A2 Hosting is known for their high-performance hosting solutions designed for developers, small businesses, and power users. With their Turbo servers and optimized hosting plans, A2 Hosting aims to deliver unmatched speed and reliability.
In this detailed review, we will explore whether A2 Hosting lives up to their promises by testing their speed, uptime, customer support, and overall performance using industry-standard tools.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this A2 Hosting review:
- Speed: We’ll test A2 Hosting’s page load times and server response speed under real-world conditions.
- Performance: Can A2 Hosting handle traffic spikes without slowing down? We’ll run stress tests to find out.
- Reliability: Does A2 Hosting fulfill their high uptime guarantee?
- Customer Support: Is their 24/7 support helpful and responsive when you need assistance?
- Features: Are the hosting features sufficient to meet the needs of modern websites?
- Pricing: How competitive are A2 Hosting’s prices? Are there any deals to help you save money?
This is our complete A2 Hosting review. If you’re short on time, we have also included a quick scorecard and verdict below to help you decide.
| A2 Hosting Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Performance grade | A |
| Average load time | 560 ms |
| Average response time | 121 ms |
| Free domain | No |
| Free SSL | Yes |
| 1-click WordPress | Yes |
| Support | Phone / Live Chat / Knowledge base |
| Start with A2 Hosting | |
About A2 Hosting
Founded in 2001 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, A2 Hosting began as a small hosting provider focused on delivering reliable solutions for developers and businesses.
Over the years, they’ve expanded to serve users in over 200 countries, with a range of hosting plans designed for different needs.
In our opinion, one of the standout features of A2 Hosting is their Turbo servers, which are marketed for their ability to deliver faster page load times.
Another feature worth noting is their environmental commitment. A2 Hosting has set up green hosting practices, which is a thoughtful initiative, especially for users looking for an environmentally conscious provider.
Pros and Cons of A2 Hosting
Like all hosting providers, A2 Hosting has both strengths and weaknesses. Based on our experience and testing, here are the key points to consider:
Pros
- Speed: A2 Hosting’s Turbo servers provide faster page load times than standard hosting plans. In our tests, we saw consistent performance, particularly for small to medium-sized websites.
- Uptime Guarantee: A2 Hosting offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and during our testing, we observed stable availability.
- Developer-Friendly Features: Support for multiple programming languages like PHP, Python, and Node.js, along with tools like Git and SSH access, makes A2 a good choice for developers.
- Green Hosting Initiative: Their commitment to offsetting their carbon footprint may appeal to environmentally conscious users.
- Global Data Centers: With multiple server locations worldwide, A2 Hosting can deliver lower latency to diverse audiences.
Cons
- Higher Pricing for Turbo Plans: While the Turbo plans offer better performance, they come at a premium compared to standard plans.
- No Free Domain: Unlike some competitors, A2 Hosting does not include free domain registration with all plans.
We recommend weighing these pros and cons against your specific needs to decide if A2 Hosting aligns with your hosting goals.
A2 Hosting Performance Tests
Speed is the most important performance metric to evaluate for any hosting provider. It impacts user experience and search engine rankings, making it critical for website success.
Studies show that even a one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7%. To evaluate A2 Hosting’s performance, we conducted a series of speed tests using industry-standard tools. Here’s how they performed:
A2 Hosting Uptime Test Results
Reliable uptime is essential for making sure that visitors can access your website whenever they need it. A2 Hosting guarantees a 99.9% uptime, and during our tests, the results were close to this promise.
Our test site recorded an uptime of 99.94%, which is within an acceptable range for most small and medium-sized websites. These results suggest that A2 Hosting provides reliable service with minimal downtime.
A2 Hosting Speed Test Results
Page speed is another critical factor for website performance. To measure this, we created a test site and evaluated its performance using Pingdom.
The test site on A2 Hosting averaged 438 ms for page load time when tested from US and EU servers. This result places A2 Hosting among the faster hosting providers in this price range.
A2 Hosting Server Response Time Test
Website speed is not a great indicator of how fast your hosting server is able to respond. To get a clearer picture, we ran a server response time test.
These tests only measure how quickly a server responds to a request from different locations. Here are the results.
On average, A2 Hosting’s response time was around 123.9 ms, with the fastest on the US East Coast.
A2 Hosting Stress Test Results
Speed tests alone don’t tell the full story. We also performed a stress test to see how A2 Hosting handles sudden spikes in traffic. Using K6, we simulated up to 50 virtual users accessing the site at the same time.
