A2 Hosting vs IONOS – Which Web Host is Better?

A2 Hosting and IONOS are 2 popular web hosts known for their reliable service and multiple package options that appeal to different users and sites.

Both hosts offer many similar features that can make comparing the two slightly complex, especially if you’re new to web hosting.

If you’re looking for an easy way to decide between the two, then keep reading below as I’ve pitted A2 Hosting vs IONOS, pointing out the differences between the two to hopefully help you make a final decision.

Let’s get started!

A2 Hosting vs IONOS - A Side by Side Comparison

Today, we’ll look at 7 factors. These are:

• Uptime and performance

• Ease of use

• Migration services

• Products and features

• Security

• Pricing

• Customer Support

Let’s look at each one. 

Uptime and Performance

Both web hosts offer excellent reliability with high uptime scores.

A2 Hosting offers an excellent uptime average of 100% (August 2023), while IONOS comes in at 99.99% (August 2023).

Nevertheless, with both hosts, you’ll likely only experience a few hours of downtime per year.

Both hosts also provide excellent performances, offering a multitude of different features to improve loading speeds.

A2 Hosting has data centers in different locations. This means that no matter where your site visitors are from, the site loads quickly. What’s more, you get FREE CDN that’ll optimize the flow of data, ensuring that users are always connected to the nearest server.

IONOS, on the other hand, performs best in Europe, which is the center of their operations. 

Moreover, a CDN is only provided on their higher-end plans, so your customer may experience slower speeds if you select the most basic package (Essential).

As for storage speed, A2 Hosting offers lightning-fast SSD on all its plans, compared to IONOS which doesn’t provide SSD on its Shared Hosting options. 

Ease of Use

Both web hosts offer site creation and management experience that’ll allow even newbies the chance to create an eye-catching site.

Both hosts come with one-click software installs that’ll allow you to effortlessly add functionality to your site, whether that be eCommerce or a learning management system.

Moreover, you’ll get a site builder with both hosts. This allows you to choose between a collection of different themes, making the design process a lot simpler. 

A2 Hosting also comes with a site staging area. This allows you to create a dummy version of your site to test changes on before taking it live. In turn, this helps prevent any errors from affecting your visitors’ experience. 

Unlike A2 Hosting which comes with the traditional cPanel, IONOS has its own custom control panel that may be a bit confusing to use if you’re migrating from another platform.

However, both control panels operate similarly, hosting all your important site functions in one easy place.

Migration Services

A2 Hosting offers a single FREE site transfer service on its basic Shared Hosting plan. Their team will do it all for you. 

With IONOS, you won’t get a free migration service. Instead, they offer guides to help you do it yourself.

If you decide to pay for IONOS’s migration service, the price they charge will depend on the sites’ content and data that needs to be transferred.

Products and Features

Both hosts offer a variety of different features that appeal to different sites and users.

A2 Hosting offers 100GB of storage space on its Startup plan. That is more than enough to support data-rich content such as images and videos. 

IONOS, on the other hand, offers only 10GB of storage space on its Essential plan, which can be a bit restricting. However, it does offer unlimited storage on its Business plan that you can get at a deal price of $0.50/month.

All A2 Hosting and IONOS plans come with unlimited bandwidth, which means you won’t have to worry about exceeding any limits with both of these hosts.

You’ll also get email support that’ll allow you to keep in touch with your clients and/or visitors.

What’s more, you get a free domain name that’ll save you $10-$15 for the first year of usage.

When it comes to refunds, both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. With this, you’ll have time to experience each of their services. 

Security

Both hosts take safety seriously, with a number of different features to protect your site and users.

Both hosts come with SSL certification that encrypts your users’ sensitive information, making it virtually inaccessible to hackers.

DDoS protection is also provided. This puts up a firewall between your site and bots used to take down your site.

There are even backups that ensure that the latest version of your site is available if you ever experience data loss. A2 Hosting does weekly backups, while IONOS does it daily.

They have backup power, too. This will keep your site online if ever a power outage occurs. 

As a plus, IONOS has a site scan, which constantly scans your site to detect and contain any viruses before they can do any damage.

Pricing

IONOS offers a $0.50/month deal with its Business plan. This is a higher-end plan that will provide unlimited websites and storage. However, after 12 months, the price comes up to $10/mo.

If you choose their basic Essential plan, it starts at $4/mo but only goes up to $6 after 12 months. 

A2 Hosting’s Shared plans range from $2.99 (Startup) to $12.99 (Turbo Max). 

IONOS has cheaper VPS packages ranging from $2 to $18 compared to A2 Hosting’s $39.99 to $59.99. 

Dedicated solutions by A2 Hosting range from $179.99 to $249.99. IONOS’ Dedicated solution starts at $45 to $140.

Customer Support

Both hosts offer customer support available 24/7 through phone and live chat to answer your queries no matter the time of day.

What’s great about IONOS is that they give their customers their own specific service rep. This allows for better support through a greater understanding of the users’ technicality.

As for response times, we’ll admit, both arent’ the fastest. It’s not bad, but it’s not the best either. 

If you don’t want to wait on customer service, though, both hosts have knowledge hubs filled with a wide range of different guides and articles to help you solve routine problems.

Conclusion

Winner Board:

All in all, both providers offer great reliability and security, which are all the basics you’ll need. 

However, each host has different features that are best suited to certain users.

A2 Hosting offers great speed and greater customer support. 

IONOS, on the other hand, offers a great $0.50 deal, along with an array of features that may be appealing to smaller sites that are looking for a great value.

So the choice you choose will depend on the type of site you’re looking to host and the features you value.