GreenGeeks Review: Features, Pricing, Server Speed and Uptime Tested

GreenGeeks is a leading green web host that offers powerful and eco-friendly hosting solutions. We’ve been testing their services for years and have consistently been impressed by their server performance and feature set.

This review explains GreenGeeks pros and cons and the types of plans they offer. We’ll detail GreenGeeks’ prices, data center locations, WordPress compatibility and their impressive environmental initiatives. We’ll end by sharing some alternative web hosts so you can make an informed choice on whether GreenGeeks is right for you. Let’s dive in.

Who is GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks is a web hosting provider that was founded in 2008 by American entrepreneur Trey Gardners. Their mission was to become the most eco-friendly web host in the world. Today, they’re a respected leader in the green web hosting industry. They have hosted over 600,000 websites for over 55,000 customers to date.

Where are GreenGeeks located?

GreenGeeks’ headquarters is located in Agoura Hills in California, United States. Their resources and data centers are spread over 3 continents in Chicago, Montreal, Amsterdam and Singapore.

What are the main benefits of hosting with GreenGeeks?

There are 5 main benefits of hosting with GreenGeeks:

What are the possible drawbacks of hosting with GreenGeeks?

There are 3 possible drawbacks of hosting with GreenGeeks:

What are the types of hosting GreenGeeks offer?

The types of hosting GreenGeeks offer are shared hosting, Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, Managed WordPress, Reseller and Dedicated Server hosting. Each hosting type is available in 3 or 4 different plan tiers. Each caters for the resource needs of different tiers of individuals, businesses or large enterprises.

It’s helpful to understand the features and limitations of these 5 types of hosting when choosing a GreenGeeks plan.

Shared hosting – best for beginners

Shared Hosting is GreenGeeks’ most affordable type of web hosting. Their shared hosting plans come in 3 tiers: Lite, Pro and Premium. Their Lite plan is the cheapest and costs just $2.95 per month for a 1-year subscription. Shared hosting involves sharing server resources (CPU, bandwidth, RAM) with other websites on the same server. Its affordability makes it ideal for first-time website owners or small sites.

GreenGeeks stands out from other typical shared hosting providers by having an overt policy not to oversell their server space. They claim their servers support fewer customers per server compared to most shared hosting providers. They also use a container based approach wherein each site gets their own isolated computing resources and secured virtual file system (Secure vFS). This means a single user’s site activities shouldn’t impact another’s.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting

GreenGeeks VPS (Virtual Private Server) plans cater for websites with higher resource needs. VPS hosting involves renting out virtual portions of a larger server.

GreenGeeks offers 3 managed VPS plans that are named after the amount of RAM provided: 2GB, 4GB and 8GB. Their cheapest plan costs just $39.95 for 4 vCPU cores, 50 GB SSD and 10 TB transfer. All GreenGeeks VPS plans come with cPanel and Softaculous, free SSL and a free website migration.

GreenGeeks does not currently offer unmanaged VPS hosting plans.

Managed WordPress hosting

GreenGeeks advertises Managed WordPress hosting plans that cater towards WordPress website owners. They come in 3 plans: Lite, Pro and Premium. Their Lite plan costs just $2.95.

These are optimized for WordPress and utilize a shared hosting environment. This makes it best suited for small to medium-sized sites that are using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS).

Reseller hosting

GreenGeeks’ Reseller hosting plans target web hosting entrepreneurs who want to resell GreenGeeks’ eco-friendly hosting services. They offer 3 tiers of reseller plans that are named according to the number of cPanel accounts that are offered: RH-25, RH-50 and RH-80.

All GreenGeeks reseller plans come with up to 30 free cPanel migrations and white label hosting features. Users get access to generous storage and transfer resources, and access to WHM. WHMCS billing software makes it easy to manage your client accounts.

