SiteGround is one of the most popular web hosting services available on the market today. It’s a safe and reliable way to host your website in 2019.

More than 2 million active domains are hosted with SiteGround.

One of the reasons why this service is so popular is because they offer hosting options and plans suitable for a wide range of websites and businesses.

Small personal websites, business websites, and large ecommerce sites alike can all use SiteGround.

For those of you who are looking to find a hosting provider for your new website, SiteGround is definitely a top option for you to consider.

It’s also a great choice for anyone who wants to switch hosting providers for their existing website since SiteGround has plans with a free site transfer. But we’ll talk about this in greater detail as we continue.

I’ll give you a better understanding of the plans, types of hosting, and top benefits offered by SiteGround. You can use this guide to make an informed decision to determine if SiteGround is the best web hosting plan for your needs.

Benefits of Using SiteGround Web Hosting

There is plenty of upside to using SiteGround as a web hosting service. I just want to quickly highlight and explain why this platform stands out from its competitors.

High uptimes

When it comes to measuring how good a web host is, uptime is the ultimate metric. By definition, this is the amount of time that a server stays up and running.

A recent study shows that SiteGround has exceptionally high uptimes, on average, over a twelve-month stretch.

In 2018, SiteGround ranked fourth compared to other web hosts judging by average uptime. As you can see, they were just barely beat out for the third place spot by a one-thousandth percentage point.

Overall, the average uptime for the 32 shared web hosting services in the study was 99.59%. SiteGround was significantly higher than the average and near the top of the list.

High uptimes ensure that your site will nearly always be up and running around the clock.

Fast load times

Just because your site is up, it doesn’t always mean that it will be fast. But take a look at the response time for this SiteGround test website that was set up by Hosting Facts.

We already talked about the great uptime, but now you can refer to the response time column.

The average response time for the first six months of 2019 was 662 ms. That’s phenomenal. In addition to using a good web host, you should also know the other top principles that boost website loading times.

Great customer support

Hopefully, you don’t have any issues with SiteGround. But in the event that you run into a problem, have a question, or need some assistance, it’s nice to know that they provide excellent customer support.

You can access phone support as well as live chat 24/7. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll have priority support if you have a GoGeek plan. This means that you’ll be connected with the most experienced SiteGround technicians whenever you need help.

Free features

Web hosting services will always try to hit you with add-ons at an upcharge. But SiteGround throws in some great features at no extra charge.

Your membership comes with one free site migration. This can be done with their migrator plugin, which we talked about earlier. If you have the GrowBig or GoGeek plan, a SiteGround professional will do the migration for you.

SiteGround plans also come with a free CDN and free SSL certificate.

Cloudflare CDN keeps images, videos, and other large files off of your server. As a result, your server is always fast. Since SiteGround users servers all over the globe, the CDN makes sure that files are stored closer to website visitors for fast delivery.

The SSL certificate is required for all websites. It protects private information being transmitted between devices and websites. SiteGround throwing this in for free is a nice touch since you’d need to get one regardless.

Flexible

Nearly any website can be hosted on SiteGround.

It’s a great web hosting service for beginners and experienced users alike. You don’t need to be too tech-savvy to understand how the platform works and get your site hosted. But on the other hand, if you like to be more hands-on with the server and take advantage of certain features, SiteGround has plans with you in mind.

There are also enough options on SiteGround to accommodate different web hosting needs, such as shared hosting, dedicated server hosting, and cloud hosting.

They have plans suitable for a wide range of average site traffic as well. So as your website scales, you can always upgrade to a plan that will meet your needs.

Money back guarantee

SiteGround offers a 30-day money back guarantee for their shared hosting plans. This shows that they stand behind the services that are offered.

Dedicated servers and cloud hosting plans have a 14-day money back guarantee, which is still enough time to tell if you’re happy with your service.

SiteGround will also refund you if they fail to meet a 99.9% uptime rate. This is clearly written in their terms of service.

This relates back to what we talked about earlier, in terms of their high uptime rates. There’s a reason why it’s so high—SiteGround has a promise to stand behind.