During the test, A2 Hosting servers maintained stable performance, with minimal impact on response time, even under peak load. This indicates that A2 Hosting can handle traffic surges.
Overall, A2 Hosting’s performance metrics make it a solid choice for users looking for fast and reliable hosting, particularly for websites with moderate to high traffic demands.
A2 Hosting Plans and Features
A2 Hosting offers a variety of hosting plans designed to meet the needs of beginners, small businesses, and developers. Whether you’re starting a blog or running a high-traffic site, there’s likely a plan that suits your needs.
Here’s an overview of their key hosting options:
- Shared Hosting: A cost-effective option for hosting small websites. A2 Hosting’s shared plans come with features like free SSL, site migration, and cPanel for easy management.
- Managed WordPress Hosting: Optimized for WordPress users, this plan includes pre-configured settings for speed and security, automatic updates, and more.
- VPS Hosting: A step up from shared hosting, A2 Hosting’s VPS plans provide more power and customization. They offer both unmanaged and managed VPS options.
- Dedicated Hosting: Ideal for high-traffic sites, dedicated hosting gives you full control over a server’s resources. This option is available in managed and unmanaged configurations.
- Reseller Hosting: Aimed at developers and agencies, reseller plans let you host multiple client sites under one account.
All A2 Hosting plans include a free SSL certificate, free site migration, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. They also feature the Turbo option for enhanced speed, which uses NVMe drives and LiteSpeed web servers to improve page load times.
Their hosting dashboard is user-friendly, making it easy for beginners to manage their hosting environment. Developers will also appreciate features like Git integration, SSH access, and support for multiple PHP versions.
Overall, A2 Hosting provides flexibility to upgrade as your needs grow, allowing you to start small and scale up to higher plans without hassle. This makes it a practical option for websites of all sizes.
A2 Hosting Customer Support
Good customer support can make or break your experience with a hosting provider. A2 Hosting offers 24/7 support through their Guru Crew team, available via live chat, phone, and tickets.
But how effective is their support in practice?
In our experience, the live chat feature was responsive during off-peak hours, with wait times of less than a minute.
During busier times, responses took a bit longer but remained helpful and thorough. For complex issues, the ticketing system provided detailed solutions within a few hours.
A2 Hosting also has an extensive knowledge base that includes articles, tutorials, and troubleshooting guides. These resources are especially useful for beginners and developers looking for self-help options.
Overall, A2 Hosting’s customer support provides reliable assistance backed by a comprehensive library of resources.
Conclusion: Is A2 Hosting the Right Choice for You?
A2 Hosting stands out as a reliable option for users who are looking for speed, developer-friendly features, and global server coverage. Our tests revealed consistent uptime, fast page load speeds, and stable performance during traffic spikes.
For beginners, A2 Hosting offers a user-friendly control panel and excellent self-help resources, though the advanced features may feel overwhelming for people new to web hosting. Developers, on the other hand, will appreciate the flexibility and tools provided for custom projects.
While A2 Hosting’s Turbo plans deliver impressive speed enhancements, they come at a higher price point.
Overall, A2 Hosting is a solid choice for users who need fast and reliable hosting with the ability to scale as their website grows. It’s particularly well-suited for developers, small businesses, and environmentally conscious users.
If you’re ready to get started, you can explore A2 Hosting’s plans to find the one that fits your needs.
A2 Hosting Coupon
If you’re looking to save on your hosting plan, A2 Hosting offers an exclusive discount for WPBeginner readers. With our special A2 Hosting coupon, you can get up to 76% off on your hosting plan.
To claim this deal, simply click here to visit the A2 Hosting website, and the discount will be applied automatically during checkout. This is a great opportunity to get premium hosting at a significantly reduced price.
FAQs About A2 Hosting
In this detailed review, we’ve covered many aspects of A2 Hosting’s services. Below are some frequently asked questions that may help you decide if A2 Hosting is the right fit for your needs:
1. Is A2 Hosting good for WordPress?
Yes, A2 Hosting offers managed WordPress hosting plans optimized for performance and security. These plans include pre-configured settings, automatic updates, and Turbo servers for faster load times.
2. Does A2 Hosting provide a money-back guarantee?
A2 Hosting offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on most of their plans. If you cancel within this period, you’ll receive a full refund. After 30 days, they offer a prorated refund for unused services.
3. Can I migrate my website to A2 Hosting for free?
Yes, A2 Hosting provides free site migration services for new customers. Their migration team will handle the process to ensure your site is moved securely and with minimal downtime.
