Hostinger Review | The Best Affordable WordPress Hosting?

Hostinger is a rising star in the WordPress hosting community. Especially in the last few years, Hostinger has become the most loved shared hosting for beginner bloggers, and even experienced ones.

But, what’s so great about this Lithuania-based web host that so many people are flocking to test it?

This is the ultimate Hostinger review. I’ve tried to cover each and every Hostinger feature. From beginning till end.

What that, let’s begin:

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About Hostinger

Hostinger was founded in 2004 by a group of young entrepreneurs. Back then the company was called Hosting Media.

After staying in the web hosting space for a couple of years, they launched their groundbreaking free web hosting service 000webhost.com in 2007. 

It was not until 2011 that the company was renamed Hostinger and their custom-designed control panel hPanel was launched.

After the renaming, Hostinger grew rapidly, and in 2019 the company touched 2x growth and 400+ people worldwide. 

Events in 2020 and cheap hosting prices allowed Hostinger to grow even further and it quickly became the fastest-growing web hosting company. 

As of today, the company is going strong and is growing better than ever.

📊 Hostinger Notable Features Infograph

This infograph is for you if you don’t want to read this long post:

There are many features, but these 13 are the most notable Hostinger features!

🎛️ Hostinger Dashboard Overview 

This is what you’ll see when you migrate/create your website on Hostinger. It doesn’t matter whether you have bought the single shared hosting plan,  cloud hosting plan, or VPS hosting plan, you’ll get hPanel. 

Which is a relief for users who have more than one hosting plan. 

On the top right corner, you’ll get an option for Account Control. You can view your Account Information, Security settings, Account Activity, Migrate Website, Logout, and more. 

That’s pretty much it for the Account Settings.

On the left side, as you can already see, you’ll get all the options to control your Website, Hosting Plan, Domain, etc. you name it. 

I’ll describe these features in detail soon. 

🕵️‍♂️ Hostinger Your Plan Details

The ‘see details’ of your active hosting plan shows every little information about your plan. 

In this section you’ll be able to access two different versions of your website (with and without www.), your site’s IP address, Disk Space, RAM, Nameservers, Server Details, FTP details and more. 

In fact, you can also upgrade you hosting plan from here, and switch to Cloud hosting or even VPS hosting. 

A nifty feature you can say! 

⚒️ Hostinger Website Builder

Hostinger is among the very few web hosting companies to have an inbuilt website builder.

Hostinger website builder is powered with AI which can create a demo website within seconds. Of course, you can make changes to the website and design it as you like.

🏃‍♂️ Hostinger Migration

Migrating your WordPress website to Hostinger is extremely easy. You get two options: You can either upload an archive of your site or just let Hostinger Customer Support handle everything. 

The better option would be to let Customer Service handle the tech stuff!

I’ve briefly explained the website migration process:

Step 1:  Choose ‘Transfer Website’ Option

Choose the ‘Transfer Website’ option to let Hostinger Customer Support migrate your site to their servers. 

Step 2: Fill In WordPress Admin Login Details

On the next page, you’ll be asked to fill in your WordPress admin login URL, Username/email, and Account Password. 

Remember to change your password before filling in the form. DO NOT reveal you secret password to anyone. 

Step 3: Migration Complete

Finally you’ll get an update in your Dashboard about the successful migration. It may take some time, so be patient and wait. You’ll know when it’s done. 

The Hostinger team let’s you know through email about your site migration success.

Sometimes you may experience migration delays, but it’s okay. Hostinger customer support won’t take more than 24 hours.

Don’t try to make any changes to your site while the migration process is ongoing!
After the migration process is complete you’ll have to edit your DNS records and change your Nameservers.

🧪 How To Create A Staging Website On Hostinger?

Staging you WordPress site is just a 1-click process!

Website Staging option is only available from ‘Business’ plan.

Here’s how you can create a Staging site on Hostinger:

Step 1: Click ‘Create Staging’ Option

Reach the Dashboard tab and click Create Staging. 

