Founded in 2004, SiteGround is our number one pick for the best web hosting services[1] and for good reason. It has over 3 million domains, more than 17,000 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.8 out of 5 star average, and offers a whole host of features. SiteGround is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), bloggers, and freelancers. Below, we’ll dig into its offerings, and how it stacks up against its competition. All rates and fees are current as of July 25, 2024, and are subject to change.
SiteGround
| Introductory price: | Starting at $17.99 per month (for 12 months) |
| Renewal price for same plan: | $17.99 per month |
| Discounted rates for longer terms? | Yes |
Pros
- Free CDN with all plans
- Free SSL certificates
- Daily backups
- WordPress auto-updates
Cons
- Storage limits on all plans
- Renewal rates significantly higher
- No free trial, only a money-back guarantee
- Migration is clunky and can result in significant downtime and poor customer service
For freelancers, bloggers, and SMBs, SiteGround can be a great way to get the performance and security needed out of a web host. Its StartUp plan is ideal for sites getting less than 10,000 visitors per month. Its GrowBig plan caters to sites with 100,000 visitors while its GoGeek plan is suited for roughly 400,000 visitors per month. Each of its plans comes with unmetered traffic and a ton of freebies; domain, WordPress migrator, WordPress installation, email migrator, secure sockets layer (SSL), content delivery network (CDN), and email.
While SiteGround’s pricing is attractive upfront, its renewal rate is steep—up to nearly $45 per month with its most expensive shared hosting plan. Plus, each plan has storage limits while, even with cheap plans, many of its competitors offer unlimited storage. Users switching over to SiteGround should have safeguards in place in case there are any hiccups to avoid critical downtime during high stakes periods as there is at least one report of the migration team dropping the ball and customer support leaving the user to fend for themselves on this front.
SiteGround pricing & plan overview
SiteGround offers three shared hosting plans, ranging in cost from $2.99 to $7.99 for its introductory rate, which is for annual billing, and only available on your first term. Both the GrowBig and GoGeek plan are for unlimited websites, although each plan has storage limits. Below is a summary of its plans:
| Plans | Introductory rate |
Renewal rate | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| StartUp | $2.99 | $17.99 | 1 website 10GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
| GrowBig | $4.99 | $29.99 | Unlimited websites 20GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
| GoGeek | $7.99 | $44.99 | Unlimited websites 40GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
| StartUp | |
|---|---|
| $2.99 | |
| $17.99 | |
| 1 website 10GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
|
| GrowBig | |
| $4.99 | |
| $29.99 | |
| Unlimited websites 20GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
|
| GoGeek | |
| $7.99 | |
| $44.99 | |
| Unlimited websites 40GB web space Free domain Free SSL Daily backup Free CDN and more |
Best SiteGround plan for small businesses: GoGeek
While GrowBig is SiteGround’s self-proclaimed best value plan, we recommend the GoGeek plan because it offers the most amount of features for a reasonable cost, especially if you can get a deal on your first term. The GoGeek plan provides advanced features and higher resource allocations that are perfect for small businesses looking to scale.
Pros
- Free domain
- Free SSL certificate
- Free CDN
- Daily backups
- Unlimited websites
Cons
- Each plan has storage limits
- Significant price increase upon renewal
- No free trial
- Customer support issues during critical periods
- Higher pricing compared to some competitors
Other services SiteGround offers
In addition to shared hosting, SiteGround offers several other hosting types and services. These include:
- Free domain: A free domain for the first year comes with all their hosting plans.
- Free SSL certificates: Each plan includes free Let’s Encrypt Standard and Wildcard SSL certificates, which help to enhance your site’s security by encrypting the data sent to and from visitors.
- Free email: Create unlimited email accounts with a webmail interface, which includes free spam protection through SpamExperts.
- Automatic backups: SiteGround provides daily backups and stores up to 30 copies, so if your site gets corrupted somehow, it can be easily restored.
- Free CDN: All plans come with a free CDN service to improve site loading speeds globally.