Dedicated server hosting

GreenGeeks’ Dedicated server hosting gives users completely dedicated server resources. This gives users full control over its configuration via root access. They also enjoy faster and more reliable site performance.

GreenGeeks offer 4 tiers of dedicated server hosting. Their cheapest is the Entry Server that costs $169 and uses Intel Atom 330 Dual Core technology. Their highest tier is the Pro Server that costs $439/mo and uses Xeon E5-2620 2.0Ghz w/HT.

Does GreenGeeks offer Windows hosting?

No, GreenGeeks does not offer Windows hosting. All GreenGeeks hosting plans run on the Linux/Unix operating system only. This means they do not support hosting that needs Windows technologies, such as ASP, .NET, Cold Fusion, MS SQL or MS Access.

Do you get unlimited storage with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get unlimited storage with GreenGeeks shared hosting plans if you select the Pro hosting plan or up. Unlimited storage, or unlimited disk storage, is when the website’s disk space capacity does not have a predefined upper limit. Choosing a GreenGeeks plan with unlimited storage gives your website much more flexibility and space to grow and you also benefit from fast Solid State Drive (SSD) storage technology.

Do note that GreenGeeks’ most basic Lite plan only offers 50GB web space, not unlimited storage.

Do you get unmetered bandwidth with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get unmetered bandwidth on all GreenGeeks shared hosting plans. Unmetered bandwidth means that the web host does not set a cap on the amount of data transferred by your website. Note that whilst bandwidth usage is not strictly quantified, GreenGeeks has fair use policies in place to prevent any single website using too much bandwidth. This stops it from affecting the performance of other sites on the shared server.

How much does GreenGeeks cost?

The cost of GreenGeeks hosting ranges between $2.95 (Lite shared hosting) to $439 (Pro dedicated server hosting).

GreenGeeks’ shared hosting plan prices are some of the most low-cost on the market. Just be aware that these promotional prices only apply to their 1-year subscription and not their 2-year or 3-year subscription. This means the monthly price will increase to $11.95 upon renewal after the first year.

All of GreenGeeks plans can be paid on a monthly or annual basis. This means that you are either automatically billed on a certain day every month, or need to pay a lump sum for a certain amount of years (1 year, 2 years, 3 years). The frequency of your plan renewals impacts your overall hosting expense. We have listed information on GreenGeeks plans and prices below.

Shared hosting – start from $2.95/month

VPS hosting – start from $39.95/month

Managed WordPress hosting – start from $2.95/month

Reseller hosting – start from $19.95/month

Dedicated servers – start from $169/month

Is it better to opt for monthly or annual plans?

It is better to opt for GreenGeeks 1-year annual plan over their monthly plans if you prioritize saving money. Choosing their 1-year plan unlocks a significant $9 discount per month. Their Lite shared hosting plan costs $2.95/mo if you select a 1-year term, but $11.95/mo if you opt for the 1-month term.

Monthly payments are best if you prefer flexibility and a smaller upfront cost. Not having a long commitment makes it easier for you to change hosts. If you’re just starting out or have a tight budget, monthly payments are the ideal choice.

Note that GreenGeeks is unusual in that they do not give you bigger discounts if you sign up for longer than 1 year. We ran the calculations and found that the monthly cost of the 2-year and 3-year plans is actually the same as the monthly plan ($11.95/mo). However, choosing annual plans gives you more convenience since you don’t need to worry about paying your hosting bill on a monthly basis.

Where Are GreenGeeks Data centers?

GreenGeeks operates 4 data centers spread across 3 continents. They operate 1 in Chicago in the US (Test IP: 184.154.26.130) and 1 in Montreal, Canada (Test IP: 72.55.143.196). They also have 1 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Test IP: 107.6.155.186), and 1 in Singapore (Test IP: 23.106.53.146).

Simply select the data center you wish to host your website from when you sign up for a GreenGeeks plan.

What is GreenGeeks speed performance?

