Branded as “hosting for serious web designers,” Site5 is a popular web hosting company that offers shared, reseller, and VPS hosting packages.
After more than five years as a Site5 customer, I wanted to share a comprehensive review of my experience, breaking down the good and the bad.
Is Site5 web hosting right for you? Well, let’s find out.
Let’s dig into the details of Site5 web hosting—the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Site5 was founded in 1999 by entrepreneurs Matt Lightner and Rod Armstrong. In 2015, the company was acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG), a massive conglomerate that controls dozens of hosting companies, including Bluehost and HostGator.
While EIG runs some of the most popular hosting brands, its reputation among industry professionals is not good.
EIG is known for acquiring smaller hosting companies and continuing to operate them under their original branding, while moving their IT and support infrastructure to places like India to cut costs.
I was a Site5 customer before, during, and after the EIG transition. I did, anecdotally, experience a decline in service quality over that period.
With that said, I want to take a step back and assess Site5’s merits objectively, putting aside any prejudices I may have about EIG.
Page speed is one of the most important considerations when choosing a web host. Your website’s performance impacts everything from the overall user experience to your SEO, conversion rate, and revenue.
We set up a basic WordPress test site on Site5 and tested its performance using GTmetrix:
For a blank WordPress site, 1.4 seconds is a tad higher than I’d like to see—but not terrible.
One factor that is highly influenced by your web host is your server response time, or Time To First Byte (TTFB).
Our test site clocked in at 590ms, as measured by Google’s PageSpeed Insights:
While Site5 narrowly passed the audit, it’s uncomfortably close to 600ms, which Google considers a failure.
By comparison, SiteGround, which is well-known for its speed technology, nailed this test at 50ms, a whole 540ms faster than Site5.
Site5 falls short of expectations in both page speed and server response time. Its performance isn’t necessarily bad—but it’s clear the company is failing to invest in a few key areas.
For example:
In terms of uptime, Site5’s performance is quite good. In fact, it offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee, with account credits available should your server experience downtime over the course of a given month:
Site5’s client area is simple and straightforward to use. For server management, it includes a familiar cPanel control panel:
Support is a key part of any good web hosting service. Ideally you’ll never need it—but the reality is, things do go wrong sometimes. When that happens, you want to have a lifeline there to help you.
For its part, Site5 offers 24/7 support via tickets and live chat.
When I first became a Site5 customer, I was extremely impressed by the support team and the value they placed on customer satisfaction. I felt like I had experts in my corner whenever I needed a hand.
However, following the EIG acquisition, the magic seems to have been lost. Response times are slower, and I haven’t experienced the same passionate, customer-focused culture, subjective as that may be.
If there’s one area where Site5 goes above and beyond, it would be account migrations.
Many web hosts offer paid migration services, with some providing a single site transfer for new customers.
Site5’s support team will migrate up to 25 cPanel accounts or up to 10 non-cPanel accounts free of charge, regardless of your account type. They also note that “for Fully Managed VPS hosting, we can certainly migrate more accounts within reason.”
With all of the above in mind, let’s take a look at the cost.
Site5’s shared hosting starts at $7.65 per month. However, it’s important to note that this rate is for two years billed upfront.
Alternatively, you can get the same plan for $8.95 per month if you pay for 12 months in advance. Site5 does not offer month-to-month billing, nor does it offer a lower introductory rate for new customers. However, it does offer a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Another major issue: Site5 still charges for SSL, an essential service that many other web hosts now offer for free via Let’s Encrypt. The prices are astronomical: $39.95/year for a standard certificate for one domain, or $149/year for a wildcard certificate that covers one domain and each of its subdomains.
These days, SSL is a must-have for nearly any new site, so you have to factor that into the total cost. You should plan on paying at least $11 per month—and that’s assuming you choose the cheapest hosting plan with the basic (non-wildcard) SSL certificate, and pay for two years in advance.
1. What are the implications of the cost of SSL certificates in relation to other services offered in Site5’s hosting plans?
Despite Site5’s hosting plans being priced higher, they do not include SSL certificates, unlike many other hosting providers that offer them at no additional cost. This omission may indicate a less competitive offering in terms of overall value.
2. How does Site5’s SSL certificate pricing compare to other hosting companies?
Comparatively, Site5 charges for SSL certificates whereas other leading hosting companies like A2 Hosting and SiteGround include SSL certificates for free with their hosting plans. This difference underscores Site5’s approach to pricing and added expenses for essential security features.
