I write about hosting, so it's fair to ask where my own websites run. Here is the honest answer: the hosts I pay for today, the one I left, and what I've learned from moving client sites between hosts.
Contents
Where my sites are hosted today
| Site | Host | Setup | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebHostingAdvices.com (this site) | Hostinger | Business plan (shared hosting), behind Cloudflare | October 2023 |
| HostingRevelations.com | Hostinger | Same Business plan (shared hosting), behind Cloudflare | October 2023 |
| Some of my personal sites and my Canadian clients' sites | Cloudways | Managed cloud servers on Vultr | – |
Why I moved WebHostingAdvices from MochaHost to Hostinger
WebHostingAdvices ran on MochaHost until October 5, 2023, when I moved it to Hostinger. HostingRevelations followed a couple of days later.
The main reason was a slow server. The problem wasn't the page itself: it was the server's first response. When you opened the site, there was a noticeable wait before anything started to load, before the browser even began loading the page. That initial response time (TTFB) is exactly what I measure today on every host I test.
The control panel also felt outdated compared with what other hosts offer now.
To be fair to MochaHost, its support was excellent. The team listened carefully, investigated properly and stayed with a problem until it was solved, with no ghosting. The catch was speed: a support ticket could take around 24 hours to get an answer.
Why I picked Hostinger
- A faster server response than I had on MochaHost.
- More server locations to choose from, where MochaHost limited my options.
- LiteSpeed web servers.
- A good price for a long term, when you pay for two years or more upfront.
- Its own email hosting, so I don't pay for a separate email provider.
Hostinger is fast if you configure it correctly, assuming your site is well set up, with nothing major slowing it down.
What it costs me
Both sites share one Hostinger Business shared hosting plan. These are the renewal prices I paid, not the discounted first-term prices:
- Premium: I started on this plan and renewed it for $172.58 for 2 years. With several WordPress and Node.js sites on the same account, I kept hitting its resource limits.
- Business: so I upgraded, and renewing it cost me $191.76 for 2 years.
Why my client sites are on Cloudways
I use Cloudways on Vultr servers for my Canadian clients, and for some of my own personal sites:
- From SiteGround: I advised some clients to move to Cloudways because their sites kept hitting SiteGround's resource limits too quickly.
- From Bluehost: I migrated other clients after security problems, including hacked sites.
What I've seen with other hosts
As a freelance web developer, I've worked on a lot of client websites on different hosts:
- GoDaddy: I handled many client sites there and ran into the same problems again and again, so I moved most of them to other hosts.
- Bluehost: I worked on client sites hosted there, cleaned up hacked sites, and moved several clients to Cloudways.
- SiteGround: many of my clients used it, until some kept running into its resource limits.
- Vultr: besides running Cloudways on Vultr, I've worked directly on Vultr servers (migrations, server configuration and web applications), so I've seen both the managed and the self-managed side.
- Dedicated servers: I've used dedicated servers, including at Scaleway.
How I test the hosts I don't use myself
I can't run a site on every host, so for the rest I monitor real customer websites on each provider and test their speed every month. The method and the results so far are on my review process page.
