Webhosting Compared: Testing The Uptime Of 32 Hosts In 2018
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(This is a sponsored article.) Many surveys have indicated that uptime is number one factor when choosing a web host and although most, if not all, web hosting services “promise” 99.99% uptime, it’s not the case with our case-study.
According to our latest research, the average uptime of 32 shared web hosting providers is 99.59%. That’s approximately 35 hours 32 minutes of downtime per year, per website.
And downtime even happens to online giants. A Dun & Bradstreet study found that nearly 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies experience a minimum of 1.6 hours of downtime every week.
As a rule of thumb, if you are experiencing an uptime of 99.90% or below, you should switch your web host. A good web host should provide you with an uptime of at least 99.94%.
To run this series of tests, we have signed up for all of the 32 web hosting providers as a regular user, using the cheapest plan available. After that, we set up a basic WordPress website and start monitoring them with Pingdom.com. (Tools like Pingdom or Appoptics APM let you regularly check if a website or app is available.) Our uptime check interval was set to 1 minute, which means all of the sites are scanned every minute to get the most accurate statistics.
Please note that many hosts don’t define uptime like that, so they will often refuse to pay out on the guarantee because they say it was “planned maintenance” etc.
Let’s take a closer look.
| Web Hosting Provider | Average Uptime ↓ | Total Outages | Total Downtime Per Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | MidPhase | 99.991% | 19 outages | 45 minutes |
| 2. | Bluehost | 99.991% | 7 outages | 52 minutes |
| 3. | DigitalOcean* | 99.989% | 11 outages | 58 minutes |
| 4. | SiteGround* | 99.988% | 26 outages | 73 minutes |
| 5. | Site5* | 99.986% | 16 outages | 83 minutes |
| 6. | HostGator* | 99.984% | 19 outages | 84 minutes |
| 7. | A Small Orange* | 99.978% | 52 outages | 125 minutes |
| 8. | iPage | 99.975% | 72 outages | 131 minutes |
| 9. | HostPapa | 99.975% | 39 outages | 144 minutes |
| 10. | FastComet | 99.973% | 44 outages | 146 minutes |
| 11. | LunarPages* | 99.972% | 20 outages | 153 minutes |
| 12. | Hostinger* | 99.971% | 28 outages | 154 minutes |
| 13. | WebHostingBuzz | 99.969% | 28 outages | 163 minutes |
| 14. | GreenGeeks* | 99.969% | 11 outages | 164 minutes |
| 15. | JustHost | 99.968% | 28 outages | 165 minutes |
| 16. | GoDaddy | 99.965% | 47 outages | 184 minutes |
| 17. | HostRocket | 99.960% | 31 outages | 202 minutes |
| 18. | HostMonster | 99.955% | 40 outages | 235 minutes |
| 19. | DreamHost* | 99.953% | 40 outages | 239 minutes |
| 20. | Hosting24 | 99.951% | 31 outages | 264 minutes |
| 21. | WestHost* | 99.948% | 48 outages | 271 minutes |
| 22. | WebHostingHub | 99.948% | 76 outages | 278 minutes |
| 23. | inMotion Hosting | 99.935% | 90 outages | 341 minutes |
| 24. | A2 Hosting | 99.928% | 64 outages | 375 minute |
| 25. | HostMetro | 99.852% | 247 outages | 763 minutes |
| 26. | MDD Hosting* | 99.833% | 76 outages | 874 minutes |
| 27. | FatCow | 99.829% | 377 outages | 899 minutes |
| 28. | NameCheap* | 99.826% | 453 outages | 917 minutes |
| 29. | HostNine | 99.723% | 241 outages | 1448 minutes |
| 30. | One.com | 99.593% | 419 outages | 2132 minutes |
| 31. | WebHostingPad | 97.588% | 1,655 outages | 9 days |
| 32. | Arvixe* | 91.098% | 20,051 outages | 1 month |
* These web hosting providers offer an uptime guarantee. If they’ve failed on promised uptime, you can ask for your money back.
If you’re into each month overviews with more detailed data, take a look at these pages below:
- Detailed Google Spredsheet (1st of January to 31st of December 2018)
- Detailed uptime for each month and each hosting (12-44 months statistics)
1. MidPhase.com
- Total downtime: 45 minutes
- Total outages: 19
- Longest outage: 5 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-mp.com
No uptime guarantee:
Although MidPhase doesn’t mention any uptime guarantee on their website, they are the clear winner of this case-study hitting nearly 100% uptime in 2018.
2. Bluehost.com
- Link to detailed Bluehost uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 52 minutes
- Total outages: 7
- Longest outage: 42 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-bluerock-bluehost.com
No uptime guarantee:
Similarly to MidPhase, Bluehost doesn’t offer any uptime guarantees either (just a network/server uptime agreement). However, their servers have been working very steadily, with the exception of one bigger outage (42 minutes).