4. Does A2 Hosting offer email hosting?
All A2 Hosting plans include email hosting. You can create custom email addresses for your domain and access them via webmail or email clients like Outlook and Thunderbird.
5. How does A2 Hosting compare with competitors like Bluehost or SiteGround?
A2 Hosting is often compared to Bluehost and SiteGround for their speed and developer-friendly features. While it excels in performance and flexibility, Turbo plans may have higher pricing. Bluehost is more beginner-friendly, and SiteGround offers superior customer support and advanced security features.
These FAQs should help clarify some common concerns about A2 Hosting. If you have specific requirements, be sure to compare their plans to ensure they meet your needs.
Ready to start with A2 Hosting? Click here to select your A2 Hosting plan.
Ludmila
A2hosting has been caring and helping me a lot providing very straightforward answers to all my questions.
Gregory Paschalides
Clear and easy server (Tomcat) configuration with quick deployment and low starting prices. Prompt reply from technical department showing concern and giving the feeling that one can rely on them.
Rick Widener
Working with A2 Hosting is always a pleasure. They get your answers in a timely manner. Thank you.
Suresh Tandukar
You Have to experience yourself to believe on how good the a2hosting service and support really is
haiddang
Support fast and Very good, A2hosting value 5 stars
Jaye C Rosenstock
Support is wonderful! They were quickly trying to get me over to my new swift server! I really appreciate how seriously they were taking my request for ASAP switching over as I have an anxious client that wants my site up ASAP!
CARA
Customer Service means everything when it comes to services one depends on. In this regard, A2hosting excels. Support (both tech and billing) has always been friendly, efficient, and responsive. The whole feeling of the group at A2hosting is one of cooperation and high standards.
I give this company highest marks — on customer service and on every aspect of web-hosting, speed, reliability, cost, available plans, and, most of all, that one feels valued as a customer — it’s not “just words,” they do just what they promise!
John Volk
Switched our small Church Wordpress website to A2. Whole process took less than a day with A2 doing all the migration work for free. Installation of Let’s Encrypt ssl certificate amazingly easy. Very pleased customer!
D. Palmer
Good for wordpress users, fast server, and offer free SSL. They transfered over all my cpanels and email from other hosting fast and efficiently.
Amin Persis
Great support, with fast and accurate replies, thank you
David
A2 has been super helpful in my early days… Quick support from very nice people. A+ all day long!
Sameer
Awesome support. My query was solved in 2 hrs. My query was attended in 90 secs on phone that’s awesome
Michael Nielsen
Great hosting and Great support.
Cheryl Lee
A2 hosting is extremely comprehensive and detail oriented. Support is almost always immediate, with clear and precise explanations.
Kathryn Griffiths
A2 is the best in the business!
A2 hosting has the best support and migration team in the business. Because of the nature of my primary site and 11 add-ons, I knew the migration may not be easy, and it was not. However, between the migration and support team the problems were over come quickly and I’m up and running. Communication was excellent. I was quickly kept informed by way of e-mail every step of the way. Their explanations and instructions were clear and very easy to follow. I have already moved two clients over to A2 and will be moving more to A2 in the near future. I could not be more pleased with their service and I look forward to a long relationship.
Boon
Incredibly fast support, detailed replies within minutes or even seconds. After upgrading from swift to turbo shared hosting, my webpage loading speed exploded from 5 seconds to less than 1 second in 10 countries….I was blown away!
Peter Toth
I received very impressive and quick help in site migration with a tight deadline. Communication was continuos. Very grateful and satisfied!
William Thompson
I’m new to A2hosting, they just migrated my site yesterday. The migration was much quicker than their estimate. I had one little issue which made my site not load at all, one phone call with a 10 minute wait gave me a very knowledgeable tech that fixed it instantly. Somehow I was double billed for my new account and a very friendly person in the billing department took care of that immediately. I had to do a little work on my content to adapt it to the free https/ssl and a couple of tweaks to the email but that was painless and everything seems to be working perfectly now. The hosting speed is a huge improvement over my previous vendor. I’ll be interested in long-term results but the first impression is excellent! Thanks for the great service getting started.
Jamie boisvert
Support is awesome! Super helpful and fast response!
SEYED MAHMOUD POURREZAEI
All I wanted, Fast response and excellent assistance from Customer Support.
Viyaleta
Thank you support staff from A2Hosting team for helping with the resolving the update website issues , as it is a very important task to do for the security of the website it self. Thank you for your unconditional support.
James Harrison
Great support, decent price, reliable service
Toan Tran
Good for support and friendly
youness ouaziki
fast and helpful support..! Highly recommended..!
