GreenGeeks is a web hosting provider whose goal is to be as environmentally friendly as possible. They offer a variety of shared hosting plans for everyone from beginners to large companies. Their prices are affordable, and their plans include plenty of useful features. See our expert GreenGeeks review to decide if it’s the right choice for you.
All web hosting companies offer similar plans with same promises. In this complete GreenGeeks review, we will put their promises to test in the following areas:
- Speed & Performance: How fast will your website load on GreenGeeks?
- Reliability: Can you rely on them to ensure that your website is accessible all the time?
- Customer Support: Will you be able to get quick support when you need it?
- Features: What’s included in the GreenGeek hosting plans?
- Pricing: How much does GreenGeek cost, and can you get a good deal to save money?
We will share lots of details in this in-depth GreenGeeks review. If you don’t want to read all that, then here is the quick summary of our GreenGeeks review score.
| GreenGeeks Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Performance grade | A+ |
| Average load time | 527 ms |
| Average response time | 119.7 ms |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes |
| 1-click WordPress | Yes |
| Support | Phone / Live Chat / Knowledge base |
| Start with GreenGeeks | |
Bottom line In our review we found GreenGeeks to be a good hosting provider. However, there is room for improvement in terms of performance and speed.
That being said, let’s get into the details of how we reached this conclusion.
About GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks was founded in 2007 by Trey Gardner. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company now powers over 600,000 websites and offers a green hosting solution.
What is Green Hosting?
Green hosting is an environment-friendly hosting service that uses different technologies and processes to reduce their carbon footprint.
The web hosting industry uses a huge amount of energy and has a big environmental impact. GreenGeeks aims to mitigate this by purchasing wind energy credits. They purchase three times the amount of power they use. They’re also an EPA Green Power partner.
GreenGeeks Performance Tests
WPBeginner users trust our reviews because we only recommend products and services that we have used ourselves. We sign up for each top WordPress hosting company to thoroughly test their claims by running performance tests.
For this review, we signed up for a hosting account on GreenGeeks and installed WordPress. While using the default theme, we filled the website with dummy data including media and images. This way our test site looked and behaved like an actual WordPress site.
GreenGeeks Speed Test Results
Speed is crucial for the success of any website. That’s why the first test we ran was to measure the website speed using Pingdom.
Here are the results:
Our test site loaded in less than a second which is great. However, this test alone does not show the full picture because the site has no traffic at all.
GreenGeeks Stress Test Results
Next, we wanted to see how well our test site would perform on GreenGeeks during peak traffic. To measure this, we used a tool called K6 (formerly called Load Impact).
We gradually built up to 100 unique visitors at once to see how the server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
Here are the results:
The blue line represents page load time and the green line represents number of users on the site.
GreenGeeks didn’t perform well under this test. Our site remained responsive well up to 30 users but then performance started degrading. The response time became too high and the server started giving errors.
What this means is that if you have a small website, then GreenGeeks will work well for you. However, any traffic spikes will degrade your website performance significantly and may cause downtime.
You can address this by installing a WordPress caching plugin. However, if your web server is slow, then even caching alone won’t make much difference.
GreenGeeks does give users an option to enable caching, but we wanted to fair in our tests across all platforms, so we ran tests only with the default installation setup without any performance optimization.
GreenGeeks Response Time Test
Next, we wanted to test how our GreenGeeks site responds to requests from different geographic locations. To measure this we used a tool called Bitcatcha.
Here are the results
As you can see that the response time was particularly great in North America. However, it was slower in India and Asia Pacific but still under a second.
GreenGeeks Hosting Plans and Features
GreenGeeks has a wide range of hosting plans for customers of every size. They offer basic shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated server hosting.
However, their main offering is their shared hosting plans called EcoSite Starter. It includes:
- unlimited storage and bandwidth
- 1 free domain for first year
- hosting for unlimited websites (Except Lite plan)
- SSD storage (solid state drives web space) with nightly backups
- free email accounts
- 1-click installation of WordPress
- one-click Softaculous for apps like Joomla and Drupal via cPanel
They also provide a free website migration service as an add-on, so you can easily move from your current hosting company.
GreenGeeks uses advanced technologies like LiteSpeed, LSCache, MariaDB, and unlimited MySQL databases. There are also a few advanced features for more technical users and developers:
- pre-installed Git
- PHP version selection
- WP-CLI for direct command line access
Hosting plans
Their main shared hosting / WordPress hosting service is available in 3 levels.
- Lite – Limited to 1 WordPress install
- Pro – The Pro plan includes unlimited websites with 2x performance
- Premium – The premium plan also inncludes free dedicated IP address
Each GreenGeeks web hosting plan also comes with Cloudflare CDN (for security, speed, and seo), scalable CPU, eCommerce support, generous disk space, website builder with templates, unmetered data transfer, and more. Plus you can easily upgrade to VPS plans or WordPress hosting as your site grows.
GreenGeeks offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. This means that within the first 30 days after signing up, you can cancel your account for any reason and get a full refund of your hosting fees. The refund doesn’t include domain registration fees, and you get to keep your domain.
