Siteground is one of the most recommended WordPress hosting companies. They are known for their top-notch customer support, reliable, and fast hosting plans. Their WordPress optimized hosting includes everything you’ll need to create and grow a successful website or blog. Read our complete SiteGround review to find out if SiteGround is the right host for you.
In this detailed SiteGround review, we’ll put their promises to test. These are the areas we will look into:
- Performance: Speed is crucial for the success of any website. How fast will your website load with SiteGround?
- Reliability: Will your website be available 24/7/365 without facing any downtime?
- Customer Support: Can you count on their customer support?
- Features: Do they offer all the features and tools you’ll need to build your website?
- Pricing: How much it would cost you? Are there any SiteGround deals that can save you money?
This is a comprehensive SiteGround review with a detailed analysis of SiteGround’s hosting service. If you don’t want to read the full hosting review, here is the quick scorecard with our verdict right below it.
| SiteGround Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Performance grade | A+ |
| Average load time | 491 ms |
| Average response time | 137 ms |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes |
| 1-click WordPress | Yes |
| Support | Phone / Live Chat / Knowledge base |
| Start with SiteGround | |
Bottom line: We found SiteGround to be noticeably faster and extremely reliable. Their hosting plans are flexible, and their customer support is one of the best in the industry.
That’s why we’ve chosen to recommend SiteGround as one of the best WordPress hosting companies.
Now let’s dive into our detailed SiteGround review so that you can see how we reached that conclusion and decide for yourself.
About SiteGround
Siteground was founded in 2004, and since then it has grown into one of the most well known hosting companies.
It is headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria with offices in 4 locations and data centers in three continents. Today, the company has more than 500 employees and hosts more than 2,000,000 domains.
Pros and Cons of SiteGround
Each hosting company has its own pros and cons. Some advantages can overshadow the disadvantages, but some cons can be a total deal-breaker for your individual needs.
Before making a decision, you may want to review these SiteGround pros and cons.
Pros
Here are some of the advantages that make SiteGround one of the top-rated hosting companies in the world.
- Super fast servers: All SiteGround servers are highly optimized for speed. They use Google Cloud platform for all new customers which is one of the fastest platforms on the market.
- Top Notch Customer Support: Their customer support is amazing to say the least. They offer 24/7 phone support, live chat, and ticket based support.
- Free CDN and SSL They offer instant setup of Cloudflare’s free CDN and free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
- Multiple Server Locations They have data centers in three continents. You can choose the location you prefer during signup.
Cons
As we mentioned earlier, there are some downsides to every hosting company. The following are some disadvantages of choosing SiteGround as your host.
- Limited Storage: Their plans come with fixed storage. However, this storage is quite large, and if you are just starting out, then you will most likely never need extra storage.
- Higher fee for monthly billing: The hosting service gets expensive if you choose monthly billing. But if you sign up for a longer billing period, then you’ll get bigger discount and a lower rate. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee anyway, so it’s a good idea to choose a longer billing period when you sign up.
SiteGround Performance
While price often plays a significant role when choosing a web host, you cannot compromise on performance.
This is why we decided to run our own tests to thoroughly review SiteGround’s performance.
SiteGround Speed Test Results
Speed is one of the most important performance metric that you should look for. A faster website offers good user experience and boosts your SEO at the same time.
In fact, a single second delay can cause a 7% decrease in conversions, 11% fewer page views, and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.
We created a WordPress powered test site on SiteGround and filled it with dummy content for theme development with images.
After that, we used Pingdom’s website speed test tool to run our tests. These were the results we got:
As you can see, our test site loaded in less than a second (491 ms to be precise) with a performance score of 94.
This is incredible, but this website had almost no traffic so the Pingdom test alone is not sufficient.
To test how SiteGround servers would respond to increased traffic, we used a tool called K6 (formerly LaodImpact).
This tool gradually sends up to 100 users to see how the server would respond to increased traffic from multiple connections.
You can see the results in the chart below:
The green line is the number of active virtual users on the site, and the blue line is the server response time. SiteGround performed consistently throughout the test without any hiccups.
