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Register.com Hosting Review
Register.com Hosting Review
February 26, 2024 / Richard Sutherland
Register.com Hosting Review
February 26, 2024 / Richard Sutherland
Free domain name and personalized email
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Register.com
Editorial Score 7.0
Performance and uptime
Uptime of around 99.5%, with reasonable load times, not optimized for peak performance
7.0
Features
Basic features needed for hosting, including one-click installs, limited storage and bandwidth
7.0
Security
Basic security measures including standard encryption and regular audits
7.0
Scalability
Basic scalability with shared hosting
7.0
Customer support
Basic support primarily during business hours with slower response times
7.0

At a Glance

Consider Register.com for reliable hosting with 24/7 support, scalable service options, and a range of plans suitable for SMBs and personal sites. However, be aware of higher renewal rates and additional fees for services often included for free with other providers. Despite this, it does provide essential features like domain names, malware scanning, and SSL certificates for free on select plans.

Bandwidth

3TB or Unlimited

Free marketing offer

Free domain

Uptime

99.9%

Website builder

Built-in (Neo Builder)

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Price per month

Starting at $5.69

Pros

  • Cloud-based flexibility
  • Free domain included
  • 24/7 live chat support
  • E-commerce solutions

Cons

  • High renewal rates
  • Confusing UI design

Overview

Reliability, scalability, and customer support are paramount for web hosting. Register.com delivers on these fronts with a variety of hosting plans that cater to individuals and small businesses alike.

The provider offers a significant level of flexibility and assurance of uptime. Its 24/7 live chat support, handled by well-trained professionals, is a standout feature, ensuring assistance is readily available.

Although the interface could be more intuitive and some add-ons are expensive, Register.com’s hosting services have substantial storage and bandwidth allowances across its plans.

Best Suited For

Register.com is best suited for small to medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs looking for a reliable hosting platform that can scale with their growth.

Hosting Types

Register.com offers a few different types of hosting.

Shared Hosting

Register.com’s entry-level hosting is shared hosting, a cost-effective solution for individuals and small businesses embarking on their online journey. Shared hosting means that multiple websites are stored on a single server, sharing resources such as disk space and bandwidth. It’s a good option for those with modest website requirements.

Cloud Hosting

If you choose a more expensive plan with Register.com, your site will be cloud-hosted. Cloud-based infrastructure distributes website data across multiple virtual machines, which can reduce the risk of downtime and improve overall performance. This is especially beneficial if your website experiences fluctuating traffic or if you always need to ensure high availability for your users.

WordPress Hosting

If you're specifically looking to use WordPress, Register.com has tailored WordPress hosting packages designed to optimize performance and ease of use. Introductory prices start at $7 per month. But after the first month, you'll pay at least $19.99. Depending on the tier, these plans include on-demand cloud backup, a free domain name, and varying amounts of storage and email boxes.

E-commerce Hosting

Register.com offers Ecommerce hosting starting at $19.95/month, separate from its general web hosting services. These plans facilitate online sales, with features like appointment scheduling and social and email marketing. They support selling across various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

Hosting Features

Register.com's hosting plans are relatively straightforward, allocating a certain amount of disk space, email inboxes, and 1-click installers for applications like WordPress and Joomla.

Bandwidth and storage are crucial factors for any website, and Register.com offers plans with generous allowances. The Starter plan begins with 15 GB of disk space, with higher-tier plans offering up to 500 GB or even unlimited storage. The bandwidth offerings are also substantial, with the WordPress hosting packages including 3TB of monthly data transfers.

Security is essential, too, and Register.com caters to this by offering SiteLock security packages. These services scan for malware and protect against cyber threats. The higher-tier hosting plans include SiteLock Premium, which adds automatic malware removal.

All of Register.com’s web hosting plans include at least one email address, with more inboxes available for $20/year. Instead of the widely-used cPanel for website management, Register.com provides its own custom control panel, which offers just the essential tools needed for site administration.

