A2 Hosting vs Nexcess – A Complete Comparison Review

Two well-known names in the hosting industry, A2 Hosting and Nexcess are rated highly for their reliability, security, and service. However, both options have unique features that make them more suited to certain types of sites.

If you’re looking to create a site, and are struggling to decide between the two, then keep reading below.

I’ve pitted A2 Hosting vs Nexcess in a head-to-head comparison to hopefully make the decision process simpler.

Let’s get into it.

A2 Hosting vs Nexcess - A Side by Side Comparison

These are the factors we’ll be comparing:

• Uptime and performance

• Ease of use

• Migration services

• Products and features

• Security

• Pricing

• Customer support

Now, let’s take an in-depth look at each one. 

Uptime and Performance

Uptime and performance are two important factors that an ideal web host must excel in to avoid any glaring issues.

Higher uptime scores mean that your website will hardly experience any downtime. With this, your visitors will be able to access your site at any given time. 

It will also improve your SEO, giving you a better chance of ranking on the first page of Google.

Thankfully, both A2 Hosting and Nexcess offer an impressive uptime score with A2 Hosting’s at 100% (August 2023), and Nexcess’ near-perfect score of 99.97% (August 2023).

Performance, on the other hand, pertains to how fast these hosts are to load your website. 

The good news is that both of these two web host providers are well appreciated by users around the world for their lightning-quick loading speeds. A2 Hosting even offers speed boosters, taking it up to the top 10 fastest web hosts.

On the other hand, Nexcess offers image compression on its basic plan, along with bot detection to prioritize actual users when it comes to resource allocation. This will immensely improve your site's loading speed.

What’s more, both hosts offer FREE CDN. This will optimize loading speeds for users across the world. The data will be routed through the nearest available data center, making it faster to load. 

Ease of Use

Another important thing to consider is site design and management features. 

A2 Hosting has its own site builder that is easy to use but isn’t so flexible. Nexcess uses Quebly, a site builder that comes with a collection of different themes that’ll allow you to create an eye-catching site in no time.

And if you’re looking to create your own custom design, you’ll find that Nexcess also offers stencils that you can utilize. 

This feature may appeal to most artists and web developers looking to show off their talents. Sure, it may not be needed by some, but if it is available for free, why not take advantage of it?

As for control panels, A2 Hosting uses the traditional cPanel, while Nexcess uses Client Portal. Both panels are an easy one-stop-shop from which you can manage emails, security, and download software.

And speaking of software, both hosts offer one-click installs and hundreds of plug-ins to choose from.

Migration Services

Next up, let’s touch a bit on migration services.

Both A2 Hosting and Nexcess give you access to FREE migration services that will make the whole process stress-free. 

One thing you should note, however, is that Nexcess only supports WordPress sites compared to A2 Hosting which supports different CMSs. So, if you need to migrate any non-WordPress site, Nexcess might not be for you (unless you’re okay to pay for it separately).

Products and Features

Now, let’s move on to the most exciting (and confusing) part: products and features. 

To be fair, both A2 Hosting and Nexcess have their own advantages and drawbacks in terms of products and features. And, this is highly dependent on what your site’s needs are and what you’re looking for as the website owner.

For instance, A2 Hosting’s 100GB of storage space is more than enough to support data-rich content such as videos and images to enrich your users’ experience. 

Nexcess only offers 15GB of space on its basic plan, which might be a bit restricting for you if you want to upload a lot of multimedia content. 

Meanwhile, Nexcess’ unlimited email accounts will be beneficial for marketing purposes and if you need to create separate email accounts for inquiries, admin, marketing, etc. for a more personalized connection with your clients and site users. 

What’s more, both A2 Hosting and Nexcess offer several plans to choose from in each of their available hosting solutions. To compare, Nexcess offers a better selection of powerful packages to support sites with heavy resource needs.

Security

Security features are an extremely important factor that you should not forget about when choosing a web host. 

The good news is that this is something that both A2 Hosting and Nexcess know about. So whichever you choose, you’re guaranteed a secure site. To sum up, both hosts provides: 

• SSL certification that encrypts your users’ sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, to make it inaccessible to any hacker
• DDoS protection that puts up a firewall between your site and hackers who will try to take down your site by flooding it with bots
• Secure server centers with 24/7 monitoring, along with backup power in case of an outage

Nexcess also offers another layer of protection through round-the-clock site scanning that detects and contains any malware that may have infected your site.

When it comes to backups, A2 Hosting offers them weekly, while Nexcess does it daily. These backups ensure that your site’s latest version is available if you ever experience any data loss.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, A2 Hosting offers cheaper Shared and WordPress options starting from $2.99 to $12.99 and $11.99 to $41.99 a month, respectively. 

A2 Hosting also offers VPS solutions at $39.99 to $59.99, along with Reseller hosting that is priced between $18.99 to $32.99 a month. You can get Dedicated Servers, too, starting at $179.99/mo

Dedicated Server solutions are offered by both Nexcess ($400 to $850 a month) and A2 Hosting ($99.99 to $599.99 a month) if you want complete control to optimize a dedicated server for your unique requirements, including performance and security. 

Since Nexcess doesn’t have a Shared Hosting package, it is expected that their basic plan (which is Managed WordPress) starts a lot higher, at $13.30 to $699.30 a month. 

Nexcess also provides Managed Magento ($34.30 to $594.30 a month) and Managed WooCommerce ($13.30 to $699.30 a month). These are both great options if you’re looking to run an online store.

Customer Support

Both A2 Hosting and Nexcess offer great customer service available 24/7/365 through phone and live chat to answer any queries you may have.

However, when it comes to response times, Nexcess boasts impressive speeds, which means you usually get a response within 10 minutes.

While A2 Hosting offers great customer service as well, Nexcess edges them out thanks to its speedy response times.

Both hosts do, however, offer knowledge hubs filled with informative articles and guides that help solve routine problems without having to rely on customer support.

Conclusion

Winner Board:

All in all, both hosts are excellent choices. 

Nexcess offers great customer support and ease of use. This is a big PLUS, especially for newbies. What’s more, it’s perfect if you want to run an online store, thanks to their Managed Magneto and WooCommerce Hosting options. 

You’ll also get more flexibility when it comes to site design. You get to create your dream site. 

On the other hand, A2 Hosting offers a multitude of lower-priced packages that may be more appealing to bloggers and smaller sites on a budget. 

So in the end, the best choice rests on how large your site is and the features you value.