iPage was founded in 1998 as a web service provider and re-invented as a hosting company in 2009.
Since then, the company has attracted many users through inexpensive web-hosting packages aimed at casual bloggers and small businesses.
Currently run by Endurance International Group, which also owns services like HostGator and BlueHost, the company has a huge force behind it. But oftentimes, when an offer seems too good to be true, it is.
We signed up for an iPage account to answer the age-old question…
Is @iPage too cheap to be good? Click To TweetPros and Cons
- iPage is really inexpensive, costing just $1.99 no matter how short a timespan you commit to.
- Security features add an element of safety to your site and your overall experience with the service.
- Customer support is knowledgeable and helpful.
Cons
- Service add-ons really add up and end up making the low-cost provider more expensive than more expensive providers who include these add-ons for free with their plans.
- iPage has a lower uptime rate than many of its competitors. This is a red flag for anyone who needs a reliable website.
- Page loading is much slower than the average, not to mention the top services, further adding to iPage’s questionable reliability.
Getting Started
You can get started building a website using iPage through a simple, two-step signup process.
The first step of the process will be choosing your domain. If you already have a domain that you would like to transfer, you will be prompted to input it during this step as well. New plans include a free, one-year domain registration.
The next step will be to enter your billing information and select from a list of additional services, which include:
- Domain Privacy ($9.99 per year)
- WordPress Optimization ($3.00 per month)
- SSL Certificate ($1.67 per month)
- Website Security ($1.66 per month)
- G Suite from Google Cloud ($5.00 per month)
- Site Backup ($1.00 per month)
Many of these additional services come free with even basic plans on other providers and it’s this kind of nickel-and-diming that we loathe seeing from web hosts.
Think about it. Something as basic as website security costs almost as much as the $1.99 monthly fee for a hosting plan!
Features
iPage’s core feature set includes unlimited disk space, scalable bandwidth, unlimited domain names, unlimited MySQL databases, and a free domain for one year.
This suite of features is pretty common, but iPage also offers some things that are less commonly seen.
For those looking to create an online store, iPage includes a free eCommerce platform with PayPal integration and an AgoraCart shopping card. It can be installed easily via the user control panel.
iPage’s enhanced security suite includes SiteLock, which protects your website from unwanted and unexpected breaches.
A bunch of marketing tools are also included, such as access to marketing guides, a free Yellowpages.com listing, a toll-free phone number, and a $100 credit for Google AdWords and Bing.
In our tests we found iPage’s uptimes to be significantly lower than many of the other services we’ve reviewed. Additionally, website speed tests proved to be significantly slower than the top competitors, with speeds that were over 40% slower than the leading providers!
cPanel
iPage does not make use of a conventional cPanel, instead opting for a slightly less user-friendly interface called vDeck.
Users can change the appearance settings with preset layouts, but the overall look and feel remain the same.
The user interface looks fairly dated but can be quickly learned through intuition or a tutorial (which is also dated).
Support
iPage support is available 24/7 via telephone, ticketing, and live chat. An online help center is available for any general questions you might have and step-by-step tutorials make it easy to implement basic settings.
The technical support team at iPage is well-initiated with their platform and they were able to diagnose and fix all of the issues we cast their way. They were extremely friendly, but it took us slightly longer than expected to connect with someone.
The iPage team is available to help with account and domain management, web design, and SEO and marketing.
Pricing
iPage has a low-cost introductory offer of just $1.99 per month for an initial term of 12, 24, or 36 months. This represents one of the lowest hosting rates we have ever seen, but some of the extras which we see as necessary add up to at least double that.
Worse yet, once your initial term ends, the price skyrockets to $10.95 per month. This represents a nearly six-fold increase! To be fair, however, the terms are clearly laid out.
Conclusion
There is a lot to like about iPage, but we cannot recommend it because of the poor uptime and speeds, in addition to the egregious add-ons that, if selected, are more expensive than the hosting plan itself.
Instead, we recommend checking out our top web hosting picks or even one of the other web hosting companies owned by Endurance.
