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A2 Hosting is a platform that could be a solution for reliable and fast web hosting needs. Perhaps not as popular as Hostinger or HostGator, but this hosting service offers many advanced features as well as a fairly good customer experience.
A2 is an attractive option for users who need mid-range website hosting with outstanding server performance and reasonable prices.
Our Speed, Your Success is its slogan, but can it support more stable and faster websites?
This deep review article will illuminate your curiosity. I hope you enjoy reading my research on A2 Hosting.
Table of Contents
PROS
- Outstanding Server Speed
- Good Uptime Record (99.96%)
- Fast Loading with SSD Storage
- Money Back Guarantee
- Server Options in Four Locations
- Adequate Customer Service
- Free Site Migration
CONS
- Slightly Slow CS Response Time
A2 Hosting Quick Summary
| Average Speed | - 174.4 ms (Singapore - Swift plan) - 4.2 ms (Michigan - Startup plan) |
| Uptime (last 365 days) | 99.99% |
| Pricing | Starting from $2.99/month |
| Free Domain | No free domain |
| Data Centers | USA, Europe, Asia |
| Backups and Restoration | - Automatic Server Rewind Backups - Restore with one click |
| Migration | 1 free migration on all Shared Hosting plans |
| Email Hosting | No |
| Support | Live Chat, 24/7/365 Call Support, Email tickets, Knowledge base |
| Payment Options | - Credit and Debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) - PayPal - UnionPay - Bank Wire Transfer - Skrill - Check or Money Order |
| Refund Policy | Anytime Refund Policy on Prorated basis |
| Features | Free Sectigo SSL Certificates, cPanel, A2 website builder, Cloudflare CDN, unlimited emails, 100 GB SSD storage, Litespeed servers (starting from Turbo Boost plan) |
| Security | 2FA, Virus Scanner, SSH Access, IP Blocker, ModSecurity, Imunify360, Hotlink Protection, HackScan, Patchman Enhanced Security, Barracuda Spam Firewall ($3/month) |
| Hosting Plans | Shared Hosting, WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Reseller Hosting |
About A2 Hosting
The origin of this web hosting company is Iniquinet, which was founded in 2001. After several years in business, the company was rebranded as A2 Hosting. A2 is taken from Ann Arbor, the founder’s hometown, in Michigan, US.
Although this service is based in Michigan, its server location or data centers are also spread across several countries, such as Amsterdam and Singapore. This web hosting service suits web developers, marketing agencies, freelancers, bloggers, startups, and larger businesses.
Best Features of A2 Hosting
The best choice for those who need fast and reliable WordPress hosting with adequate technical support. Outstanding performance with a 99.96% uptime guarantee and many expandable features.
Speedy Web Hosting
I tested my website speed using the Michigan server’s Shared Hosting (Startup) plan. Also, I took another website provided by Bitcatcha with a Swift Plan (Singapore server).
It impressed me with its fast speed test, even in shared hosting results. These are the complete test outcomes.
Bitcatcha
Ajenta.net (Datecenter: Michigan, Plan: Startup)
- US (W) - 2 ms
- US (E) - 2 ms
- London - 4 ms
- Singapore - 3 ms
- São Paulo - 3 ms
- Mumbai - 2 ms
- Sydney - 2 ms
- Japan - 3 ms
- Canada - 10 ms
- Germany - 11 ms
A2SGHosted.com (Datecenter: Singapore, Plan: Swift)
- US (W) - 173 ms
- US (E) - 249 ms
- London - 169 ms
- Singapore - 2 ms
- São Paulo - 423 ms
- Mumbai - 57 ms
- Sydney - 90 ms
- Japan - 71 ms
- Canada - 330 ms
- Germany - 180 ms
Pingdom
Ajenta.net (Datecenter: Michigan, Plan: Startup)
- Performance grade - B (81)
- Page size - 1 MB
- Load time - 535 ms
- Requests - 56
A2SGHosted.com (Datecenter: Singapore, Plan: Swift)
- Performance grade - A (92)
- Page size - 302.8 KB
- Load time - 1.04 s
- Requests - 22
GTmetrix
Ajenta.net (Datecenter: Michigan, Plan: Startup)
- GTmetrix grade - A
- Performance - 100%
- Structure - 95%
- LCP - 711 ms
- TBT - 15 ms
- CLS - 0
A2SGHosted.com (Datecenter: Singapore, Plan: Swift)
- GTmetrix grade - A
- Performance - 100%
- Structure - 95%
- LCP - 709 ms
- TBT - 0 ms
- CLS - 0
Free SSD and OS Options Available
All hosting packages come with proven SSDs that can improve website performance. SSD storage is faster (about 30%) than regular hard disk storage. This website hosting option can be applied to Windows and Linux operating systems devices.
