OVERALL RATINGS
IONOS delivers fast and reliable web hosting services. Their MyWebsite builder is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses.
Best for?
- Individuals
- Businesses
Price
IONOS Essential plan starts at $1 per month
Our Verdict
IONOS hosting is our recommended choice, with a 99.99% uptime. They ensure your website remains reliable. and responsive.
IONOS previously known as 1&1 was founded in Germany in 1988. They have established themselves as an online world leader, providing services to multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
According to Forbes, IONOS is one of the best hosting providers available today, offering affordable plans, unlimited storage, and a solid reputation for reliability and security.
While it may not top the market, IONOS excels in site speed and uptime. As we explore further, we’ll determine if IONOS is the right fit for your hosting needs.
With over 6,500 employees and hosting 12 million websites, this web hosting giant offers an extensive product lineup, including domain names, website builders, dedicated servers, and more. In this review, we’ll focus on their WordPress hosting, one of their standout offerings.
IONOS Hosting Feature Images
IONOS Hosting Product Offer
IONOS provides a wide range of hosting options to suit various needs. They offer affordable shared hosting and website builder plans for personal and small business sites.
IONOS also offers high-powered and reliable cloud servers for heavyweight and critical sites.
While it’s not possible to cover all the details here, we will examine their key ranges, advantages, and disadvantages to help you find the right product for your requirements.
Website Builder
IONOS Website Builder provides an intuitive and user-friendly platform for creating stunning websites without any coding knowledge. With a wide range of professionally designed templates and drag-and-drop functionality, you can easily customize your website to reflect your brand.
The builder offers features like:
- Responsive design
- SEO optimization
- integration with popular tools and apps.
Pricing starts at $5/month for their Essential plan, which includes a free domain, SSL certificate, and up to 10 pages. As you upgrade to higher-tier plans, you unlock additional features such as e-commerce functionality, unlimited pages, and priority support.
Overall, IONOS Website Builder offers an affordable and convenient solution for individuals and small businesses to create impressive websites with ease.
Shared Hosting
IONOS offers three shared hosting plans, each providing free SSL, a domain, daily backups, and easy WordPress installation. The starter plan costs $4/month initially, the Business plan offers increased resources for just $0.50/month in the first year, and the Expert plan includes additional features for $8/month in the initial year.
IONOS lacks free migration and provides only one email account. Despite the average performance, it can still be a viable choice with its affordable pricing. If email capabilities or speed are crucial, alternatives like Hostinger, HostGator, A2 Hosting, or InMotion Hosting should be considered.
| Hosting Plan | Performance Level | Website Visitors | Memory |
| Essential | 1 of 5 | Up to 100 visitors/minute | 384 MB PHP memory, up to 512 MB RAM |
| Business | 2 of 5 | Up to 200 visitors/minute | 768 MB PHP memory, up to 6 GB RAM |
| Expert | 5 of 5 | Up to 500 visitors/minute | 896 MB PHP memory, up to 19 GB RAM |
| Hosting Plan | Promotional Pricing | Renewal Pricing | Features |
| Standard | $2/month | $2/month | From 1vCore, 512MB RAM and 10GB storage. |
| Memory-Optimized | $8/month | $15/month | From 2vCores, 6GB RAM and 80GB storage. |
| CPU-Optimized | $6/month | $9/month | From GB RAM & 80GB storage. |
VPS Hosting
IONOS offers VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting services with a range of plans to suit different needs.
They provide a selection of 6 VPS hosting plans, offering ample options for customers. All plans come with;
- Unlimited traffic
- Unlimited email accounts (up to storage limits)
- Free SSL, 24/7 support
- The choice to host your VPS in multiple locations (USA, UK, Germany, or Spain), and a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
The plans vary in terms of CPU cores, RAM, storage, and pricing. Starting from a basic package with;
- 1 CPU core
- 512MB RAM
- 10GB storage at $2 per month
The plans go up to a more powerful option with;
- 8 CPU cores
- 24GB RAM
- 240GB storage
Priced at $24 per month for the first six months and $45/month after first 6 months.
