Written By
Daren LowUpdated On
April 02, 2024
Known for their fast yet reliable web hosting service, A2 Hosting offers a wide range of plans to suit the different needs and budgets of their customers.
But with so many options to pick and choose from, which is the right choice for you? The priciest package isn’t always the best one either.
Table of Contents
A Brief Overview Of A2 Hosting’s Plans
Before we dive in and compare the hosting plans available at A2 Hosting, let’s have a quick look at what they generally offer.
- Their plans usually have multiple levels to cater for your specific needs.
- There’s also a Turbo-tier for those who need the extra speed.
- Sponsored Top-Level Domains (sTLDs).
- All plans come with perks, like SSL certification and a suite of security features.
- They also aim to make it easy to try them out by offering extras like free migration services and a money back guarantee.
What Are A2 Hosting’s Plans?
While A2 Hosting doesn’t offer a free hosting plan, it still boasts a wide range of hosting plans to fit different budgets and requirements as they vye to be one of the best web hosting providers around. We’ll discuss those plans and some of the details.
The “trick” is to honestly evaluate your own needs and pick a plan that’s right for your current needs as well as what you want to achieve later on.
What Are A2’s Shared Web Hosting Plans?
Shared Web Hosting is where you and other account holders share the resources of a single server. Due to A2 Hosting’s emphasis on high speed services, the number of accounts on any given server is limited, so that you won’t get congested with other account holders.
As a result, A2’s Shared hosting plans offer page load times that are 20 times faster while still being low cost. Maybe best of all is that you still get perks like a free SSL Certificate, free migration for your existing website and other extras that are normally reserved for pricier hosting plans.
Shared Web Hosting available are:
- Startup
- Drive
- Turbo Boost
- Turbo Max
Shared web hosting is good for:
- Smaller websites like blogs or personal websites
- Small to medium sized company websites
- Those on a budget
- Those who don’t need to do anything fancy on the back end
But bear in mind that as your website grows, you’ll potentially be limited by:
- Less bandwidth
- Less storage space (depending on your package)
- Slower speeds during peak periods
What Are A2’s WordPress Hosting Plans?
The “Usage statistics and market share of WordPress” report by W3Techs says that around 43% of all websites on the internet are powered by WordPress – because it’s easy to use and there’s a community of developers actively building add-ons and other tools for it.
You can use WordPress on ANY web hosting plan from A2 Hosting, but their Managed WordPress Hosting are not only one of the cheapest WordPress hosting solutions out there, but gives you the speed and power of a Turbo Shared Web Hosting plan, alongside additional tools and support to keep your WordPress website on the bleeding edge.
A2 Hosting’s Managed WordPress plans are:
- Run
- Jump
- Fly
- Sell
In addition to advanced security features like KernelCare, HackScan Protection and Reinforced DDoS Protection, Managed WordPress plans also include:
1. Jetpack security
- Free Daily Malware Scans That automatically check your site for malware and other vulnerabilities. Only available on the Fly and Sell plans.
- Brute Force Attack Protection To keep your site safe by blocking unwanted login attempts from malicious botnets and distributed attacks.
- Automated Spam Filtering That protects your site from being bombarded with spam.
2. WordPress toolkit
- Automatic Hardening To keep your site safe from vulnerabilities by auto-applying the industry’s best security practices.
- 1-Click Hardening Which scans your new and existing sites for potentially vulnerable settings.
- Mass Hardening Which scans all of your sites for vulnerable settings and secure each site with a single click.
3. cPanel security features
- IP Blocker To block a range of IP addresses in order to prevent them from accessing your site.
- Hotlink Protection Which prevents your images from being used by other sites.
- Free RapidSSL Certificate Available for the Sell plan to secure pages on your site, so that information such as logins, credit card numbers etc are sent encrypted instead of via plain text.
4. A2 optimized
- Login URL Change To hide your wp-admin and wp-login pages so that hackers cannot gain entry via brute force attacks.
- reCAPTCHA on Comments and Login To decrease spam and increase site security.
See our writeup on A2 Hosting security features to learn more.
What Are A2’s VPS Hosting Plans?
Virtual Private Server or VPS for short, gives you access to a virtual server, so it’s like you have your own dedicated server that will allow you to install your own security software or configure it with your own preferred operating system.