Step 2: Create Subdomain

Name the subdomain that will be attached to your main site. In my case, I’ll just stick to “mystagingsite.” You can name it anything you want. 

Step 3: Staging Site Created

Once you’ve created a subdomain and click Create, the servers go into work and create a Staging version of your WordPress site. 

Now you can test anything with the new Staging site. And after you’ve done experimenting, you can either merge it with you main website, or simply delete it. 

It’s that simple! 

1. Go the Dashboard tab and find ‘Staging’ option. 
2. Click “Create Staging”
3. Create a Subdomain you like
4. Wait for the servers to create a Staging Environment. 
5. Your website’s Staging Version is created

Website Staging is only available in the Business shared hosting, Cloud hosting, andVPS Hosting.

As of now the Single Shared Hosting and Premium Shared Hosting plan do not get Staging option. 

💾 Hostinger Backups

Hostinger has went a step ahead and included multiple backup options for its hosting plan. 

The best part about Hostinger’s control panel is that everything is right in front of you. As you can see in the image:

You can Either ‘Restore Website’, create manual backups of your website, or even download ‘Database’ from backups. 

Here is one thing I didn’t like about site backups. Daily backups are only available for 7 days. Which is far lower than the industry average of 30 days. 

But your website is also backed up weekly, and the data is available for 7 weeks. Which is great! 

The ‘Daily Backup’ option is available from the ‘Business’ shared hosting plan. 

This backup policy is the same for Cloud hosting plan and also their VPS hosting plan. 

The Single shared hosting and Premium shared hosting receive weekly backups. 

🔋 Hostinger Resources Usage

The ‘Resources Usage’ is my favorite feature. Here you can see everything about your plan’s allotted server resources. 

I have the Business shared hosting plan and the server resources I get are exactly the same as promised. 

The ‘Resources Usage‘ section is beneficial especially when you’re experiencing site slowdown or crashes. 

This feature also comes in handy to detect malware and brute-force attacks on your website. 

For example, the RAM and CPU usage will shoot abnormally high when your site is either infected with malware or experiencing a DDOS attack. 

You can also boost your hosting resources for 24 hours for free if you think you’re going to experience an upsurge in traffic. You won’t be charged for the extra usage, which is nice!

👨‍💻 Hostinger Performance Monitoring

Is you’re obsessed with website speed tests then this feature is for you. 

In the ‘Performance’ section of the control panel you’ll find an option for ‘Page Speed.’ This feature is pretty similar to Google PageSpeed Insights where your website gets a score depending upon its overall performance. 

You get mobile and Desktop as device options, which is similar to Google PageSpeed Insights. 

🏋️‍♂️ Hostinger Load Test

I’m pretty serious about different testing parameters! And one of them is Load Testing.  

If a web host cannot pass the load test, then there’s no reason to host with them. 

These are the features of the target site:

• Bravada Theme
• No Plugin
• CDN Off
• No Optimization

I’ve used the Bravada theme because it’s media-heavy and has various animations. This theme really puts stress on servers. 

I’ve used k6 to load test the target site.

I ran the test for 5 minutes with 50 Virtual Users. I chose Ashburn as the testing location. 

This is what I got:

I’ve tested several hosting services on k6 and all of them have performed pretty well. Especially WPX Hosting and Rocket.net. 

But, I was pleasantly surprised by Hostinger’s Load handling capability. Especially when you compare the pricing with WPX Hosting and Rocket.net.

⚡ Hostinger Server Response Time 

Next I ran a Server Response Time test on the target website and found this:

Considering the target website is hosted in the US, other countries around the Globe also performed well. I don’t know how Singapore and Mumbai had such a great SRT when the data center was located in the US! 

Only Sydney and Japan had SRT above 50ms, which is still better than most hosting providers. 

🚄 Hostinger Speed Test

I love Speed Testing a website. It’s the first thing I do whenever I migrate or make a new one. 

I tested the target site on Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and Pingdom. I chose so many speed testing platforms to get the most accurate result.

I ran a Google PageSpeed Insights test the see how the site performed according to Google. 