This test shows that if you are looking for a really fast website, then SiteGround can be a perfect choice for you.
One of the reasons why SiteGround performed extremely well in these performance tests is because of the recent innovations they’ve added.
Almost all SiteGround servers are now hosted on the Google Cloud Platform. They’ve also added UltraFast PHP and created a custom WordPress plugin for optimization (SG Optimizer) which really puts them in a premium web hosting category.
Typically, websites hosted on shared hosting account slow down a bit during top traffic hours. That’s because your site is sharing resources with other websites on that server.
Most shared hosting companies automatically kill the server process if your site is taking too many resources. This causes downtime on your website.
We tested our SiteGround site for the downtime and got 100% uptime result.
SiteGround Server Response Time
Your website’s content has a huge impact on page load time. For example, if you have high-resolution images on a page, then it will significantly increase the overall page load time.
This means that speed test results may not accurately reflect how fast your hosting server really is.
Instead of analyzing page load time alone, we decided to test the actual server response time as well.
To do this we used a tool called Bitcatcha. It ignores page content, and only tests the response time of the server.
Bitcatcha also gives you average loading speed from different global locations. The speed for each location is measured three separate times, and then the results are averaged.
Take a look at the results in the screenshot below.
As you can see, SiteGround is a great choice if your target audience is mostly located in the United States. The server responded in a fraction of a second in the United States.
It responded within less than a second for all locations.
SiteGround also allows you to change your server location and you can choose a datacenter closer to your target audience for even better response times in that particular region.
SiteGround Hosting Plans and Features
SiteGround offers shared hosting, WordPress hosting, cloud hosting, and dedicated hosting plans. If you are just starting out, then their shared hosting plans would be a perfect fit for your needs. However, your site will eventually grow, and you want to make sure that they have other plans that you can upgrade to.
Let’s check out SiteGround’s hosting plans and their features.
- Shared hosting: Shared hosting is recommended for new websites, bloggers, small business website or a startup online store. It is suitable for low-traffic websites as you will be sharing resources with other websites hosted on the server.
- WordPress hosting: This plan is WordPress optimized version of their shared hosting plan. It comes with SiteGround’s in-house WordPress optimizations to improve performance of your website. See SiteGround WordPress hosting.
- WooCommerce hosting: This plan is WooCommerce optimized version of their shared hosting plan. It includes SiteGround’s optimizations which greatly improve the performance of your online store. See SiteGround WooCommerce hosting.
- Cloud hosting: Cloud hosting plans provide a flexible upgrade to shared hosting solution. It allows you to use resources of cloud architecture including multiple cores CPU and bandwidth . It is suitable for growing websites, popular blogs, or businesses. It can also be an upgrade over VPS and traditional dedicated servers. See SiteGround Cloud hosting.
WPBeginner website is hosted on SiteGround’s Enterprise hosting infrastructure which is an enhanced version of their Cloud platform for large sites.
Breakdown of SiteGround’s Shared Hosting Plans
SiteGround’s shared hosting options are the best way to build a new website. Their shared hosting packages are available in three levels to match different budgets.
- Startup: This plan is limited to hosting one website. It includes 10 GB disk space and is suitable for hosting a website having 10,000 monthly visitors. You’ll also get all essential features like 1-click WordPress install, free setup, website transfer, daily backups, built-in caching (SuperCacher), free CDN, free SSL, and more.
- GrowBig: The GrowBig plan lets you host unlimited websites. It comes with 20 GB disk space and is suitable for hosting websites having 25,000 monthly visits. You’ll get all the features of the Startup plan, plus you’ll get premium features like ultrafast PHP for even faster speed, on-demand backups, easy Staging tool, and option to add collaborators to your sites.
- GoGeek: GoGeek plan is suitable for eCommerce websites. It can handle websites having 100,000 monthly visitors. In addition to all GrowBig’s features, you’ll get access to priority support, more server resources, advanced features like one-click git repo creation, and option to manage white-label clients to your sites.
Each Siteground plan comes with faster disk storage, email accounts, support for Cloudflare free content delivery network, and Let’s Encrypt free SSL certificate.