GreenGeeks offers impressive A+ ranking speed performance. We currently have a Bitcatcha WordPress test sites hosted from GreenGeeks US data center. It returned excellent speed results when we put them through our Bitcatcha Server Speed Checker. This tool gives a host’s speed a special rank that ranges from E up to A+. It does this by calculating the average server response time from 10 different virtual nodes around the world, each representing a visitor from different countries accessing your site.

Our US-hosted test-site returned an A+ ranking for worldwide speed and great speeds of 23 ms from the East Coast.

US Data Center Average Speed: 118.6 ms
(See full result – Visit test site)

GreenGeeks achieves impressive server speeds with their use of speed-primed technology, like SSD RAID-10 Storage Arrays, optimized LiteSpeed web servers and MySQL/MariaDB database servers. This combines with LiteSpeed Cache (LSCache) to further accelerate page speeds. They enable HTTP3 / QUIC to further speed up in-browser load times and include a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) via CloudFlare.

What is GreenGeeks uptime?

GreenGeeks offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and our own tests confirmed excellent uptime. Uptime refers to the percentage of time your website is available to visitors and is an excellent indicator of a web host’s reliability.

We checked the fine print on GreenGeeks’ uptime terms and conditions and it seemed robust. As usual, the guarantee doesn’t cover service interrupted from any client errors, or any type of DDOS, internet or cyber attack. However, if GreenGeeks’ servers go down, their uptime guarantee will offer some sort of compensation for the problems that downtime can cause.

We set up an uptime tracker on our test sites using UptimeRobot and were impressed by the outcome.

Here’s the uptime of our US-hosted test site:

We were impressed with both results to date.

How is GreenGeeks good for the environment?

GreenGeeks is good for the environment in two main ways: energy matching and tree planting. GreenGeeks website additionally states that their hosting platform was built to be as energy efficient and waste-minimizing as possible.

This is important because internet technologies are a major polluter of the environment. Data centers account for 1 – 1.5% of global electricity use according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). GreenGeeks make active efforts to counter their negative carbon impact by investing in green power which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. GreenGeeks is one of the green web hosts that are not just carbon-neutral but carbon negative.

How does GreenGeeks 300% energy matching work?

GreenGeeks 300% energy matching works by partnering with the non-profit organization Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) that is based in Portland, Oregon. GreenGeeks first calculates their yearly energy consumption and carbon footprint. They then use BEF to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) credits to the value of three times more than what they have consumed. They have supposedly replaced 615,000+ kWh/year using this system.

Are all GreenGeeks hosting plans environmentally friendly?

Yes, all of GreenGeeks hosting plans are environmentally friendly. They work with the One Tree Planted organization to plant a tree for every new hosting account purchased, regardless of the hosting plan type. The organization currently plants trees in four regions including North America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

GreenGeeks’ 300% energy matching policy also applies to all their hosting plans. This means that whether you purchase a shared hosting or dedicated server hosting plan, you’re still supporting GreenGeeks environmental-friendly efforts.

Is GreenGeeks officially verified as environmentally friendly?

Yes, GreenGeeks is officially verified as environmentally friendly. They’ve been an official Green Power Partner of the United States Environmental Protection Agency since 2009.

What control panel are GreenGeeks on?

GreenGeeks is on the cPanel control panel. cPanel is an industry-leading control panel that offers a user-friendly interface and features. It’s simple enough for beginners whilst offering advanced tools for developers. GreenGeeks’ cPanel also includes the Softaculous installer. Softaculous enables the easy installation of over 400 types of plug-ins and CMS such as WordPress.

Do GreenGeeks VPS plans also include cPanel?

Yes, GreenGeeks VPS plans also include 1 cPanel account on their solo VPS plans. This means you can make use of cPanel to manage your VPS hosting account without needing to pay extra.

Can I purchase additional cPanel licenses through GreenGeeks?

