1&1 Ionos Hosting Review

Last Updated: September 01, 2020
by EasyHostingGuide.com

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars

Ionos by 1&1 Hosting Introduction

Whether you need to create an online presence, need a reliable website builder, or want to move some of your business processes into the cloud, as a small or medium-sized business owner looking for a web hosting service, there are dozens of options that promise a variety of features and affordable pricing.

IONOS has evolved with their name changes, but their main goal remains the same since they became a company in 1988. Making information technology easy to use. As well as secure and reliable for every small to medium size business owner.

The company launched in Germany, becoming the largest web hosting company in Europe. In 2003, 1&1 opened its first US-based service in Pennsylvania, and a year later, the company made the top ten list of best US web hosting providers.

In January of 2020, 1&1 became IONOS by 1&1, and today the company manages over 12 million domains and has 8 million customers globally.

Our in-depth IONOS hosting review takes a look at everything you need to know about IONOS by 1&1 (formerly known as 1&1 IONOS) to help you decide if it’s the best service for your growing business needs.

Services and Features

IONOS by 1&1, also known simply as 1&1, is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses and has a variety of plans and shared hosting packages available, ranging from basic to advanced. Some services available with IONOS include:

• Shared hosting
• VPS hosting
• Dedicated hosting
• Cloud hosting
• WordPress
• Domain names
• Website builder
• Email archiving

All 1&1 plans can be canceled at any time with no risk, and each plan comes with a free domain for one year and a set number of email accounts.

IONOS by 1&1 is a popular pick among many small to medium-sized business owners due to its affordability, wide range of features, and the option to customize based on business needs. However, the pricing on the IONOS site can be challenging to navigate. Each plan is no-risk, and users can cancel or upgrade at any time. 24/7 customer service is available with every IONOS plan.

The Essential Plan is ideal for one site or project and is $4 per month. The plan comes with 10 GB of storage, 10 databases, 10 email accounts, and a domain name at no charge for a full year. With 384 MB PHP memory and up to 512 MB RAM. The Essential Plan is optimized for up to 50 visitors per minute.

If your company has more significant needs, the Business Plan is $1 for the first month and $8 per month after the initial month. The plan includes unlimited sites, storage, databases, 50 email accounts, and a domain name free of charge for a year. With 768 MB PHP memory and up to 6 GB RAM, the Business Plan performance level is 2 of 5 optimized for up to 200 visitors per minute.

The Expert Plan has all the same features as the Business Plan with an upgrade to 100 email accounts as well as Site Scan malware protection and Content Delivery Network, which ensures you receive data from the closest server. With 896 MB PHP memory and up to 19 GB RAM, the Expert Plan is optimized for up to 500 visitors per minute, and this plan costs $14 per month.

IONOS understands that not all company needs are the same, so they don’t have a one-size-fits-all web hosting solution. If your project needs are vast, dedicated hosting or VPS is an ideal option. Dedicated hosting is available in SSD and HDD. Customers who select SSD receive unlimited traffic, a free domain, Site Scan Protection from Malware, and the RailGun CDN. The first two tiers provide Software RAID 1, and the other two levels include Hardware RAID 1 storage.

It’s important to note that a $50 setup fee may be required for the top three tiers.

SSD Plans Range from $65 to $160 per month: Monthly pricing is fixed for A8i for 6 months, and pricing is fixed for 3 months for all other SSD/HDD Plans.

• A8i is Intel Atom C2750 with 8 cores (2.4 GHz), 8 GB of DDR3 ECC, and 240 GB of storage
• L-16 is an Intel Xeon E3-1230 v6 with 4 cores (3.5GHz), 16 GB of DDR4 ECC RAM, and 480GB of storage
• XL-32 is an Intel Xeon E3-1270 v6 with 4 cores (3.8 GHz), 32 GB of DDR4 ECC RAM, and 800 GB of storage
• XL-64 is the upgrade to XL-32 with 64 GB RAM
• HDD Plans range from $60 to $120 per month. The most notable difference between the SSD and HDD plans is storage. The A8i HDD and L-16 HDD have 1000 GB of storage and the XL-32, and 64 HDD have 2000 GB.

Business owners who are a little more tech-savvy and experience high traffic volumes and high CPU and storage demands may benefit from VPS plans that offer dedicated cloud resources. IONOS offers low starting costs, but the costs may vary depending on the data center (US, Europe, Germany, or the UK). Each plan has IONOS Webmail, full Root, API, and SSD.