Most VPS plans also offer the option to include Windows, albeit at an additional cost per core due to licensing rules. IONOS VPS hosting is well-suited for demanding websites that require higher performance, flexibility, and control.
Dedicated Hosting
IONOS offers a limited selection of four dedicated server plans, each providing a free domain, SSL, malware scanning, Railgun CDN for accelerated speeds, and unlimited traffic. Prices range from;
- $65/month for an Intel Atom C2750, 8GB RAM, 240GB SSD plan
- $160/month for an Intel Xeon E3-1270 V6 CPU, 64GB RAM, 800GB SSD server.
The option to choose regular hard drives (HDD) instead of solid-state drives (SSD) allows for higher storage capacity. These plans are cost-effective and suitable for budget-conscious business users seeking reliable and fast hosting. However, for more options and power, Hostwinds is worth exploring.
1&1 IONOS offers diverse dedicated server options, ensuring high uptime and excellent connectivity with top-notch processors.
Their intuitive control panel, mobile access, per-minute billing, system management, security, and personalized support make them a reliable choice for dedicated server needs.
| Hosting Plan | Promotional Pricing | Renewal Pricing | Features |
| SSD Dedicated Servers | From $45/month | From $65/month | From 8 cores (Intel Atom C2750), 8GB RAM & 240GB SSD storage. |
| HDD Dedicated Servers | From $47/month | From $47/month | From 4 cores (Intel QuadCore), 12Gb RAM, 1TB storage & unlimited traffic. |
Cloud Servers
IONOS Cloud Servers offer a powerful and flexible cloud hosting solution for businesses of all sizes. With a range of plans and configurations, you can customize your server to meet your specific requirements.
The servers are backed by state-of-the-art data centers, ensuring high performance and reliability. With features like SSD storage, scalable resources, and easy-to-use management tools, you have full control over your server environment.
Pricing starts at $10/month for their Cloud Server S plan, offering;
- 1 vCPU
- 1GB RAM
- 50GB SSD storage
As you move up to higher-tier plans, you gain access to more resources, making IONOS Cloud Servers a great choice for businesses in need of flexible and scalable cloud hosting solutions.
Managed WordPress Hosting
IONOS offers Managed WordPress hosting plans that are similarly priced to their shared hosting range. The plans include free domain, SSL, and daily backups, but lack free migration.
The mid-range plan supports five email addresses, while the top plan supports ten. Malware scanning and removal are available in the top plan. Additional WordPress-specific features include WP Assistant for site creation, automated updates, and free themes.
While the plans offer slightly more WordPress functionality for the same price, they have limitations on the number of managed WordPress projects. IONOS WP Pro range targets business users with faster speeds and advanced features, but at a higher cost.
Bluehost’s WP Pro plans offer good speeds and business-related tools, while A2 Hosting provides cost-effective managed WordPress options with high performance and extensive features.
| Hosting Plan | Promotional Pricing | Renewal Pricing | Features |
| WP Hosting | From $1/month | From $4/month | From 1 website, up to 10,000 visitors/mo, 25GB storage & 9GB RAM. |
| Managed WP Pro | N/A | From $18/month | From 1 website, 2 GB RAM & 10 GB storage. |
| WooCommerce Hosting | From $1/month | From $4/month | From 1 website, up to 10,000 visitors/mo & 25GB storage. |
Other Hosting offers from IONOS
IONOS provides a range of hosting solutions to cater to diverse needs. Alongside VPS hosting, shared hosting, and dedicated hosting, they offer additional hosting services such as WooCommerce hosting, Windows ASP.NET hosting, and Deploy Now service.
Managed WooCommerce Hosting
Managed WooCommerce Hosting by IONOS is a specialized hosting solution designed specifically for WooCommerce-powered online stores. With features like;
- Automatic updates
- Enhanced security
- Optimized performance
- Seamless and efficient e-commerce experience
Pricing starts at $14/month for the Basic plan, which includes a free domain, SSL certificate, and 50GB storage.