Anytime Money Back Guarantee
One of the best features of A2 Hosting is the money-back guarantee. It’s offering a money-back guarantee not only for 30 days but any time prorated according to unused services. According to its claim, once you purchase any A2 Hosting plans, you won’t leave and won’t look for other hosting providers. It comes with positive reviews for its customers. As its commitment to be a successor in your business, A2 will help you maximize its services for your business existence.
Optimized Software
Users can set up to optimize website performance. The optimization is available for WordPress by using a cache plugin to improve website speed. Moreover, the optimizations also support other CMSs like Drupal, PrestaShop, and Joomla. If you run a website that needs to upload thousands of images, A2 optimizes the images by compression to boost the performance.
In addition, some web developers test the website speed to get the whole results using the GTmetrix tool. The good news is that A2 provides the feature of advanced optimization for GTmetrix. So, the optimization applied to your websites is based on GTmetrix measurement.
A2 Hosting Plans and Pricing
A2 provides not only WordPress Hosting but also various plans like Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, and Dedicated Hosting. Each hosting is available with varied plans. The information below will help you to find the right hosting before deciding to purchase.
Shared Hosting
For those asking the question, is A2 shared hosting support to install WordPress? I ask the A2 support team, and this is their explanation.
With the confirmation above, I finally moved my website Ajenta to A2 Hosting while writing this article. This is my first article published in Ajenta since using A2 Shared Hosting. If you are curious, I will explain why I moved this website from HawkHost Hosting to A2 in the following article.
Anyway, A2 divided the Shared Hosting into 4 divisions: Startup, Drive, Turbo Boost, and Turbo Max.
Startup
It offers $36 per year for 100 GB storage. Please imagine, you only need to pay 2.99 bucks monthly to get this large hosting space. This is the best investment for those who want to be a personal blogger, or you can utilize it for your clients.
The Startup comes with cPanel, including a free SSL Certificate and Unlimited Email accounts.
Even though it is for single domain use, Startup still gets the remarkable features as the other plans, such as Free website builder, website staging, Choice of Data Center Location, and full support service.
To be honest, I also want to move my site, Ajenta, to A2 Shared Hosting since I found its features match me. Some day, I will write about my experience with A2 Hosting if I get the chance to use its services.
Drive
A Drive plan is more expensive than a Startup one but provides more advanced features. If the Startup gives 100GB storage, the Drive offers Unlimited. If the Startup is only available with 1 website, the Drive is able to install the Unlimited domain in its cPanel—an excellent deal for the $5.99 monthly price.
Turbo Boost
Coming with the tagline “Turbo Servers + More Power,” Turbo Boost offers 72% off, which only costs 6.99 bucks monthly if you purchase it for an annual plan. Turbo has the meaning to boost your website to get high speed on performance.
Since today, one of the SEO aspects is relying on good speed sites, A2 Hosting provides a Turbo Boost package to reach higher SEO rankings on Google.
Turbo Max
This is the fastest server on the A2 shared hosting. If you need a higher speed than a Turbo Boost plan, consider this package. At a glance, there is no difference between Boost and Max in turbo options, so I asked the A2 sales team. This is the answer.
Turbo Max has RAM and CPU Core 2x larger than Turbo Boost. So, we can agree that Max’s performance is better than Boost.
Turbo Max has its own server, which is named Turbo servers. You don’t need to hesitate to choose this hosting plan if running a website development business.
With the Unlimited features offered, I thoroughly recommend to web developers for considering this hosting plan. It can contain many website domains running on the hosting.
WordPress Hosting
This suits people who want to focus on WordPress without other configurations. Simply put, buying this plan could be the best decision if you only need to run some websites operating in WordPress.
