Web Hosting Hub Review

Web Hosting Hub aims to provide affordable shared hosting to small businesses.

Founded in 2010, they’re owned by the conglomerate InMotion Hosting. Web Hosting Hub is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, and they have two U.S. data centers – on the west and east coast.

Their 200+ U.S. based team services over 40,000 customers, providing a simple platform to help you start, run and grow a new website.

Web Hosting Hub also uses solid-state drives on all plans, which (as claimed) can deliver up to 20x faster than more traditional mechanical hard drives used by the competition.

20x is a bold promise. Do they back it up?

To find out, we set up a new basic WordPress website on the Web Hosting Hub ‘Personal Web Hosting Plan’ in June of 2015. In-depth performance stats including uptime and speed can be seen here (click ‘History’ to dig deeper).

In order to provide an unbiased review, we also cross-referenced a few other sources to do a complete ‘background check’ of what other users think.

Pros of Using Web Hosting Hub Hosting

Web Hosting Hub boasts incredibly fast speeds due to its state of the art technology at an affordable cost.

Does the data live up to the hype?

Let’s take a look at where they perform admirably.

1. ~7/10 Support

Fast page loads and uptime are equally important because site visitors will leave in droves if your site takes longer than a few seconds to load or doesn’t respond at all.

But customer support can be a deal killer if issues aren’t addressed or fixed quickly.

Web Hosting Hub provided pretty good customer support, connecting with us in under three minutes (plus an additional five to verify our account).

There was a bit of downtime and lag between responses, so it wasn’t as quick or concise as many others we’ve experienced.

Overall – a positive experience. Our background checks confirmed as much, revealing that the majority of other customers are also satisfied with Web Hosting Hub’s customer support.

A quick chat with Web Hosting Hub customer support

2. EXTREMELY Easy Website/Blog Setup

Web Hosting Hub features a simplified, quick signup process that might be the best we’ve seen after reviewing almost 30 other web hosts.

It’s so easy that even the LEAST technical person you know could figure it out.

On their signup page, you can select to install WordPress as your website/blog content management system or Prestashop for eCommerce. After a simple click, they take care of all the heavy lifting and will configure everything for you.

3. Free Domain Name & Site Migration

Do you have a website hosted somewhere else?

No problem! Web Hosting Hub will transfer up to three websites and databases for you (assuming they don’t exceed 5 gigs). Another added bonus includes their ‘zero downtime’ promise during this process.

Starting up a new site? They’ll throw in a free domain name to sweeten the deal.

4. Solid State Hard Drives

Warning: You tech geeks are about to have a nerdgasm!

Web Hosting Hub likes to boast that every site they host takes advantage of new solid-state hard drives. These ‘SSD drives’, according to the experts at PCMag, can deliver 20 times faster results than normal (mechanical) hard drives used by some of the competition.

Yup, there it is.

(Personally, we didn’t experience a huge performance boost during our reviewal process. However, they were faster than the average web hosts we’ve reviewed during this six month period.)

5. 90-Days Money-Back Guarantee

You can always tell which companies stand behind their service by looking at their refund policies.

Web Hosting Hub is a big believer, offering a full 90-day money-back guarantee (one of the few offers with an extended term).

That means if you’re considering giving them a chance, you have an almost risk-free chance to ‘test drive’ their services for a full three months.

Or, just about as long as the time it takes to completely forget where you’ve hosted your site in the first place. 🙂

That’s great news if you’re worried about committing to a web host only to find out later that you dislike their services and features.

According to Web Hosting Hub’s Terms of Service, there are a few nonrefundable fees that may apply, though.

Fees paid by a subscriber, like purchasing SSL certificates, domain privacy, or domain names are nonrefundable.

If a subscriber registers a domain name through Web Hosting Hub as part of a “Free Domain Name” promotion, they will have to pay $11.99 per year for the domain, plus a $5.00 administrative fee.

That means that they will deduct a total of $16.99 from your total refund amount, which is pretty standard when compared to most competitors.

However, you’ll retain complete ownership of your domain name(s), and you can transfer them to an alternative host after canceling your subscription with Web Hosting Hub.

6. They’re Environmentally Friendly

While we weren’t able to find any certifications for Web Hosting Hub from the EPA that prove that it’s a green web host, they do have several eco-friendly policies.

Since 2010, the company has claimed to make efforts to reduce waste, recycle as often as possible, and use fewer paper products.

Web Hosting Hub has an energy-efficient data center, and they believe that reducing energy usage is better than simply offsetting it.

The company opened up the first (ever!) green data center in Los Angeles, CA by using advanced Outside Air Cooling technology.

They’ve cut their cooling costs by 70% by switching to this cooling method, and they also claim to have reduced their carbon output by over 2,000 tons per year.

Outside Air Cooling vents hot air out of the building to bring cooler air in, only cooking it through the CRAC units when it’s necessary due to high temperatures or humidity.

Traditional data centers run Computer Room Air Conditioners, also known as CRACs, 24/7. This method allows for hot air to be cooled and then recirculated, but it burns more energy than needed.

If you’re concerned about reducing your carbon footprint or you’re looking to work with brands who care about the environment, consider Web Hosting Hub.