Other considerations

There’s no such thing as a perfect web hosting service. While SiteGround is great, there are a few downsides that you should be made aware of before you proceed.

Setup fee

SiteGround charges a one-time setup fee for $14.95 with all of their plans. It’s not a deal breaker by any stretch, but it means you can’t just sign up for their lowest plan and be out the door for $3.95.

Renewal rates

At first glance, SiteGround’s pricing is very attractive. But those are only promotional rates.

When you renew, your rates will jump as follows:

• $3.95 to $11.95 per month
• $5.95 to $19.95 per month
• $11.95 to $34.95 per month

The cost essentially triples across the board. So I’d recommend locking in the longest contract possible when you first sign up, which is 36 months. This will guarantee you a low rate for a while before you’re forced to renew.

Limited budget plan

For those of looking for the best cheap web hosting service, SiteGround’s StartUp plan for $3.95 per month is definitely attention-grabbing.

It’s a great choice for those of you with smaller websites, but it’s fairly limited for anyone who plans on getting more than 10,000 visitors per month. You may have to upgrade faster than you anticipated if you start with their lowest priced web hosting plan.

Compare SiteGround Web Hosting Plans

Like most web hosting services, SiteGround offers different plans for websites with varying needs. In this case, there are three tiers for most of their hosting types.

With the exception of cloud hosting and dedicated server hosting, the prices of these three plans will remain the same across the board for shared hosting, WordPress hosting, and Woocommerce hosting. We’ll dive deeper into those plans later in this guide.

For now, I’ll focus on the pricing and features of the three most popular plan options offered by SiteGround.

StartUp

As the name implies, the SiteGround StartUp plan is ideal for new websites. With rates starting at $3.95 per month, this plan is suitable for websites with less than 10,000 monthly visits.

You can only host one website with the StartUp plan, and it comes with 10 GB of web space. Other top features include:

• Free site builder
• Free SSL and HTTPS
• Free email accounts
• Free CloudFlare CDN

It’s a basic plan, but definitely appropriate for new websites that are starting from scratch. For those of you who want more features and better performance, you’ll need to upgrade. You’ll also outgrow the StartUp plan as your traffic increases (which is a good thing).

GrowBig

The GrowBig plan starts at $5.95 per month. This is ideal for medium-sized websites averaging up to 25,000 monthly visits. GrowBig has 20 GB of web space and can host an unlimited number of sites.

Unlike the StartUp plan, GrowBig has enhanced caching ability. The SiteGround Supercacher has three levels.

• Level 1 — Static content caching
• Level 2 — Dynamic data caching
• Level 3 — Database queries caching

StartUp only caches at the first level, but GrowBig caches on all three levels.

If you sign up for the middle-tier plan offered by SiteGround, you’ll also get free on-demand backups, a free site transfer, as well as a staging feature for WordPress and Joomla sites. I’d say that the GrowBig plan will be suitable for most of you who are reading this guide.

GoGeek

GoGeek can accommodate up to 100,000 monthly visits and has 30 GB of web space. Obviously, this plan is made for bigger websites with high volumes of traffic.

Rates for GoGeek start at $11.95 per month, but the plan comes with all of the bells and whistles. In addition to everything that’s available in the GrowBig plan, GoGeek offers:

• Advanced priority support (expedited customer service to the most experienced agents)
• PCI compliant servers (necessary for those of you who process payments online)
• Git pre-installed (for creating repositories on your site)

The name for this plan was inspired by technology geeks. So it’s made for those of you who want more control of your site. If you don’t understand some of the tech lingo that’s being mentioned in the GoGeek plan, it’s probably not for you. The only other reason why you’d need to upgrade to GoGeek is if you’re getting tons of monthly site traffic.

WordPress hosting

SiteGround offers hosting options specifically designed for WordPress users. This will save you time since you won’t need to manually download, install, and configure WordPress.

With SiteGround, you can take advantage of their automated process that’s as simple as clicking a button. This plan also makes it easier for you to customize your WordPress site by choosing a theme, picking your site functionalities, and installing marketing tools.

