iPage Review

The brand ‘iPage.com’ has been around since 1998 (domain WhoIs record – March 24th, 1995) but it was not very well known until the company’s re-launch in October 2009.

We were one of the first who got invited to test out iPage during soft launch period and reckoned iPage as the Best Budget Hosting in the past.

Is iPage still good in 2018? Let’s find out.

About iPage, the company

• Headquarter: Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S. (unverified)
• Established: 1998; major revamp in 2009.
• Services: Shared, VPS, dedicated hosting

The iPage brand is owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), a NASDAQ-listed company that owns some of the biggest names in hosting industry, including BlueHost and Hostgator. At time of writing, EIG claims that their cloud-based platform is serving approximately 5.37 million subscribers globally.

(Quick Jump) Review iPage Hosting in:

iPage Hosting Performance

Our experience & thoughts:

iPage Reliability Test

iPage hosting performed well in uptime and speed test. For the (multiple) iPage-hosted sites we tracked, uptime score were constantly above 99.95%. In one recent speed test at WebpageTest.org, the Time-to-first-byte (TTFB, which measure server speed) was 354ms. Both figures are impressive for a budget host selling at $1.99/mo.

However, I am getting less impressive results with Bitcatcha (another speed test tool we use). Test site hosted at iPage is getting results of C to B+ in the test. In contrast, hosting services like Interserver, Fast Comet, and InMotion Hosting are getting much better results (at a slightly higher cost).

Server Uptime (Feb 2018): 99.99%

 Server Uptime (Mar 2017): 99.99%

Older iPage Uptime Records (2013 – 2016)

* Click to enlarge image.

iPage Speed Test Results at WebpageTest.org

iPage Speed Test Results at Bitcatcha

Test site #1 (March 2016): 

Test site #2 (February 2018): 

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iPage Customer Support

Our Experience & Thoughts:

Okay Live Chat Support

I checked iPage’s live chat support in 2017 and compared their service quality with 27 other companies.

The web host did fairly well in the test. The live chat support was quick to respond; my questions were answered professionally. In overall it was a good experience.

No Free Migration

You will need to migrate your existing sites to iPage by yourself – which can be a major headache if your current sites are hosted on a cPanel host (iPage uses vDeck).

My guide on how to transfer a site might be helpful in this situation.

iPage Support Documents

iPage failed to impress me in their Support section.

Help documents are not that helpful and I bumped into several 404 errors when browsing around.

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iPage Hosting Features

Our Experience & Thoughts:

Newbie-Friendly

iPage is a newbie-friendly host. I have purchased iPage twice (one for testing, the other for a friend) in the past. I was able to setup my accounts right after payment in both occasions.

The ordering process was idiot-proof and customer on-boarding process was smooth.

* Click image to enlarge.

Pay for Advance Features

The original iPage shared hosting plan is very basic – No SFTP, no CDN, limited server resources, no custom cron job, no auto backup. Even the built-in website builder allows you to build only six pages.

The whole setup, apparently, is meant for hobby blog or small business who want a simple site online.

You can, however, purchase and add in advance features when ordering (see image below).

iPage Spam Filter

iPage shared hosting plan comes with basic email spam filter. Once enabled, the system will auto scan your emails for spam.

Premium Spam Filter, which costs $9.95/year, include advance features like grey-listing (auto reply email that isn’t from a familiar sender) and auto white-listing.

The Truth Behind iPage Unlimited Hosting 

First of all – there is no such thing as unlimited hosting.

Yes, iPage allows you to host unlimited addon domain at your hosting account; but it’s only “unlimited” if you are not exceeding the CPU resources allocated to your account. If you exceed certain level of CPU usage (which normally won’t), iPage will have your hosting account suspended.

 

It is clearly written in iPage TOS that the company’s hosting is only “unlimited” under normal usage.

Though iPage is not the only one in this practice – every unlimited hosting provider limit users’ server usage.

iPage VPS Hosting

Jerry’s note

If you signup to iPage shared hosting, chances are you will upgrade to their VPS plan in future. 

This is where Dylan Harty, iPage VPS hosting user, kicks in. I first knew Dylan when he emailed to point out some mistakes I made on this page. After some discussion, I decided to add his feedback on iPage VPS to this review. Dylan is not affiliated to iPage in any way. I do, however, paid for his effort in writing this helpful review.

This section is a little long. In summary, here are the pros & cons of iPage VPS (according to Dylan):

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Price: The #1 thing that makes iPage tick

Our Experience & Thoughts:

 Updates: iPage remains at $1.99/mo for now

iPage = Best Budget Hosting Service

After testing and using more than 50 web hosting services, I realized something very important: Most budget shared hosting providers actually offer more or less the same features in their hosting plans: “unlimited” addon domain, one-click app installer, basic webmail service, and average technical support.

These features are basic but sufficient for most small websites.

In this case – since you are getting the same thing, it’s better that you just go with the cheapest deal.

And this is why iPage is awesome for newbies who want to start at minimum cost.

Compare iPage Price with Other Hosting Brands

iPage long term cost – still the cheapest!

“But iPage jacks up their price during renewal, no?”

Yes – iPage’s introductory prices for the first term of service only and automatically renew at the regular rate.

Shared hosting plans renew at $7.99, $8.99, and $9.99 per month for 36-, 24-, and 12-month term.

But as this is what most budget hosting companies are doing – iPage’s price is still one of the lowest in long run (see table).

* Note: No free first-year domain for Hostpapa and A2 Hosting. 

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Verdict: Should You Host at iPage?

Given that there are both pros and cons; negative and positive reviews on iPage; should you still go with the hosting company?

The decision is yours to be made.

iPage – not the best web host around

iPage scored 51 in our 80-point review check list (WHSR rating: 3.5-star, revised Feb 2018).

They are certainly not the best web host you can get in market.

Their original shared hosting plan offers very basic features.

Company’s technical support seems poor based on many negative users feedback found online.

BUT, they are one of the cheapest hosts!

For newbies and bargain hunters, iPage’s ultra-low price tag is hard to be ignored. 

iPage is reliable (uptime constantly >99.95%), extremely cheap ($70+ for first three years), and easy to start (smooth signup process). There are very few web hosts that can provide the same bargain.

iPage Alternatives

• Other similar hosting brands under EIG (iPage management): BlueHost and Hostgator.
• Other similar budget hosting plans that we recommend: InMotion Hosting, Interserver, Fast Comet.

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Order iPage at Special Price $1.99/mo

Visit: https://www.ipage.com

(P/S: We use affiliate links in this review. If you purchase via our link, it will credit WHSR as your referrer. This is how I keep this site alive for more than 9 years and publish more data-driven hosting reviews like this one. Your support is highly appreciated. Buying via my link doesn’t cost you more – in fact, I can guarantee that you’ll get the lowest possible price for iPage hosting. )