They also include several popular WordPress plugins like WPForms, OptinMonster, and All in One SEO to help you improve your website rankings.
SiteGround Support and Customer Service
You’ll see high praise for SiteGround’s customer support service everywhere. Their support team is remarkably good at offering quick, helpful, and knowledgeable support to their customers.
Their customer support includes 24/7 phone, live chat, and ticket-based email support. Their phone and live chat response times are almost instant. Email-based tickets get the first response within less than 10 minutes.
For users who prefer to fix things on their own, SiteGround offers a large collection of knowledge base articles with screenshots, videos, tutorials, and guides.
Since we use SiteGround to host several of our websites, we can say with confidence that their support staff is very knowledgeable.
Conclusion: Is SiteGround the Right Choice for You?
After reading our detailed SiteGround review, you might be wondering if SiteGround is the best web hosting company for your website?
If you want fast and reliable web hosting provider with great customer support, then SiteGround is perfect for you. They have hosting plans for every budget and each plan comes with great set of features.
All their shared hosting plans include SSD storage, site tools, easy setup of Let’s Encrypt free SSL and Cloudflare CDN service, 1-click WordPress installer, and free migration. Built-in security features protect your website against malware and you can add additional protection by turning on Cloudflare CDN functionality.
If you are just starting a website for the first time, then you will certainly appreciate SiteGround’s customer support.
Ready to get started with SiteGround? Click here to choose your hosting plan today.
SiteGround Coupon
WPBeginner users get an exclusive 70% off discount and free SSL with our SiteGround coupon code.
All you have to do is click on this link to purchase. The discount will be applied automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions about SiteGround Hosting
In this detailed SiteGround review we looked at all aspects of their hosting services. The following are some of the most frequently asked questions about SiteGround that we are asked by our users.
1. Where are SiteGround servers located?
SiteGround servers are located in the United States, Europe, and Singapore. You can choose the server location during sign up.
2. Why choose SiteGround for WordPress hosting?
SiteGround offers a highly optimized WordPress hosting platform. Each plan includes its own in-house security features and WordPress tweaks that boost your WordPress site speed and performance.
You can easily set up a WordPress website with their 1-click WordPress installation. You can also move existing WordPress websites using the SiteGround Migrator plugin.
This is why SiteGround is an officially recommended hosting provider for WordPress users.
3. Does SiteGround support WooCommerce?
SiteGround specializes in WordPress and WooCommerce hosting. If you are building a WooCommerce store then you can rely on SiteGround’s optimizations for consistent performance and reliability.
They are one of the top WooCommerce hosting providers and make it super easy to start an online store without any special technical skills.
4. Does SiteGround offer a website builder?
No, SiteGround does not offer its own site builder. That’s because they want users to have the option to pick the best website builder for their needs.
This is why they allow you to easily install WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Weebly, and many other site builder platforms.
On the SiteGround platform, you can also create unlimited web pages without any restrictions.
5. Does SiteGround offer cPanel hosting?
No, SiteGround no longer offers cPanel hosting. Once cPanel raised their licensing fees, SiteGround decided to remove cPanel hosting and instead built a far superior web hosting control panel for both beginners and advanced users. This allows them to offer managed WordPress hosting-like features without the high costs.
6. Is SiteGround better than Bluehost?
SiteGround and Bluehost used to offer the same features, but with the recent innovations, SiteGround has significantly improved its hosting technology.
When it comes to overall performance, technology infrastructure, and support quality, SiteGround is better than Bluehost. However, with all this innovation, SiteGround pricing is significantly higher.
So when it comes to pricing, Bluehost is better than SiteGround because not only is it 50% cheaper, but they also offer a free domain name with each account.
For more details, see our honest comparison of SiteGround vs Bluehost vs WP Engine.
7. How does SiteGround compare with other hosting providers?
Readers often ask us how does SiteGround compares with GoDaddy, HostGator, GreenGeeks, DreamHost, A2 Hosting, and other web hosting services.
They all used to provide similar features and technology, but over the last year, SiteGround has really stepped up its innovation.
