guarantee?
There’s a 30-day satisfaction guarantee with any 1&1 IONOS plan. After than ,you can cancel a plan but won’t get money back.
Customer Service and Support
1&1 IONOS Phone Number: Do You Get a Real Person?
You can contact customer support through a phone number and speak to a real operator. The company also offers a callback service, which is handy if you don’t have time to be on hold.
There’s also excellent live web chat options, email contact, plus a wealth of knowledge through the website’s handy user guides and FAQs sections.
1&1 IONOS Alternatives: What We Would Recommend Instead
If you don’t think this is the right web hosting option for you and your site launch, we have a ton of other reviews out there to start the process. Check out our Fastcomet, Cloudways and NameCheap reviews to find out about some top alternatives.
We also create handy comparison guides between top web hosting competitors. Check out our Dreamhost Vs Hostgator and Wix Vs Bluehost articles for more explicit comparisons.
Sign Up
If you think 1&1 IONOS is the right web hosting provider for you, as a lot of people do, you can sign up through their website here.
Have you ever used this provider? What did you think of it? Do you have a favourite web hosting service? Let us know in the comments below!