Editor's Rating | |
---|---|
Overall | |
Features | |
Price | |
Customer Service |
Positives
- Free 1-year domain name
- Eco-friendly hosting
- Full root access
- 24/7 customer support
- Affordable
Negatives
- Paid SSL certificates
- Short discount period
- No refunds
Since its inception in 1998, Fasthosts has established a strong presence in the highly competitive web hosting industry. The company has come far since it was founded by a 17-year-old who struggled to find a reliable hosting service for their A-level IT project and decided to create their own.
Fasthosts currently ensures the smooth running of over 1.2 million domains, operating 24/7 from the UK. The company has also made significant strides towards becoming environmentally sustainable by powering all its data centers with renewable energy sources. This eco-friendly approach is vital in a market that has a significant impact on the planet.
The fact that Fasthosts is affordable is an added bonus. Its basic VPS plans start as low as £1 per month, and the company sweetens the deal by offering up to 50% off more comprehensive plans. This makes its hosting solution accessible to a wider range of users, from small businesses to large corporations.
Features
Fasthosts’ platform is designed with scalability in mind, allowing users to easily upgrade their plans as their website grows. This means customers only pay for the resources they need while still being able to scale up whenever necessary.
Another benefit of Fasthosts’ VPS plans is the wide range of operating systems. From Windows and Ubuntu to CentOS, users have the freedom to choose whichever suits their requirements best.
On top of this, Fasthosts provides every VPS customer with full root access, which is perfect for more advanced users whose focus is complete control and customization of their servers.
Customization
Fasthosts has a comprehensive and user-friendly interface anchored by its industry-leading Plesk control panel, which allows users to easily manage various tools with just a few clicks.
In addition to standard website management features, the platform showcases webmail and Microsoft 365 plans within the dashboard. Even though Fasthosts offers an email and web forwarding plan, conventional webmail is an affordable add-on and includes convenient elements and utilities.
What’s more, the platform supports SQL Server 2019, which makes it easy to manage transaction processing, business intelligence, and analytics application features. This database safety measure is essential for administering large-scale websites and ensuring a smooth IT environment, but it is a paid add-on.
The company also hosts multiple content management systems, including popular options like WordPress, Joomla!, PrestaShop, and Drupal. Pre-installed plugins, such as WooCommerce and Elementor, make getting started even easier and provide users with additional customization options.
Fasthosts’ flexibility is further highlighted by its offer of one IPv4 address and 100 IPv6 addresses included, which enables users to easily scale their website.
Speed
Fasthosts is dedicated to delivering fast speeds for its users. Its VPS plans are hosted on high-performance servers with SSD storage, which ensures quick loading times and minimal downtime.
The ‘Guaranteed Resources’ policy provides assures users that their websites and apps will run smoothly even during high-traffic periods. In fact, Fasthosts guarantees 99.999% uptime, guaranteeing maximum availability and reliability.
Security
Fasthosts demonstrates its commitment to security through its range of safety features that protect its VPS plans. For instance, Cyber Protect provides daily or scheduled backups with 2GB of free storage for every VPS plan.
However, while the backups are free, SSL certificates are not. This sets Fasthosts apart from many competitors in an industry where free SSL certificates are the norm.
Counteracting this, a firewall to enhance security for VPS users is included, which can be easily configured and managed through the Plesk control panel. Additionally, optional security features, such as DDoS protection and malware scanning, are available on the dashboard.
Setup
Fasthosts’ account creation process is so simple and streamlined that it can be completed in just three steps. After selecting a VPS plan and providing personal and payment information, users gain access to the intuitive Plesk control panel where they can manage email, databases, domain names, and SSL certificates.
Creating or transferring a domain name is straightforward through the platform’s clean interface and domain search tool. Popular extensions are categorized by theme, making it simple to choose and purchase the perfect domain – which is free for the first year of the service.
Besides presenting users with a clean dashboard, the platform goes above and beyond by providing automated WordPress installation and a range of pre-installed plugins, as well as a free two-month website builder with customizable templates and widgets.
Flexibility is key for this company, as both advanced users and beginners can easily navigate its features to create and manage their websites. Overall, Fasthosts’ user-friendly interface and helpful tools make VPS hosting accessible and efficient for everyone.
Pricing
Fasthosts has ten VPS plans for users to choose from. The VPS XS and VPS S plans are ideal for people starting out, as they come with a pre-configured Debian Operating System and are affordable, starting at £1 per month.
On the other hand, advanced users who prefer full customization can opt for the plans ranging from VPS M to VPS XXL. These packages have up to a 50% discount during the first three months and vary mainly on the hardware specifications.
Fasthosts ensures that its services are accessible to all by providing RAM-optimized servers. Catering to a diverse range of users, these specialized servers start from £6 per month.
However, customers should note that although Fasthosts is a low-cost web hosting solution, prices increase significantly once the discount and promotional period ends. Additionally, many add-ons come at a cost. Still, even considering these drawbacks, Fasthosts remains one of the most cost-effective options on the market.
Another area where Fasthosts falls slightly short is the lack of a money-back guarantee, free trial, or pro-rated refund for VPS plans. As all VPS plans require a commitment of 12 months, regardless of the billing cycle chosen, it’s a shame that there’s no option to test the product in full before starting a subscription.
Customer Service
Fasthosts offers extensive 24/7 customer support through various channels, including live chat, phone, and a ticket system. During our testing sessions, the provider demonstrated impressive response times, with live chat support taking less than a minute to reply with helpful information.
Additionally, the platform has an extensive knowledge base, where users can find video tutorials, how-to guides, and FAQ pages.
The company also proves itself to be community-oriented and maintains an active presence on social media platforms. It has over 270 videos on YouTube, along with its blog, which provides users with the latest updates, tutorials, and tips on marketing and setting up a business.
Bottom Line
Fasthosts is a comprehensive web hosting solution that provides high-performance servers and guaranteed resources to ensure seamless website operation.
Users have the freedom to customize their account to suit their needs, from operating systems to add-ons. Fasthosts caters to both beginners and those with web hosting experience, with multiple content management systems and pre-installed plugins for an easier setup.
No company is perfect, and Fasthosts also has some downsides. These include the lack of free SSL certificates, a significant price spike after the discount period of the service, and no refunds for VPS packages.
Despite these drawbacks, Fasthosts is an incredibly affordable web hosting provider with discounts of up to 50%. However, the price isn’t the only selling point of the VPS hosting solution. Being both reliable and adaptable in every service it provides, it’s a solid choice for those in search of full root control and flexible server specs.
Visit FasthostsFrom £1/mo