GreenGeeks Full Review: Is It the Best Choice?
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Free SSL certificate, migration, and an environmentally friendly web hosting service? That's right. GreenGeeks cares for Mother Nature and offers unlimited bandwidth, e-mail, and a free domain for the first year. So not only will you be publishing your website easily, but you'll also be helping our planet.
So be the next person to sign up?
Pros
Cons
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Quick Stats
GreenGeeks are on a mission to save the planet from the energy web hosting has been consuming yearly. It is one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S, with over 500,000 customers.
Is GreenGeeks what you're looking for?
Keep reading and find your answer!
Eco-Friendly Web Host
Each shared hosting plan on GreenGeeks says, "300% Green Energy Match." What does that mean? Well, let's start by saying the internet harms the environment. Datacenters are full of servers that are always on, climate-controlled, and secure; all of this takes a lot of energy.
What does GreenGeeks do differently?
They try to reduce carbon by purchasing wind energy credits, three times the energy than they consume. They're certified green to make it even better, which helped them win plenty of environmental awards. So, if you want to make a difference and help mother nature, GreenGeeks is your web host.
You can even brag by choosing a badge to display that you're an environmentally friendly website.
Types of Hosting Offered by GreenGeeks
Yes, we're here today to focus on GreenGeeks Web Hosting plans., but aren't you interested to know what else they have to offer? Here's a list of types of hosting offered by GreenGeeks:
- Shared Hosting: GreenGeeks offers their shared hosting only for $2.49/month for small or medium businesses.
- WordPress Hosting: To host your WordPress website, you'll have to pay $2.49/month.
- VPS Hosting: Get your own managed VPS server for $39.95/month. It's the medium between shared and dedicated hosting.
- Dedicated Hosting: Get your own dedicated server for $169/month.
- Reseller Hosting: Sell your server to third parties for $29.95/month
If you're building a website from scratch for your new business, you're probably looking to share a server with others. This way, you'll pay a low price and get some traffic to get your business started.
Depending on the features you need, you can choose one of the three shared hosting plans offered by GreenGeeks.
GreenGeeks three shared hosting plan details:
| Lite | Pro (Recommended) | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Websites | One | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| E-mails | 50 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Domains | Free for the first year | Free for the first year | Free for the first year |
| Max. files amount | 150,000 | 300,000 | 500,000 |
| Backup | Basic | Basic | Advanced |
| Database | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SSL Certificate | Available | Available | Premium |
| Starting Price | $2.49 | $4.95 | $8.95 |
| Renewal Price | $10.95 | $15.95 | $25.95 |
Give it a try; there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pricing
For the features offered in every plan, GreenGeeks' prices are affordable. Unlimited bandwidth, disk storage, databases, e-mail accounts, and free SSL are all included in their shared hosting plans.
All these mind-blowing features and you still have a money-back guarantee for the first 30 days. You also get a free domain for the first year, and there's nothing extra during the sign-up process. The only thing you'll need to keep an eye on is the number of files.
Like any other web hosting service, you'll get a higher discount if you pay for years in advance. In fact, you'll be saving almost 50% if you register for three years.
Payment Methods
To pay for your GreenGeeks plan, they accept all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex) and PayPal.
Customer Service
Everybody needs a helping hand every once in a while when creating a website. GreenGeeks offers friendly customer support via live chat, ticket-based e-mail system, and phone support.
They also have a blog and an organized knowledge base based on different categories. For example, beginners can depend on the "Getting Started" category to help them start their website with GreenGeeks. There are also many website tutorials, articles, and guidelines that can help when needed.
Despite having multiple servers' locations in Canada, the USA, and Europe, their customer service is only available 24/7 in the United States.
One thing about their customer service is that they're quick to answer. Unfortunately, their phone support is only available Monday through Friday from 9 am till midnight EST and during the weekend from 9 am till 8 pm EST. Don't worry; you can still contact them via live chat when they can't be reached over the phone.
Security
SSL Certificate
Shared hosting plans on GreenGeeks include a free SSL certificate; the Premium plan includes a premium SSL certificate to ensure your data is encrypted. This is essential if you're creating an e-commerce website selling your products online. GreenGeeks also depend on PHP and MySQL versions to make your site more secure; hence, it's the best choice.