Yes, you can purchase additional cPanel licenses through GreenGeeks directly but only for their VPS plans. A cPanel Admin license (5 accounts) purchased through GreenGeeks costs $10.99/mo. A cPanel Pro license (30 accounts) costs $17.99/mo. A cPanel Pro license (50 accounts) costs $27.99/mo. Their highest tier is a cPanel Premier license with 200 accounts, that costs $65.99/mo.

Does GreenGeeks come with a free website builder?

Yes, GreenGeeks comes with a free website builder called SitePad. This allows anyone with zero coding knowledge to quickly create a website that is eye-catching and mobile responsive. Even total beginners can easily use the drag-and-drop editor to arrange widgets, image elements and text boxes. GreenGeeks even integrate a thumbnail-view of the different SitePad themes into cPanel to make it even simpler to use.

Does GreenGeeks come with free emails?

Yes, GreenGeeks plans come with free emails. Their cheapest shared hosting plan is called the Lite plan and includes 50 email accounts. All their other plans include unlimited emails.

How many databases can I host on a GreenGeeks plan?

You can host unlimited databases on any of GreenGeeks shared hosting plans. This means there is no limit on the number of MySQL databases you can install. This applies to even the cheapest and most basic of GreenGeeks shared hosting plans.

How many domains can I host on a GreenGeeks plan?

You can host unlimited domains (unlimited websites) on a GreenGeeks plan if you select the Pro hosting plan or up. You can host one domain / website on their most basic Lite shared hosting plan.

How much is a domain name with GreenGeeks?

A domain name with GreenGeeks costs around $17.95 for a .com domain. The exact price depends on the domain extension type and whether you want to purchase additional ID Protect. For example, GreenGeeks charges $74.95/year for a .green domain but only $9.95 for a .work domain. The domain name cost remains generally the same for domain transfers and domain renewals.

Does GreenGeeks give a free domain name?

Yes, GreenGeeks gives a free domain name to all customers on their shared hosting plans for the first year. You register a domain name without paying when you sign up with GreenGeeks but need to pay to renew your domain name after the first year elapses.

What are GreenGeeks nameservers?

GreenGeeks nameservers (DNS) are recommended to be set as the following:

A nameserver is a server on the internet that helps translate domain names into IP addresses. This is necessary for users to be able to find and access your website. GreenGeeks nameservers use Anycast technology to reduce latency. You need to change the DNS settings for your domain name with the domain registrar where you bought the domain, via the “custom name servers” panel (or similar). Users on GreenGeeks’ Reseller hosting plans get the option to set up their own private name servers.

Is GreenGeeks good for WordPress?

Yes, GreenGeeks is good for WordPress. Their shared hosting plans are WordPress-ready which means that their infrastructure is optimized for optimized WordPress performance. All their shared hosting plans come with a free 1-click WordPress installer and you can use their Quick Launch Onboarding Wizard to quickly get your WordPress site live.

You get a free WordPress migration with their team of WordPress migration specialists. They also allow you to enable automatic WordPress updates so that they automatically detect out-of-date versions and help update your WordPress core and plugins for you. They also offer LiteSpeed’s LS cache which helps your WordPress site perform up to 4x faster.

Can I still use WordPress on the regular shared hosting plan?

Yes, you can still use WordPress on GreenGeeks regular shared hosting plan. There’s actually no difference between the 3 plans (Lite, Pro, Premium) listed on their shared hosting page and the 3 plans (Lite, Pro, Premium) listed on their WordPress hosting page. It is just a matter of marketing. They want people to know that their shared hosting plans are also primed to run WordPress sites.

Does GreenGeeks offer unmanaged WordPress hosting?

No, GreenGeeks does not offer unmanaged WordPress hosting. All their shared hosting plans include managed WordPress services. This includes convenient services such as automatically updating your WordPress versions and WordPress security patches.

Is GreenGeeks good for WooCommerce?