• VPS M is a 2 vCores CPU with 2 GB of RAM and 80 GB storage starting at $2 per month
• VPS L is a 2 vCores CPU with 4 GB of RAM and 120 GB storage starting at $20 per month
• VPS XL is a 4 vCores CPU with 8 GB of RAM and 160 GB storage starting at $30 per month
• VPS XXL is a 6vCores CPU with 12 GB RAM and 240 GB storage starting at $40 per month

Even if your business needs are small, IONOS 1&1 has the ideal solution for you. This is ideal for beginners to web hosting packages or for users with more advanced needs. We already mentioned the Web Hosting pricing plans, but other smaller solutions include ASP.NET (Web Hosting for Windows) or WordPress Hosting.

Business, Pro, and Expert plans all start at $1 per month, and prices range from $8-$14 per month after the first month and for a fixed period.

• The business plan includes 100 GB of storage, 25 MS SQL databases, and 25 email accounts
• Pro includes 250 GB of storage, 100 MS SQL databases, and 100 email accounts
• Expert includes 500 GB of storage, 500 MS SQL databases, and 500 email accounts plus CDN

Essential, Business, and Unlimited Plans are available for users wanting to use WordPress CMS . Each plan includes Site Scan malware protection and Free Wildcard SSL Certificate.

• Essential includes 25 GB SSD storage, 10 email accounts, and costs $3/month
• Business includes 100 GB SSD storage, 100 email accounts, and $7/ month ($1 for the first month)
• Unlimited includes unlimited storage, email accounts, is ideal for more than one WP site, and costs $18/month

Sign Up

Despite a very comprehensive offering, signing up with IONOS is relatively easy. While a customer service rep is available to help you get set up, here are some steps to help you through the process on your own:

• Select the plan you want (we’ll go in-depth on these in our review)
• Select your domain name (which is included with the price of your plan)
• You can select month-to-month pricing or pay for a full year
• Choose to accept or opt-out of any other “add ons” that pop-up
• Create your account and select payment type (major credit cards, debit, or PayPal)
• Wait for a confirmation email and proceed with directions

Remember, if you encounter any issues signing up or creating your IONOS by 1&1 account you can contact the customer/tech support for assistance.

Website Builder and Control Panel

The Site Builder at IONOS by 1&1 is designed with the user in mind. From the onset, the company’s mission was to make information technology more user-friendly, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to build your own web offering.

Not only are the business sites mobile-friendly but a lifetime free domain, SEO online marketing, and an online store are included. IONOS’s builder is comparable to other site builders offering no charge for the first month and then $5 to $20 a month depending on the package you choose.

The Creator is ideal for professional business web pages. It comes with professional templates, one free domain, five email accounts, and social media/business widgets. Text and images are also available. The Creator + includes some of the same features with an increase of email addresses, tailored content, SEO tutorials, and marketing tools. There is also a plan for business owners looking for a builder dedicated to an online store.

Creating a website with IONOS MyWebsite requires no previous web building or programming experience. There’s also no need for additional software. Log in to your account, and you can use the drag and drop function to create your business website. If you don’t have time (or the desire) to create your own site, IONOS can create a website for you. You can update it at any time with the site editor tool.

Keep in mind that prices may vary based on your customization needs, the plan you select, and whether you hire IONOS to assist you with building your site.

Domain and Email

While each plan includes a free domain, registering a new domain name is easy when using IONOS. While many business owners assume that they are limited in creating and registering a .com domain name, IONOS allows businesses to customize their domain names to better suit their specialty.

Aside from .com options include .email, .mail, .contact, .app, .website, and .hotel. Contact IONOS directly to learn about your full list of options.

Depending on your specific domain and email needs, IONOS can help you select the ideal name to help your business effectively and seamlessly process high volumes of email traffic and increase your online presence and customer base.

Customer Service

With every IONOS 1&1 plan you choose, you receive a personal consultant who walks you through any questions regarding your plan, account, or basic troubleshooting. 1&1 also offers 24/7 customer support via phone, or you can utilize the live chat function. Like most web hosting services, you can expect to experience some wait time or be transferred to other customer service representatives based on your needs. Since IONOS by 1&1 strives to offer an ideal service for every small to a medium business owner, they offer customer care solutions regardless of the customer’s tech expertise.

Overall Summary IONOS BY 1&1 Hosting

While many startups or medium-sized businesses are looking for ways to improve their online presence, it can be challenging to know where or how to start.

Initially, IONOS by 1&1 seems a little overwhelming to use and navigate. Unless you’re entirely sure of your online wants and needs, you may need to talk to a customer service representative first.

The pricing and plans are affordable and given the number of features available with each plan, IONOS is definitely a contender as a top pick.