Planning to go with A2? Well, A2 Hosting sucks. A2Hosting was one of the best hosting a few years ago. However, in recent times, they have degraded their quality a lot.
So, it’s no longer recommended to host your site there.
Let’s see why.
Why does A2 hosting sucks?
There are multiple reasons why we consider a hosting service to be bad. At HostingAdvices UK, we ensure that we check all the things before we jump to a conclusion.
A hosting service which is good in speed may be bad in the support and the needs vary from customer to customer.
For instance, A2 has great support for tech and software. You can run any scripts even in their shared hosting. However, when it comes to customer support, A2 has become the worst.
So, if you just want to run any script on your shared hosting, A2 could be the right choice. However, for a beginner who will need customer support, you can consider other alternatives.
That’s why, we are here with a few reasons on why A2Hosting sucks.
Extremely high renewal rates
The extremely high renewal rates are the core reason why you need to avoid A2Hosting. A newbie with no experience will find A2’s starter plans too attractive as the price is cheap.
However, it goes higher during the renewal.
The starter plan will cost you only $70.20 for the 36-month. However, during the renewal, its rate increased to $395.64 for 36 months. That’s almost 5x the current cost.
It gives unpredictability at a new level as 5x renewal rates are crazy for hosting.
That’s the first reason to avoid it.
Please note that there are some discounts going on due to the summer sale at the time of writing this article. That’s why the cost is little less.
However, the renewal price remains the same.
If you’re just looking for the hosting service for 3-years with no plans of renewal, you can consider it. You also need to see the other reasons before you make your decision.
Too many downtimes
Gone are the days when the server was up almost 99% of the time. Now, there are multiple disruptions on their entire server.
You can simply head over to the A2 Status page and you will see a list of all the disruptions on the server.
I went to the status page while writing this article. I didn’t have to scroll much as just 7 days ago, their server was down (No scheduled maintenance).
It doesn’t stop here. There are always some types of issues going on regularly. We kept scrolling a little and found other maintenance issues just 2 days before the above given downtime.
There was scheduled maintenance in one of the servers and an interrupted service disruption at the same time. We shouldn’t even forget some “Emergency maintenance”.
Just 2-day before the above issue, there was one such emergency service needed in one of their servers.
Overall, there are many disruptions on one of their servers. Your server could easily be one of them. We just saw 3 downtime issues in the 5 day interval. This shows the lack of proper maintenance of their servers.
Although the downtime was properly addressed and fixed on-time, this could lead to more downtime in the future especially if you’re going with a 3-year term during the checkout.
The hosting is only affordable if you go with a 3-year term.
So, it’s always better to be careful while making a contract.
Limited resource usage
Shared hosting already has a resource problem. A2 makes it a bit harder for all users to have enough resources. With the price they charge, the resources are way less compared to other hosting providers.
Here’s a quick overview of the limits.
- I/O Operations per Second (IOPS): 1024
- I/O Throughput: Approximately 1 MB/s
- Inodes: 600,000
- Entry Processes: 20
- Active Processes: 35
Sometimes, their overselling is yet another issue that you need to take care of. So, your site reaches the limit too often. You can check it in your cPanel’s resource usage section.
Many complaints about their support
A2Hosting was without a doubt, one of the best hosting services for their “Guru” crew. However, with each passing year, their support is going down.
They were good even a year ago. However, in recent times, their support has gotten worse.
I happened to be connected with one of the support team members. I got to know many of their staff members got laid off due to the recession. It could be possible due to the offshore support team.
Tech companies have a history of laying off employees. So, it’s not a new thing. However, hiring a new support team is extremely necessary especially in the hosting business.
When you come across real issues, their customer support will lack the service you deserve.
No Free domains
Absolutely not a big deal. However, when all the competitors offer a free domain name for at least 1-year, A2 should provide the same.
Conclusion
To conclude, this was all about why A2 Hosting Sucks and is not always the best choice if you prefer to go with shared hosting. Instead, you can prefer other shared hosting where you can rely on the service.
Hostinger and SiteGround are two great options you can prefer.
Hostinger is a cheap hosting to get started with, it also includes free domain name and amazing customer support. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a premium hosting for serious projects, SiteGround is a better choice.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Is A2 Hosting reliable?
If you’re planning to host a resource-intensive project where you may also need customer support, A2 is not the right choice. Their support quality is decreasing day by day.
Is A2 Hosting fast?
A2 still maintains good speed as compared to many other hosts. However, there are shared hosting services with faster speed available. To get the best out of A2, you need to get their turbo plans.
Does A2 Hosting use cPanel?
Yes, A2 Hosting uses cPanel. You will get the access to cPanel after you register your account from which you can manage your server.