iPage Review - "Most Affordable"
All things considered, iPage is the lowest price hosting plan that you’ll find of the top hosting companies out there. You may be able to find a cheaper plan, but you’ll likely discover that the add-ons features will be unavoidable and amount to more than iPage’s final cost.
The reason that iPage is able to get away with such affordable plans is because they built their entire platform around shared hosting. They do have options to upgrade to Virtual Private Servers (“VPS”) or dedicated hosting, but their bread and butter is shared hosting.
While shared hosting is more cost effective, you’d be hard-pressed to notice any drop-off in performance.
For a starter site, it’s hard to argue against iPage. If you’re not sure how much time and money you will invest in your site, it’s better to go with a lower-price plan like iPage.
However, if you have a very complex site and most of your business happens THROUGH your website (like an e-Commerce website), it’s recommended that you go with a plan that may cost more but gives you better features and customer support.
Pricing
A one year plan on iPage equals $2.99/ month. Keep in mind that you need to pay that up front at the time you sign up. A 3-year commitment is as low as $1.99/month which is dirt cheap. Unless you already have an established site that has been running for a few years, or you’re absolutely sure that your site will live for 3 years, we recommend going with only the 1-year option.
On pricing, the thing to watch out for is that iPage automatically renews your hosting plan. So if you want to cancel, you need to proactively cancel the plan. This is standard for most hosting companies and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You wouldn’t want your site to be taken down only because you forgot to renew your hosting plan. But it’s something to mark on your calendar if you don’t want to renew.
The other thing to watch out for is that the renewal fees are going to be higher. This is typical for most hosting companies and it’s easy to work around. Simply tell them you want a lower cost or move to another hosting company that has a lot introductory period. If you get the 3-year plan, you can forgot about it and reevaluate what you need for your site in 3 years.
iPage Speed
iPage’s load times are performed very fast and even on shared hosting, they have built out a strong infrastructure to support extremely fast load times. If load time is very important to you and you are using WordPress to manage your site, it’s recommended that you buy one of their WordPress hosting options. These plans are suited for WordPress and you’ll likely see faster load times.
However, it’s important to note that hosting server speed is only one factor in site speed. You first need to make sure that your site is coded well. There are a lot of plug-ins and tools to help you with making your code more efficient and better for page load time.
iPage Customer Support
While we have had limited interaction with iPage support, it’s unlikely that you’ll get fantastic support like you would with BlueHost and Godaddy.
iPage is the more affordable option and customer support is one of the most expensive costs for a hosting company. For this reason, if customer support is an important factor for you, we recommend one of the other companies.
iPage Features
iPage comes with many great features to improve various aspects of your website and some of them are for an additional cost. For example, Sitelock is an add-on that improves site security but it is an additional cost beyond the base plan. You can opt-out if you don’t find this feature necessary.
Intelligent builder is a free feature that helps you build a site very quickly using pre-built templates and stock photos. If you need to get a site up and running quickly, this is a great option. However, most people want a more custom site for their blog or business.
All other features are standard that you will find in most hosting plans. Either way, iPage’s shared hosting infrastructure accomplishes all needed of most website owners exceptionally well.
Sign-up Bonus
The sign-up bonus varies but as of this writing, iPage is offering $100 in marketing credits on Google Ads. This is a very generous bonus given how affordable their plans are.
Signing up for a year also comes with a free SSL and free domain. If you’re starting a new site with a new domain, make sure you buy it through iPage so you can get it for free.
What kind of site is iPage good for?
Starter sites, content sites or business websites that are used only for customer informational purposes (about us, address, store hours, etc.).
If you have a business built entirely around your website like an e-commerce store, you might want to invest more money in a more premium plan.
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iPage Pros
- Extremely Affordable
- Great Page Speed
- Strong Infrastructure
- Good Sign-Up Bonus
iPage Cons
- Basic Features
- Annual Plans Only (not monthly)