HostWinds Advanced (Shared Hosting) Review

HostWinds offers three different shared web hosting plans. These plans are ideal for small websites and individual blogs. They are budget-friendly, but because server resources are shared, they do have limits. This HostWinds Advanced review looks at the mid-level shared hosting plan and will discuss the pros and cons of using HostWinds. Here is what you will get with the Advanced plan and some reasons why it might be right (or wrong) for you.

HostWinds Review – Should you use HostWinds?

Pros

  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Unlimited disk space
  • High uptime
  • You can create up to four websites on one account.

Cons

  • Servers slow down if other sites experience large amounts of traffic.
  • At times, servers can be extremely slow.
  • The cost difference between the Advanced plan and the Ultimate plan is so small that there are very few reasons to buy the Advanced option.
  • Higher price that other shared hosts, but you do get more.

HostWinds Advanced Review & Analysis

HostWinds may not be one of the more well-known hosting options, but that does not mean you should not consider them. Their reported up-time of 99.99% is among the best. Their customer support is also known for being very responsive and helpful. However, the plan does fall victim to the many shortcomings of shared web hosting. While the Advanced plan does offer a lot for the price, the downside is that it is not much cheaper than the Ultimate plan or HostWind’s shared business plans. The question is not so much “why pay for the Advanced option?” than it is “why not pay a little more for a better plan?”

Who This Hosting Plan is For

  • Individuals and small businesses.
  • Websites that need more than the Basic plan offers.
  • Anyone with a limited web hosting budget.
  • Anyone looking for more than what many other shared hosting companies offer.

Who This Hosting Plan is Not For

  • Large corporations and websites.
  • Individuals and small businesses who have very limited budgets.
  • Websites that may need dedicated resources or draw heavily on a server’s resources.
  • Websites that may quickly grow or need more than the Advanced plan offers.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that HostWinds offers a lot in their Advanced shared hosting plan. The unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space make it worth the price by themselves. It is important to note that the base price of the plan is higher than many other shared plans like the Dreamhost shared unlimited plan. There is also the fact that for a few dollars more a month, you can get the Ultimate plan and everything it offers. If you decide to go with HostWinds instead of another option, you may want to consider if the small savings from the Advanced plan is worth it.

HostWinds Advanced Shared Hosting Features

  • Solid State Drives
  • Softaculous Auto Install
  • Instant Setup
  • Free Website Transfers
  • Latest cPanel
  • Unlimited Subdomains
  • Unlimited Email Accounts
  • Unlimited Databases
  • Free Dedicated IP
  • Free SSL Certificate
  • Free Domain
  • Weebly Site Builder

Other Hosting Features

  • 500% Faster Speeds
  • Higher Traffic Volume
  • Fewer Sites Per Server
  • Increased Resources
  • Nightly Backups
  • Website Monitoring
  • Full Management
  • Stress-Free Website Transfers

HostWinds Advanced Shared Hosting Prices

Hosting Plans
  • Bandwidth
    Bandwidth
  • Disk Space
    Disk Space
  • Domains
    Domains
Basic
$3.29 / month
  • Bandwidth
    Unlimited
  • Disk Space
    Unlimited
  • Domains
    1
Advanced
$4.23 / month
  • Bandwidth
    Unlimited
  • Disk Space
    Unlimited
  • Domains
    4
Ultimate
$5.17 / month
  • Bandwidth
    Unlimited
  • Disk Space
    Unlimited
  • Domains
    Unlimited

What HostWinds’ Shared Web Hosting Offers

In addition to everything we have discussed above, HostWinds offers several features for all of their hosting accounts. All of their data is saved on solid state drives, allowing you to take advantage of the higher speeds these drives provide. They offer free site transfers from other shared hosting servers. Unlimited email and databases are also another perk you will enjoy. Finally, if you are not comfortable creating a website from scratch, you can use their built-in site builder.

Comparing the Three Shared Hosting Options

This review has focused on the Advanced plan, but there are two other options. The HostWinds Basic plan is similar to the Advanced option in that it also offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth. With the Basic plan, the biggest restriction is that you can only have one website. If you upgrade to the Ultimate plan, you can have unlimited websites on the same account. The normal price difference between the Basic and the Ultimate plants is about four dollars. Overall, it is a small extra cost that may be well worth it.

Upgrading to the business plan may be another option to consider. The business plans are hosted on what HostWinds calls their Litespeed servers. These servers are reportedly up to 500% faster than the regular shared hosting servers. The Basic business plan is priced a little higher than the Ultimate sharing plan, so it is more money.

Why Shared Hosting May not be the Right Option?

Shared hosting may be perfect for small websites, but it does have its drawbacks. As mentioned earlier, all of the server’s resources are shared. This means if one site draws a large amount of traffic, there are less resources for other sites. This can result in slower loading speeds that can greatly impact how usable your website is.

If your website is the one drawing all of this traffic, it’s possible the server will temporarily shut down your site. This can result in lost business if you have an eCommerce site. Note that HostWinds is not the only shared host to do this. Other platforms such as Bluehost basic shared hosting will also throttle or disable websites that use large amounts of bandwidth.

Upgrading Your Hosting Plan

If you sign up for the Advanced plan and later decide it is not the best website hosting option for you, you can upgrade at any time. You are not limited to upgrading to the Ultimate package, either. HostWinds lets you upgrade to a business plan or even change to VPS hosting or a dedicated server. You have the flexibility to move your website between the different HostWinds options as needed. You can even move down to a lower plan if you determine that you are not using everything the current tier offers.

Is HostWinds the Best Website Hosting Service?

Few shared plans offer unlimited web hosting like HostWinds does. While there are some, such as A2Hosting lite shared hosting, you’ll find most low-level, cheap plans do have limits. If you are going to be creating a large website or will have a lot of high-resolution images and videos, this can be an important thing to keep in mind. It may make HostWinds the best option for you. If, on the other hand, your website will not need that much space, you might consider another hosting option. You can save a good amount of money and not lose anything.

Review HostWinds Advanced (Shared Hosting) Review.

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