Are you looking for the best web hosting for you this 2023?
If you've come across A2 Hosting and SiteGround, then you're probably already aware that both hosts are incredibly popular, known for their reliable service that supports thousands of sites worldwide.
A2 Hosting | SiteGround | |
Owner | Bryan Muthig | Ivo Tzenov |
Basic Plan | Startup | Startup |
Price | $2.99/mo | $3.99/mo |
Free Domain? | Yes | No |
Average Uptime | 100% (August 2023) | 100% (August 2023) |
Average Speed | 288 ms (August 2023) | 352 ms (August 2023) |
One-Click WordPress Installation? | Yes | No |
Free SSL? | Yes | Yes |
Number of Sites | 1 | 1 |
Free Email? | Yes | Yes |
Free Backup? | Yes | Yes |
Moneyback Guarantee | 30-days | 30-days |
Support Channels | 24/7365 crew support through ticket, email, call, chat | 24/7365 crew support through ticket, email, call, chat |
Control Panel | cPanel | Site Tools |
Space | 100GB | 10GB |
Free CDN? | Yes | Yes |
Migration Services | Free | $30 per site |
Overall Rating | 4.4/5 stars in TrustPilot | 4.7/5 stars in TrustPilot |
Get Hosting | ||
Other Plans | WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Reseller Hosting | WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting, Cloud Hosting |
Cell |
As you can see, these hosts do have a fair bit of differences between them. Each excels in certain aspects that appeal to different user needs.
To make things a bit simpler, I’ve put A2 Hosting vs SiteGround in a head-to-head matchup, going over everything you need to know before you pick the one for you.
Let’s get into it.
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround - A Side by Side Comparison
I’ve evaluated each option based on the factors below:
Uptime and performance
Ease of use
Migration services
Products and features
Security
Pricing
Customer Support
Let’s take an in-depth look at each one.
Uptime and Performance
When it comes to reliability, both web hosts have exceptional uptime well above the industry standard.
A2 Hosting supports an average uptime of 100% (August 2023), while SiteGround has a near-perfect score of 100% (August 2023). This means you’ll experience almost zero downtime with both hosts.
This is great as it will provide visitor satisfaction, as well as boost your Google search rank.
But how about their performance?
Remember we are talking about speed here, in which the number of server locations and the type of storage they support are some of the determining factors.
The good thing is that both A2 Hosting and SiteGround have a multitude of different server locations, with A2 Hosting having more in areas such as South America and Asia.
Both also provide FREE CDN. This will route the site's data through the nearest available server. In turn, visitors around the world will get super speedy site experience.
What’s more, both hosts support SSD storage, which is up to 20X faster than traditional HDD. This ensures content-heavy sites load quickly, too.
WINNER: Tie. Both hosts take uptime and speed very seriously, which is why they both excel in this area. To be sure, whichever you get, your website will be super fast to load and will hardly go offline.
Ease of Use
A2 Hosting and SiteGround make it easy to create and manage your site. To do that, they provide the following:
- You’ll get access to 1-click software installs that will allow you to add functionality, such as WooCommerce and WordPress, easily with no prior coding experience required.
- Simple control panels are provided on both of their basic plans, which offer users a single dashboard to download software and manage site options, among others. A2 Hosting offers the traditional cPanel, while SiteGround uses the common Site Tools.
- They have their own web builder tools that offer a collection of themes that you can apply to get the look you want for your site You don’t have to go through the hassle of creating one yourself.
- They also offer Managed WordPress services that will give you a seamless experience with software optimized to WordPress to ensure zero bugs or plug-in malfunctions.
- A2 Hosting offers site staging, which will allow you to create a copy of your site to test out changes before you take it live. This is to prevent any errors from affecting your visitors’ experience.
WINNER: Tie. A2 Hosting and SiteGround understand the hassle of creating a site, which is why they made it as easy as possible for you.
Migration Services
A2 Hosting offers FREE site migration services even on its basic plan. This means you can sit back and relax while the service team works on migrating your website to their platform.
SiteGround, on the other hand, offers their migration service for a fee of $30 per site.
However, if you don’t want to pay, you can migrate it yourself. Don’t worry, they offer a WordPress migration plugin that comes with a lot of helpful guides.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. Because their migration services are FREE, A2 Hosting definitely takes the cake here.
Products and Features
Both hosts have different features that are suited to different users’ needs.
A2 Hosting’s basic Shared Hosting plan comes with 100GB of storage space, which is 10X more than SiteGrounds 10GB. With A2 Hosting, you’ll be able to host data-heavy videos and images to improve your website.
On top of that, A2 Hosting offers a FREE domain for 1 year.
Other than that, both of their basic plans are pretty similar.
One thing that stands out with SiteGround is that they promise 100% renewable-powered servers, making your site carbon neutral. If you care about the environment, you’ll love this unique feature.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. If you compare both features, you’ll see that A2 Hosting offers more freebies, which makes it a winner in our eyes.
Security
Both A2 Hosting and SiteGround offer a variety of security features. These include:
- SSL certification that encrypts your user's sensitive information to keep it out of the hands of any nosy hackers
- DDoS protection puts up a firewall to prevent any hackers from flooding your site with bots
- Daily (SiteGround) or weekly (A2 Hosting) backups so that you’ll have the latest versions of your site that you can reboot in case you ever experience any data loss.
WINNER: Tie. As you can see, both prioritize safety as well. You’ll get a load of security features to avoid hackers, data loss, and much more.
Pricing
When it comes to comparing prices, A2 Hosting provides the cheaper starting option, with its basic Shared plans ranging from $2.99 to $12.99.
SiteGround, however, offers its Shared, Managed WordPress and WooCommerce packages in the same price range of $3.99 to $10.69.
A2 Hosting has pricier WordPress Hosting ranging from $11.99 to $41.99. However, they offer greater scalability with VPS and Dedicated packages ranging from $39.99 to $59.99 and $179.99 to $249.99, respectively.
A2 Hosting also offers Reseller Hosting ranging from $18.99 to $32.99.
Meanwhile, SiteGround only offers Cloud-based solutions for sites with greater resource needs, offering customizable package options with prices depending on the resources you choose.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. If we’re only considering the most basic plan, A2 Hosting comes out cheaper. That said, SiteGround offers the same price range for both their Shared, Managed WordPress, and WooCommerce Hosting.
Customer Support
When it comes to customer support, both A2 Hosting and SiteGround offer 24/7 phone and live chat support to offer you help any time you need it.
SiteGround is even known for having some of the most attentive and knowledgeable service reps with great response times.
A2 Hosting does have great customer support as well, but it still lags behind the amount of care that SiteGround provides.
Meanwhile, if you’d rather deal with your routine issues on your own, without having to wait on customer support, you’ll be glad to know that both hosts have extensive knowledge hubs filled with articles and guides that you can utilize anytime you need it.
WINNER: SiteGround. SiteGround’s support team is super friendly, responds to inquiries very quickly, and is top-rated by users all around.
Conclusion
Winner Board:
Category | Winner |
Uptime and Performance | Tie |
Ease of Use | Tie |
Migration Services | A2 Hosting |
Products and Features | A2 Hosting |
Security | Tie |
Pricing | A2 Hosting |
Customer Support | SiteGround |
All in all, both hosts will give you excellent reliability and security for your site.
SiteGround provides excellent customer support that makes it a great choice for newbies looking for a bit of extra help in creating their first site.
But A2 Hosting has a range of different plans that come with a lot of freebies, which everyone loves.
So the host you pick will largely depend on what you value and how many resources your site needs to function optimally.
Have we left anything out?
Tell us in the comment section below.
And good luck with hosting your site!