The WordPress Starter Kit from SiteGround is a great added feature for new WordPress sites. You don’t need any technical knowledge or experience to set this up.

If you have an existing WordPress site, SiteGround offers a free WordPress transfer. The SiteGround Migrator plugin takes care of everything for you. This is a secure way to transfer your site.

Alternatively, if you have a GrowBig or GoGeek plan, you can get your WordPress site migrated by one of the experts at SiteGround. This is a free service for one website before rates start at $30 per site.

WooCommerce hosting

SiteGround also has hosting options for ecommerce shops using WooCommerce.

The quick install and integration with WooCommerce is an easy way for you to create a professional theme for your online store. You can get the site up and running in minutes.

Just migrate your WooCommerce site using the migrator plugin. Just like WordPress hosting, WooCommerce migrations done by a SiteGround expert is free for one website if you’re on the GrowBig or GoGeek plan. Then you’ll have to pay $30 per each additional site.

If you have WooCommerce, you’re going to need to the GoGeek plan anyways, since that comes standard with PCI compliant servers.

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting is a new way to host websites. The process uses multiple remote servers and is a great option for those of you who have websites that have outgrown the shared hosting plans.

With cloud hosting, SiteGround gives you guaranteed resources to meet your needs. Your own RAM and CPU won’t be shared with any other websites.

It’s also easy for you to scale your website with this type of web hosting.

You can upgrade your RAM, CPU, and disk space on-demand at any time. You don’t need to get approval to do this, and it happens without any website downtime.

Rather than always doing this manually, you can set up automatic scaling with SiteGround. It will adjust your CPU and RAM to meet the needs of unexpected traffic surges, but you still have control of all the parameters.

There are four plans for SiteGround Cloud hosting. As you can see from the image above, the plans range from $80 to $240 per month. So there’s definitely plenty of options to choose from.

I’d say that the business plan will likely be a suitable choice for most of you who are using a cloud hosting service for the first time.

Dedicated servers

For those of you who don’t want to use cloud hosting or shared hosting, SiteGround offers dedicated server options as well.

This is perfect if you don’t want any restrictions in terms of the software you use on your website. You’ll also be able to make changes directly to your server if you go with this route.

All servers are managed by the experts at SiteGround. They also offer software designed to boost the performance of your server and provide added functionality.

You can also choose the location of your data center.

• United States
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific

There are three dedicated server plans offered by SiteGround:

• Entry Server
• Power Server
• Super Power Server

These plans start at $269 per month, $349 per month, and $729 per month, respectively.

Conclusion

I’ll get straight to the point—I would definitely recommend SiteGround for web hosting.

This platform offers a wide range of hosting types and plans to accommodate the needs of nearly any website, large or small. SiteGround stacks up well compared to its competitors in terms of features and performance.

Without much hesitation, it could be said that ExpressVPN and NordVPN are the champions of today’s VPN industry. Both of these VPN solutions have been around for a while, they offer great value for their price and plenty of highly advanced options. However, this is also what makes it hard to choose between the two. So, which one is better – ExpressVPN or NordVPN? Well, we are going to help you with this by comparing these two VPN services. Welcome to our ExpressVPN vs NordVPN comparison!

First, here’s a breakdown of the most important aspects of ExpressVPN and NordVPN. Take a look at the following table to compare their most prominent features.

Next, take a look at the final scores from our reviews of these two VPN providers. Then, keep on reading to dive deep into the specifics.

We had no choice but to create the ultimate head-to-head to find out which VPN deserves to sit on the throne. So, keep on reading our ExpressVPN Vs NordVPN comparison.

ExpressVPN vs NordVPN (2019) – Which One’s Better?

Just like in our reviews of these two VPN giants, we’ll be taking a look at every important aspect of using a VPN service. So, let’s jump right in.

Background, Jurisdiction & Reputation

When choosing between different VPN services, you’ll want to check their background information first. Always go for the VPN outside of the 14-Eyes Alliance, and pick the one with no data leaks in the past.