Ritesh
Always a pleasure to be part of A2Hosting. Always there to help me out! Really appreciate the help, which is always given quickly.
Max Mogensen
Amazing. The migration service is awesome. Easy and super quick. Great support.
Omar
A2Hosting is so far the best hosting company in regards to support, they never let me down.
I sent them a ticket (not urgent one), they solved it within 20 minutes!
Omar
Quick & helpful support!
demetre
I had two very technical issues which I struggled with for hours, before giving up and finally writing to support. One issue was regarding Ion Cube the other was about Refreshing DNS.
I wrote the email and went to bed. When I checked my email in the morning, both of my issues had been solved within hours.
I should have started with that email.
I will definitely be staying with you guys.
Bryan B
Tech Support has been the most patient, knowledgeable and helpful representative I’ve ever had the privilege to assist me regarding my ignorance, needs, and issues. It’s because of Technical support reps like him that makes it hard for me to leave A2 hosting even though I’m way in over my head when this platform. Thank you
Cheryl Obrien
I got a fast and helpful answer to my question with an offer to provide more support if needed. Couldn’t ask for more. Their support is always great. I have multiple clients hosted with A2 hosting.
Carol
Excellent. They always respond and explain things so I can understand. Highly recommended!
Stephen Barlow
As a web designer I deal with a lot of different hosting companies. I also used to train customer service reps for a living, and in every interaction I’ve had with A2 they have exceeded my expectations. Thank you for your great work!
Arokoyo Oladimeji
A2 hosting support team are very very reliable and dependable, they never leave any problem unsolved and they always reply on time to every support ticket. This is the best support team have encountered online, Thanks very much for your relentless support to your client. I love the Guru’s
T. Lapsley
Just wanted to let you know that he service I received from the A2 Hosting Support Team was excellent. The support staff who assisted me were knowledgeable and courteous. The first time I tried the the solution, I messed up. But, no problem, no sweat, I know I could go straight back and get guidance. It is good to know that I can rely on A2 for help whenever I need it. My web experience is a stress-free, productive partnership… me and A2 Hosting.
Larry Kenemore jr
Excellent service as usual even though they were under a ddos attack thanks for the help
Ali
A2hsoting is currently facing downtime issues. I am very dissatisfy with their chat and phone support. Agents are never available at chat, chat box always suggest to submit ticket. I am currently using their shared & VPS hosting and both are facing frequent downtime of 8 to 10 minutes, 2 to 4 times a day.
I don’t know how other people are that satisfy with their service but i am NOT.
Jason S
Support did a great job of identifying the issue and providing a speedy resolution. Many other support organizations would pass the buck and say “please contact the developer”. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your ownership of your customer’s issues and going above and beyond to resolve them. I’ll be a loyal A2 customer for the foreseeable future!
Abraham V.
Excellent service and support when you need it. Great option.
George
As usual, your tech support was right on and corrected the problem in less than 24 hours. Thanks.
aziz benhaida
reliable and fast with great support
Tom Anderson
Appropriate and effective responses. Much better than any web host I have tried in the past.
Johnny
I was subscribed to other host before. But a2hosting is the best in web services, fast speed for support, for website…..for all.
Bud
Good service, friendly people and reasonable prices….can’t beat that!
David Becket
This tech, and each tech we have worked with in this process of setting everything up has been absolutely wonderful. There was a little confusion about the advantages of each company’s SSL and it is not clearly marked on your website anywhere. So we were getting different opinions depending upon which tech we talked to and it took a few tickets and lots of discussion to finally discover what appeared to be the best plan of action, but in any case you’re 24 hour support is amazing and wonderful. Thank you very much.
Dennis Lubrano
Just what I needed to understand what I was doing. Thank you
Luis M. Teijon
Great customer support. Incredibly fast reply to a complaint or something.
I made a mistake when buying a service and I’ve got all money back. Awesome!!
John Fraser
Small initial problems; rapidly sorted. Five out of five in my view.
Lots of useful install components on WP Optimised.
Jeannette VanDoorn
I had no clue what I was doing but the service tech helped me get through both roadblocks I came to because my lack of knowledge. Thanks to him my site is functional.
RJ Roth
Wish I had moved to A2 years ago. Excellent, knowledgeable and pleasant phone support.
Kay Cosby
Support. is extremely helpful! They did not just refer me to an article and then leave me hanging. They went above and beyond what is expected to really help me out! I appreciate their excellent customer service!!!