3. What are the specific prices of SSL certificates at Site5?
Site5’s pricing for SSL certificates is $39.95 per year for a standard SSL certificate and $149 per year for a Wildcard SSL certificate. These costs are additional to their hosting plans and should be considered when evaluating the total cost of ownership for hosting with Site5.
Based on user reviews from platforms like HostAdvice and Trustpilot, Site5 has garnered a notably poor reputation among its clientele. HostAdvice rates Site5 at a low 1.6 out of 5, while Trustpilot is even lower at 1.2 out of 5. Users have voiced several concerns contributing to these dismal ratings. These include the absence of free SSL certificates, limited data center choices, subpar response times, and inconsistent uptime performance. Collectively, these factors paint a disappointing picture of the service quality experienced by Site5’s customers.
Quick Facts About Site5: Overview
Payment Options and Money-Back Guarantees
Additional Details
This overview offers a comprehensive look at Site5’s features, payment options, and policies, empowering potential users to make well-informed decisions about their hosting needs.
The review does not recommend Site5 as a top choice for web hosting due to several significant concerns. These include poor response times, the absence of promotional introductory rates offered by competitors, and the lack of free SSL certificates, essential for website security. Site5 has also received negative feedback from users, impacting its overall reputation. While the hosting service does offer benefits like unlimited storage and bandwidth, along with free website migration for cPanel users, these advantages are outweighed by its notable drawbacks. In conclusion, the review advises against choosing Site5 due to the perceived risks and suggests exploring alternative hosting providers known for better reliability and faster customer support.
Considering Site5 for your web hosting needs? It’s important to note that they do not offer a free domain name upon signup. Unlike competitors such as DreamHost, Hostinger, and SiteGround, who often include a complimentary domain name for the first year with certain plans, Site5 requires you to purchase a domain separately.
When registering a domain with Site5, expect to pay $19.99 per year. This rate also applies to annual domain renewals. If having a free domain is essential for your hosting requirements, exploring alternative hosting providers that offer this benefit might be advisable.
When comparing Site5’s pricing with other web hosting providers, it becomes evident that Site5 is positioned as one of the more expensive options in the market, especially for entry-level hosting services. For example, their basic shared hosting service starts at $11.99 per month, significantly higher than competitors like Hostinger, which offers an introductory rate starting as low as $1.99 per month. This makes Site5’s starting price approximately six times higher in comparison.
This trend continues across Site5’s other hosting plans. Their reseller hosting begins at $41.99 per month, while fully managed VPS plans start at $114.99 per month. These rates reflect a premium pricing strategy that may not be suitable for individuals or businesses seeking cost-effective options for new ventures.
If you prioritize affordability and cost-efficiency in your web hosting decision, exploring alternatives to Site5 that offer lower introductory prices could be beneficial.
At the end of the day, Site5 is not a bad web host – but its cost-to-feature ratio is unreasonably high.
That is why we started our own hosting services here at gigapress. Unlike Site5, Gigapress offers robust features and performance at a more affordable introductory rate, making it a compelling alternative for hosting your website. We provide robust features and reliability that ensure your website runs smoothly without breaking the bank.
I hope this review has been helpful! If you have any questions about Site5, GigaPress or another web host you’re considering, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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This used to be the best hosting before it was taken over. Now, for my hosting to support a newer PHP version, I have to buy a new hosting from them, and then they will migrate the previous hostings to that server. Their support is below average, and very poor. I would not recommend anyone site5
Don't do it! Even if you get the service for free you will lost money! Stay away! I have been with them since 2006, it used to be great, then it was ok, and now is just awful. Support is slow, sometimes a ticket will take up a week to answer. Now one seems to know anything and the reply is mostly canned format (of course super polite but offers no help of any substance). Had server problem since May this year and opened multiple support tickets with them. Answers are very inconsistent and 3 months later they have managed to lose all of my websites (8 of them). What was even worse is that I paid extra to have backup generated and saved by them. When I asked them to provide the backups and restore the sites they told me that their backup server appears to be corrupt and they have lost all my backups!!! I had to move to a different hosting company and build all my sites from scratch which is extremely devastating. I asked them for partial refund, they told me that I don't qualify for any refund!!! My business and livelihood has been impacted drastically! This is not a company you can trust! Stay away!