• ExpressVPN: This VPN brand comes from the British Virgin Islands. It’s outside of the 14-Eyes Alliance, and it’s known for its dedication to its users. ExpressVPN has had its services reviewed by an independent party in the past, and it’s one of a few certified no-logs VPN services. And finally, this VPN has been providing free access to users from ‘problematic’ areas of the world during certain times, allowing them to unblock websites and get information from the outside world.
• NordVPN: This VPN comes from Panama, and it’s generally known for its transparency. This is yet another independently audited VPN service, so you can be sure that no data logging is happening in the background. In addition, NordVPN is always quick to resolve any problematic points in its apps via prompt updates. And let’s not forget the fact that this VPN is the recipient of numerous VPN-related awards.

Winner: Both ExpressVPN and NordVPN are highly reputable brands – so we’ll call it a tie. No manner which one you pick, you can be sure that you’re private and sensitive data is being handled in the best way possible. 

Supported Platforms & Devices

Depending on how many devices you want to connect to the Web, you need to be careful when picking a provider. Lucky for you, both ExpressVPN and NordVPN deliver what their promise.

• ExpressVPN: This VPN provider is based on the OpenVPN protocol, which ensures broad system compatibility. You can count on a wide range of native apps that can be installed on all popular desktop and mobile operating systems. There are also apps for Linux and even Blackberry. Of course, OpenVPN ensures that ExpressVPN can be installed even on VPN-compatible routers. Also, you can use this VPN service on up to 5 devices at the same time.
• NordVPN: When it comes to supported devices, NordVPN does not disappoint. It offers highly polished apps for every popular platform out there. And since OpenVPN is present here as well, you can even install in on your router. NordVPN can be used on 6 devices at the same time, which gives it a small advantage over its direct competitor.

Winner: It’s hard to pick a winner in this category since both of these VPNs are present on pretty much any platform. If we really want to nitpick, we’d go with ExpressVPN since it brings hugely helpful installation guides on its official website.

Installation & Initial Configuration

Next, let’s take a look at how easy it is to install and configure these VPN clients. After all, you want to begin using a secure connection without any hassle.

• ExpressVPN: After signing up for a new ExpressVPN account, you can proceed to download the app. It doesn’t contain any bloatware and takes very little hard drive space. You can install and begin using the application in less than a few minutes of your time. The same applies to desktop and mobile devices. It’s also worth noting that ExpressVPN comes with numerous helpful guides that show how to install this VPN on a wide range of devices, including routers.
• NordVPN: Just like its biggest competitor, NordVPN brings a highly polished installation method. The installation file is quite small so you don’t have to have a fast Web connection. Aside from desktop and mobile devices, NordVPN can be installed on compatible routers. However, we feel that this VPN provider should have invested more time in coming up with instructions and tutorials. Some of those are quite basic, making you turn to their support team for answers.

Winner: Once again, picking a clear winner is quite hard. However, we have to say that both ExpressVPN and NordVPN bring equally simple installation. Even complete newbies won’t have a hard time installing and getting started with these VPNs. 

Prominent Features

Our next category of the ExpressVPN Vs NordVPN comparison contains the most prominent features. So, let’s jump right in.

• ExpressVPN: The best thing we can say about ExpressVPN is that it just works. It is rock-solid, reliable, and nails the fundamentals. Aside from that, you’ll get to use a highly polished kill-switch as well as all currently available VPN protocols. And when it comes to the most advanced features, ExpressVPN brings split-tunneling. Where this VPN truly shines is the way it lets you handle these features. It’s not overly simple but even inexperienced users will be able to dive into advanced security-related technologies.
• NordVPN: NordVPN, on the other hand, is almost overflowing with features. We’ve talked about the kill-switch, double VPN, and Onion servers, but that’s just the start. There are special obfuscation servers, anti-DDoS servers, a paid option for dedicated IP servers, and more. All in all, you’ll find plenty of features here that can satisfy even the most demanding users.