With all the managed WordPress hosting features, Google Cloud infrastructure, and custom performance optimization, SiteGround is now in a class of its own with their premium hosting.
8. Does SiteGround offer free domain name?
Yes, SiteGround offers a free domain name. You can register a new domain name during sign up or you can use a domain name you already own. You can also buy a domain name from another registrar and point it to your SiteGround account.
9. Can I cancel my SiteGround account and get a refund?
SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all their shared plans. You can try out their services during this period. You are eligible for a refund if you cancel your account during this period. However, domain name registrations are non-refundable.
10. Which SiteGround plan is best for me?
Each SiteGround plan has different server resources. However, if you are just starting out then their Startup plan would be perfect for that. You can upgrade at any time if you need more resources. Choose your SiteGround plan to get started.
Stuart says
Quite simply the best customer service of any company anywhere. Fast, efficient, polite – simply excellent.
Susan McLoughlin says
After the installation of an SSL Certificate I had three different issues yesterday. Each time the problem was solved within half an hour. I am so impressed with the service. The tech gurus clearly know what they are doing. Not only that they are extremely professional and polite. I am just becoming familiar with the backend of Site Ground and find it much easier to navigate than previous hosts. I will be recommending them.
Leondras says
Excellent service! The best there is
thanks guys
Drew says
NEVER USE THEM. They get you onboard and then charge way more to renew and they stole my domain name and I tried to contact them and they wanted $200 to buy it back … Save yourself and don’t use them …. What bunch of jerks, my credit card expired they did not notify me the domain name expired, they wanted to charge me $200 to get it back. What was the kicker is they released my domain before the 45 day icann time and when I contacted them they bought my domain name from under me. Extortion at best …
SiteGround says
Since we do not have enough information to identify your account, we cannot check your case in detail. Still, we would like to clarify that our system sends out multiple emails about upcoming expiration dates, as well as reminders to users at login about expiring services or outdated payment information. If your credit card on file was not valid, and you did not react to the email notifications and client area alerts, unfortunately our system wouldn’t have been able to renew your services.
Also, please consider that SiteGround is not a direct domain registrar and we simply facilitate the process of domain management, following the rules of the registrar company.
If a domain name is not renewed on time, a redemption fee charge is added, but it is not collected by SiteGround – it is part of the process for reclaiming the domain from ICANN, which also determines the amounts charged for each domain to be released.
Jakob says
I never regret having switched to Siteground. Excellent, fast and friendly service. No more words needed.
Joseph says
I am just at the point of purchasing a domain and getting it hosted. Am now thinking choosing siteground and hostgator which seems to be very porpular
Gerald Potts says
I’ve been with four different hosting companies in my website building adventure. Siteground is the best. None of the other hosting companies in my experience would, or even knew how to go into my dashboard and help fix a problem I was having. Siteground folks have done it for me more than once. The two smartest things I’ve done in my website construction learning was joining Siteground and Elegant Themes. It doesn’t get any better or easier than that as I don’t know one thing about html, python, joomla or even short codes and I can still build websites that suit all my needs. And slowly but surely I’m learning more and more and eventually I’ll learn about the short codes and other things web designers know. In the meantime, Siteground and Elegant Themes have made it possible for me build decent websites while I’m learning. I like that.
Rebecca Ballingall says
I love how quickly and helpful the support team are especially with those who are technology challenged.
Noel McHugh says
I’ve already commented on this review page but have since ran into difficulties making a smooth transfer from my current host due to some exceptions/errors on my side. However, with the help these guys have given me since, I felt compelled to comment again!
I’m generally sceptical of something that just looks too good but I really have to say that Siteground are a breath of fresh air and an absolute joy to work with. Superfast and efficient in every way and a super positive attitude towards giving the customer the best possible service.
Alessadro Muraro says
My sales site is aimed at a public Italian, but I decided to use Siteground for their outstanding performances and immediate assistance, in real time!Which in Italy with other providers of similar services you have to wait. . . wait too long.
Holly Partridge says
I have recently joined Siteground and so far, I have been incredibly impressed by their efficient and constructive customer service. I have contacted them several times via the online chat and everyone has been extremely helpful in pointing me in the right direction. And, so that you know, the only reason I have had to contact them is merely down to user error, as I am a complete beginner at this!