You’re really just using a portion of an actual server that’s shared by others. However, you’ll still have dedicated resources, increased reliability and two levels of management options.
Unlike shared web hosting, the dedicated resources that come from using VPS means that you are the only one who can use the allotted resources. This gives you the power of dedicated web hosting but at a far lower cost.
All A2 Hosting VPS plans come with 24/7 Guru Support, a free SSL Certificate, and free website migrations.
A2 Hosting has both Managed and Unmanaged VPS Hosting plans.
Unmanaged VPS Hosting available are:
- Runway 1
- Runway 2
- Runway 4
- Supersonic 8
Managed VPS Hosting available are:
- Lift 4
- Lift 8
- Lift 16
- Mach 8
Unmanaged VPS Hosting vs Managed VPS Hosting
- Servers are nearly identical for hardware and resources.
- Main differences have to do with server control and ongoing maintenance.
- Both have the option for root level access but what’s installed and configured during setup are very different.
Unmanaged VPS Hosting
- Blank slate for you to precisely configure your settings and requirements.
- Can include the server operating system and any extra software you want to run at the server level.
- Requires a high level of technical experience and expertise.
- Not recommended unless you have that know-how and your business needs that level of control.
Managed VPS Hosting
- Won’t have to start from scratch.
- Comes with a high level of maintenance to keep you upgraded, patched and at optimal security.
- More plug and play compared to Unmanaged VPS Hosting.
What Are A2’s Dedicated Hosting Plans?
Dedicated Hosting is similar to VPS Hosting, but you actually do have a dedicated server. You have all the resources to yourself, but as a consequence, the prices are typically higher compared to VPS Hosting.
A2 Hosting has both Managed and Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting plans.
Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting available are:
- Hyper 1
- Hyper 2 AMD
- Hyper 2 Turbo AMD
- Hyper 2 Intel
Managed Dedicated Hosting available are:
- Warp 1
- Warp 2 AMD
- Warp 2 Turbo AMD
- Warp 2 Intel
Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting and Managed Dedicated Hosting basically work the same way as the VPS version. They both have the same pros and cons.
What Are A2’s Reseller Hosting Plans?
Become your own web hosting business and earn money by taking on a Reseller Hosting plan. You’ll manage your own customers and have control over how you run your own business while still having the support of A2 Hosting’s 24/7 Guru Support Crew.
Turbo Reseller Hosting available are:
- Turbo Kickstart
- Turbo Launch
- Turbo Grow
- Turbo Scale
Reseller Hosting available are:
- Kickstart
- Launch
- Grow
- Scale
Some of the features you can expect from taking on a Reseller Hosting plan are:
- A user friendly hosting management system, using WebHost Manager and cPanel control panels.
- White-labeled Reseller Hosting accounts that are 100% re-brandable, allowing you to customize your customers’ control panel, name servers and more.
- Automated billing software.
- Scalability, so that as your business grows, your server’s resources can be ramped up to meet your demands.
Does A2 Offer A Money Back Guarantee?
Okay, we’ve gone through all the web hosting plans and discussed which ones you should go for. But getting a web hosting plan is still a commitment. And maybe you’re not sure if A2 Hosting is the one for you? Luckily, A2 Hosting offers a hassle free Money Back Guarantee.
Naturally, there are terms and conditions but the short of it is, you can back out and get a refund within the first 30 days of using their service. There are conditions if you go over that period but the fact that you can use them for a whole month, risk free, is pretty darn good.
Anything To Note On A2’s Payment Plans?
In general, A2 Hosting has some pretty good prices. But to get the best bang for your buck, you’ll want to sign up for a longer subscription period, typically 36 months.
On top of that, web host prices tend to increase when it’s time to renew, and A2 Hosting’s renewal prices are quite high compared to the initial price.
Wrap Up: A2 Offers A Wide Range Of Plans
A2 Hosting has a lot of options and you might feel overwhelmed. But it boils down to where you are and where you want to go. To find out whether A2’s is right for your website, check out our A2 Hosting review.
| Type of hosting | Best for | See all features |
|---|---|---|
Shared Web Hosting | For blogs or smaller businesses starting out | |
WordPress Hosting | If you’re already using WordPress and loving it | |
VPS Hosting | If your business is growing and you’re taking that next step | |
Dedicated Hosting | You need the resources that VPS is sharing out with others | |
Reseller Hosting | You want to be a web host and earn income |