Password Protected Directories
To make sure your website is safe and your data is safe, you can take an extra security step and assign passwords to directories of your choice. This is beneficial if more than one person has access to your cPanel.
Hotlink Protection
To protect your website from 'Hotlinking,' GreenGeeks gives you a chance and has a step-by-step guideline on how to do so. This way, you don't have to worry about third parties stealing your data and bandwidth.
Spam Assassin Protection
All GreenGeeks come with Spam Assassin protection, so you don't have to worry about getting spam email; everything will be filtered and protected.
Firewall & DDoS Prevention
If that's not enough, there's more! An advanced firewall will protect your website from any attack. There's also a free malware cleanup in case of any problem. To make it even better, if one site is attacked, other sites won't be due to account isolation that GreenGeeks does.
24/7 Network Monitoring
According to GreenGeeks, they monitor "servers every 10 seconds from multiple locations around the globe to ensure that we're up and running." This assures their customers not to worry about downtime or any problem with the server.
Site Backup
With GreenGeeks will backup your website every night. That's very important in case you want to restore any versions of your website if it's lost.
Load Times, Reliability, and Features
Uptime & Speed
GreenGeeks doesn't only check for being environmentally friendly but also for having up-to-date servers and a monitoring system that helps decrease downtime. They guarantee their uptime is 99.9% with no refund policies if there is a higher downtime. According to experienced users, their uptime is equal to 99.98%.
Having a fast website is one of the most important factors, after all. It can make a huge difference in how many people visit your website. GreenGeeks' speed is pretty fast, no matter where your audience is based. The better news is that they offer cache Powercacher combined with LiteSpeed Cache website acceleration to make the website faster.
Features
This is only the beginning; GreenGeeks has unlimited disk storage, bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, e-mail accounts, and so much more. Best of all, you get a free website builder, great security for your website, and a free CDN controlled through your cPanel. This means your money won't go to waste, and you'll be saving our planet. So, why not sign up?
SEO
Besides the fast, secure website, there's a GreenGeeks knowledge base guide to guide you on getting a better SEO ranking. All you have to do is learn more about on-page SEO and off-page SEO to have your website noticed.
For Advanced Users
Advanced users are happy to know GreenGeeks offers developer-friendly features. These include:
- Multiple PHP Versions
- Free SSH and Secure FTP Access
- Perl and Python Support
- MySQL Databases
- FTP Accounts
- Git, WP-CLI, and more.
You'll be more than happy with everything it has to offer.
Custom Error Pages
To make your website look more professional, you can customize an error page. With GreenGeeks, you can do so from the cPanel. If you don't know-how refer to their knowledge base, there's a step-by-step guide.
Server Locations
While GreenGeeks doesn't have a variety of servers, you can still choose from three different locations. These include the US, Canada, and Europe.
Website Building
There are several ways to create your dream website due to the many features available in the cPanel. Additionally, access to Softaculous for quick app installations with many functions that users can benefit from.
GreenGeeks' cPanel gives you access to SitePad, an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder. To use SitePad, you choose a theme and then customize it to create the website you want.
In contrast to other web hosts, GreenGeeks allows you to have as many pages as you want on your website. In addition, you can add images, pages, and any element you want.
Besides, another option you have is to upload website files manually or by using FTP as well as a free website migration, which can be helpful if you want to transfer your site without having to do anything at all.
Saving the best for last, there's a free CDN included. This doesn't only save you time, but it'll make it easier to access your settings.
E-Commerce
If you're hosting an e-commerce website, GreenGeeks is an excellent choice due to its free SSL certificate, many features and tools available, and 1-click installation that helps install multiple applications, including a free shopping cart installation. Furthermore, you get free credits for marketing and social media promotions.
Final Verdict
In short, GreenGeeks is the right choice for you, especially if you're environmentally conscious; you can even brag with a badge on your website. Of course, that's not the only reason to choose GreenGeeks, but it includes many features in every shared plan, such as unlimited bandwidth, SSL certificate, free CDN, and more!
So choose GreenGeeks to make a difference!