1&1 Web Hosting Reviews

1&1 hosting was established 26 years ago, and counts as one of the world’s leading web hosting providers. 1&1 taps into various international markets, making their products available in countries like Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, US, Germany, Austria, France, Italy and more.

1&1 Company Overview

The 1&1 Group manages over 19 million domain names on high-performance and green data centers across Europe and the US, and has a customer base of over 15 million.

Their services are not limited to web hosting alone – they also offer a comprehensive list of internet services like domain registration, site creation, online marketing, eCommerce tools, email hosting, etc., which position them as a one-stop internet shop.

1&1 Plans, Pricing & Hosting Features

For the most part, 1and1.com’s services are inexpensive and built to meet the budgets of individuals and small to mid-sized businesses.

1&1 Shared Hosting Plans

Prices for shared hosting plans start at just $0.99/month and go only as high as $6.99/month. Mind you, these are introductory prices, which usually renew at higher rates. To benefit from these great introductory prices, 1&1 asks you to commit for only 12 months as opposed to hosting companies that may “lock you in” for 2 or even 3 years.

Notable features of 1&1 shared hosting plans:

• Free domain name;
• Free SSL certificate;
• Some unlimited hosting plans;
• Access to 120 click & build web apps;
• Email anti-spam and anti-phishing tools;
• 1&1 CDN and SiteLock Basic included with some plans;
• 24/7 service.

1&1 Virtual Server Cloud Plans

1and1.com’s VPS cloud plans use the latest Intel® Xeon® E5 processors, and feature 100% SSD storage and Plesk ONYX. There are 5 VPS plans available in this category with prices starting at $4.99/month and going as high as $19.99/month. Here too, these prices apply for 12-month plans.

Best features of 1&1 VPS plans:

• VMware virtualization and SSD storage;
• Choice of data center and choice of Windows or Linux;
• Plesk ONYX;
• Full root access;
• Unlimited traffic;
• 99.9% uptime;
• Free backups, SSL certificates;
• Server snapshots, etc.

1&1 Dedicated Server Plans

1&1’s powerful dedicated server options will help you deal with any mid-sized or large project you may have. Plans in this category kick off at $69.99/month and go as high as $299.99/month.

In terms of features, here’s what you can expect from these plans:

• Variety of Intel and AMD processors;
• Unlimited traffic;
• Choice of Windows/Linux and managed dedicated servers;
• Root access;
• SSL certificate included;
• First 3 months off deals;
• Option to choose SSD drives with some plans;
• Plesk 12.5 control panel;
• Business Line by Dell dedicated server options;
• Various backup, security, SEO and online marketing tools.

1&1 Cloud Server Plans

1&1 hosting lines up as many as 11 pre-configured cloud server plans or you can create your own VPS plan with 1&1’s Cloud Server Flex plan. Prices range between $9.99/month to $349.99/month. Hourly billing is also an available billing option with hourly rates starting at $0.014/hour. Managed cloud server plans are also offered by 1&1 starting from $14.99/month.

1&1’s cloud server plans boast the following features:

• Choice of datacenter – Spain, Germany or US options;
• SSD storage available;
• Managed and unmanaged server options;
• Various Linux and Windows OS options;
• Unlimited traffic;
• Plesk ONYX;
• Built-in firewall;
• Software development kit included, etc.

1&1 Managed WordPress Hosting

If you’re looking to host a WordPress site, 1and1.com’s managed WordPress hosting plans follow the same pricing structure as their shared hosting options, that is, prices range from $0.99/month to $6.99/month.

Here are some of the features that come with these WordPress packages:

• 1 free domain;
• 1 to unlimited WordPress website hosting;
• SSD storage (some plans with unlimited SSD storage);
• Unlimited visitors;
• Pre-installed plugins, ready-to-use templates;
• DDoS protection;
• SSL certificate;
• Pre-live staging;
• CDN with Railgun and SiteLock Basic with premium plans.

Alongside web hosting services, 1&1’s web services extend to include site building (1&1 Website Builder), search engine marketing, online marketing, and web security services.

1&1 Customer Support

1&1 offers customer support via phone and email. Their website has a Help Center populated with various articles on their services. Live chat is not an option when it comes to customer support, which is a big miss considering the size of this host.

Despite their excellent product offerings, there are some complaints about 1&1’s customer support, which usually involve issues with long waiting times.

Pros & Cons of 1&1 Web Hosting

1and1.com lines up a wide range of hosting options and features for their customers, but let’s see what are their best and not so good features:

Conclusion

There is no doubt about the amazing security and hosting features offered by 1and1 web hosting. You can start out at 1&1 with a simple shared hosting plan and upgrade as you go taking advantage of the well-designed and performance-driven hosting options lined up for you. Whether you want to configure your own plan, or change it later, 1&1 gives you a lot of freedom to add resources, scale your plans, choose your OS, work on long-term or short-term projects.

The only caveat is their unsatisfactory customer support, which can be a hit or miss sometimes. Otherwise, 1&1 ranks high in security and performance, delivering consistently high uptime scores and reliable services.

Whether you’re a developer, a medium-sized business or an individual user, 1&1 hosting surely has a plan that will suit your skill level and hosting needs.

David Cross

David is the chief editor at WebHostingMedia right from the beginning. He has a great passion for building and managing websites and creating helpful content. He is also interested in programming - currently learning python.