SiteGround Review: Is SiteGround Worth It in 2024?

SiteGround: A Quick Overview

SiteGround was founded in Bulgaria around eighteen years ago, and it wasn’t long before this web host started making waves in the web hosting space.

It stands apart from other web host due to its commitment to delivering quality at every level.

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Our Review

Before we delved deep into the review, our team determined the benefits and disadvantages of SiteGround to help you decide if it suits your needs.

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1. Excellent Security + Backups

After diligent research, we determined that SiteGround has an in-house team of dedicated server security experts, and they also invest quite heavily in their infrastructure.

2. SiteGround Uses Google’s Cloud Platform

After personally using the hosting service, I learned that SiteGround leverages Google’s C2 Cloud server technology to deliver scalable managed cloud hosting for growing businesses of all sizes.

It is, however, more expensive than shared hosting, but the benefits delivered by this type of hosting are indeed superior.

Since SiteGround also manages the technical setup and infrastructure, their clients do not need to configure and maintain their own servers.

3. 24/7 Outstanding Customer Support

After countless interaction with SiteGround’s customer support, I can vouch that they remain dedicated to providing excellent customer support. We rated their priority support team quite high compared to the hundreds of hosts we’ve put to the test over the last year.

4. Beginner-Friendly Custom Dashboard

If you are currently using a different web host, it may be likely that they use a traditional cPanel dashboard. However, SiteGround developed its own custom dashboard that I find much more intuitive and easy to use than cPanel.

With this custom dashboard, SiteGround solves a few key problems that many experience with their hosting accounts from other providers:

5. Amazing Uptime

SiteGround averaged 100% uptime in 2022, most hosts don’t even begin to come close!

6. Decent Global Speed Performance

After recommending SiteGround to one of my clients, they vouched that their business websites had received commendable speed performance. This is in large part thanks to its “blazing-fast” global in-house CDN.

SiteGround also has servers in multiple locations around the world so you can easily find a server location closest to your target audience.

It also invests in its server-side caching technology and also provides a performance optimization plugin for WordPress users to get even better website performance.

7. Officially Recommended by WordPress

It is one of three web hosts to be officially recommended by WordPress, the world’s most popular platform for building websites. We also did a SiteGround and WP Engine comparison which you can check for additional features analysis.

8. Free SSL Certificates

After in-depth research, our team learned that SiteGround was one of the first hosting providers to integrate Lets Encrypt (a provider of free SSL certificates).

The company also went a step further and integrated automatic issuing and renewals of SSL certificates within its platform.

With its 1-click SSL installation option, SiteGround has made it incredibly easy for everyone to secure their websites.

9. Expensive Renewals

One of my clients claimed that although SiteGround offers up to 80% discount on its shared hosting services, the hosting service charges five times as much for renewals.

There are far cheaper hosting providers out there who also offer discounted rates for longer than SiteGround does.

However, this comes with a giant caveat because very few cheap hosting providers actually offer as much value as SiteGround.

Take a look for yourself in these head-to-head comparisons we’ve written comparing SiteGround with two of the cheapest web hosts in the market: Bluehost and Hostgator:

10. No Free Domain Name or Other Business Services

SiteGround doesn’t offer a great range of different services for businesses to manage all their website-related needs.

For instance, it does not include a free domain name with your hosting, nor does it offer separate email hosting or any marketing add-ons.

While you can purchase and transfer domains to SiteGround, their domain prices are also quite high (much higher than the industry average).

So if you’re looking for an all in one web host, perhaps companies like GoDaddy or Namecheap are more suitable options for you to consider.

11. No VPS Hosting or Dedicated Servers

SiteGround offers cloud services instead of VPS or dedicated hosting. 

We consider SiteGround’s cloud services superior to most VPS and dedicated hosting solutions on the market at the moment.

With either VPS or dedicated hosting, your website is stored on a single server and if anything were to happen to that server, chances are that your website would go down with the server.

However, cloud services distribute files across a global network of servers so that you can experience greater safety, security and unparalleled uptime.