Winner: Even though both ExpressVPN and NordVPN are hugely capable VPN services, we have to say that NordVPN is the winner of this round. You get a constant stream of new features and even ad-blocking is included. 

Server Count

Knowing the number of servers you’ll have at your disposal is a good thing. However, you also need to know in what way these servers are distributed. To check other options, take a look at our article on VPNs with the highest number of servers.

• ExpressVPN: This provider manages a network of over 3,000 servers spread across 90+ countries. This is more than enough to meet your every need. Also, you get to test the speed of each server and pick the one with the best result. This translates to a pleasurable media streaming experience and can be especially helpful if you want to download large files.
• NordVPN: Without any doubt, NordVPN is the most powerful VPN in terms of servers. It has more than 5,200 servers spread across the globe. Interestingly enough, this doesn’t translate to a throttle-free experience. Since double-encryption is involved, you’ll be using two secure servers at any moment. Therefore, some throttling is still present.

Winner: Even though it doesn’t have as many as NordVPN has, ExpressVPN should meet your every need. Having 3,000+ servers is an incredible power to have under your fingertips. In addition, ExpresVPN’s servers are present in 90+ countries, which is one of its biggest selling points. 

Ease of Use

Both VPNs have exceptional user interfaces, and they cater to almost every type of device under the sun. They’ve both invested a lot of time into refining their designs and making sure the experience is consistent across all clients and even their websites.

• ExpressVPN: This provider has a simple and elegant design, with no clutter to speak of. The main screen has a big, bold power button that will connect to a ‘Smart Location.’ With a single click or tap, you can connect to the Web anonymously, without needing to mess around with settings. If you do choose to pick your own server location, there is a shortlist of recommended servers to try, or the full list of ExpressVPN’s global army of servers. There’s no immediate way to know what server to choose, but you can run a speed test (it will take about five minutes) on all the servers to determine the fastest options. And finally, ExpressVPN is limited to just three simultaneous connections, although their router client will protect every device connected to it.
• NordVPN: This VPN greets you with a stylishly designed map of the world and a connection wizard that will find the best server for your specific need (like P2P or security). We absolutely adore how NordVPN organizes its servers into types and countries. It is always happy to make life simple by connecting you to the best server, but it also gives you the freedom to click on a country or type and get an overview of those available servers. You’ll find distance and server load to help you make the perfect manual choice. NordVPN allows double the amount of simultaneous connections (six), so you should be able to install it on pretty much every device that you own. And have a slot or two available for your friends.

Winner: Both VPNs offer exceptional ease of use, but ExpressVPN digs beneath the surface level to provide a richer experience. They are both exceptional, but ExpressVPN edges it.

Media Streaming & Torrenting Support

Planning to stream media on the Web? Do you still want to use Netflix and other media streaming services, even while using a VPN? If that’s so, keep on reading.

• ExpressVPN: We strongly believe there’s no better VPN for streaming than ExpressVPN. It can unblock pretty much any website out there, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and plenty more. Also, this VPN fully supports torrenting via all of its servers.
• NordVPN: Even though it’s being advertised as a streaming-friendly option, that’s not exactly the case in practice. Even though you can unblock a nice list of websites, it can be tedious to find the one that works with the website you want to unblock. In addition, NordVPN supports torrenting only via specialized servers.

Winner: It’s clear that ExpressVPN wins this round. Without any doubt, this is the most capable VPN service for media streaming and downloading torrents. 

Security & Privacy

Privacy and security are the main reasons why people turn to VPNs. Thankfully, you can rest easy knowing that by using ExpressVPN or NordVPN, you are in safe hands.

• ExpressVPN: Aside from the standard VPN features, ExpressVPN has a very powerful Kill-Switch that prevents data leaks when your VPN connection drops. Then, you can utilize different VPN protocols (OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPSec), depending on if you want to prioritize speed or security. There are no data leaks as per our tests, and this VPN comes with a privacy policy that nicely explains everything that happens in the background.
• NordVPN: The flagship feature of NordVPN is double encryption, which is something that’s rarely seen these days. This means that you shouldn’t have any concerns when it comes to privacy. There are also two VPN protocols to choose from, so not as many as ExpressVPN offers. Still, NordVPN offers more than what any average user would ever need, and its list of features would make even the most highly demanding users happy.

