HostArmada Review: Is It Really the Best Web Host? – RealBSG

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  • Post published:August 20, 2024
  • Post category:Hosting
  • Reading time:31 mins read

When we test and review a web host, we follow our meticulous process and then provide comprehensive and unbiased reviews. We followed the same process for this HostArmada review.

HostArmada is a relatively new hosting provider, founded in 2019 with a mission to offer fast, secure, and reliable hosting services. The hosting provider also boasts that their dashboard is easy to use and customer support is quick and helpful. Hence, in this HostArmada review, we will thoroughly evaluate its performance, pricing, security, ease of use, and customer support.

Let’s get started.

HostArmada Review

Our HostArmada review comprises its speed tests, load tests, response time checking, uptime monitoring, as well as an evaluation of its security, customer support, ease of use, pricing, and more.

Aspects

Details

Starting Price

$2.49/Mo

Average LCP

1.39 Seconds

Uptime Guarantee

99.9%

Data Centers

23 Data Centers Around the Globe

Free Perks

A Free Domain, Free Migration, Unlimited Email Accounts, and Much More

Security Features

Free SSLs, Automatic Daily Backups, WAF, IP Firewall, Malware Scan and Removal, DDoS Protection, and more.

Control Panels

Native Account Management Dashboard and cPanel

Customer Support

24/7/365 Support via Live Chat, Ticketing, and Phone

Money-back Guarantee

45-Day

Discount Link

Get 75% OFF on HostArmada

About HostArmada

Founded in 2019, HostArmada is a privately owned web hosting company that offers shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated CPU hosting, and reseller hosting. They have built their services with speed, security, and reliability in mind. 

The hosting company has 23 data centers around the world, located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. This gives you a plethora of options for choosing the ideal data center for your website.

In addition, their shared hosting provides all the essentials you need to launch your website, such as free SSL certificates, a free domain, unlimited email accounts, free website migration, daily automated backups, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and much more.

Performance Tests

We performed four types of performance tests for this HostArmada review, such as

Let’s discuss each one in detail.

#1. Speed Tests

I signed up for their Speed Reaper plan for the annual term. I then launched a test WordPress website with the Astra theme and a few plugins installed. I also added some demo content to my website. The test website was hosted on a USA (Dallas, TX) server.

Quick Note: We neither installed CDN nor enabled caching for these speed tests.

I then conducted the speed tests via GTmetrix and Pingdom.

Let’s first take a look at GTmetrix speed tests.

The first speed test I conducted was from the USA (Texas); my test website was also hosted on a Texas (Dallas) server. The speed results were quite impressive! The performance score was 100% (A grade) and LCP was 719 ms.

HostAramada Hosted Website Speed Test From USA RealBSG

The second speed test I performed was from UK (London) server location, its performance score was 93% and LCP was 1.3 seconds.

HostArmada Speed Test From UK (London)

I then checked the speed of our test website from the India (Mumbai) server location; the LCP was 2.2 seconds and the performance score was 76%.

HostAramada Hosted Website Speed Test From India Mumbai RealBSG

I also ran more speed tests from other server locations; here’s the summary of all GTmetrix speed tests we performed.

Location LCP PERFORMANCE SCORE
USA (Texas)
917 ms
100%
UK (London)
1.3 Seconds
93%
India (Mumbai)
2.2 Seconds
76%
Canada (Vancouver)
846 ms
99%
Australia (Sydney)
1.7 Seconds
85%
Average
1.39 Seconds
90.6%

According to Google, an LCP value between 0 and 2.5 seconds is good. You can see that the average LCP is 1.39 seconds, which means our HostArmada test website performed well in speed tests. It’s worth noting that if we add our website to the CDN, then the speed can be further improved.

#2. Server Response Time Checking

Server response time refers to the duration a web server takes to respond to a request sent by a user’s browser. The excellent response time is under 100 ms and between 100 ms and 200 ms is good.

We checked our website’s server response time from 10 different locations. The fastest response time was for the US (west) and US (east), which was 41 ms and 30 ms, respectively. The longest response time (221 ms) was for Bangalore.

HostArmada Server Respone Time Checking

On average, the global server response time was 120.6 ms, which was exceptionally quick.

#3. Stress Tests

We also conducted load tests to check how our server performs when it’s under heavy load. It’s worth mentioning that before running load tests, we enabled Memcached and LiteSpeed caching.

In the first stress test, we sent 250 virtual users to our website to be connected every second for 1 minute. This means all 250 users will be simultaneously connected for one minute.