3. DigitalOcean.com
- Total downtime: 58 minutes
- Total outages: 11
- Longest outage: 29 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-do.com
Uptime guarantee available:
DigitalOcean is a cheap cloud hosting that promises 99.99% uptime which they have greatly succeeded in our test. If you see uptime less than 99.99% using DigitalOcean, you can ask your money back.
4. SiteGround.com
- Link to detailed SiteGround uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 73 minutes
- Total outages: 26
- Longest outage: 18 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-siteground.com
Uptime guarantee available:
SiteGround is a hosting provider with an excellent uptime score. They also offer uptime guarantee, providing you with one month of free service if uptime falls below 99.99% and an additional month if uptime falls below 99.90%.
5. Site5.com
- Link to detailed Site5 uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 83 minutes
- Total outages: 16
- Longest outage: 30 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-s5.com
Uptime guarantee available:
99.98% is still decent uptime. What’s even better – Site5 comes with an uptime guarantee of 99.9% – anything below that is eligible for a % of credit back. They even offer 100% credit back when uptime falls below 99.5% on their fully managed VPS
6. HostGator.com
- Link to detailed HostGator uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 84 minutes
- Total outages: 26
- Longest outage: 19 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hg.com
Uptime guarantee available:
HostGator comes with a decent uptime. On top of that, they even provide an uptime guarantee of 99.9% and you get credit back when it falls below. Just beware that it only applies for the actual server downtime excluding server maintenance.
7. ASmallOrange.com
- Total downtime: 125 minutes
- Total outages: 52
- Longest outage: 29 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-aso.com
Uptime guarantee available:
ASmallOrange offers an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. When it’s below that, you get a refund of one day of service per every 45-min downtime. Beware of the specific clauses. Just note the high number of outages we experienced in the test period.
8. iPage.com
- Link to detailed iPage uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 131 minutes
- Total outages: 72
- Longest outage: 6 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-ip.com
No uptime guarantee:
iPage does not offer an uptime guarantee. Luckily, considering their ranking in overall uptime, we’re pretty sure you wouldn’t need it anyway. One thing to be aware of is the high number of outages we experienced.
9. HostPapa.com
- Link to detailed HostPapa uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 144 minutes
- Total outages: 39
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hp.com
No uptime guarantee:
Even though they mention under their Terms of Service using “reasonable efforts to maintain 99.9% of uptime”, HostPapa does not exactly provide an uptime guarantee.
10. FastComet.com
- Link to detailed FastComet uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 146 minutes
- Total outages: 44
- Longest outage: 24 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-sl.com
No uptime guarantee:
Even though their live chat agent said that they guarantee a 99% uptime, there is no official uptime guarantee on FastComet’s Terms of Service or refund/credit policy if it falls below what’s promised. The total amount of outages is somewhat concerning.
11. LunarPages.com
- Total downtime: 153 minutes
- Total outages: 20
- Longest outage: 2 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-lp.com
Uptime guarantee available:
For every 15min of downtime, LunarPages credits client’s account with an equal of a full day of service. That guarantee excludes scheduled maintenance.
12. Hostinger.com
- Link to detailed Hostinger uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 154 minutes
- Total outages: 28
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hostinger.com
Uptime guarantee available:
Hostinger’s above average uptime is backed up by their uptime guarantee of 99.9%. As in all cases, scheduled maintenance is excluded.
13. WebHostingBuzz.com
- Total downtime: 163 minutes
- Total outages: 28
- Longest outage: 42 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-ls.com
No uptime guarantee:
WHB does not provide any uptime guarantee per se. Based on our experience, you most likely wouldn’t need one anyway.
14. GreenGeeks.com
- Link to detailed GreenGeeks uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 167 minutes
- Total outages: 11
- Longest outage: 2 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-greengeeks.com
Uptime guarantee available:
GreenGeeks offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. However, it only applies to their own servers and is not applicable for client errors.
15. JustHost.com
- Link to detailed JustHost uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 165 minutes
- Total outages: 28
- Longest outage: 2 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-jh.com
No uptime guarantee:
There’s no uptime guarantee on their website, whatsoever.
16. GoDaddy.com
- Link to detailed GoDaddy uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 184 minutes
- Total outages: 47
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-gd.com
No uptime guarantee:
Despite their big name, huge client-base and decent service, GoDaddy does not provide any uptime guarantee. You should also beware of their rather high number (compared to other top hosts) of outages.
17. HostRocket.com
- Total downtime: 202 minutes
- Total outages: 31
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hr.com
Limited uptime guarantee:
HostRocket has an official 99.5% uptime guarantee. Like others, it only applies for their own direct services.