The higher-tier plans offer additional resources and features such as advanced caching, CDN integration, and priority support.
Windows ASP.NET Hosting
Windows ASP.NET Hosting by IONOS is tailored for websites and applications built on Microsoft’s ASP.NET framework.
It provides a reliable and scalable hosting environment for Windows-based projects. Plans start at $1/month for the Essential plan, which includes 25GB of storage and one free domain.
As you move up the plans, you gain more resources, multiple domains, and additional features like ASP.NET support, Microsoft SQL databases, and advanced security options.
| Hosting Plan | Promotional Pricing | Renewal Pricing | Features |
| Business | $5/month | $10/month | 1 website, 100GB storage, 25 databases & up to 200MB RAM. |
| Pro | $6/month | $12/month | Up to 5 sites, 250GB storage, 100 MS SQL databases & up to 400 MB RAM. |
| Expert | $10/month | $20/month | Up to 50 websites, 500GB storage, 500 MS SQL databases & 2GB RAM. |
Deploy Now
IONOS Deploy Now is a service that simplifies the deployment of applications and websites on IONOS cloud servers.
It offers a streamlined and automated process for deploying your projects quickly and effortlessly. Pricing for Deploy Now is based on the resources and configurations you choose for your cloud server, starting at $5/month.
It provides flexibility in terms of CPU, RAM, storage, and operating system options, allowing you to customize your server setup according to your specific needs.
IONOS Shared Hosting Pricing
| Hosting Plan | Promotional Pricing | Renewal Pricing | Features |
| Essential | $4/month | $6/month | 1 website, 10GB storage, 10 databases. |
| Business | $0.50/month | $10/month | Unlimited websites, storage, and databases. |
| Expert | $8/month | $16/month | Unlimited websites, storage, and databases. Plus malware protection, CDN and site analytics. |
IONOS Hosting Pros and Cons
- Reliable Performance: Users have praised IONOS for its reliable hosting performance, with minimal downtime and fast loading speeds.
- Feature-Rich Plans: Customers appreciate the wide range of features included in IONOS hosting plans.
- Responsive Customer Support: Users have reported positive experiences with IONOS customer support, noting their responsiveness and helpfulness.
- Limited Email Accounts: Some users have expressed disappointment with the limited number of email accounts provided in IONOS hosting plans.
- Migration Challenges: They is always the challenge of migration if a user wants to migrate their site to IONOS
- Pricing Structure: Renewal prices can increase significantly after the initial promotional period.
Best Time to Use IONOS Hosting
IONOS hosting is best suited for individuals or businesses who are starting a new website, particularly small to medium-sized websites or e-commerce ventures. It offers affordable shared hosting plans with essential features, optimized hosting for WooCommerce, and options for resource-intensive projects like VPS and dedicated hosting. Consider IONOS when you need reliable hosting, convenient setup, and scalability for your online presence.
Worst Time to Use IONOS Hosting
IONOS hosting may not be ideal if you have a high-traffic or resource-intensive website, as some users have reported performance issues and limited scalability. Additionally, if you require advanced customization or specialized hosting configurations, alternatives like AWS, DigitalOcean, or SiteGround might be better suited to your needs. These providers offer more flexible options and robust infrastructure for demanding websites, ensuring better performance and scalability for your online presence.
IONOS Hosting Feature Ratings
EASE OF USE
IONOS offers its own hosting management control panel, but its user-friendliness may leave something to be desired. It also lacks certain advanced features that experienced users may find essential, such as limited database options. Furthermore, we encountered difficulties during the WordPress installation process, requiring us to seek assistance from support to resolve the issue.
UPTIME
Based on our test score IONOS hosting doesn’t match up to its competition like SiteGround, Hostinger, and GreenGeeks.
