SiteGround is one of the most recommended WordPress hosting companies. They are known for their top-notch customer support, reliable and fast hosting plans, and WordPress-optimized hosting, which includes everything you’ll need to create and grow a successful website or blog. Read our complete SiteGround review to find out if it is the right host for you.
In this detailed SiteGround review, we’ll put their promises to the 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 will it 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 | 397 ms |
| Average response time | 123 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 has grown into one of the most well-known hosting companies.
SiteGround is a holding of companies registered in the USA, UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Spain, with data centers on three continents. Today, the company has over 500 employees and hosts over 2,000,000 domains.
Pros and Cons of SiteGround
Each hosting company has its pros and cons. Some advantages can overshadow the disadvantages, but some cons can be a total deal-breaker for your needs.
Before making a decision, you may want to review these SiteGround pros and cons.
Pros
Here are some 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 the Google Cloud platform, 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 an instant setup of Cloudflare’s free CDN and free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
- Multiple Server Locations They have data centers on three continents. During signup, you can choose the location you prefer.
Cons
As we mentioned earlier, every hosting company has some downsides. The following are some disadvantages of choosing SiteGround as your host:
- Limited Storage: Their plans come with fixed storage. However, this storage is quite ample, and if you are starting, 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 a more significant 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 Tests
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 tests to review SiteGround’s performance thoroughly.
SiteGround Speed Test Results
Speed is one of the most important performance metrics to look for. A faster website offers a good user experience and boosts your SEO.
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 (397 ms, to be precise) with a performance score of 95.
This is incredible, but this website had almost no traffic, so the Pingdom test alone is insufficient.
SiteGround Stress Test Results
We used K6, a stress testing tool by Grafana Labs, to test how SiteGround servers would respond to increased traffic.
This tool gradually sends up to 50 users to see how the server would respond to increased traffic from multiple connections.
You can see the results in the chart below:
The gray line is the number of active virtual users on the site, and the green line is the server response time. SiteGround performed consistently throughout the test without any hiccups.
This test shows that SiteGround is a perfect choice if you are looking for a really fast website.
One of the reasons why SiteGround performed exceptionally well in these performance tests is because of the recent innovations they’ve added.
SiteGround servers are 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.
SiteGround Uptime Test Results
Typically, websites hosted on shared hosting accounts slow down 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 downtime and got a 99.98% 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 server’s response time.
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. You can choose a data center 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 starting a new site, their shared hosting plans would be a perfect fit. 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 websites, 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 the WordPress-optimized version of their shared hosting plan. It comes with SiteGround’s in-house WordPress optimizations to improve your website performance. See SiteGround WordPress hosting.
- WooCommerce hosting: This plan is a 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 a shared hosting solution. They allow you to use resources of cloud architecture, including multi-core CPUs and bandwidth. Cloud hosting 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 with 10,000 monthly visitors. You’ll also get all essential features like a 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 of disk space and is suitable for websites with 100,000 monthly visits. You’ll get all the features of the Startup plan, plus premium features like ultrafast PHP for even faster speed, on-demand backups, an easy staging tool, and the option to add collaborators to your sites.
- GoGeek: GoGeek plan is suitable for eCommerce websites. It includes 40 GB of storage and can handle websites with 400,000 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 the option to manage white-label clients on your sites.
Each Siteground plan includes faster disk storage, email accounts, support for the Cloudflare free content delivery network, and a free Let’s Encrypt 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. Response times for phone and live chat are almost instant, and for email-based tickets, the first response is within less than 10 minutes.
SiteGround offers an instant AI assistant for users who prefer to fix things themselves. Built on top of ChatGPT, this AI is trained to answer SiteGround customer questions.
The helo resource center also includes a massive collection of knowledge base articles.
This includes step-by-step tutorials and troubleshooting guides with screenshots and videos.
Since we use SiteGround to host several of our websites, we can confidently say 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 a fast and reliable web hosting provider with excellent customer support, SiteGround is perfect for you. They have hosting plans for every budget, and each plan offers a 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 83% 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 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 when signing 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.
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 its 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 recent innovations, SiteGround has significantly improved its hosting technology.
SiteGround is better than Bluehost in terms of overall performance, technology infrastructure, and support quality. 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 cheaper, but it also offers 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 SiteGround compares with GoDaddy, Hostinger, 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 its premium hosting.
8. Does SiteGround offer a free domain name?
No, SiteGround does not offer a free domain name. You can buy a domain name from another registrar and point it to your SiteGround account or buy one from SiteGround during signup at an additional cost.
9. Can I cancel my SiteGround account and get a refund?
SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all its shared plans. During this period, you can try out its services. If you cancel your account during this period, you are eligible for a refund. 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.
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widnyana masthara says
the support are very professional . rise their salary dude, its worth it
Robert R. Nutautas says
The best, most responsive support and problably the most accurate and trained staff comparing to any other premium and well know services I’ve used in my digital career of 6 years.
The quality of services (e.g. hosting) is unbelievable and exceeds any expectations.
Minio says
The support was awesome! he is 3 steps ahead in solving the problem and quick to tell me where could be the potential problem. Also he is very patient in guiding me as I was in panic mode. He deserve a 100X stars for me. Quick and responsive. That means I will be staying in your hosting company for x number of years. please continue helping us and be patient.
Quezia says
I was having issues with my site. After trying to solve the problem myself I decided to contact Site Ground. I chatted with Dimitar and he was great! Very patient, knowledgeable, he walked me through the steps and solved the problem while teaching me the way. I am very happy with Site Ground Support!