- Staging tool: Available on GrowBig and GoGeek plans, this tool allows users to create a copy of their site for testing changes before going live. This helps prevent your site from breaking when changes are live.
- Managed WordPress and WooCommerce: Managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce, including automatic updates and enhanced security measures.
- Developer tools: Advanced users can benefit from tools, such as WP-CLI, Secure Shell (SSH) access, PHP version control, and Git integration, which help with workflows and enhance productivity.
- White-label reselling: The GoGeek and Cloud plans include white-label options, which let users manage their clients’ sites without revealing SiteGround’s branding.
- Priority support: GoGeek and Cloud plan users receive priority support.
The SiteGround platform and customer support
SiteGround is easy to navigate, with a clean user interface (UI). The admin dashboard is called Site Tools, and you can get all the essentials in one place. This includes caching options, staging environments, backups, and more.
Many web hosts boast 24/7 support, but what they mean is you have access to a ticketing service or a knowledge base. However, SiteGround has live chat available 24/7, plus phone support and help desk tickets.
Is SiteGround secure?
There are no known data breaches of SiteGround’s services. However, that doesn’t mean it’s immune to them, or individual sites haven’t been breached, such as through vulnerable plugins or bad actors. SiteGround uses two-factor authentication (2FA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance, and SSL encryption to help protect your site from malicious use.
SiteGround user reviews
Ninety-three percent of SiteGround’s Trustpilot reviews are five stars, giving them an average of 4.8 out of five stars with 17,274 reviews. Feedback is overwhelmingly positive, but the rare negative reviews are isolated incidents, such as technical issues or dissatisfaction with their support experience.
Compare SiteGround alternatives
SiteGround GoGeek |
 DreamHost: Shared Unlimited |
 TMD Hosting: Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price per month |
Starting price per month |
Starting price per month |
| $44.99 | $8.95 | $19.99 |
| Free trial available? | Free trial available? | Free trial available? |
| No | No | No |
| Storage (in GB) | Storage (in GB) | Storage (in GB) |
| 40GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Unlimited bandwidth? | Unlimited bandwidth? | Unlimited bandwidth? |
| No | Yes | Yes |
SiteGround vs. DreamHost
SiteGround is significantly more expensive than DreamHost, with fewer features. For example, DreamHost offers unlimited storage and bandwidth all for $8.95 per month while SiteGround’s GoGeek plan only has 40GB without unlimited bandwidth. DreamHost also beats SiteGround’s money-back guarantee—97 days compared to SiteGround’s 30 days.
SiteGround vs. TMD Hosting
TMD Hosting, while more expensive than DreamHost, is still cheaper than SiteGround. Its Enterprise plan includes unlimited storage and bandwidth while SiteGround limits storage and bandwidth. It’s worth noting that it’s uncommon for web hosts to offer free trials, so this isn’t an entirely helpful measurement. However, both have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is SiteGround right for you?
SiteGround is a great web host for individuals and SMBs that require both performance and reliability as well as 24/7 support. It’s especially well-suited for businesses with less than 400,000 site visitors, or agencies who manage multiple client websites. It’s easy to use and comes with a ton of features, such as a free SSL certificate, daily backups, and unlimited sites. However, if you use a lot of bandwidth or have high storage needs, consider an alternative option that has unlimited storage and bandwidth.
Frequently asked questions
Is SiteGround reputable?
Yes, SiteGround is a reputable company with more than 17,000 reviews on Trustpilot, earning them a 4.8 out of 5 stars. People like its host of features and customer service.
Is SiteGround a Russian company?
No, SiteGround is not a Russian company. It’s headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. Its other locations are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus.
Which is better, SiteGround or GoDaddy?
This depends entirely on your specific needs. SiteGround has great customer service, security, and performance. GoDaddy is more affordable and is well-known for its domain registration services, making it more suitable for budget-conscious users.
References
- ^ the best web hosting services (fortune.com)