Support and Customer Service
GreenGeeks provides support 24/7 via live chat and email support ticket. They also offer phone support Monnday – Sunday from 9 am to midnight EST.
For managed WordPress hosting customers, there are WordPress expert support specialists available to help you set up your site or handle any WordPress-specific issues.
Many customer reviews of GreenGeeks rave about their top-notch support. They have a reputation for responding very quickly to inquiries and providing expert help no matter the issue.
Pros and Cons of GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is a popular web hosting company, but it may not be right for everyone. Consider these pros and cons before choosing a plan.
Pros of choosing GreenGeeks hosting
- Better for the Environment – GreenGeeks is a web hosting company with strong values that cares about the environment. You can help to support renewable energy by hosting with GreenGeeks.
- Packed With Features – GreenGeeks hosting plans include all the features you need to help you build a website.
- Affordable – GreenGeeks offers very competitive prices for all the features they provide.
- Highly Rated Support – Customer rave about the top-notch expert support GreenGeeks provides.
Cons of choosing GreenGeeks hosting
- Phone Support Isn’t 24/7 – Phone support is not provided from midnight to 9am EST. If you have a problem in the early hours of the morning, you must use live chat or email support instead.
- Setup Fee for Monthly Billing – If you choose the month-to-month billing, there’s a $15 setup fee. The fee is waived if you pay for a year or more.
Is GreenGeeks Right for You?
Now that you have read through our entire GreenGeeks hosting review, you might be wondering whether GreenGeeks is the right web host for you.
After reviewing GreenGeeks services in detail, we are awarding them with the title “Most Eco-Friendly Hosting.”
The web hosting industry has a huge impact on the environment. Every web hosting server produces 1390 pounds of CO2 per year. It has surpassed the airline industry in environmental pollution.
As GreenGeeks customer, you can do your part to support renewable energy by choosing eco-friendly web hosting. GreenGeeks purchases wind energy credits and is a recognized United States EPA Green Power Partner. They put back into the grid three times the amount of energy they consume, helping to lessen your web hosting’s impact on the environment in an energy efficient manner.
GreenGeeks is a good hosting solution for anyone who is just starting out. For higher traffic volumes you may need to upgrade to a high-performance plan or move to a managed WordPress hosting provider.
Ready to get started with GreenGeeks? Click here to select your GreenGeeks plan today.
FAQs About GreenGeeks Web Hosting Services
Following are some of the questions we have been asked about GreenGeeks’ website hosting services.
1. Is GreenGeeks Hosting Good?
If you are looking for eco-friendly best web hosting service for a small business, then GreenGeeks hosting is among the best web hosting options out there.
They have easy to use control panel for newbies, 99.9% uptime guarantee, friendly support team, and helpful knowledge base tutorials.
2. Where is GreekGeeks Data Centers Located?
According to GreenGeeks website, their data centers are located in Chicago, Phoenix, Canada (Toronto and Montreal), and Europe (Amsterdam). They are powered by green energy and equipped with high quality SSD based Raid-10 arrays.
3. How does GreenGeeks.com Compare to Other Hosting Companies?
We are often asked to compare GreenGeeks with other hosting companies like Bluehost, GoDaddy, SiteGround, HosGator, and more.
We believe that Bluehost and HostGator are both better than GreenGeeks in terms of performance and user experience. GreenGeeks will be better option than GoDaddy due to better customer support. SiteGround, is more expensive but far superior in terms of technology, customer support, and user experience.
GreenGeeks Coupon
WPBeginner users get a free new domain and 60% off their web hosting with our GreenGeeks coupon code.
All you have to do is click on this link to purchase. The discount will be auto-applied.
Dima R says
This is almost unbelievable, but my business email has been working 99.99% perfectly well with Green Geeks. For any issues I had to chat with their support a few times, and they seem to be very knowledgeable about their products and services.
Shlomo Skinner says
I’ve been happy with the service, the price, and the tech support that I’ve received from GreenGeeks.
Belinda Roozemond says
I usually don’t leave feedback for web hosting services, but I’m so pleased to do this for GreenGeeks. I was a bit out of practice in setting up websites, and when I initially signed up, customer service patiently and quickly answered ALL of the questions (so many!!!) I had. Competent, fast, and friendly. They also followed up later to ensure I had everything I needed to move forward. I did, thanks to their help.
The user interface is super easy to navigate, and I can find everything I need without searching. The addons are great too!
Very satisfied customer here
Noellie Garand says
Thank you for hosting my email address.
Your service is most reliable and the only time there was an interruption for hardware failure (overt he past six months) you informed us very quickly. Excellent customer service.