Yes, GreenGeeks is good for WooCommerce. WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plug-in for eCommerce sites. GreenGeeks actually markets WooCommerce hosting plans that are specialized for WooCommerce by providing a 1-Click WooCommerce Installer. GreenGeeks unlimited storage and fast server speeds translate to fast page speeds for WooCommerce stores with large product catalogs. It also enables smooth transactions. GreenGeeks also gives you the option to add a green badge to display on your WooCommerce store to let visitors know that your shop is earth-friendly.

Is GreenGeeks secure?

Yes, GreenGeeks is secure due to 4 main strategies.

The first is they use a container based approach to help keep your hosting account secure. In the event that other websites on the shared server are attacked by malware, your website is safe out of reach.

Secondly, you benefit from their proactive Server Monitoring system that scans all critical services. This works in real-time and utilizes kernel level file tracking to scan all file changes for known malware signatures.

Thirdly, they make use of clustered security. This means they combine proprietary and 3rd-party software to help them spot potential harmful attacks across their network and take swift action.

Fourthly, their data centers have 24/7 security, fire suppression and water detection systems. GreenGeeks’s plans also include free important security features for site owners to secure their site and data.

Do I get free SSL with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) with GreenGeeks. An SSL certificate is a digital security protocol that encrypts data exchanged between a web server and a user’s browser. This is critical for building trust and ensuring secure online transactions.

Every GreenGeeks plan includes a free Let’s Encrypt SSL integration. GreenGeeks also gives you the option to purchase Premium AlphaSSL Wildcard SSL Certificates starting from $99.95 a year

Do I get regular website backups with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get regular website backups on most of GreenGeeks plans. Accounts are backed up on a nightly basis and several copies of data are made to keep data safe. GreenGeeks also performs regular disaster recovery backups of EcoSite & Reseller hosting platform. They maintain approximately 30 sets of recovery backups. GreenGeeks does not automatically backup VPS or Dedicated Servers.

Is my data secure on GreenGeeks?

Yes, your data is secure on GreenGeeks. They uphold comprehensive data privacy policies since they operate an Enterprise class data center in Montreal, Canada. This is a country known for its stringent privacy laws such as The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Because GreenGeeks themselves need to be compliant, they take strong measures to prevent the loss, misuse and alteration of data under their control.

GreenGeeks is well-versed in what needs to happen in the unlikely event of a data breach. In line with PIPEDA requirements, GreenGeeks notify all affected customers and the authorities within 72 hours. You’re also able to access your records as well as Right To Erasure.

Do I get root access with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get root access with GreenGeeks on all their VPS and dedicated server hosting plans. Root access allows you to have complete control over your hosting environment and lets you configure your server on a very granular level. This lets you install software, manage security settings and tailor your GreenGeeks server to your website’s particular needs.

Is Python supported on GreenGeeks?

Yes, Python is supported on GreenGeeks. Python is a versatile programming language popular for web development. At the time of writing, GreenGeeks confirmed they currently support Python version: 2.7.5. GreenGeeks provides Python modules on shared servers but there are some restrictions in place. Their VPS plans come with root access and do not have any limitations.

Is Node.js supported on GreenGeeks?

Yes, Node.js is supported on GreenGeeks although there are limits on how much their team is able to assist you with it. Node.js is an open-source and cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment. GreenGeeks makes the NodeJS environment available to customers on EcoSite Premium and Managed VPS platforms only via node, npm and other tools. However, they will not help with configuration, debugging, or deployment of NodeJS applications.

What customer support does GreenGeeks offer?

GreenGeeks offers customer support in the forms of email, Live Chat, and phone support. You can reach their support department 24/7/365 in the forms of email and Live Chat.

We spoke to their team on Live Chat at different times of day on the chat and always received a prompt and friendly reply within 1-2 minutes.

