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PROS:
CONS:
HostPapa is a web hosting provider that is best tailored for small businesses. The pricing for standard shared hosting is good and the plans include most of the needed features, although the cheapest tier is a bit limited. Customer support and security are among HostPapa’s strengths, while performance leaves room for improvement. Overall, we think this provider is a good place to start if you are at the beginning of your online journey, but if you run a more complex business, you might need more than they can offer.
HostPapa is a web hosting provider from Canada that offers several types of hosting: shared, VPS and reseller.
The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Toronto but operates in US, EU, Australia, Hong Kong and other regions all across the Globe. HostPapa has an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau and committed to being environmentally friendly, by only using green energy.
Hostpapa currently hosts over 180.000 websites worldwide and it is mostly suited for smaller businesses.
All packages include unlimited bandwidth and free domain registration. Except for the Starter, which is limited to 100 GB disk space and 2 websites hosted, the other two tiers also come with unlimited number of websites, email accounts and disk space (Starter only includes 100 email accounts).
Other features included in all plans are more than 200 free apps (Joomla, Wordpress and so on), server firewall, monitoring and intrusion detection, $197 worth of credits and marketing offers (Facebook, Google, Bing, etc.) and 24/7 multilingual support, via email or live chat.
HostPapa uses cPanel, but the initial set up is not the most user-friendly we’ve seen. On the other hand they do compensate with their extensive knowledgebase and useful, 24/7 customer support. If you sign up for their Business or Business Pro plan, you are also entitled to a 30 minute video call with one of their support reps, who will guide you through your setup process.
The website builder lets you easily add images, videos, text and so on. If you are more skilled, you can also mess around with HTML and CSS.
In case you are not pleased with their services, they offer 30 day money back guarantee (which doesn’t include the set up fees, domain names) and you can cancel on them without too much hassle.
Another thing you should know about this web hosting provider is the fact that the free domain is only free during the first year of hosting. After that, they will charge you. The bandwidth is also subjected to their usage policy that prevents you from going above a certain limit. If you do that, the performance will be impaired.
Security wise, HostPapa is somewhere above the standard. They have useful features such as spam filters, backup and restore for your website and if you are willing to go with their Business Pro plan, you also get advanced security features such as Wildcard SSL Certificate, domain privacy protection, automated website backup and SiteLock Detect.
Shared hosting comes with 3 plans users can choose from: Starter, Business and Business Pro.
Starter is just $3, 32/month.
Business usually starts from $14,63/month, but at the time of this review, had a special offer and was at the same price as the Starter.
Business Pro costs $11, 2/month.
If you are interested in VPS hosting, you can choose from one of their 5 available plans (the cheapest is Plus, for $56,29/month and the first month only costs $22,51 and the most expensive option is the Extreme, which is $337,81/month and you only have to pay $281,5 for the first month).
Learn more about their pricing here:
Regarding the performance, HostPapa is not among the first providers in our line up. They claim to have a 99,9% uptime, but repeated tests revealed a score that is below the standard and quite a few down times. Load time is also not too impressive, although they use SSD drives, which should ensure a higher speed.
Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HostPapa
Phone: Toll free support, country based
US: 1-888-959-PAPA [7272]
(905) 315-3455
See phone numbers for other countries here: https://www.hostpapa.eu/about-hostpapa/contact/
Email: [email protected]
Customer support is an area where HostPapa shines. They have a very extensive knowledgebase, including webinars, video tutorials, manuals and so on.
There is also 24/7 multilingual support included with all 3 plans and it is offered through live chat, phone and email. Although the waiting time varies and is not always the shortest, the reps are friendly, knowledgeable, prompt and helpful.
There are also support tickets and you can find them on social media as well.
Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.
By: Hailey | Last updated June 27, 2017 
