Are you fed up with web hosting companies and website builders that increase their prices by 300 percent after the first year of your selected hosting plan expires?
If so, you will probably sign up with HostMetro and take advantage of their price lock guarantee.
HostMetro began operations in 2012 with an emphasis on shared hosting and innovative features such as a guaranteed price lock and 99.9% uptime.
It’s an excellent alternative for the cost-conscious beginner looking for a trusted web host.
HostMetro distinguishes itself by catering its servers to complete beginners who are more than satisfied with a shared hosting environment.
If pricing is your primary consideration when selecting a hosting provider, you will have a hard time finding a more affordable option than HostMetro.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at Hostmetro, its overall features, price, pros & cons, and determine if HostMetro is the right fit for your requirements.
Summary
| Web Hosting Name | Hostmetro |
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Plans Start From | $2.95/ Month |
| Promo Code/Coupon | Get 50% Discount |
| Features | Unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, website builder, 1-click installs, unlimited email accounts, Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate. |
| Website | Click Here |
What is Hostmetro?
HostMetro is a relatively new player in the web hosting industry.
Although the company’s founders have substantial past experience in this industry, HostMetro launched in the United States in 2012.
Their headquarters are in Chicago. Surprisingly, they focused only on shared hosting options.
Their primary goal (as they say) is to offer affordable, simple-to-use websites and hosting services.
Apart from the United States, HostMetro has established a sizable customer base in the United Kingdom, India, and Taiwan.
Their only data center is located in Elk Grove Village (near Chicago), and according to the company, it provides network connection, power redundancy, and 24-hour security monitoring.
To provide a consistent level of high speed for all of its customers, HostMetro’s network framework provides 10GB per second connections, which is always a plus.
Additionally, to ensure stability and performance, their MySQL database servers are powered by two quad-core Intel CPUs with 96GB of RAM and offer RAID-protected storage and SSD drivers.
Why Choose Hostmetro?
HostMetro’s hosting plans are economical and provide all of the necessary features to help you build the best website possible.
They include a free website builder and a plethora of apps in the hosting account menu.
The provider’s most noteworthy feature is its Price Lock Guarantee.
The idea of not having to pay twice or thrice the price at renewal time (as is the case with the majority of web hosting providers) is more than appealing.
You get live chat, phone assistance, a ticketing system, and a comprehensive knowledge base with HostMetro hosting.
The ‘submit a ticket’ option is really beneficial, particularly if you cannot find a solution to your query in the knowledge base.
Additionally, the company is quite active on social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook.
Apart from that, HostMetro includes free domain registration and site transfer with all of its plans.
Bear in mind, however, that this free domain is only valid for one year and that you must use the “free domain” coupon to redeem it.
After this one-year period ends, the domain will cost $14.49.
The free features included in HostMetro’s packages are just a few of the reasons you’ll enjoy our web hosting services.
The company guarantees 99.9% uptime for its users, but wait, there’s more!
If HostMetro’s yearly uptime average falls below 99 percent, you’ll get a free month of hosting! It will be reversed and credited to your account.
Hostmetro Review – Plans and Pricing
HostMetro provides two simple hosting solutions.
Most other web providers offer confusing hosting packages, numerous add-ons, and other complex terminology.
The hosting options offered by HostMetro are as simple as they come.
There are two hosting plans available: Mega Max and Super Max. Both options include the maximum amount of disc space and bandwidth available.
However, “maximum” means that there is a predefined limit on data use.
However, according to the HostMetro website, the quotas would cover 95% of their customers’ demands.
If you do reach your data use limit, either due to your website’s size or because of unusually high traffic, you may request more space.
However, if more than 15% of your 2GB disc space is utilized for backup, multimedia, or email storage, this storage increase will be disabled.
To put it another way, they don’t want you to use your account to store or share files.
Both of these plans have a variety of similar features, including unlimited email accounts and email hosting, ample disc space and bandwidth, and free domain registration and website builder.
The payment cycle is somewhat flexible; customers can decide to be charged annually, biennially, or triennially and pay with any major credit card or PayPal.
If HostMetro’s services do not match your expectations, a 30-day money-back guarantee is available upon request.
Pricing:
- Mega Max Plan: Starts at $2.95 per month
- Super Max Plan: Starts at $6.95 per month
Hostmetro Pros and Cons
Before deciding to use HostMetro for your website hosting needs, let’s take a look at some of its most notable pros and cons:
Pros
- Price Lock Guarantee: When you sign up for a HostMetro hosting plan, you’re guaranteed that your price will stay the same for the life of your account. In the rapidly-changing world of web hosting, this is a huge pro. You’ll never have to worry about your rates going up, no matter how long you stay with HostMetro.
- 99% Uptime Guarantee: HostMetro guarantees that your website will be up and running 99% of the time. In an industry where downtime can mean lost revenue and customers, this is a significant plus. Uptime is essential for businesses, and HostMetro takes that seriously. Any time your website is down, you can file a ticket with their support team and receive a credit for the amount of time your website was unavailable.
- Affordable Hosting: HostMetro’s affordable hosting plans are a major pro for small business owners and anyone on a tight budget. Hosting can be expensive, but with HostMetro, you can get started for as little as $2.95/month. That’s a fraction of the cost of many other hosting providers.
