In a Nutshell
pros
- Variety of hosting options
- Fully managed WordPress shared hosting
- Auto update process for WordPress core
cons
- No reseller hosting plans
- Complicated contract management process
1&1 at a Glance
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Free marketing offer: No
Uptime: 99.99%
Website builder: Yes
Money-back guarantee: 30 days
Price per month: From $1 per month (first 12 months)
Ideal For
1&1 is an ideal choice for first time webmasters that want a hosting company with a variety of options. With plans for everything from shared hosting through to dedicated server rentals, there’s a subscription option for webmasters large and small.
Hosting Types
Shared Hosting
IONOS has a wide variety of hosting plans. These start out at the shared hosting tier, in which clients can opt for 1 of 3 different types of hosting.
The Essential plan (shared hosting) allows users to build 1 website with 10GB of total disk space / storage. Ten databases and email accounts are included. By upgrading one notch to Business hosting, users get unlimited websites, storage, and databases. On the top shared plan, users will get access to malware protection, 100 email accounts, and a free domain.
WordPress Hosting
IONOS offers a separate line of shared hosting packages that are specifically optimized for WordPress sites. These offer SSD storage, for faster server disk performance, as well as enhanced CPU and MEM resources.
Additionally, IONOS’s WordPress hosting includes a content delivery network (CDN) for faster loading of images and other static resources. The CDN uses Cloudflare Railgun technology which delivers performance gains of up to 200%. For larger projects, users can upgrade to a WP Pro plan, which features multisite admin and staging environments for development teams that want to move to more professional production workflows.
Windows Hosting
Most web servers run Linux. But for users that want to run a Windows server, 1&1 offers a Windows Server running the latest versions of ASP.NET and .NET Core.
VPS And Dedicated
Finally, for more advanced users, 1&1 IONOS offers both VPS and dedicated hosting.
The VPS service is managed and virtualization is delivered via VMWare on dedicated SSD storage. Users get full root access to the server for full administrative control.
For those that prefer the idea of dedicated hardware, 1&1 provides 4 different server tiers. The lowest tier provides users with a machine running an 8 core Intel Atom C2750, while on the top plan, there’s a server with an Intel Xeon E3-1270 with 64GB of RAM and 800GB of SSD storage (and no bandwidth limitations).
Uptime and Performance
If you need to make sure that your website gets on the internet and then stays that way, then 1&1’s 99.9% uptime guarantee will give you some reassurance. There’s also DDoS protection in place to minimize attack-related downtime. Finally, IONOS boasts that even its shared hosting server performance exceeds that of several top tier competitors.
Website Builder Features
Want the easy path to success? The good news is that IONOS features a website builder with a variety of packages. True, you won’t get the full power of customization that building a site yourself offers, but it will make the process of designing a site and getting online far easier. 1&1 offers a variety of templates designed for everything from resume sites to real estate companies. Pick the theme and you’re good to go.
Although users are free to use a tool like G Suite for email, many prefer to use the default email server built into hosting packages. All shared and WordPress hosting plans contain email, and email hosting can be configured on any VPS or dedicated server (although storage will count against the total server storage limit).
The limits are:
Control Panel
IONOS uses cPanel as the server manager for all its shared hosting plans. For those on VPS and dedicated servers, IONOS recommends that users subscribe to the Plesk manager instead. Whichever cPanel users are using, they should be able to perform actions such as:
- Creating and updating email addresses
- Installing server scripts such as WordPress
- Managing forwards and redirects
Pricing and Packages
IONOS’s shared hosting plans are available on 3 tiers:
Essentials is a good plan for small website owners with one site to manage. There’s 10GB of storage and a 10 database limit with 10 email accounts. On the Business tier, users upgrade to unlimited websites and storage. Expert users get a free domain for one year and access to the CDN.
Help and Support
You can reach out to the 1&1 team through phone, a support desk, or via the online help center. 1&1 has a team of specially trained experts on hand who are ready to help with all hosting-related questions .
Bottom Line
1&1 IONOS has a wide variety of hosting options and is a great choice for those that prefer to keep their upgrade options open. The managed WordPress plans are offered on SSD storage and are optimized for performance and speed, while there’s a decent range of VPS and dedicated hosting options too.
