In a Nutshell
pros
- Easy for the average user
- Excellent customer service
- Money-back guarantee
cons
- Features restrictions on cheaper plans
- Lacks Windows-based server options
A2Hosting at a Glance
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Free marketing offer: $50 marketing credit if you refer a friend
Uptime: 99.9% guarantee
Website builder: Yes
Money-back guarantee: 30 days
Price per month: $3.92-$248.99
Ease of Use
For the average user, figuring things out can be a bit difficult at first. There’s a lot of different hosting packages, and depending on what you end up with, there’s a ton of different features available to you. Suffice it to say, it could get confusing. But, once you figure out your hosting package and what tools you have at your disposal, it gets easier to find your way around.
If you’re looking to make a WordPress site, it’s never been easier to grasp. You can order it pre-installed with your hosting package or you can go through the steps of the easy-to-use, 1-click install tool. It’s just as easy for many other content management systems (CMS) on A2 Hosting as well. The site’s user-friendly control panel makes it easy to use for any user, even those just getting started out. And together with the 1-click install tool, you should get up and running in no time.
Regardless, if ever you have any issues running your A2 account, you can count on the “Guru Crew,” the A2 customer support team that’s available 24/7/365.
Available Features and Add-Ons
A2 Hosting packages are packed with features. Some of the features you get are dependent upon the hosting package you get, but for the most part, you have a lot available to you. For example, there’s quite a large number of features for setting up an online store. There’s things like PrestaShop available to you, but also a large number of other tools, including drag-and-drop solutions.
The company also supports Let’s Encrypt, meaning you'll get a free SSL. You can get other add-ons as well, such as offsite backups, a spam firewall and even a content delivery network (CDN) like CloudFare.
Finally, with A2 you’ll get access to a wide range of add ons, including analytics software so you can track the stats of your websites with an easy-to-use and interactive platform. It can be one of your most important tools, allowing you to see what’s working on your site and what isn’t drawing an audience, and adjust accordingly. You can also add an online auction, an ad server, and billing software, in case you want to run an online store.
The platform also makes it easy to run a blog and an online forum for you and your readers.
Other available add-ons include:
- Chat option
- Classified
- Content management system
- CRM tools
- Database hosting capability
- Online dating site creation tools
- Ecommerce tools
- Document management
- Polls and surveys
- Project management tools
Some standard features include:
- Unlimited space and bandwidth
- Free and easy site transfer
- 99.99% uptime
- Linux and Windows hosting
- 24/7/365 “Guru Crew” support
- Speed optimized WordPress
- Money-Back guarantee—even after 30 days
- WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla optimized
- Turbo Servers
- Choose your management level (with VPS and Dedicated hosting)
- Customize your server’s resources (on dedicated server)
- Extensive integrations
Return on Investment
A2 Hosting is on the pricey side, but it offers high quality tools that you won’t get from every hosting provider. Besides, with the pricier hosting plans, you also receive network opportunities, high quality blogging software and a plethora of Ecommerce tools that can sweeten the deal.
And, if you decide you don’t like A2 Hosting, you can make use of the anytime money-back guarantee policy.
Customer Support
A2 Hosting’s customer support team, dubbed the Guru Crew, is one of the best you can find in the industry and it works around the clock, 365 days a year. We contacted them on multiple occasions during our test run with A2 Hosting, and they were nothing but helpful.
The 24/7 customer support options include phone or live chat assistance, and you shouldn’t have to wait more than a few seconds to receive help. Whether you have simple WordPress questions or are running into more complex issues, the Guru Crew is there to help.
In addition, on the A2 website you can find a very extensive, easily-searchable knowledge base where you can probably find an answer to your question before you even need to contact customer service.
Visitor Capacity and Scalability Options
With shared, wordpress, VPS, reseller, and dedicated hosting, it’s easy to scale up if your traffic increases and you need more horsepower. That said, a dedicated hosting plan is quite pricey, but if you’re at the point that your website needs it, then we’d guess it’s probably in your budget.
Regardless, if you’re just starting out, a small Shared Hosting plan is probably going to be enough. Just know that the company makes it easy to seamlessly scale up if need be.
Conclusion
All in all, A2 Hosting has a lot to offer for a wide range of people. If you’re someone wanting to start a small blog, A2 has a hosting plan for you. Or, maybe you’re someone wanting to move a high-traffic Ecommerce site over to a web host. Well, A2 has excellent plans for you to choose from as well. No matter which plan you go with, A2 will have the tools to get where you need to be, and the ease of use to save you the headaches.
