HostDime specializes in secure, high-end shared hosting for businesses.
They’re one of the top rated hosting companies when it comes to security, and the plans come with a lot of freebies.
Click here to see the #1 rated web hosting
HostDime isn’t quite as popular as it was ten years ago.
Here is how they’ve trended over the years:
Features
HostDime offers some nice features that web developers will find handy.
Here are just a few of them:
1) cPanel Options: The most popular control panel for developers and webmasters is arguably cPanel. Many hosts offer it with each hosting plan, but some developers and resellers need more licenses to fill the needs of their business. HostDime has become a licensed reseller of the cPanel control panel software and offers it on their site.
cPanel allows webmasters to access FTP files, email, statistics and other features easily and you can purchase an internal license of version 11 for $30/mo or a VPS optimized cPanel for only $13/mo. You can also choose to purchase external licenses in bulk. One VPS optimized cPanel for $15/mo or options for 2-10, 11-19, 20-49 ranging in price from $30.95/mo to 33.95/mo depending on the number you need. The licenses are fully brandable to show your business name when anyone accesses their files. It comes with free installation and a free virus scanner to make sure your hardware is safe.
2) Web Presence Builder: Site builders are an industry standard and are provided by almost every company that sells hosting plans. Most have drag and drop interfaces and templates to get you going fast. Although, most of them lack what is becoming more and more important over time, which is keeping the audience in mind. Parellels Web Presence Builder has an easy to use drag and drop builder and thousands of templates, but the other options set them apart from the normal builders.
To start, Presence offers industry specific templates from over 100 types of businesses. This software is also multilingual to help you if English isn’t your first language. Keeping your audience in mind, your site is easily integrated with social media and every site you build will be optimized for mobile devices. Small businesses will also enjoy the ability to have a shop directly on their site or hooked up to their facebook page. This site builder is one of the most versatile in the hosting world and is perfect for someone who needs a website, but isn’t a programmer.
3) Disaster Recovery: Everyone with a website understands that data can be lost easily in a variety of ways. You may not know that half of all businesses close within two years of a data disaster. Sadly, many users and hosts aren’t proactive enough with their data, but if you wait to react to disasters you may be putting your business in jeopardy. Data disaster recovery is something that HostDime takes seriously by offering plans that are custom made for each plan holder.
By offering specialty backup schedules, redundancy systems, or even choosing a secure data center to prevent the result of man made or natural disasters, HostDime will create a plan that makes sure the files and information on your server is secure. There is no pricing information on the site and anyone interested has to contact the provider directly, but once your data is safe you won’t have to be concerned with potential hacks, disasters, or data loss anymore.
Customer Support
They offer a 24/7 in-house support team, which can be very helpful.
Usually in-house support teams are more organized and offer quicker response rates.
Also it appears they run an active Twitter account, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting their attention if you run into issues.
Reviews
We checked different internet review sites looking for customer opinions of HostDime. We found these users were mostly happy with the wide variety of features available.
One happy customer writes: “They had a lot of features, like auto installer for scripts such as WordPress and alot more such as forum scripts. Also one thing which I liked also is that they had a full featured Cpanel.”
Another reviewer agrees saying: “The offerings with Hostdime, cpanel/whm, ssl services and more are better than reliable. I’ve gotten SSl’s over the years at a more than reasonable rate and Hostdime installs them painlessly for you.”
Not all reviews were positive however. We found some HostDime users disappointed with with customer support and downtime.
One frustrated reviewer explains: “Yeah, the prices are good for what they promise. The only problem is that they don’t deliver the uptime, the tech support, the customer service they promise, so the value is nil.”
Another customer upset with support writes: “When I have had to contact the support desk to find out what to do I have found some of the personnel arrogant, unhelpful, and indirect.”
Pros
1) Fully Managed: All of HostDime’s services are fully managed which means that they set up your site and help you along every step of the way.
2) In-House Support: HostDime claims to focus on customer support by having all of their tech specialists in-house. Support is available 24/7 by phone, email, or online chat.
3) Real-time Updates: Anyone can look on HostDime’s website and see live video feeds of their data center, and they show real-time network and server status updates.
4) Freebies: Your hosting package will come with freebies such as Softaculous, Fantastico, Parallels Web Presence Builder, and CORE Management Portal.
5) Wide Range of Options: HostDime offers six dedicated managed plans, multiple VSP and business hosting plans, and five different SSL options to purchase.
Cons
1) Costly Migration: While migration is free for sites 500MB or less, larger accounts cost extra. The cost varies depending on the size but can reach up to $50.
2) Convoluted Uptime Policy: HostDime does guarantee 99.9% uptime, however if you wish to receive a credit if they fall short of this number, they have a series of hoops you have to jump through.
3) Not for Hobbyists: HostDime caters primarily to businesses and does not offer a low cost basic hosting option.
Summary
If you’re looking for a company that can host your website with excellent service and incredible security, HostDime may be your ideal provider. While it is shared hosting, their resources and data protection make it a better value than most VPS hosts.
Although, if you’re looking for the cheapest hosting out there, this isn’t for you.