iPage specializes in shared hosting plans perfect for all levels of web users.
They’re also one of the more environmentally conscious hosting companies out there (see the top rankings here).
Click here to see the #1 rated web hosting
iPage started getting popular back in 2010.
Here is how they’ve trended over the years:
Features
iPage offers some cool features that you don’t always see standard with all hosting companies.
1) One Plan for Shared Hosting:
Unlike most web hosting companies that offer multiple tiers for their shared hosting plans (usually three or more), iPage keeps things simple by offering only one plan for shared hosting. But their one plan is still very robust and comprehensive. It offers all the standard features you would see, such as unlimited disk space and emails, free domain registration, site building tools (e.g. website builder using Weebly), online store, search engine and marketing credits for Google AdWords and Yahoo, security features using SiteLock, and 24/7 support.
All this comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. There are also hundreds of attractive mobile-friendly templates you can choose from. By keeping just one plan, iPage takes out any headache and prevents analysis paralysis.
2) A Green Company:
iPage is one of the handful of openly green companies (like GreenGeeks), dedicated to green energy and eco-friendly business practices. They purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset their energy by 200%. Their offices, servers, and data centers are 100% powered by wind energy. For every kilowatt-hour of energy, they purchase twice that amount of RECs. This is the same as planting 244 acres of trees.
Furthermore, they encourage their customers to be green also, by offering Green Certificates and Green Badge that states your website is eco-friendly. Depending on your field and industry, your business may benefit from green marketing campaign.
3) Community Directory:
Sometimes it’s hard to glean from a list of features exactly what you can do with iPage. That’s when their Community Directory comes in handy. It lists websites registered by iPage customers themselves, in all imaginable industries: arts, blogs, personal, business, entertainment and media, education, computers and internet, gifts and shopping, government, health, science, services, society, recreation, and miscellaneous. Many websites listed have been built by iPage’s website builder and one-click installations.
If you’re a beginner, you can browse through many sites made by iPage customers and know that the company offers all the tools for you to make a nice-looking, highly customized website even if you don’t know any code.
Customer Support
These guys offer a full US-based technical support team with a promise to answer calls in two minutes or less.
This is pretty good compared to some hosting companies, especially when you’re dealing with larger issues concerning VPS and dedicated servers.
Reviews
We looked over online reviews to find honest opinions about iPage. We found that customers were happy with their features and ease of use.
One happy customer writes: “I have been an iPage customer for 8 years, I picked them because of their extensive list of products and their availability of help! I have not been disappointed!”
Another reviewer loves the confidence iPage brings: “I love the simplicity of iPage. They take all the fear away when creating your own site. Even for a beginner it was easy to set up and the tech support helped me get it done.”
Not all reviews were positive. We found that users here were upset with refund and renew policies.
One frustrated reviewer writes: “IPage refused to honor their own written User Agreement and cancellation policy, which essentially guarantees a pro-rata refund of the unused portion of my contract. They refused to budge, and I had to file a dispute through my bank to get a refund.”
Another customer expresses frustrations at the loss of introductory rates: “they autorenew at 750% higher rate at whatever annual/multi year plan you were at. I cancelled and a month later still haven’t been refunded any of what they charged.”
Pros
1) Excellent Service: iPage offers 24/7 phone support, live chat, and support ticket system. They also have an extensive knowledge base and user guides to help you get started. There’s also an option to upgrade to premium support for a fee.
2) Attractive Templates: iPage offers hundreds of mobile-friendly templates, which are included in your membership. They look attractive and follow good design principles. You can preview a few of them on their website.
3) Inexpensive Introductory Price: iPage’s introductory price for their single plan is one of the lowest in the industry, at $1.99 per month. It’ll renew at the regular rate of $11.95 per month, but considering their robust plan, that’s still a reasonable rate.
4) 1 GB Free Cloud Space: With your membership, iPage offers 1 GB of free cloud space through JustCloud. You can store your documents, music, videos, and photos and access them from any device, anywhere.
5) North American Support: iPage only has call centers in North America, which means they don’t outsource their support to other countries.
Cons
1) Barebones Website: Perhaps owing to the fact that they only offer a single plan for shared hosting, iPage’s website doesn’t offer much information except for the standard list of features. It’s also not very user-friendly and difficult to navigate.
2) Dubious Extras: iPage offers a host of supposed incentives, but they’re standard features of any mid-tier shared hosting plan for other companies anyway. For example, they value their security suite that includes daily malware and spam scans at $100, but this is a fairly standard feature. They also value their support at $50, which is groundless and confusing since support is expected with any website hosting plan.
3) SiteDelux: Although iPage currently offers SiteDelux that optimizes websites for mobile devices, they’re discouraging people from using it.
Summary
iPage has a single plan for their shared hosting, which makes things simple.
They have a low introductory price but it still includes most standard features like unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, and a website builder. It also offers a free 1 GB to cloud space, which is a nice add-on.
Overall not a bad choice, but probably not the best, either.