Kind regards,
Noellie
Amy Claxton says
Green Geeks hosting is by far the epitome of what a hosting company should strive to be. They offer top notch customer service as well as top notch hosting environments. I have contacted support many times since I have been with Green Geeks and have always felt that my questions were not only actually read but responded to in a timely and correct fashion. So many companies use form replies that make it look like they did not even read your question. This is not true here. I have never had any site downtime. I have had as many as 30 sites hosted here at once some are higher traffic and I have never had an issue. I use WordPress to build all websites and this has been the best experience I have had with any company. I have been with many companies in 25 years and GreeGeeks has beat them at every level. I have a permanent hosting home here. My only negative feedback is that the affiliate program only pays out via PayPal and I do not do business with Paypal so it leaves me out of maybe making a few bucks in promoting the hosting.
Larissa McCollin says
I have been using Green Geeks for over a year now, and they have been so helpful getting me set up and heading in the right direction. Whenever I have needed assistance wading through the steps, terminology and options with a website, they have been patient and make me feel well advised in the decisions I make. I would highly recommend them.
Liz Martin says
GreenGeeks offers green web hosting and as someone who’s trying to make an effort to reduce her carbon footprint, the site’s selling point really got me! I like that GreenGeeks is easy to use and when I had trouble migrating my site from Blogger to WordPress for self hosting, I was guided patiently by GreenGeeks’ customer service agent.
Vali says
Always ready to help!
Gerardo Cantu says
Green Geeks y’all are awesome! It’s so easy working with you and you have excellent customer service, not to mention your prices, which are very reasonable! I am a fan!! Thank you all for all your help so far.
Michele Delgado says
Customer service is spot on. Response time is quick and for a solopreneur it is important to keep things moving and to have clear results.
Green Geeks provides all of this.
Ngozi Chijioke-Agina says
When I signed up for GreenGeeks hosting, I was an online newbie, but with their patience and support, I have come a long way in my online business. I am always amazed at their prompt 24/7 response to queries; their professionalism; the team of smart experts and their added services all at the customer’s disposal.
They further gained my respect when my site was under attack. the team took over the challenge and got me sorted till I was satisfied and comfortable with the outcome. They simply exceeded my expectations. Thank you once more GreenGeeks.
Maciek Hrybowicz says
Excellent service at a very good price. I love the ‘green’ aspect of their hosting, though to be honest, I have to trust Green Geeks on this. I like their clear and fast customer portal. My few queries were met with a knowledgeable answer from their support team in less than an hour – this is important, since I live in New Zealand. otherwise nothing else to say, which is exactly how it should be.
Judy says
I’ve been a Greengeeks hosting customer for many years, because of their great customer service and reliable hosting. The customer service techs are kind, knowledgeable, patient, and prompt, help me fix things and never make me feel like an idiot. I’m an artist, not a coder, but they make it easy to have my own website.
Dave Maino says
I started using GreenGeeks awhile ago and have had nothing but good experiences so far. They have pretty good pricing and great support, and they have a good suite of tools that are easy to use. Plus I get to feel good about my money going to support a sustainable business.
Cassandra Brennan says
You geeks are the best. Patient and well versed in all things website. Your hosting plan is amazing and your intent to lower your carbon footprint with a portion of the fee is beyond. But most of all, you truly have the most secure and constant improvements to your hosting platform. Thank you GreenGeeks!!!
Peter V says
I only work with GreenGeeks. The registration/setup is easy and should you run into trouble, the sales/tech support is really 24/7 available.
They saved my sites several times (1 hijack, 3 updates/upgrades that went wrong) and every time, the sites were back up in 10 minutes.
Neil Hodgkiss says
I’ve been a Green Geeks customer for around a year and a half. I am very impressed. Customer service is amazing. I set up a media wiki, accessed through a link on the main page of the site. I had a couple of technical difficulties – not in the implementation or installation of Media Wiki, but a couple of background security bits that were not allowing wiki users to edit their personal page. Green Geeks solved this for me in an instant. I’d thoroughly recommend.
Karin says
Love the service of Green Geeks. They are caring, quick, and fun.
Paul Martin says
Excellent services, fast / responsive tech support as needed and an easy to navigate site through the dashboard & control panel. I’ve used many hosting services throughout my career. Green Geeks quite possibly is the best one of them all. I am so glad I found GG and have sites hosted here. Over time I will likely migrate everything I have here but with over thirty active domains it will take me a while to transfer them all.
Chris Stevens says
I would highly recommend GREEN GEEKS. Having used several other providers in the past, I have now moved multiple domains and to say I’m happy with the service would be an understatement. I have always received quick, prompt, responses when opening a ticket and the interactions with their staff have been professional and pleasant.
If you are looking for an affordable hosting for your site or sites – look no further!
Scott Gorrell says
The team at Green Geeks is great. Not only are their products easy to use but when you do have a problem or a question they are quick to respond with easy to understand explanations AND documentation that is easy to follow.
They are no doubt one of the best examples of quality customer service that I have seen in my lifetime. On top of that, their rates are reasonable and their efforts to be environmentally responsible won me over at day one.
Thank you Green Geeks for doing hosting the right way!
Laurentiu says
I used the service due to statistics involving server speed. Things seem good in that regard. They have good explainer articles on how to use the service and fix issues and their client service department is quite good and helpful.