Jim Lucore says
I switched to SiteGround a few weeks ago and am very glad I did. My old host who is still a great company just could not handle the load my site was putting on their servers. So far SiteGround seems to handle the load and my ignorance on some subjects
quite well!
The entire support team is great to work with and they are very kind and considerate.
Awesome job Guru’s!
Graham Moran says
Wow. I am upgrading my website and just purchased my server support here. The two CS Reps that I have worked with were truly amazing and have made things so much easier. I feel confident in make this transition to a new service. I will be recommending Siteground to my friends.
Jimi says
no words will be siteground support staff, it’s really world no. one client-friendly hosting provider..
awesome support.
Al Mamun says
Simply awesome support. I am very glade to be part of siteground . Support is too much good. Highly recommended siteground . Their expert staff completed my website transfer from my previous hosting provide just 7 hour. And all set done. I am really happy to take this service.
Best of luck siteground
Davide Corizzo says
I was looking for a web hosting service for my WordPress page/blog and submitted a question via chat about the limit of 10,000 visitor per month if I pick the StartUp plan.
Very quick responsiveness and the operator who answered me was perfect and coincise.
I’ll probably (99,9%) go for SiteGround
Noel says
After a year with an “ok” hosting server, I’ve spent a couple of hours comparing hosts to find a better host and so far these guys tick all the boxes! Have just signed up and the signup support was well above the norm!
Jay says
Am very very very pleased with Siteground, their tech support is always fast and courteous. I switched to them about 5 months ago and so far it has been nothing but EXCELLENT !!
Sami latouf says
The SiteGround team is second to none. Also their infrastructure partners are the best in the industry so its a win win.
Fred Mellink says
What would you expect from a hosting provider? That you website is fast? Always online? Secure? Yes, that is what I expect from a hosting provider. And there are many hosting providers who can provide these services. But Siteground goes further. Also when you have a problem in your Joomla or WordPress website, the support people are willing to help fixing these problems. I have has 4 hosting providers before but SiteGround is the best so I stick with them
Never had so responsive professional support before.
Guillermo Menez says
As always, excellent Service!
Lane Guin says
First of all I was able to get on Live Chat immediately which does not happen with my current web hosting company. They then stayed on line with me until every question I had was answered completely. I’m going to transfer all of my website clients over to SiteGround from my current provider!
Matthew Wilson says
I’m a beginner blogger, trying to shift my free WP site over to a hosted one. Found these guys from several internet comparison blogs and reviews, so I’m trying them out. So far, I’m 100% impressed- quick, friendly service, great pricing, clear instructions and easy to follow directions. Nothing like my experience at Blue Host.
Mindy says
As always, I received amazing support! Liz went and fixed my problem so quickly and truly made my day! I will always recommend Siteground as I’ve never experienced such excellent, and friendly, help anywhere!
Mohamed says
Site ground are by far the best. The support, the services, the offers, promotions. They are absolutely amazing. Thumbs Up.
Rudy Timmerman says
I just transferred from Hostgator, and the help I received was awesome. The rep was not only helpful, he also had the knowledge to get the transfer started right off the get go. I am more than pleased with the service, and the price was right.
Rudy
Jeannie Hill says
I as well have referred multiple clients to Siteground with previous success.
Unfortunately, after 4 days of continual submission of details, tickets, and full efforts to communicate with Siteground staff, this last clients site is still not live.
One of the staff has now been forth coming enough to be able to comment that, “I have checked and the website indeed was not transferred properly.” So we have now reached an honest communication – for which I am grateful.
However, Siteground has not been able to “sync” the site after migration to the client’s new account with the proper theme, CSS style sheet, and last version of the development site. Labeled for days under a ticket they call “High server resource consumption of your account”, it is clear now from days of phone calls and live chats, that the real issue is that Siteground is experiencing high load times and cannot manage the transfer.
All works beautiful on the development, which is also on Siteground. Both the development site and the live site are on the Go Geek package. It seems that a shared server at this higher level is insufficient for even a small site.