GTmetrix is the go-to platform for testing a site’s speed and performance.

The site notched a TTFB(Time To First load) of 260ms, which is great for shared hosting! Given that the site had a heavy theme, the entire website fully loaded within 1 second.

Finally, I tested the site on Pingdom and chose New York location.

The experiment website performed great!

The site was hosted in a data center close to New York. Hence, I ran the test again but this time I shifted the testing location to Sydney, which is farthest from the US. 

And this is what I got:

Now, as you can see the site took a little longer to load. Yet, considering no CDN and no cache plugin installed, the WordPress website performed pretty well. 

⏳Hostinger Uptime

Though it’s been only a few hours since I started testing Hostinger’s Uptime, the result till now is fantastic. I’ll keep updating this section with the latest images every few days/weeks.

Up until now, the Hostinger website is notching in 200ms SRT(Server Response Time), which is really incredible given the website is hosted on a shared server.

🌎 Hostinger Data Center Locations

It’s necessary for a WordPress hosting service to have multiple data centers all over the Globe. Hostinger does a great job at that. 

Total 9 Data center locations. All are present in important locations around the Globe.

No matter the hosting plans you buy, you’ll be able to choose your preferred data center. 

Hostinger has 9 data centers in total, so you get a plethora of options to choose from. 

You can also change your data center once every 30 days. This is a unique feature that I’ve never seen before!

🌩️ Hostinger CDN

Like most WordPress hosting providers, Hostinger too has its own CDN. Switching ON CDN will make your website fast. 

 And since the hosting plans don’t have a limit on Bandwidth usage, it’s better to keep it running. 

The CDN is only available from Business Shared Hosting. Other Hostinger shared plans like Single WordPress and Premium Plan don’t get the CDN option. 

Quick Tip: I’ve observed that the “Smart Image Optimisation” feature makes image loading slow on certain devices. Mostly old phones.

Also, Minify CSS files and Minify JavaScript files cause issues with page load. The best I could say is to experience it yourself one step at a time. I’ll recommend you keep the WebP image compression switched ON. Google prefers the WebP format nowadays.

♾️ Hostinger Unlimited Bandwidth

Unsurprisingly, all Hostinger web hosting plans have “Unlimited Bandwidth.” Unlimited Bandwidth gives you the freedom to make your site better. 

You can upload more images and write longer posts/pages. 

There is a fair usage policy, but still, Hostinger’s bandwidth usage limit is enough for most website owners.  

🚦 Hostinger Cache Manager

If you migrate your site, then the Hostinger team will install the LiteSpeed Cache plugin. Yet, you’ll get an option to “Flush Cache”. Flushing the cache clears all temporary cache data at once. So, I’ll recommend you use it only when it’s necessary.

🔐 Hostinger Security

Hostinger hasn’t pulled any punches in security! Your website and hosting account get the best overall security measure. 

Here are some security features you get with Hostinger:

2FA:

As soon as you make an account, you’ll be asked to switch ON Two-Factor Authentication for extended security. You can either use an authenticator app or just use your email for 2FA. 

One little detail that I observed is that previously Hostinger suggested AUTHY and LastPass as authenticator apps, but now they have switched to NordPass. 

Maybe because of the series of LastPass hacks. 

Previously Hostinger provided AUTHY and LastPass, but they have changed to NordPass after the recent hacks. You can also activate 2FA through the email authentication method.

Malware Scanner:

Your WordPress website is constantly monitored for malware. Malware usually enters your site through an infected theme or plugin. 

Hence, you get an option to either update or remove a plugin directly from the hosting dashboard. 

Account Activity:

You can monitor your Login History and Account Activity and report it to Customer Support if you find anything suspicious.

“2FA,” and “Male Scanner” are good features to stop hacking attempts. But, how can you find out if your account was accessed?

You’ll regularly get details about who logged in to your Hostinger account. If you find anything suspicious, you can either take action, or connect with the live chat option.

File Folder Protection:

The “wp-includes” folder is always a target for hackers. This folder has enough information for a hacker.