On this hosting package, A2 Hosting offers you 4 different types: Run, Jump, Fly, and Sell plans. All of these plans are hosted by Turbo servers, so you don’t need to be paranoid about hosting performance.
Moreover, A2 guarantees the website’s speed on WordPress Hosting with 99.9% Website Uptime Commitment. A2 Optimized WordPress feature will improve your website’s security and performance.
Run
A2 Run WordPress Hosting is affordable, fast, and easy to use.
With 1 website available, you can have 50GB NVMe Storage to organize the WordPress site files easily. Additionally, it comes with a Plugin/Theme Set Management feature. So you can customize the theme and configure the plugins through the front-end interface.
The Run offers 4GB of Memory (RAM) for storing and making the data available when accessed. Anyway, it’s crucial to secure your data, even the tiny pieces in WordPress. The good news is that A2 steadily stores your website data using the Onsite Daily Backup feature. Additionally, Jetpack Free is installed on this plan to increase your website speed.
The Run plan is $11.99 monthly or $143.88 in the annual plan.
Jump
If you need more than one website on WordPress Hosting, the Jump plan is supported to install 5 websites/domains. The jump plan is 5x larger than the Run storage provided, which has 250GB NVMe Storage.
Even though its performance is not faster than the Run plan, the Jump is easy to manage 5 websites since it has Multisite Management.
Maintaining a WordPress site could sometimes be risky for some bloggers or agencies. They have to organize and make sure the website files are safe. This will happen when you don’t back up or perhaps forget it for some reason.
To tackle this case, the Jump is giving complex backup features; Onsite & Offsite Daily Backup and Jetpack Daily Backup.
The Run plan price is $18.99 monthly, or equally $227.88 if you purchase for 1 year.
Fly
The Fly has 2x bigger RAM than the Run and Jump plan. The 8GB RAM with unlimited NVMe storage has supported unlimited websites. This is a great plan if you are running a WordPress development agency. You just need to add $10 more compared to the Jump plan.
In fact, you don’t need to care about security issues. Fly system security is strengthened by Jetpack Security Daily and Jetpack Daily Malware Scans. It will protect your WordPress hosting and ensure security defense when it faces security suspects.
Fly plan offers clients $28.99 for a month; you will be charged $347.88 if you buy it for the annual plan.
Sell
The highest plan in A2 WordPress Hosting is Sell. It has Unlimited websites and storage, as well as the Fly. The additional features in this division are Premium Rapid SSL, Traffic Surge Protection, WooCommerce Optimized, and Preinstalled.
With the special tools available on the Fly, I highly recommend this WordPress Hosting if you plan to build a large WooCommerce site. It will overcome the numerous visitors at the same time without breaking down the server. The RAM in this plan is increased to 16 GB.
The Sell price is $41.99/month or equally $503.88/year. The best investment if you want to run medium or large businesses.
VPS Hosting
As we know, VPS (Virtual Private Server) stands for personal and is more exclusive than shared hosting and WordPress hosting. If you purchase VPS Hosting, you will own a private server without sharing it with other users. Also, you have a full right to manage the hosting requirement based on your preferences.
In A2 Hosting, VPS presents a dedicated server, so you can get the performance you expect. Furthermore, A2 has a motto, “Our Speed, Your Success,” providing several privileges only available on A2 VPS Hosting.
Following this, A2 VPS guarantees its customers a swift website performance.
A2 divided its VPS Hosting into 2 options, they are Managed and Unmanaged VPS Hosting. Both VPS plans provide 24/7 Guru Support, a free SSL Certificate, and free website migrations.
Let’s have a look at the image below to differentiate between Managed and Unmanaged VPS plans.
Overall, a managed VPS looks easier to operate than an unmanaged VPS. To know more, let’s dive deep into VPS knowledge below.
Managed VPS
As its name suggests, you will get anything features on this VPS plan that are managed already by A2. Managed plans are suitable for those who depend on technical support.
You don’t have to spend more time on the server setup manually. If you are a busy one, then choose this hosting plan, undoubtedly.