Winner: Once again, ExpressVPN is one step ahead of its biggest competitor since it offers a larger number of VPN protocols. Even though both of these will keep you safe and sound online, ExpressVPN wins this round.

Speed & Performance

Security and privacy are great but not when they come at the cost of speed. If you’re going to connect to servers on the other side of the world, you’re going to experience slower speeds, but a great VPN will minimize the slowdown. To check out other options, here’s our overview of the fastest VPN providers.

• ExpressVPN: There are two ways to connect to a remote server via ExpressVPN. You can run a speed test and then connect to a server manually. Or, you can let the application decide which server works the best in any given moment. As a result, you’ll experience throttle-free Web browsing and media streaming. In case you have a fast connection, to begin with, 4K streaming is not an unreachable dream. As per our tests, this VPN slowed us down by 19% on average, which is a highly respectable result.
• NordVPN: This VPN prioritizes the security of your data of performance (speed). By default, you’ll get to use double-encryption that will keep your data 110% safe. However, this setup might be on overkill for average home users. And as a result, some throttling will happen. As our NordVPN review will you, this VPN slowed us down by 38% on average, so it’s clear who’s the winner of this round.

Winner: Without any doubt, ExpressVPN wins this round. This is one of the fastest-performing VPN services, offering great performance no matter which VPN protocol you decide to use. 

Customer Service

We were very impressed by the levels of support that these VPNs offer to subscribers. No matter which one to pick, you’ll receive answers to your question. The only difference here is how long you’ll need to wait to get an answer.

• ExpressVPN: ExpressVPN was lightning fast in responding via live chat (which is 24/7) and via form submission on their website. You may not even need to talk to anyone because their website contains plenty of tutorials and guides to help you set up, resolve, and explain just about everything related to the service.
• NordVPN: As good as ExpressVPN’s live chat was, we were even more impressed with NordVPN. Their support members were just as fast and we didn’t feel like they were reading from a script. However, responses to our form submissions took much longer (six hours versus ExpressVPN’s one hour) during our testing period.

Winner: When you get stuck and need a hand, ExpressVPN is doing the most to help you get back on track. However, it’s worth noting that both of these provide top-level customer service, and your questions will be answered in a timely manner. 

Pricing

ExpressVPN and NordVPN are maybe two of the more expensive VPN offerings, but having spent a lot of time with both, we feel that they are worth every penny.

• ExpressVPN: At the moment, the most affordable plan of this VPN provider will cost you $99.95 per year (which comes down to $6.67 per month). For that money, you will receive full protection without any caveats. This means having access to 24/7 customer support and using the application without any bandwidth limitations. ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and you can use it on up to five devices at the same time.
• NordVPN: To make a direct comparison, you should know that NordVPN has a yearly plan, priced at $83.88 (so, it’s $6.99 per month). However, you’ll find other long-term plans which bring the price down to $2.99 per month if you get a 3-year plan. Even though this pricing structure helps you save in the long-term, it requires a significant upfront investment.

Winner: These two VPN services bring comparable prices. When it comes to their annual plans, ExpressVPN is the more affordable option. However, NordVPN brings the price of its service down via its 2- and 3-year plans. 

ExpressVPN vs NordVPN: Which One Should You Pick?

ExpressVPN and NordVPN are, in our opinion, the best of the best. You can’t go wrong with whichever choice you make, but there can be only one winner, and that is ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN has the looks of a champion and delivers the anonymity and security that you’d want from a quality VPN service. It’s just as easy to use as NordVPN (newbie-friendly) but also offers deeper functionality for those who want a bit more control over their VPN. Even though NordVPN is more affordable, it doesn’t really offer the same level of service or functionality as ExpressVPN does. So, go ahead and sign-up for ExpressVPN today. You won’t regret it!