SECURITY FEATURES
Every package offered by IONOS hosting comes with a complimentary SSL certificate for either a primary domain or subdomain. If you opt for the Unlimited package, you also gain access to a valuable feature: the ability to scan your website for malware and eliminate any threats. However, it’s worth noting that the remaining packages solely provide a site scan, leaving you responsible for resolving any detected malware issues on your own.
SERVER LOCATION
IONOS hosting provides server options based on your location preference. If you are located in the Americas, their servers are located in the United States, ensuring fast and reliable performance. However, if you have a preference for a server in Europe, IONOS offers that option as well.
SERVER SPEED
Based on our evaluations, IONOS demonstrated satisfactory speed performance but did not rank among the top-tier providers in terms of speed.
WEBSPACE LIMIT
IONOS hosting plans offer ample web space for your needs. The Essential package provides 25 GB, the Business package offers 100 GB, and the Unlimited package gives you unlimited space. However, it’s important to note that there is a file limit of 262,144 files in your hosting account, which should still be sufficient for the majority of users.
MONTHLY DATA TRANSFER LIMIT
IONOS hosting does not impose any restrictions on monthly traffic.
FTP ACCOUNTS AND SECURE FTP
If you chose to use IONOS hosting platform, you have the freedom to create an unlimited number of SFTP (secure FTP) logins. Additionally, you can configure SSH access and establish a GIT repository, allowing you to leverage version control for your projects.
SERVER FEATURES
IONOS provides a range of options on their Linux servers, including PHP versions 7.3, 7.4, and 8, as well as MySQL 5 databases. If you opt for a hosting package that isn’t specifically designed for WordPress, you have the flexibility to choose between a Linux or Windows server. Furthermore, IONOS supports Perl, Python, and Ruby languages for your development needs.
DATABASES
With the IONOS Essential package, you have the ability to generate a maximum of 2 databases, whereas the Business package allows up to 10 databases. The Unlimited package offers the freedom to create an unlimited number of databases. Each database is limited to a size of 2 GB.
DOMAIN NAMES
New signups receive free domain name for the initial year, after which they will be required to pay for its renewal. It is possible to include extra domains and subdomains. The number of subdomains is nearly limitless.
APPLICATIONS
IONOS offers a variety of application features designed to simplify the installation and management of popular applications. With their intuitive interface, users can easily install and configure applications like WordPress, Joomla, and more.
EMAIL RATING
Each IONOS package enables the creation of a single email account, limited to a maximum storage capacity of 2 GB.
BACKUPS
IONOS hosting provides daily backups, which they state are retained for a maximum of 20 days. However, when attempting to access files through the control panel, only backups from the past 6 days are visible. On-demand backup creation does not appear to be supported by their system.
CDN
IONOS CDN features are highly rated, offering reliable global content delivery, improved website performance, and enhanced user experience for visitors.
REFUNDS AND GUARANTEES
You have the opportunity to experience its services at no cost for a trial period of 30 days.
ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT
They offer round-the-clock support through email, chat, and phone channels, but accessing their support team can be challenging.
OVERALL RATINGS
Our assessment of IONOS is somewhat unfavorable. While we appreciated its fast performance and ample web space, we found the system to be lacking in intuitiveness and experienced significant availability issues.
IONOS Hosting Performance Tests
We conducted various tests on IONOS hosting to provide you with insights into its performance. Below are some of our finding with the company web hosting services.
IONOS Hosting Speed Test
After evaluating the outcomes of our tests using GTmetrix, Webpagetest.org, Pingdom, and PageSpeed Insights, it can be concluded that IONOS hosting demonstrates commendable speed and reliability as a hosting provider. For more information on the significance of speed, we recommend referring to our study on website loading time.