They may not be as green as other sites, like Green Geeks, but they’re still making innovative waves when it comes to being energy efficient.

7. Industry-Standard Uptime

Our 24-month testing process revealed that Web Hosting Hub has an average uptime of around 99.94% which is an industry-standard result.

That’s pretty okay!

Although they’ve struggled since almost the beginning to deliver good uptime consistently. Some months are great, while others struggling for stability. Kinda a mixed bag to be honest.

Last 12-month average uptime:

• January 2020 average uptime: 99.88%
• December 2019 average uptime: 100%
• November 2019 average uptime: 99.99%
• October 2019 average uptime: 99.83%
• September 2019 average uptime: 99.92%
• August 2019 average uptime: 100%
• July 2019 average uptime: 99.89%
• June 2019 average uptime: 99.72%
• May 2019 average uptime: 99.97%
• April 2019 average uptime: 99.99%
• March 2019 average uptime: 100%
• February 2019 average uptime: 99.99%

Cons of Using Web Hosting Hub Hosting

Web Hosting Hub provides a decent list of positives. The support was adequate and uptime good.

Those are a few of the primary ways to evaluate a host, and Web Hosting Hub delivered the goods.

Unfortunately, there are a few potential drawbacks as well.

1. Offering “Shared” Hosting Only

Web Hosting Hub likes to keep things simple, offering ONLY shared hosting options. That provides a few benefits, like their fast signup process.

If everything goes well and your site takes off, that might pose a few problems.

Larger websites (and more savvy users) like to use dedicated hosting options for larger sites that require more resources to run. And if you hit this tipping point, you might be forced to start the hosting-reviewal process over again by looking into more premium options elsewhere.

Kind of a hassle if you know this might be an option in the not-too-distant future.

2. Too Average Page Load Times

Web Hosting Hub prides itself on speed, referencing (many times) the fact that their solid-state hard drives can be up to 20x faster.

(Did we mention they have solid-state hard drives?)

However, our experience didn’t show 20x faster, but their speed came to 767ms, which unfortunately is a bit too average result for us.

Last 12-month average load time:

While this is not the worst result from Web Hosting Hub, there are still hosts who are much faster.

3. Age-Old Hosting Price Tricks

Sure, that low $5.99 monthly pricing seems like a great deal. BUT you gotta sign up for a full three years to get it.

Want to just start with month-to-month? You can’t. Twelve months is the lowest they’ll go, and that price jumps up to $7.99 monthly (paid in advance).

Not such a great deal after all.

Unfortunately, this pricing trick is pretty pervasive in the hosting industry, as many try to pull the same stunt. Buyer beware, we guess.

4. Extra Fees for Backups & Security – Not Good…

Daily backups are incredibly helpful for a variety of reasons.

For example, sometimes, plugins don’t play well together. You upload a new one and hit Activate immediately without checking to see what versions of WordPress (or your theme) it’s been tested for. All of a sudden… nothing. The site goes bye-bye.

At least you can easily recover from this mistake. God forbid hackers to exploit security breaches and inject malicious code. Good luck cleaning that out!

Backups can help you in each case, allowing you to basically hit the rewind button to simply roll back to a previous version.

BUT they’re only good if you (1) remember to do them, (2) do them consistently, and (3) keep them ‘offsite’ so they’re not corrupted either.

Web Hosting Hub offers to provide daily backups, and will even automate the process, but it’ll cost you an extra dollar each month.

Most other web hosts will throw in security features for free, as part of their core offer. But again – Web Hosting Hub nickel-and-dimes you for anti-virus and anti-spam protection, and more.

The prices themselves aren’t that terrible. It’s the principle of it that’s frustrating.

5. Possible Delayed Activation

Web Hosting Hub (similarly to parent company InMotion Hosting) might require extra details (like even a live phone call) to completely verify your account.

In theory, this is positive because it’s for security. However, it can still be frustrating if you’re trying to get things up-and-running and you’re located overseas.

Web Hosting Hub Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts

Unlike other web hosts, Web Hosting Hub only offers shared hosting. Here is a quick overview of their shared hosting plans:

Quick Facts

• Free Domain: Yes.
• Ease of Signup: Very easy, one-page sign-up process. One of the best.
• Money-Back: 90-day money-back guarantee.
• Payment Methods: Credit Card.
• Hidden Fees and Clauses: There is a limit of 75,000 files and 10,000 messages (or 2GB in size) for their users. Accounts that exceed 10GB or 75,000 files are automatically excluded from their backup system. It can cost up to $50 to have your backup restored.
• Upsells: A few upsells.
• Account Activation: Quick activation. Beware of the account verification, especially if you’re outside the US.
• Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
• Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): Quick and easy install of popular apps and CMSs via Softaculous.

Do We Recommend Web Hosting Hub?

Unfortunately, we can’t recommend Web Hosting Hub.

Their uptime and customer support is pretty good. But their speed is all over the place, and pricing isn’t as good as advertised. Your account verification might get delayed 24 hours – if you based outside the US. And overall, their performance is just a bit too average.

You’d be better signing up with their sister brand: InMotion hosting, or choosing something from our top web hosting reviews.

Have you used Web Hosting Hub? If so, please leave an honest and transparent Web Hosting Hub review below. We welcome all positive and negatives experiences.