For the Managed VPS plan, A2 has 2 different packages:
Lift Plans
The Lift Plans is divided into 3 Managed VPS packages, with the highest tier serving 450 GB SSD Storage and running with 16GB RAM. Lift Plans offers you a Free SSL Certificate and a Free Imunify360 Security Suite.
This plan is robust for your website since the server supports up to 8 Cores. The Lift Plans price is also affordable for the features offered.
It started at $35.99/month for Lift 4, Lift 8 offers $49.99 monthly, and Lift 16, which is the highest tier on this plan, is selling at $59.99/month.
Mach Plans
Then, if you need the highest VPS hosting package in the Managed category, consider purchasing Mach Plans. The maximum performance on this plan is 32 GB RAM, 450 GB NVMe SSD Storage, 4 TB Transfer, 8 Cores, etc.
The Mach Plans have 3 levels:
- Mach 8 is the entry-level, selling at $54.99 per month;
- Mach 16 is the middle one, offering at $79.99 per month;
- Mach 32 is the top-level Mach Plan, with a $99.99 monthly price.
All of these plans above use the Turbo VPS to make your website 20x faster.
Unmanaged VPS
A2’s Unmanaged servers are ideal for those who understand Linux server administration and want unlimited flexibility for their server software configuration.
Runway Plans
Runway has 3 plans: Runway 1, Runway 2, and Runway 4. All of these plans provide a Webuzo 1-click software installer to help you put in some needed apps.
The cheapest one is Runway 1 selling at only $2.99 per month. You need to invest $7.99 monthly if you want a higher feature than Runway 1. And the highest plan is Runway 4, offered at $9.99 monthly.
Supersonic Plans
Hosting by A2’s Turbo Servers, Supersonic could be your best decision if you need a website with the best performance.
The Supersonic sells at $29.99/month for Supersonic 8, and the higher one is Supersonic 16, selling at $59.99/month. The highest one is Supersonic 32, which provides 450 GB NVMe SSD Storage and 32 GB RAM.
Dedicated Hosting
If you are a man who loves a woman, I am sure that you will put a high priority on her. That’s called “Dedication,” and Dedicated Hosting also prioritizes you not just as its customers but as its King.
Similar to the VPS classification, Dedicated Hosting in A2 is also divided into two different options that are Managed and Unmanaged. To make it simple, you have to remember that Managed is auto and Unmanaged is manual.
For instance, in A2 Managed Dedicated Hosting, you will find the CloudLinux Operating System (OS) has been installed. However, in Unmanaged you have to install the OS manually by choosing from several Linux distributions.
Managed Dedicated Hosting
A2 Managed Dedicated Hosting has 2 plans with a 68% discount offered. It comes with a server backup and configured security. Furthermore, You can manage your account easily with the cPanel control panel.
Warp Plans
The Warp Plans offers only $79.99/month, while its regular price is $249.99/month. If you feel this one is expensive, you must know it is powered by Intel Xeon E-2224 4.6GHz Turbo CPU. For its RAM 16GB DDR4, it gives speedy performance for your business website.
Warp Turbo Plans
You must invest $179.99/month for this A2 Managed Dedicated Hosting. Its RAM is 4x higher than Warp Plans, which is 64 GB DDR—Wrap Turbo Plans operated by AMD Rome 2nd Gen EPYC 7232 3.2GHz Turbo CPU. In a nutshell, this is the best plan for giant businesses in any niche.
Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting
If you want to save money on Dedicated Hosting, choose the Unmanaged plan. As I said above, you must configure many features by yourself. But you also benefit from this job; you are probably more knowledgeable about setting up the server than the Managed Hosting users.
For instance, you can set up and manage security features on the Hosting, which few know how to do. Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting gives you full control of your operating system and root-level access.
A2 Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting offers 2 plans: Hyper Plans and Hyper Turbo Plans.
Hyper Plans
The Hyper starts at $79.99 per month, while its regular price is $199.99. Like the Warp Plans, Hyper Plans also give you advanced CPU technology. Also, 2 TB SSD storage allows you to save massive website files on the server.
Hyper Turbo Plans
Hyper Turbo Plans offer $139.99/month to you that supports the transfer of up to 15 TB of data. This is the best price on a Dedicated Hosting plan for running your huge business.