Fortunately, Hostinger WordPress sites are safe. Nobody can access your website’s “wp-includes” file folder.

🛡️Hostinger SSL

All Hostinger hosting plans get free Let’s Encrypt SSL free forever. Google has made it mandatory for all websites to have SSL.

Installing SSL is just a 1-click process though, so you don’t have to overthink it!

💰 Hostinger Plan

Hostinger offers three different hosting plans. The bare minimum single shared hosting is the cheapest which is not recommended for WordPress sites(because of high RAM and CPU usage). 

The Premium shared hosting plan is good, but you don’t get the CDN option. Your site will run slower without a CDN. 

If Cloud hosting is out of your budget then Business shared hosting will be your best choice. You get a free custom-built CDN and also double the storage from the Premium shared plan. 

But, if you really want to see how fast Hostinger’s servers are, then you must go with Cloud hosting. Your website on Cloud hosting gets dedicated IP, which is a great benefit if you have a business. And a dedicated IP also saves you from IP Blacklisting.

Hostinger also has VPS hosting, but Cloud hosting is better and more geared toward powerful websites. 

With the Cloud option, you get the real feeling of a managed WordPress website, which is somewhat missing in shared hosting plans. 

Unfortunately, Hostinger does not have Dedicated hosting! So, if you want to host your website on a dedicated server, then A2 Hosting will be a great alternative.

🌐 Hostinger Free Domain

You get a free domain for the first year if you buy any hosting plan above Premium. Free domain feature is pretty much available with every web hosting service, and Hostinger is one of them. 

Also, it’s not compulsory to register a free domain name if you already have one. You can easily manage your domain without any hassle.

You can edit DNS records and Nameservers. But you only get advanced control over your Domain if you buy it from Hostinger.

📧 Hostinger Free Business Email

All Hostinger plan, including the Single shared hosting plan get a free business email option. Free email is a great option if you don’t want the hassle to buy a premium business email. 

Also, having a business email instills a trust among your visitors and other website owners.

💳 Hostinger Payment Method

Hostinger accepts all types of payment methods. Whether you want to pay with Credit Card, UPI(India only), PayPal, or Cryptocurrency. 

The UPI, PayTM is only available for people residing in India!

One thing to remember is that you won’t get any refund if you’re paying with Cryptocurrency because Cryptocurrency is untraceable. 

👩‍💻 Hostinger Customer Support

In this Hostinger review, I’ve mentioned almost everything till now, and most of them are good and shiny! 

You can connect with a customer support agent through the live chat option. But, even with live chat, customer support appears a bit late.

This surprised me a bit! Almost every Hostinger customer support takes at least 10 minutes to answer a query!

I may be experiencing slow response because my plan(Business) does not have “Priority Support.” 

I’ve repeatedly experienced a long wait! But, on the flip side, they are patient and humble. They’ll do everything to solve your issue, even if it takes a long time.

Keeping aside slow response, the customer support is top-notch and will try everything to solve an issue. Also other than the simple live chat option, you also have the option to connect with them using email. 

📢 Hostinger Public Reviews 

It’s not just me who loves Hostinger. Trustpilot has more than 17K reviews about Hostinger and most of them are positive.

So, you can trust this web host and migrate as soon as possible.

📁 Hostinger File Manager

Hostinger hPanel has the option to access your website files through the file manager. 

You can either access files of a particular website or all files of your present hosting plan. 

Downloading and uploading files from a site’s file manager is incredibly easy, and you won’t have to use FTP.

🧮 Hostinger Advanced Settings

If you want to go deeper into website management, then Hostinger hpanel has the “Advanced” option. 

As you can see, in the Advanced section you can edit DNS, manage Cache, activate Hotlinking protection, and more. You won’t need these features most of the time, and it’s better not to change anything!

🤑Hostinger Affiliate

Once you have made an account with Hostinger, you get a chance to register as an affiliate and earn money. 

You’ll get features like “coupon code,” only after you make at least 5 affiliate sales every month. 