12. Limited Storage on Shared Plans and WordPress Hosting

While SiteGround allows you to host unlimited sites on most of its shared and WordPress hosting pans, it offers very little storage for you to do so.

When compared to companies like Hostinger that give you from 50GB of SSD storage on the lowest tier, some might find SiteGround’s limited storage a little restrictive.

13. No “In-Between” Hosting Options

If you decide the shared hosting plans don’t have enough storage but you don’t want to scale up to SiteGround’s cloud hosting which starts at $100/month, there simply aren’t any other options you can consider that are in between.

That’s perhaps the gap that most VPS and dedicated server plans fill for other hosting companies, they provide those ‘in-between’ options in both price and resources available.

If this is a deal-breaker for you, perhaps you can check out our article on the best unlimited web hosting providers for a list of companies that provide great value and unlimited storage for more affordable prices instead.

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SiteGround Hosting Plans

If you’ve decided that SiteGround sounds like a decent company for your needs, here are the details on each of their services.

1. Shared Hosting

SiteGround offers promotional pricing on all its shared plans.  Based on my experience and client feedback however, you will need to pay one year of hosting upfront to secure the cheapest rates.

Unlike other web hosts that offer up to 3 year terms for the cheapest rates, you will need to pay the renewal pricing which can be as much as 5 times the cost of the promo prices.

2. WordPress Hosting

SiteGround offers two types of WordPress hosting services:

In both cases, the prices and package inclusions match the shared plans with additional WordPress specific features included.

This is great value if you run a WordPress site as you essentially get a stack of extra features for free.

These include:

3. Cloud Hosting

There are four cloud hosting options to choose from which really raise the bar compared to SiteGround’s shared plans.

You can also configure your own Custom Cloud setup which offers the following:

All of SiteGround’s cloud hosting plans run on Google’s scalable and reputable C2 cloud technology.

However, if you’re seeking a solution that lets you manage your own sever setup, that’s not available with SiteGround.

4. Reseller Hosting

SiteGround offers a reseller web hosting which also replicates the shared hosting plans.

However, the most notable difference is that you can manage unlimited sites on all plans.

You can also register your clients as users in your account and give them white-label (they can use their own branding) access to the websites (and the associated site tools) you build for them.

This means that you can customize SiteGround’s dashboard to show only your logo.

They won’t see SiteGround’s branding anywhere so you can provide a truly white-labeled web hosting service.

SiteGround’s reseller hosting plans are best suited to agencies and freelancers that sell web design or web-related marketing services.

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Features

1. Disk Space

Since I’ve used SiteGround on one of my websites, I acquired the mid-tier storage the company offers. I also learned that the hosting service offers limited disk space on both it’s shared and WordPress web hosting services.

Compared to other companies that offer 50GB on their smallest tiers for only $1.99/month, SiteGround sure seems to be overcharging for what it delivers.

If you do want storage-optimized hosting through SiteGround, we recommend customizing your own cloud setup as you can choose anywhere between 40GB and 1TB of SSD storage!

2. Backups

Having used the service myself, I can attest that SiteGround offers automated backup plans daily without additional charges and enhances security by storing data on multiple platforms.

3. Security

SiteGround offers ecellent security features.

In fact, we’re so impressed by their commitment and steadfast dedication to providing top-tier security that we crowned SiteGround as one of the best web hosting companies in 2024.

Here are SiteGround’s security features in a nutshell:

For anyone who wants extra security included, SiteGround also offers an additional paid (and optional) tool called SiteScanner which runs scans to detect malware and common security threats.

We have always considered security as one of our top priorities as a web hosting provider. We go above and beyond when it comes to securing the server and each and every one of our customer’s accounts.

-SiteGround Customer Support

SiteGround isolates your site from other custom patches on the same server to enhance security. Company specialists monitor web applications to counteract potential vulnerabilities and ensure the safety of the client’s website.

4. Servers & Locations

For anyone targeting audiences in a specific location, it’s worth looking at where your website’s servers are located.

SiteGround’s data center locations.

If your audience is primarily based in the US, there’s generally no issue for you as most web hosts have at least one data center in the US. Paired with a CDN, you can still easily distribute your content all over the world.