In cases where they needed to escalate the issue (when I asked about something highly specific, like PIPEDA-compliancy), they opened a ticket for us and got back to us with the answer very quickly. Further research online showed that plenty of other customers have great things to say about GreenGeeks’ support. GreenGeeks maintains that its staff members are not outsourced. They are based in North America and communicate in clear English.

Do I get free website migration with GreenGeeks?

Yes, you get a free website migration when you sign up for GreenGeeks. Their migration terms of use specifies that the free website transfer service is available for 30 days from the date you sign up for your plan. Users need to pay for website migrations that occur after these 30 days but it is possible.

What kind of money-back guarantee GreenGeeks have?

GreenGeeks has a 30-day money-back guarantee attached to all its hosting plans. This means that you will receive a full refund of your hosting fee if you are not happy with their services for any reason. This is a ‘no questions asked’ money back guarantee but it is important to note that there are some services that you will not get your money back for, such as domain registration.

Canceling your GreenGeeks subscription is an easy process that can be initiated at any time. Getting a refund on GreenGeeks is also a simple matter but needs to be done within their stipulated trial period.

How to cancel GreenGeeks subscription?

To cancel your GreenGeeks subscription, simply fill up their online cancellation request form. You need to specify the email address connected to your GreenGeeks account in the form.

The GreenGeeks team then sends you a Ticket ID and asks you to email them a confirmation to proceed with the account cancellation. Your cancellation is processed within 7 working days. You are charged in full for the entire month in which you cancel your account.

How to get a refund from GreenGeeks?

You get a refund on GreenGeeks by filling up their online cancellation request form within the first 30 days of the start date (sign up date) of your service. Be aware that certain services such as domain name registrations or add-ons are not eligible for refunds, even if a request is made within the 30-day trial period.

What are the alternatives to GreenGeeks?

There are 5 alternatives to GreenGeeks web hosting that are worth looking at.

1. Hostinger

GreenGeeks and Hostinger both offer cost-effective hosting solutions but Hostinger’s introductory prices are lower. Hostinger’s prices start from $1.99/mo for A+ speeds and a more user-friendly custom control panel called hPanel. GreenGeeks offers better environmental-friendliness.

2. Bluehost

Bluehost is officially WordPress-endorsed and provides good speeds in regions around the United States. Both BlueHost and GreenGeeks offer cPanel but GreenGeeks offers better global coverage.

3. Siteground

SiteGround offers more high-end hosting with a higher price tag than GreenGeeks. They offer superior reliability and speed with infrastructure built on Google Cloud. Check our SiteGround review for more information.

4. Hostgator

HostGator offers strong and fast hosting that’s slightly pricier than GreenGeeks. They were reported to purchase green energy credits to offset their carbon use but we were unable to recently confirm this from HostGator’s website. Check our HostGator review for more information.

5. GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a domain registrar that offers a wider variety of hosting plans than GreenGeeks. It also provides the cPanel control panel like GreenGeeks does. GreenGeeks environmental efforts are much more comprehensive than GoDaddy’s. Check our GoDaddy review for more information.

What deals do GreenGeeks have?

GreenGeeks has deals during particular times of year where users can get significant discounts. We’ve tracked their deals for several years and noticed that they usually drop their prices significantly during holiday seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Christmas, and July 4th.

Just last year GreenGeeks offered a massive 84% off their shared hosting, which dropped their Lite plan pricing down to $1.95 a month. Check out our coverage for GreenGeeks Black Friday Deals for more information. Don’t forget to add our Bitcatcha coupon code to get an extra discount on top.

Verdict: Is GreenGeeks recommended?

Our tests confirmed GreenGeeks as a strong web hosting contender and one of the best web hosting providers on the market. They empower customers to choose a more environmentally-friendly hosting option without compromising on speed and uptime. Not many host companies can say their carbon footprint is negative. They also offer great value for money, reliable support and security.

In all, GreenGeeks is a well-rounded host that is worth checking out, especially if sustainability is something you’re passionate about.