Is Hostinger Affiliate worth it?
Yes, Hostinger Affiliate is worth it if you have many sales every month. They don’t reveal the exact amount paid per sale though! 

How much discount can you get with a Hostinger coupon?
You can get at least a 5% discount with a Hostinger coupon. But, the discount rate always changes. 

💸 Hostinger Money-Back Guarantee

Hostinger has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, if you didn’t like the service, you can get a refund no questions asked. 

But refunds won’t work with Cryptocurrency payments. So, avoid making a payment with Cryptocurrency if you’re not sure about Hostinger’s service!

❌ Hostinger Delete Site

If you have messed up something with your site and just want to get rid of everything, there’s a “Delete Website” option for that. 

It will take only a few minutes to delete your websites. But, be reminded that all your website data will be unrecoverable once it’s gone. 

👍 Hostinger Pros

Data Centers All Around The Globe
LiteSpeed Web Server
Superfast Server Response Time
Humble Customer Support
Great Admin Control Panel
High Security
Free Domain
Free Unlimited Email
Unlimited Bandwidth

👎 Hostinger Cons

No Priority Support For Shared Hosting Plans
Customer Support Slow At
Automatic Backups Are Available Only For 7 days
No CDN For Cheap Plans
No Staging For Cheap Plans
Starter Shared Plans are slow

🆓 Can You Host A Free Website On Hostinger? (000webhost)

No, Hostinger does not have any “Free Website” option. 

But, if you’re just starting a blog and don’t yet want to spend money, you can try 000webhost. 

000webhost is a web hosting provider managed by Hostinger. They offer free and dirt-cheap hosting. 

000webhost free plan has enough features for a starter WordPress website.

A 3GB Bandwidth and 300MB Disk Space is more than enough for a beginner WordPress site.

🤷‍♂️ Is Single Web Hosting Good For WordPress?

The cheapest web hosting plan is just $1.99/month (₹69/month) when you buy it for 48 months. The single web hosting plan can only host a single WordPress site.

Unlike conventional websites made with HTML, WordPress is heavy. Hence, the resources you get won’t be enough!

If you install WordPress in the single shared hosting plan, your website will be visibaly slow!

This is because the single web hosting plan has no CDN and also slow servers.

🤔 Should You Buy From Hostinger.com Or Hostinger.in? (.in cause prices are low)

This is a common question for those who are from India. Whether to buy from Hostinger US or Hostinger India? 

The best option is to buy from Hostinger India at INR value. 

Quick Tip for guys from India: You can no longer save money(by not paying GST) by opting for the USD plans. Rather the USD plan is more expensive than the INR plan.

And don’t worry if you think that Hostinger India won’t have the same data center and service as Hostinger US. Whether you buy from Hostinger.com or Hostinger.in, you’ll get the same features and power.

Only the currency is different. 

🧐 Final Verdict | Should You Choose Hostinger?

In this Hostinger review, I’ve tried to share every minute detail. While I’ll keep updating the Uptime data, the Speed, Server Response Time, and Load Handling capacity. For now Hostinger’s performance is outstanding. 

I’m using one of my sites on Hostinger’s servers and the speed I’m getting is way better than any other shared hosting I’ve used in the past. 

Honestly, if there’s one web hosting for WordPress that is actually balanced, then it’s Hostinger. I’m using their ‘Business’ plan, which is a little underpowered, yet the performance I’m getting is great. 

You can compare the Business Shared hosting plan with an expensive managed WordPress host.

Again, if you’re new to Blogging and want to have a good start, then just go with Hostinger! You seriously won’t regret it!

😎 Best Hostinger Alternatives

Hostinger is one of the most affordable shared hosting at the moment. There is arguably no shared hosting that is a better competitor. 

Bluehost, A2 Hosting, Inmotion Hosting, and Cloudways are the best Hostinger alternatives. But, Cloudways and A2 Hosting are the only two worthy enough to be compared with Hostinger. 

Sure, you can check out my Rocket.net review and Wpx Hosting review and find out whether Hostinger is a good decision!

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