If your audience is not primarily based in the US, however, you need a more flexible approach and SiteGround offers exactly that with the 7 locations of their data centers around the world.

They currently have servers located in:

In addition, they offer 7 CDN locations between the US, South America, Europe and Japan.

Their data centers are all green (carbon-neutral) and feature multi-layered security to prevent unauthorized access to your data.

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Performance 

To determine SiteGround’s website speed and performance, our team will share the results of our tests.

1. Speed

With website speed being among the most critical factors for user experience, it’s no surprise Google has also made it an official ranking factor.

Below are the results of the test:

Our tests with both GT Metrix and Pingdom showed some minor performance drops from London servers.

To be fair, though, we didn’t set up the test website on SiteGround’s London servers so you’re likely to be able to get great performance in the UK if you opt for the local servers instead of US-based ones.

Otherwise, these scores from different locations around the world are far better than most of SiteGround’s competitors.

There are some global hosting companies that have way better performance.

FastComet is at the top of our list as it has been at the top of our list for the best web hosting in Nigeria, Australia, South Africa, and even Nepal.

2. Uptime

SiteGround has one of the best uptime performance with a record average of 100%.

Here’s the data and we’ve compared it to FastComet to follow on from the above point.

That’s why SiteGround is one of the best web hosting providers we recommend because they excel where most others fail.

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SiteGround Pricing

SiteGround’s pricing can be considered on the expensive side.

The average specs of these plans are listed below, side by side with SiteGround’s.

SiteGround effectively costs more than double the industry average to deliver the same resources.

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Support

After I’ve personally interacted with their customer support, I inferred from feedback that they are among the top companies we’ve considered.

Based on our inquiry, here’s what SiteGround’s customers have to say:

With over 92% of customers who have left a review rating SiteGround as “excellent” on TrustPilot, that’s not something many other hosting companies can compete with.

SiteGround remains dedicated to delivering quality at every turn, both with priority and regular customer support.

All of SiteGround’s customers get:

If you opt in for the GoGeek plan, you also get priority support.

This means that any of your customer support requests that come through via the live chat or ticketing function are assigned as high priority and passed to the most experienced customer support agents available at the time of your query.

That’s how SiteGround is able to maintain exceptional customer support quality and resolves many issues very quickly.

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What Site Tools Features Does SiteGround Offer?

The site tools features that SiteGround offer include site builder, CDN management and site scanner.

1. Drag & Drop Builder

The drag & drop builder it features allows beginners with no technical skills to create a professional website. You simply have to drag and drop content elements like photos, graphs, videos and text to add them to the website.

2. CDN Management

SiteGround CDN is a site optimization feature designed for clients and customers who receive their signal from various locations. 

It increases the website loading speed between 20% to 100% by utilizing Google network and anycast routing.

3. Site Scanner

Site scanner automatically performs daily checks for any detected threats before it could reduce incoming traffic and create substantial damage. This feature would help maintain your website’s integrity and business reputation. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

What SiteGround Tools Will Speed Up Your Site?

SuperCacher, NGINX Web Server, Cloudflare Content Delivery Network are SiteGround tools that will speed up your site.

Does SiteGround Support WooCommerce?

SiteGround supports WooCommerce.

SiteGround is an expert WordPress and WooCommerce host. SiteGround’s WooCommerce-specific optimizations ensure reliable and consistent performance, making them a solid choice for whatever online shop you may be creating.

Can I Cancel My SiteGround Account and Get a Refund?

You can cancel your SiteGround account and get a refund. They offer a 30-day refund policy for all shared hosting plans and a 14-day money-back guarantee for cloud hosting accounts.

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Our Verdict on SiteGround Review

Based on my experience with SiteGround and the results of our tests,  I must say I’m genuinely impressed with the hosting service. The company’s reliability, efficiency and the positive feedback they garnered from clients are proof why they’re a top choice. 

If you’re looking for a blend of reliability, speed, and top-notch support, SiteGround is a contender that’s hard to overlook. In my books, they’re definitely worth considering for your hosting needs in 2023.