A2 and SG are comparable, more or less. Generally, SG a little stronger but then has annoying CPU usage restrictions (they complain when you use too much). A2 got better pricing and performance isn’t bad either. SG is probably better in customer service.
For those that care, SiteGround FEELS like the better webhosting service.
- Website and overall UI looks better.
- Price is higher.
- Service seems faster.
- Customer support seems friendlier/better.
A2 isn’t completely inferior:
- It has lower pricing.
- It seems to let you have more visitors.
It also seems that people who leave SG, do so for pricing reasons or they’re upgrading to VPS. People who leave A2 seem to be angry at performance or customer support.
I’m always looking for an alternative to SiteGround — not because I don’t like them but because I don’t like having all my clients hosted on the same platform. If SiteGround ever falls apart I want an alternative I can quickly switch them to. (I recommend hosting to clients but don’t provide it.)
My two main issues with A2Hosting for shared hosting are signup and server-level caching.
I’ve resolved the signup issue with a 13-step job aid that includes explaining their wonky system of showing higher prices at first and then applying their seemingly-permanent “discount” near the end of the process. They also ask technical questions during signup that are way over the heads of my non-technical small-business clients. Once they’re signed up things go pretty smoothly.
Their caching solution has been more problematic for me. It’s knit deeply in their modified version of (I think) W3Cache, such that you can’t simply enable caching on the server side and then use Swift or WP-Rocket for the rest of your optimization. If you don’t want to add their plugin you don’t get server-level optimization, if you do then, again, you get a complex interface and (in my opinion) poor performance on the WordPress side of things.
While testing the same site installed on, say, A2’s Turbo vs SC’s GoGeek takes quite a bit longer to setup and doesn’t run as quickly.
Thanks for the tip on WebHostFace. I’ll take a look.
Right now I have 3 WordPress website hosting in siteground grow big plan. And, I am quite happy. I have no idea about A2 hosting and webhostface (will check out webhostface). How about wpxhosting? It looks like an alternate for wpengine and kinsta. The hosting company seems new but promising.
I don’t have too much personal experience with WPXhosting. They seem ok. Are you looking for new hosting? And do you want same speed as SiteGround or faster (but more pricier)?