If you need a web website hosting carrier for enterprise or personal reasons, check out HostMonster—however be aware of its shortcomings. The internet host offers many shared, devoted, and digital non-public server (VPS) hosting options for building web sites, but has numerous problems (including the dearth of cloud, reseller, and WordPress hosting plans) that maintain it out of the league of DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds, the general PCMag’s Editors’ Choice winners for internet web hosting offerings.

Shared Web Hosting

HostMonster would not offer monthly net website hosting options, which is a strike towards the carrier. Instead, it requires you to join an annual plan. HostMonster throws some financial savings bones your manner, ought to you sign on for a – or 3-yr plan, but those who don’t want lengthy commitments should flip to the excellent HostGator ( at HostGator) , the Editors’ Choice for shared internet website hosting, if they want to pay on a month-to-month foundation.

The Linux-based Basic shared hosting package deal (beginning at $9.49 according to month with a one-yr contract) includes a loose area name you may maintain as long as you use HostMonster, loose domain switch, 50GB of garage, limitless month-to-month facts transfers, five electronic mail debts, and the capacity to host a single website. The HostMonster Plus bundle (starting at $12.49 according to month with a one-year settlement) includes 150GB of storage, the ability to host 50 domains, one hundred electronic mail accounts, and junk mail prevention. The Prime package (starting at $14.99 consistent with month with a one-yr settlement) tops all of HostMonster’s shared web hosting plans with a dedicated IP cope with, an SSL certificates, and unlimited website online hosting and e mail.

Still, HostGator also has limitless garage, e mail, domains, month-to-month records transfers, and Windows-primarily based servers. That’s why it’s PCMag’s top shared website hosting select.

VPS Web Hosting

If you need a web hosting setup it’s more powerful than shared web website hosting, however less high priced than devoted net web hosting, HostMonster has very good Linux-based totally VPS packages starting at $29 according to month. Regardless of the tier you select—there are four in general—you’ll revel in unlimited e mail and a loose domain name.

The $29.Ninety nine in line with month Standard plan consists of 2GB of RAM, 30GB of garage, and 1TB of monthly facts transfers. The $59.Ninety nine per month Enhanced package deal usathe RAM, storage, and month-to-month records transfers to 4GB, 60GB, and 2TB, respectively. Next up the ladder is the $89.99 in line with month Premium plan, which comes with 6GB of RAM, 90GB of garage, and 2TB of month-to-month facts transfers. The pinnacle-tier Ultimate package deal, that’s $119 consistent with month, blesses you with 8GB of RAM, 120GB of storage, and 3TB of monthly facts transfers.

Those are precise plans, however our Editors’ Choice for VPS hosting, Hostwinds, tops them with unlimited month-to-month facts transfers and Windows-based alternatives, beginning at $thirteen.50 according to month.

Dedicated Web Hosting

If you are thinking about HostMonster’s devoted servers (beginning at $109 in step with month), you have got a number of configurations from which to choose. The servers may be geared up with a Linux-based running system and up to one,000GB of difficult force area, 16GB of RAM, and 15TB of records transfers in step with month—kind of the equal specifications as the dedicated website hosting carrier presented via Bluehost (the internet hosts have the same discern organisation).

Those are stable services, however Hostwinds—the PCMag Editors’ Choice for committed internet web hosting—one-united states of americaHostMonster with a choice of Linux and Windows operating structures and limitless monthly facts transfers, beginning at $ninety nine in line with month.

WordPress, Cloud, and Reseller Hosting

Unfortunately, HostMonster lacks optimized WordPress web hosting. The customer service rep who I spoke with (greater on that in a chunk) advised that I take a look at out BlueHost’s services, as that business enterprise is HostMonster’s sister website. I wouldn’t.

Instead, I recommend finding out TMD Hosting (2.95 Per Month – 65% Off at TMDHosting) , the Editors’ Choice for WordPress web hosting. TMD’s pre-constructed WordPress surroundings (beginning at $eight.95 in keeping with month) comes with many WordPress-pleasant functions, along with stay malware safety and curated plug-ins which might be designed to beautify your experience.

HostMonster does not provide cloud website hosting, either. If you are in the hunt for that type of website hosting, please take a look at DreamHost, the PCMag Editors’ Choice in that space.

As you would possibly anticipate, HostMonster additionally would not have any reseller web hosting plans. Hostwinds does, but. It’s our Editors’ Choice for the category, so you need to in reality provide it a look.

Setting Up a HostMonster Hosted Site

HostMonster offers you several gear for building a website, consisting of Weebly, a famous preference among web-based website-developers. Weeby’s drag-and-drop functionality permit me quickly build an attractive page complete with slideshows, contact bureaucracy, social media links, and more.

Weebly’s loose version offers you basic Weebly capability (you could create six pages and add custom HTML), however upgrading to the $8.Ninety five in line with month Professional tier offers even extra flexibility (custom subject matters, password protected pages, and greater). Check out our Weebly review($8.00 at Weebly) for a better have a look at its offerings.

E-advertising and E-trade

HostMonster offers Mojo Marketplace, which has e mail advertising and marketing equipment which include DaDa Mail (starting at $34.95 in step with 12 months), software program that helps you to send electronic mail-based totally newsletters to a subscriber list.

Mojo Marketplace also includes Magento (an e-trade utility), which allow me create an appealing shop in just a few minutes via dragging and losing website factors.

Security Features

HostMonster internet website hosting applications come with a slew of safety features, along with antispam and hotlink protection. That stated, in case you want higher-quit protection, join up for HostMonster’s Business Plus package, which comes with a SSL certificate and kinds of antispam protection.

HostMonster’s e-mail helps DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication technology for added protection.

Solid Uptime

Website uptime is one of the maximum critical factors of a website hosting service. If your site is down, clients or clients will be not able to find you or access your services or products, which is manifestly bad for business. You truely cannot take the hazard that they’ll go to someone else’s enterprise and probably be lost to you all the time as a customer.

For this trying out, I used a website monitoring tool to song my HostMonster-hosted check site’s uptime over a 14-day duration. Every 15 mins, the device pings my internet site and sends me an electronic mail if it’s miles unable to touch the web page for at least one minute. The facts discovered that HostMonster is very stable; it failed to cross down as soon as all through the trying out length.

Customer Service

I hit up HostMonster’s tech guide (via internet chat) on a weekday afternoon to ask a consultant approximately the variations among the enterprise’s numerous services. A rep speedy fielded my question however did not seem to pretty apprehend my question. I’m not positive if that became because of a language barrier or being crushed and skimming the chat.

I later fired up the net chat on a weekday morning to invite a representative about a way to import my WordPress.Com setup into HostMonster. A rep got here to my aid a few seconds later and pasted a very beneficial hyperlink into the chat that contained step-with the aid of-step commands. The man or woman on the opposite side of the laptop additionally counseled calling the 24-hour assist squad if I wanted step-by using-step guidance.

HostMonster web hosting applications include a 30-day cash-returned assure, but Dreamhost (2.59 Per Month at DreamHost) one-usait with an impressive ninety seven-day refund window.

There Are Better Options

HostMonster makes putting in a website or WordPress blog a breeze, however DreamHost, HostGator, and Hostwinds—PCMag’s average Editors’ Choice winners for net hosting offerings—certainly offer more capabilities and flexibility. HostMonster is ideal at what it does but sadly, lacks the optimized WordPress, reseller, and cloud features that would help it compete with the big boys. Furthermore, its lack of month-to-month pricing plans may additionally flip off some users.