Hannah says
Wouldn’t go anywhere else. So helpful, efficient and polite.
Imad says
Gotta hand it to siteground, best of the best !
I’m a super satisfied customer
Larry Shetzer says
Siteground customer support could not be better- fast, informed, clearly explained. The team are all totally professional, polite, and proficient- a class act!
oscar says
extremely fast live support!
Mahmoud says
I’m just WOWed by the level of service here, guys, with no hesitation this is the best service and experienced technical team you can find on the net.
They have taken it to another level here!
moving all my sites (around 10 sites) to siteground hosting the best hosting and best service in the world!
Wow!
Gail King says
Personally, I’ve found SiteGround to be a bit exasperating due to their huge learning curve. For someone with limited web hosting skills, their CPanel is difficult to get into, and while their WordPress installations are fast and simple to do, I’ve found the learning curve a bit huge for my tastes. I’m going to continue to use SiteGround for a while, but the “jury” is still out as to if I’ll stay with them or move my stuff elsewhere. I would, at this time, give them a TWO STAR ONLY rating.
A. Alloui says
I’ve just finished talking with one of Siteground support technician to resolve an issue not related to Siteground and she resolved the issue within minutes (very short minutes). This is not the first time I get a hosting account with Siteground and need them to do something for me on their end and get the request completed in a very short amount of time. Their chat support always took less than 10 seconds. WOW! Keep up the good work Siteground!
Eldar says
Tech, helped me with my SSL situation. Was very attentive, listened to my problems and resolved without a problem. Thanks again.
Danail Kroejev says
3 times I use the customer support chat center.
2 times I have to chat with the peoples from the support in English language.
They are Bulgarian. I am Bulgarian. My English is not enough good.
Use your employees them bilingual skills. Will be beater for the costumers, and will be an big extra for your company.
The service is perfect. The competency of the peoples is excellent.
Adam says
Siteground are the best. All of the mistakes I make are fixed in a flash with their fantastic support service. Brilliant hosting at a great price.
Erwin Doms says
We transferred our site to SiteGround, and they made things exceptionally easy ! I would recommend them to everyone ! We’re sure that if there are any future problems, they will be there for us ! Thank-you SiteGround – it’s been a pleasure !
Alessandro Colalongo says
Siteground is the best!!!!! Never seen a service faster and more reliable! Thanks so much!
Lucy says
Always LOVE SiteGround! They are always available and very helpful! Keep up with great work, guys!
Mark Grindey says
I would highly recommend siteground to any of our clients. They have excellent prices and there support staff are second to none. I have little technical knowledge and have had some challenging questions and sitegrounds staff have always been patient and extremely helpful. It is nice to know that there is still a company that put there customer service first and make you feel like it is not just all about getting to your wallet.
shelley says
I have most of my clients currently with bluehost, but I will start putting some with siteground. It takes 25 to 30 minutes to get on chat with bluehost now, they are just getting too big. But siteground chat came up within a couple of minutes. Great support is key.
Mark Gandy says
Count me as another (new) customer who really likes their support. I had two technical questions, and Live Chat was fast and efficient.
Darren Li says
Just subscribe to their GrowBig plan, great features, great sales rep, great price (Black Friday sale)!
Marcy Albano says
This was the fastest most efficient support that I have seen in a long time. Thanks
Brylle Estrada says
Siteground is very professional and understand their customers really. I have no question why Siteground is number 1 in review and positive comments.
bijn says
quick and help me back to joomla again.have a nice day.
Scott Mugniani says
Live Chat was very quick and helpful.
Brandi Neithamer says
I have set up 5 sites now with SiteGround.com and they are hands down the best hosting provider. I have always been up and running in less than two hours with them no matter the size of the site I am moving to them. They take care of all my issues, and there up time is amazing. Over the past 15 years I have had sites hosted across multiple companies, and never have had such an outstanding experience! I cant wait wait to move more sites to them.
Nirmala says
I’m planning to change my hosting service to Siteground. I’ve grabbed essential details from the support team. Besides, it is good to know that they are offering free migration service.