18. HostMonster.com
- Total downtime: 235 minutes
- Total outages: 40
- Longest outage: 36 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hm.com
No uptime guarantee:
Even though you can find a statement claiming to strive for their best, there is no official uptime guarantee.
19. DreamHost.com
- Link to detailed DreamHost uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 239 minutes
- Total outages: 40
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-dreamhost.com
Uptime guarantee available:
Finally, there you have it – an official 100% uptime guarantee.” DreamHost guarantees 100% uptime. A failure to provide 100% uptime will result in customer compensation pursuant to guidelines established herein.”
20. Hosting24.com
- Total downtime: 264 minutes
- Total outages: 31
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-h24.com
Limited uptime guarantee:
They offer a service uptime guarantee of 99.9%. It’s solely determined by them and you get 5% of your monthly hosting fee as credit back. It’s only usable to purchase further service of products from Hosting24.
21. WestHost.com
- Total downtime: 271 minutes
- Total outages: 48
- Longest outage: 37 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-wh.com
Uptime guarantee available:
At close investigation, we found a 99.9% service uptime guarantee. When outages happen which are directly related to WestHost, you get a credit of 5-100% of your monthly hosting fee depending on the total downtime.
22. WebHostingHub.com
- Total downtime: 278 minutes
- Total outages: 76
- Longest outage: 36 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hub.com
No uptime guarantee:
WHH claims on their front page to have a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Unfortunately, we did not find an official guarantee under their terms of service and other binding policies.
23. inMotionHosting.com
- Link to detailed inMotion uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 341 minutes
- Total outages: 90
- Longest outage: an hour
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-in.com
Limited uptime guarantee:
Uptime guarantee only applies to Business Pro accounts. Even though it’s a really sweet one (99.999%), there is no uptime guarantee for other hosting plans.
24. A2Hosting.com
- Link to detailed A2Hosting uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 375 minutes
- Total outages: 64
- Longest outage: 3 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-a2.com
No uptime guarantee:
A2 comes with a 99.9% uptime commitment. Similarly to other hosting providers, when it comes to credit, there are clauses related to server maintenance and the outage being not-their-responsibility.
25. HostMetro.com
- Total downtime: 763 minutes
- Total outages: 247
- Longest outage: 28 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-hmo.com
Limited uptime guarantee:
When the total uptime in a year is less than 99%, you get a 1-month service for free.
26. MDDHosting.com
- Total downtime: 874 minutes
- Total outages: 76
- Longest outage: 10 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-mdd.com
Uptime guarantee available:
They have an official 1000% service uptime guarantee (it’s not as cool as it sounds).
“If your server has a physical downtime of more than 1 hour, you can request for 10 times (1000%) the actual amount of downtime. This means that if your server has a physical downtime of 1 hour, you will receive 10 hours of credit.”
27. FatCow.com
- Total downtime: 899 minutes
- Total outages: 377
- Longest outage: 3 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-fc.com
No uptime guarantee:
It doesn’t seem that uptime is one of the strengths of FatCow – despite our research, we did not find any uptime guarantee.
28. NameCheap.com
- Total downtime: 917 minutes
- Total outages: 453
- Longest outage: 40 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-1a1.com
Uptime guarantee available:
NameCheap offers one full day of service for every 1h that your server is down in a month. Beware that the first 45min are not applicable.
29. HostNine.com
- Total downtime: 1,448 minutes
- Total outages: 241
- Longest outage: 2 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-h9.com
No uptime guarantee:
An uninspiring total uptime is even further disappointing as there is no uptime guarantee under their ToS.
30. One.com
- Link to detailed One.com uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: 2,132 minutes
- Total outages: 419
- Longest outage: 6 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-one.com
No uptime guarantee:
A day without service is a serious issue by itself. Despite our serious efforts, we could not find any uptime guarantee either that would make you eligible for at least some credit.
31. WebHostingPad.com
- Total downtime: 9 days
- Total outages: 1,655
- Longest outage: 44 minutes
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-whp.com
Limited uptime guarantee:
There is a 99% official uptime guarantee. However, it’s most likely that you wouldn’t really care about the few free days you get when the service performance is this bad.
32. Arvixe.com
- Link to detailed Arvixe uptime statistics in 2018
- Total downtime: a month
- Total outages: 20,051
- Longest outage: 14 hours
- Test site URL: hostingfacts-arv.com
Uptime guarantee available:
Despite their bad performance (the worst ever, by far, anywhere…), Arvix actually does have an official uptime guarantee of 99.9%. But does it really matter to get a refund or some credit when your website has lost all its traffic because of its non-existent performance?
Further Reading
- How To Build Your Own Comment System Using Firebase
- Advanced GraphQL Usage In Gatsby Websites
- Modern Methods For Improving Drupal’s Largest Contentful Paint Core Web Vital
- How To Monitor And Optimize Google Core Web Vitals
(ms, ra, il, mrn)