There are other services for an extra cost, such as the website builder, starting at $19.99/month. The builder has around 150 templates, customization options, and marketing tools like an AI copywriting tool and a marketing calendar. While it doesn't compete with more established standalone website builders, it's notably easy to use. It also offers e-commerce capabilities, enabling secure online payments.

Finally, Register.com offers SEO tools to help improve website visibility on search engines. These premium features require an additional investment ($33.25 per month) but can benefit businesses looking to drive more organic traffic to their site.

Plans & Pricing

Register.com plans range from basic shared hosting for beginners to more robust packages for growing businesses.

The Starter plan is suitable for newbies who want to create a personal site, while the Essential plan scales up to accommodate personal websites with more resources. The Premium and Premium Plus plans are geared towards entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners, offering increased disk space and security features like SiteLock.

Plans are available on monthly, annual, 2-year, 3-year, or 5-year terms. There are insignificant discounts for longer-term commitments, but paying monthly is around 50% more expensive than paying annually.

Here's a quick look at the current pricing for different plans:

Plan

Starter

Essential

Premium

Premium Plus

Price/mo for 1-Year Term

$5.69

$9.96

$25.70

$30.28

Disk Space

15 GB

300 GB

500 GB

Unlimited

Websites

1

3

10

10

Email Boxes

1

3

10

10

Domain Name

-

Included†

Included†

Included†

SSL Certificate

-

-

-

Included†

SiteLock

-

Basic

Premium

Premium

† Free for the first year with an annual or longer term.

The advertised prices are often promotional, with the renewal rates only revealed during checkout. Compared to the industry average, Register.com's pricing is on the higher side, particularly when considering there are often additional costs for features commonly included for free with other hosting providers, such as SSL certificates and malware scanning.

Free Offerings

Register.com includes a free domain name for the first year on select plans. Some plans also offer a basic version of SiteLock malware scanning, but the more comprehensive security features, including auto malware removal, are reserved for higher-tier packages.

SSL certificates are included for free in the top-tier plans only. When it comes to email, Register.com includes at least 1 email inbox with every plan, with additional email inboxes charged at $20/year.

Uptime and Performance

Register.com claims a 99.9% uptime for websites, aligning with industry standards. Our evaluation bore this out, with no downtime observed throughout our 1-week testing period. Performance, too, was more than satisfactory, with web pages loading quickly for visitors.

Technology

Register.com incorporates cloud-based infrastructure in all of its hosting plans apart from the entry-level plan. Cloud-based hosting increases redundancy and performance by distributing the load across multiple virtual servers. This modern approach provides a fail-safe against server failures and promotes consistent access to hosted websites.

Ease of Use

Navigating Register.com's suite of services can be challenging due to a convoluted user interface that requires multiple steps to access key features such as the website builder. While the platform offers robust functionality, the learning curve and hidden details like pricing and package inclusions could hinder the user experience, especially for those new to web hosting.

Support Services

Register.com provides 24/7 live chat support and phone support Monday to Friday, 8am to 9pm ET. Note that this is primarily for basic troubleshooting and resolution of quick issues. For more comprehensive assistance, paid support plans are available, starting at $15 per month. We found the technical support offered by agents to be above average.

The knowledge base offers a selection of articles for self-help, although navigation can be cumbersome due to the website's dated design.

In Conclusion

Register.com offers a range of hosting plans with cloud-based flexibility, though its pricing is higher than the industry average and transparency around costs is lacking.

It boasts modern infrastructure and specialized hosting options, and technical support is readily available. Overall, Register.com is a reasonable hosting provider, but you should compare it with other options on the market that may offer more for a lower price.

Get started now, visit Register.com
By Richard Sutherland
Richard brings over 20 years of website development, SEO, and marketing to the table. A graduate in Computer Science, Richard has lectured in Java programming and has built software for companies including Samsung and ASDA. He writes regularly for the likes of TechRadar, PC Gamer, Creative Bloq.