- Cheapest Plan Comes With Unlimited Features: HostMetro’s cheapest hosting plan comes with unlimited features, which is a major pro for small business owners and anyone on a tight budget. This plan gives you unlimited storage space, bandwidth, and email accounts.
- 30 Day Money Back Guarantee: HostMetro’s 30-day money-back guarantee is an excellent feature for anyone looking for a web hosting provider. If you’re not happy with HostMetro’s services for any reason, you can cancel your account and receive a full refund of your hosting fees.
- Free Website Builder With All Plans: HostMetro’s free website builder with all plans is a great feature for those who want to build a website on their own. The drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create a website without coding or programming knowledge.
Cons
- Average Speed: HostMetro’s speeds are not as good as the other top web hosting providers. In fact, HostMetro is one of the slowest web hosts, according to speed test results. This means that your website will likely load slowly, which can frustrate your visitors and cost you business. If speed is important to you, HostMetro is not the right choice.
- The Provider Only Offers Shared Hosting: If you’re looking for a website hosting company that offers VPS and dedicated options, HostMetro is not the right choice. This also means that you’ll have to share server space with other users, which might slow your website.
- No Monthly Billing Option: Hostmetro only allows users to pay annually, biennially, or triennially. This can be frustrating if you’re not happy with HostMetro’s services and want to cancel your account. There’s no monthly billing option, which means you’ll have to wait until your plan expires to make any changes.
Alternatives of Hostmetro
While HostMetro offers many great features and services, it’s not the only web hosting option on the market.
Below are some competing providers with similar plans.
iPage
iPage is a web hosting provider that offers a wide range of services, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting.
It also offers a free website builder, making it easy to create a website without any coding or programming knowledge.
iPage is one of the fastest-growing web hosts, and it has received several awards for its excellent customer service and affordable prices.
Like HostMetro, iPage guarantees 99% uptime and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
It also comes with a free domain name for the first year, as well as unlimited storage space, bandwidth, and email accounts.
One of the biggest pros of using iPage is its speed.
According to speed test results, iPage is one of the fastest providers on the market. In fact, it outperforms HostMetro in this area.
Bluehost
Bluehost is a web hosting company that was founded in 1996. It is one of the largest web hosting providers in the world and is headquartered in Provo, Utah.
The company has more than 2 million customers and hosts more than 5 million websites.
Bluehost offers a variety of web hosting services, including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting.
Bluehost’s shared hosting services are some of the most affordable on the market. The company offers three shared hosting plans: Starter, Plus, and Business Pro.
All of Bluehost’s shared hosting plans include unlimited storage space, unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate.
The Starter plan also includes a single site and 1 GB of storage. The Plus plan includes five sites, 10 GB of storage space, and unlimited bandwidth.
Finally, the Business Pro plan includes unlimited sites, 20 GB of storage space, and unlimited bandwidth.
GreenGeeks Hosting
GreenGeeks is a web hosting provider that makes use of 100% wind power to run its servers.
The company was founded in 2008 and has more than 300,000 customers. GreenGeeks offers different hosting services, including shared web hosting and VPS hosting.
Unlike HostMetro’s plan, GreenGeeks does not offer unlimited storage space or bandwidth; it only provides a certain amount of each that varies depending on the plan you choose.
The company offers three shared plans: Solo, EcoPro Business, and EcoPro Pro Plus.
All of these come with unlimited domains and sub-domains, email accounts, databases, FTP accounts, MySQL 5 Databases per account.
However, they do have some limitations regarding features such as SSL certificates and dedicated IP addresses.
Verdict
HostMetro is a web hosting provider that offers affordable plans, a 99% uptime guarantee, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Its pros include unlimited storage space, bandwidth, and email accounts with all plans, as well as a free website builder.
However, its speeds are not as good as the other top web hosting providers, and it only offers shared hosting.
Overall, HostMetro is a decent web hosting provider that may be a good fit for those on a tight budget.
FAQs
Is Hostmetro reliable?
HostMetro’s reliability is questionable. While it has a 99% uptime guarantee, many users have expressed frustrations with the company’s lack of speed and customer service.
It also offers shared hosting, which means that you’ll have to share server space with other users.
Does HostMetro offer any guarantees to users?
Yes, HostMetro offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to users.
If you’re not happy with the company’s services, you can cancel your account at any time during the first month and receive a full refund of your hosting fees.
Besides that, the provider also offers a price lock guarantee.
Does HostMetro offer VPS or dedicated hosting options?
No. While it does offer shared hosting, it does not offer VPS or dedicated hosting options. This means that you’ll have to share server space with other users.
Is HostMetro beginner-friendly?
Yes, HostMetro is beginner-friendly. The provider’s free website builder makes it easy for anyone to build a website without any coding or programming knowledge.
It also offers unlimited features, which is great for small business owners and those on a budget.
Amit Gupta is the Writer & Editor of Best-Hosting.org, a website that provides helpful guides and resources on Website Designing, Hosting, and Speed Optimization. After completing his high school certification, Amit spent half a decade learning about website designing using different hosting servers available. Before forming Best-Hosting.org, Amit worked for several hosting companies.