Mary Thomson says
SiteGround Tech help is the absolute best – patient, knowledgeable and nice.
Wendy says
Super helpful staff member. Thank you!
Kirk Burnett says
Julian was the best customer service rep I’ve ever had. He fixed a complicated problem by walking me through step-by-step, even while I was showing my frustration.
Myles Jamito says
Quick and straightforward support and help. Very knowledgeable! in 5 stars!
Aliza says
Amaizing help In a few minutes the problem was solved
Pam says
One thing that Siteground is always amazing with is it’s level of customer service. It is always fast, thorough and friendly. Boris totally live up to that!
Ruben Monge says
If it’s web hosting SUPPORT that your looking for.
in my first 60 or so days I’ve needed help and they where
Johnny On They Stop – Almost right away!!
Tim says
Always exceptional service whenever I need it.
Darius says
quick and helpful!
Barry A says
Martin S at Siteground was and is very professional, treated me as a valued customer. I would highly recommend them to anyone who wants to be hosted by Siteground.
Mike says
Kristian was extra helpful! In this case, I was having an issue that turned out to be with my Divi theme and not with SG…no matter! Kristian found the problem, and looked up the answer, and even helped me to execute it. So in this case, I learned where it was and got it fixed, plus I learned how to correct it for next time too…amazing00thank you very much Kristian!
teri liberator says
Thanks for your help. It went very smoothly and I got what I needed done, and Viktor was very kind.
Zeljko says
All was fast and easy! Thank you for great support.
Thomas Adkins says
Once again, SiteGround tech support saved my bacon (as always.)
Martin Kidwell says
I just had a fabulous chat support session with SiteGround. This is my first time doing a domain transfer and email migration and it’s a little complicated. SiteGround agent was really helpful and friendly. Thank you!
Iryna says
Great support, 5 stars. Thank you
Dominique Busselot says
Amazing support, super helpful. Thanks
Julianne Massimo says
Toni was very helpful and walked me through the set up process and answered all my questions. Thank you so much!
FIROZ says
Your technical/customer representative had been very helpful to resolve my issue. I would 500% recommend him for your company. I have closed the chat window so can not recall the name of this representative but believe in your record
Daniel says
Yordan was super nice and friendly. He took his time to explain the technical jargon to me and resolved my issue very quickly. I enjoyed my short conversation with him.
rob says
support is quick, helpfull and authentic! great!
Julian Pozzi says
Thanks so much for the help, incredibly fast and knowledgeable!
Halley says
Georgi fixed my problem quickly and did a great job of answering my additional questions.
Kaz says
Always helpful and friendly.
George Bordas says
I can not thank enough how much Dobrin (SiteGround) help me. He gave me advice in a short time that others could not provide. I am sure he is a great asset to his company.
Thanks again Dobrin.
arvind rajkishore says
they are very very fast and cooperative. the best customer support and the executives give best possible support. thank you siteground.
Nick says
Nikola was extremely helpful, for some reason when I tried to select the five stars it only selected three. His assistance was definitely a five.
David Lang says
Fantastic service from Georgi and the team. Speeding through site upgrade means a huge amount to us as a struggling business startup so thanks heaps for being brilliant
Felicia says
Never worry about customer support, they are always available. And very kind and patient! Whatever you need the person will take the time to explain everything and be sure your questions were answered.
Cheryl says
I had difficulty getting o to my account…while on the chat I found my password. He did a great job helping me. Thanks
Cheryl
Halley says
Lilia was super friendly and helpful, I got my question answered quickly and she was great at supplying additional information.
Shelyna says
Great customer support, they are always there to help me pinpoint me in the right direction to move forward with my site!
Norman Ellison says
Accidentally locked myself out of my website but the Chat helped me fix that quickly and easily.
Barbara Withers says
Issues related to my email setup were resolved quickly on CHAT with courtesy and patience.
Jake says
SiteGround support has been fast and helpful so far!
Developer says
Technical support was fast and accurate! I truly believe Siteground has the best Engineers for tech support!
will says
George is the MAN!!!!!! Finally figured out a very frustrating problem for me when nobody else could!
George, YOU ROCK BUDDY!!!
Omero Combi says
I had some serious issues trying to get my DNS settings right
I had spent days of trial and error with lots of frustration in between
Finally, I decided to contact Siteground support as I was feeling defeated.
Alen Sh was very patient and took me through all my issues step by step.
Not only that he verified every step I took from his end to ensure I was tracking ok
I have used Siteground”s support before and they have exceeded my expectaions every time
A big thank you to the team
Tucker says
Siteground is worth any extra $ just on the customer service alone, but their hosting is top tier as well. I won’t ever use anyone else. I recommend them 1000%
Al Gates says
Stefan was excellent and very helpful. 5 stars for suree.
Ani Papazyan says
Throughout the years I’ve been through several hosting sites and gotta say Siteground is amazing. Outstanding customer service.
Wieslaw Olejniczak says
Fast and helpful, thank you for your help.
Gary Simpson says
Excellent and concise help
Monica Showalter says
Boyana B. is so, so nice, and so smart, and so helpful. She can tell right away where the problem is and fix it pronto. She’s also very patient as I flop around trying to follow her instructions. First rate, fixed everything!
Zoltán Bereczki says
I love that it is very easy to manage my site, the service is great, skilled team which is very customer focused. Highly recommended!
Paul Fanning says
Unbelievable service from Boryana at SiteGround. East transfer and painless. I wish I had transferred years ago. 5 STARS!!