HostArmada Stess Test 1 - 250 Clients Per Second

The blue line shows the average response time and the olive green color represents clients (users) per second. Our web server handled this traffic spike very well; no request failed. The average response time was 157 ms, which is good.

Next, we sent a constant 500 virtual users to our website for one minute to check whether it could handle it.

HostArmada Stess Test 2 500 Clients Per Second RealBSG

The server also handled this traffic spike well; all our requests were successfully responded to. The average response time was 367 ms, which is acceptable. It’s worth mentioning that installing CDN can further improve our website’s load-handling capabilities.

Overall, HostArmada performed very well in our load tests; it handled sudden, huge traffic spikes very well.

#4. Uptime

I monitored my test website’s uptime through UptimeRobot for more than 8 days. During the monitoring period, my website was up and running 100% of the time, and no downtime occurred.

HostArmada Uptime Monitoring Report

HostArmada guarantees that your website will be available and accessible 99.9% of the time in a month. However, this guarantee excludes scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

In case they are unable to provide the guaranteed uptime, then they will give you credit of 10% of your monthly cost for every hour of downtime up to 100% of your monthly cost or 10 hours of downtime.

Performance Features

Now let’s take a look at the features provided by HostArmada that enhance your website’s overall performance.

#1. SSD Storage

All HostArmada’s hosting services come with SSD (Solid State Drives) storage that significantly makes your website faster and more reliable.

#2. Caching

Their all shared hosting plans come with web server cache that helps in reducing loading time. Additionally, their top-tier plan, Speed Reaper, comes with Memcached, APC cache, OpCode cache, and LiteSpeed cache that even speed up your website.

#3. Low Number of Clients Per Server

HostArmada hosts a low number of websites on a web server, lowering the load on the server and enhancing the hosted websites’ performance.

#4. Web Server

Unlike other web hosts that only rely on Apache servers, HostArmada uses Nginx and LiteSpeed web servers. It’s no doubt that Nginx is faster than Apache, and LiteSpeed is the fastest.

The Start Dock and Web Warp plans come with Nginx servers, while the Speed Reaper plan includes the LiteSpeed web server.

#5. Other Features

  • Brotli Compression: Once it’s enabled on your website, it will significantly reduce the sizes of your website files to enhance your website’s performance and decrease bandwidth usage.
  • KeepAlive: It’s a communication pattern that keeps the connection open for subsequent requests between a web server and a browser. This reduces the number of HTTP requests that come to your web server, which improves your website’s performance.

#6. 23 Data Centers

HostArmada has 23 data centers strategically located around the globe, as listed below.

The following data centers are only available for VPS and dedicated CPU hosting plans.

Security

Once you host your website on HostArmada, you’ll benefit from the following security measures:

#1. SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate will be enabled on every website hosted by HostArmada. This creates an encrypted connection between a web server and a browser, keeping their customers’ information private and secure. 

#2. Daily Backups

Unlike other web hosts that only offer daily or weekly backups on top-tier plans, HostArmada offers daily backups on all shared hosting plans. They take a full backup of your entire web hosting account per day and keep it in cloud storage for 7 to 21 days, depending on your plan.

#3. Connection Limit

If a single IP address is sending too many requests per second, just like in a DDoS attack, this consumes your server resources dramatically. To prevent this, HostArmada implements a security measure called Connection Limit. This feature allows a reasonable number of requests from a single IP address per second, thus eliminating the risk of DoS attacks.

#4. Web Application Firewall

HostArmada uses a WAF that inspects all HTTP requests coming to your website to detect and remove any vulnerabilities, such as XSS attacks or SQL injection.

#5. DDoS Protection

A DDoS attack is a malicious attempt in which attackers send a large number of web requests to your web server to make it down or crash. To protect your website against these attacks, HostArmada has implemented server-level DDoS protection.

This scans all web requests coming to your web server, blocks malicious requests, and bans IP addresses that continue to take part in the attack. In addition, it puts restrictions on the amount of bandwidth a single IP can generate and also uses Google Recaptcha to keep bots away from engaging in abusive activities on your website.

#6. Malware Scan and Removal

Their security solution automatically scans your entire website for malware, and if they find it on your website, they’ll remove it to keep your website safe and secure. In addition, you can manually run a malware scan from the cPanel on your own.

Additionally, their system administrators always monitor security incidents on all of their servers. Moreover, their intrusion detection and prevention system pays more attention to server logs for suspicious activities such as login failure.

In addition to the mentioned features, they have implemented more security measures to protect your website from threats and attacks. Overall, HostAramda is a secure web host.