Discounts
A2 Hosting offers many discount programs for its plans, and the promo keeps changing frequently. Currently, there are many discounts you can get for some plans, such as 76% off in shared hosting for 1 year purchased.
Another significant discount is 68% available in A2 Dedicated Hosting. You don’t need to apply the Coupon or Promo code to get the discount. It will reduce the regular price when you add it to the cart. The best price offered by A2 Hosting is a yearly package since it gives a bigger discount than other period plans.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Every user wants to know the advantages and disadvantages of a web hosting service before using it. Here’s the explanation.
A2 Hosting Advantages
What do people like about this web hosting service? Some of these following benefits can answer that question.
Outstanding Server Speed
Speed means the time it takes for your website to be accessible to visitors. Almost 80% of internet users will not return to a slow-loading website.
Every second, even a millisecond, can deter users from visiting your website. Therefore, speed is a crucial factor as it affects user comfort.
Google suggests a website loading time of 200 ms; the lower, the better. A2 has deliberately responded to Google by providing robust hosting speed.
Good Uptime Record (99.99%)
If you want your website to be accessible anytime, it must have a 100% uptime or active time. However, that figure is unrealistic because sometimes servers have to undergo maintenance or other activities, resulting in downtime.
Most web hosting services are good enough to provide 99.9% uptime. A2 Hosting even guarantees that if there is a downtime of 0.1% per month, a 5% service credit will be given based on the monthly fee. A2 knows how to make its customers convenient.
Fast Loading with SSD Storage
Although often overlooked, SSDs contribute to website response time. Website hosting services with SSD features as storage options are good news. Just a 1-second delay can make your website lose visitors or even sales.
Money Back Guarantee
There is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind or are unsatisfied. There is also a refund after 30 days for prorated funds from A2 Hosting for services you didn’t use.
Server Options in Four Locations
Having servers in Michigan and Arizona for the US region, Amsterdam for Europe, and Singapore for Asia. Several servers suit customers who want to target web traffic from specific regions. The closer the server is to the audience, the faster the website.
Adequate Customer Service
How do you know a professional web hosting company? Those who provide consumer services as part of the quality of service to be provided. You can contact the customer service team, 24/7/365 Guru Support. As you can see above, I asked A2 customer service to ensure that shared hosting supports WordPress, and I got an answer in a minute.
Additionally, when I moved my website to A2 Hosting, I asked Guru Support to help me. In some minutes, I got Ajenta migrated perfectly to A2 shared hosting. But another problem was happening. The site was not showing images properly when accessed.
Then, I reported the problem to the Guru Support. To be honest, I was pessimistic earlier that the A2 team could resolve my case since I hadn’t gotten a reply for over an hour.
But at the end of the day, they were not only solving the issue but also explaining the main cause to me technically. I was happy that they involved me in fixing the case. Besides, I also get new knowledge if I find that kind of issue in the future.
They told me that I should change the SSL setting in Cloudflare to “Flexible.”
Free Site Migration
You may already have a site installed in another hosting and want to move to A2. Migration to A2 is free, even for some websites, depending on the hosting package features. So, there’s no need to worry about additional costs, and the A2 team is also ready to help the transition process go smoothly.
A2 Hosting Disadvantages
You might be uncomfortable waiting in line to connect with customer service. This is one of the annoying drawbacks, especially if you need technical team assistance, because there are obstacles in using this web hosting.
However, there is a live chat that can respond without having to wait in line. This can be used to solve minor issues.
Conclusion
Ultimately, A2 Hosting is a trusted and professional company that guarantees its hosting plans. Even though it’s less famous than the other hosting providers, I recommend you choose A2 as your partner in website development. If you don’t meet the quality it offers, you can get back your money 100%.
With various plans available, it perhaps makes you hesitant to decide. That is why I am writing this comprehensive review on A2 Hosting.
If you are still trying to decide about the best hosting for your needs, the A2 Sales Team is available 24/7 to contact via phone, chat, and ticket support.
Hopefully, you can share a successful story in the future by utilizing A2 Hosting. Last, don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions. Also, you can rate the A2 Hosting by choosing the 1-5 stars range in User Ratings.
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Features10
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Performance9
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Support8.5
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Pricing8.5