| Provider | GTmetrix | Pingdom | Webpage test | Pagespeed insights | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | 0.71 | 0.71 | 1.78 | 2.94 | 1.54 |
| GreenGeeks | 0.81 | 1.49 | 1.79 | 2.2 | 1.56 |
| Namecheap | 0.99 | 1.40 | 1.92 | 2.08 | 1.6 |
| Hostinger | 0.97 | 2.07 | 1.77 | 1.62 | 1.61 |
| WP Engine | 1 | 1.99 | 1.46 | 2.2 | 1.65 |
| Cloudways | 0.80 | 1.39 | 1.89 | 2.84 | 1.73 |
| Kinsta | 0.78 | 2.18 | 2.17 | 1.98 | 1.77 |
| DreamHost | 1.16 | 1.72 | 2.56 | 1.92 | 1.84 |
| GoDaddy | 1.14 | 2.27 | 2.23 | 2.1 | 1.94 |
| IONOS | 1.21 | 2.08 | 1.74 | 2.78 | 1.95 |
| A2 Hosting | 0.96 | 1.40 | 3.78 | 1.9 | 2.01 |
| InMotion | 2.02 | 2.86 | 2.61 | 3.52 | 2.75 |
| iPage | 1.76 | 2.82 | 2.73 | 3.74 | 2.76 |
| HostGator | 2.4 | 5.21 | 1.87 | 1.65 | 2.78 |
| Bluehost | 1.74 | 4.5 | 2.42 | 2.82 | 2.87 |
IONOS Hosting Uptime
Based on the outcomes of our uptime tests, it is evident that IONOS needs significant improvement. Among all the hosting providers assessed, they performed the poorest. Ideally, for substantial online projects, the uptime should be 99.95% or greater.
| Uptime Chart | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | 99.97 | 100 | 100 |
| WP Engine | 99.99 | 99.99 | 100 |
| Namecheap | 99.99 | 100 | 100 |
| Kinsta | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| InMotion | 99.73 | 99.95 | 100 |
| A2 Hosting | 99.99 | 99.98 | 99.99 |
| Cloudways | 100 | 100 | 99.99 |
| HostGator | 99.91 | 99.99 | 99.98 |
| GreenGeeks | 99.98 | 99.98 | 99.97 |
| GoDaddy | 99.90 | 99.96 | 99.95 |
| Hostinger | 99.48 | 99.92 | 99.95 |
| Bluehost | 99.96 | 99.99 | 99.95 |
| iPage | 98.45 | 99.85 | 99.95 |
| Dreamhost | 99.99 | 99.96 | 99.83 |
| IONOS | 99.91 | 99.93 | 99.71 |
So, if you require a project with a high rate of availability, IONOS hosting may not be the most suitable choice. Instead, other providers like inMotion, Cloudways, and SiteGround offer superior outcomes in this regard.
IONOS Hosting Review: Do I Recommend It?
Our overall evaluation of IONOS web hosting service for WordPress is a combination of positive and negative aspects. We found certain features to be pleasantly surprising, while others left us less impressed.
Some notable strengths include the absence of a monthly data transfer limit and their generous allocation of web space. The speed of their service is also reasonably good, and their pricing is highly competitive.
However, there are areas that could benefit from improvement. The hosting management system is not particularly user-friendly, lacking intuitive interfaces and advanced options. Additionally, there is room for enhancement in terms of availability, as well as the functionality for managing and creating website backups.
>Take the first step by exploring IONOS or discovering alternative providers in our comprehensive guide.
IONOS Hosting Alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the uptime guarantee provided by IONOS hosting?
IONOS offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee for their hosting services. This means that your website should be accessible to visitors for the vast majority of the time, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum availability.
Is IONOS suitable for WordPress websites?
Yes, IONOS is well-suited for hosting WordPress websites. They offer optimized WordPress hosting plans that come pre-installed with WordPress, providing a user-friendly interface and additional features tailored to enhance the performance and security of WordPress sites.
Can I integrate my existing website with IONOS hosting?
Yes, IONOS allows you to integrate your existing website with their hosting services. Whether your website is built on a CMS, uses specific plugins or scripts, or relies on certain APIs, IONOS provides the necessary tools and support to ensure a smooth integration process. Their technical resources and customer support can guide you through the steps required to integrate your existing website seamlessly with their hosting platform.