Pricing

HostArmada offers four cloud hosting services, such as

Let’s discuss them in detail.

HostArmada Shared Hosting

HostArmada shared hosting is the cheapest solution and works best for startups, small businesses, and personal websites. It comes in three packages: Start Dock, Web Warp, and Speed Reaper.

Plans Start Dock Web Warp Speed Reaper

Price

$2.49/Mo
$4.11/Mo
$4.94/Mo

Renewal Price

$9.95/Mo
$16.45/Mo
$19.95/Mo

Websites

1
Unlimited
Unlimited

SSD Storage

15 GB
30 GB
40 GB

Free Domain

Free SSL

Daily Backups

Backups Stored For

7 Days
14 Days
21 Days

Discount Link

Discount Offer: Click on the following button to save up 75% on HostArmada’s shared hosting.

HostArmada VPS Hosting

HostArmada also offers managed cloud VPS hosting, which gives you more power, control, and resources than shared hosting.

Their basic VPS hosting plan starts at $29.95/month, which includes unlimited websites, 50 GB SSD storage, 2 GB RAM, 2 TB bandwidth, and 5 cPanel accounts. In addition, all VPS hosting packages include default hosting features, free SSL certificates, daily backups, a dedicated IP address, enhanced caching, full root access, and more.

HostArmada VPS Hosting Plans
HostArmada VPS Hosting Plans

Discount Offer: Click the following button to get 50% OFF on HostArmada’s VPS Hosting.

HostArmada Dedicated CPU Hosting

When your website is growing rapidly and needs more resources than a virtual private server can provide, then you should switch to a dedicated server. HostArmada’s dedicated CPU servers give you more power, control, and resources than virtual private servers.

Their basic plan (LIFT OFF!) costs you $81.95/mo, which supports unlimited websites, 160 GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 4 CPU cores, 5 TB bandwidth, and 5 cPanel accounts. Moreover, all their dedicated hosting plans incorporate default hosting packages, free SSL certificates, automated daily backups, a dedicated IP address, enhanced caching, security measures, and more.

HostArmada Dedicated CPU Hosting Plans

Discount Offer: Click the following button to get 50% OFF on HostArmada’s Dedicated CPU Hosting.

HostArmada Reseller Hosting

If you want to start a web hosting business without purchasing the actual equipment required for the business, you should consider reseller hosting. Reseller hosting allows you to purchase hosting services from another web hosting company and then resell them to your own customers.

HostArmada also offers reseller hosting services, starting as low as $21/month. The starter plan comes with unlimited websites, 50 GB SSD storage, 40 cPanel accounts, and 3 TB bandwidth. Besides, all packages come with free SSL certificates for all websites, default hosting features, daily backups, dynamic caching, LiteSpeed Web Server, security measures, and more.

HostArmada Reseller Hosting Plans
HostArmada Reseller Hosting Plans

Discount Offer: Tap the following button to get a 25% discount on HostArmada’s Reseller Hosting.

Keep in mind that their renewal prices are higher, so it’s advisable to purchase the hosting service for longer.

Money-back Guarantee

HostArmada offers a 45-day money-back guarantee for shared hosting and reseller hosting and a 7-day guarantee for VPS and dedicated CPU hosting. It means if you submit the refund request within the mentioned period for a particular product, then you’ll get the full refund. However, if you have registered or transferred a domain for free, then upon the request for a refund, an appropriate domain fee will be withheld.

Ease of Use

The HostArmada account management dashboard is straightforward and user-friendly. Their UI (User Interface) is simple and uncluttered, making account management much easier.

At the top of the main page, you can see a brief overview of your account as well as quick access to your services, domains, invoices, and tickets.

HostArmada Dashboard

Once you click on services, you’ll see all the services you have purchased. I’m using their Speed Reaper plan and launched a website on it. There’s also quick access to visiting your website, logging into cPanel, accessing webmail, upgrading or downgrading your plan, or canceling your service. You can see that in the following screenshot.

HostArmada Dashboard

Once you click on the menu (☰) in the left upper corner, you’ll see all the setting options. There you can manage your services, domains, and support tickets, and access the knowledge base.

HostArmada Dashboard

In addition, HostArmada provides cPanel to adjust everything according to your needs. Their cPanel looks like every other web host’s cPanel out there. It allows you to create and manage your business emails, files, and databases, as well as set up domains, security features, software, and more.

cPanel

Overall, HostArmada is easy to use and navigate.

Customer Support

HostArmada’s customer support team is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week via live chat, ticketing, and phone. They help you nearly with any technical case you need assistance with. They perform many technical tasks for you relating to your website, domain, business email, SSH, SSL, and cPanel. You just have to share your problem with them and then they will solve it.

I reached them out several times through live chat and ticketing. Whenever I started the live chat, the agent connected in just a few seconds and answered all my questions in detail.

You can see in the below screenshot that I started the chat at 05:05:31 and their agent joined at 05:05:37. This means they took only 6 seconds to start the chat. Quite quickly!

HostArmada Live Chat Transcript

I also opened a ticket to change the email address associated with my HostArmada account. They responded in just 9 minutes and said to share the new email address you want to use. Then I provided the email address and they changed it quickly.

HostArmada Ticketing Support Screenshot

Additionally, I raised more tickets, and they responded excellently in less than 10 minutes. Hence, I’m satisfied with their customer support.

HostArmada also provides a well-organized knowledge base, comprising nine categories, including billing, cPanel, domains and DNS, email, open-source applications, security, websites, services, and more. However, HostArmada’s knowledge base is not as extensive as that of other popular web hosts because it’s a newcomer in the industry.

I read their several articles and all were easy to read and understand.

Pros and Cons

Let’s now consider the advantages and disadvantages of the web host.

Alternatives

If you think HostArmada is not the right fit for your website, then you should consider its alternatives.

#1. Hostinger

Hostinger is the industry’s most popular and reliable web hosting company, offering shared hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting. They have data centers in USA, UK, India, Netherlands, France, Brazil, Lithuania, and Indonesia.

Their shared hosting comes with similar features, including a free domain name, free SSL certificates, free email accounts, NVMe storage, free website migration, weekly/daily backups, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and more.

#2. HostPapa

HostPapa is another top web hosting provider that offers shared hosting, reseller hosting, and VPS hosting. The web host has data centers in US, Canada, and Netherlands.

Their shared hosting plans are fully featured, including a free domain name, SSL certificates, email accounts, NVMe storage, a free website builder, free website transfer, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and much more.

#3. A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is a faster, more reliable, and more secure web host that has over 20 years of experience in hosting services. They offer shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting, virtual private servers, dedicated servers, reseller hosting, and more. Their data center locations cover Mishigan (USA), Arizona (USA), Amsterdam (Europe), and Singapore (Asia).

Their shared hosting service includes dozens of features, including free SSL certificates, free automated backups, NVMe SSD storage, free website migration, security measures, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and more.

HostArmada Review: Conclusion

After testing and evaluating HostArmada’s web hosting service, we found it faster, more reliable, and more secure. The web host offers round-the-clock technical support that solves your problem quickly.

Additionally, their shared hosting service is backed by a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you have a longer time to decide whether it’s the right solution for your website.

Click on the button to get up to 75% off on HostArmada.

FAQs

  • Does HostArmada offer a free domain name?

    Yes, all HostArmada shared hosting plans include a free domain name that will be renewed for free as long as you remain their customer.

  • Does HostArmada offer an uptime guarantee?

    Yes, HostArmada offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If they fail to keep your website up and running 99.9% of the time in a month, they'll give you compensation, 10% of your monthly cost for each hour of downtime.

  • Is HostArmada faster?

    Yes, because it uses SSD storage and advanced caching, hosts websites on Nginx or LiteSpeed web servers, and keeps a low number of websites on a server.

    We ran several speed tests from various locations and got an average LCP of 1.39 seconds, which is quite faster. All these tests were performed without enabling caching and using CDN.

  • Can HostArmada's servers handle huge traffic spikes?

    Yes, HostArmada can easily handle huge traffic spikes. In our stress tests, we sent 250 virtual users to be simultaneously connected to our web server for one minute. The server successfully responded to all requests and maintained an average response time of 157 ms.

  • How many data centers does HostArmada have and where are they located?

    HostArmada has 23 data centers that are located in USA, Canada, UK, Italy, Indonesia, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, India, Singapore, Australia, and Japan.

  • How often will HostArmada take a backup of my website?

    HostArmada will automatically take a backup of your website once a day. The backup will be stored for 7 to 21 days, depending on your plan.

  • Will HostArmada migrate my website for free?

    HostArmada will migrate 1 to 5 websites for free, depending on your plan.

  • Is HostArmada secure?

    HostArmada implements several security measures to protect your website, such as enabling SSL certificates, automatic daily backups, WAF, IP firewall, DDoS protection, malware scan and removal, and more.

  • How do I get a huge discount on HostArmada?

    Click this discount link to take up to 75% off on HostArmada.