Plans and Pricing

1&1 offers shared, cloud, VPS and dedicated hosting services at incredibly affordable introductory prices—but that’s par for the course when it comes to this industry. What sets this company’s offerings apart are its top-notch security features and the option to use either Linux or Windows for your operating system. Very few hosting providers let you choose your operating system, especially for shared hosting plans. Even fewer will give you a free SSL certificate right off the bat, alongside DDoS protection coverage and other advanced security measures that often cost extra fees. In addition, 1&1 uses a geo-redundant infrastructure. Simply put, all of their data is stored in two completely different data centers. If a data center encounters huge problems, the other data center steps in and ensures that everything keeps running smoothly. A third data center keeps backups of all the data, too, so you always have a Plan B.

With feature-packed plans compatible with platforms like DrupalJoomla and Magento—plus specialty packages designed for Windows shared hosting, as well as WordPress and its e-commerce plugin WooCommerce—1&1 gives you tremendous flexibility and security without straining your budget. You can even dip your toes into reseller hosting using a managed dedicated hosting plan, although honestly, 1&1 is not the best choice of provider if you want a streamlined reseller experience for you and your potential clients.

Shared Hosting: From $7.99 Monthly

1&1 carries three hosting packages each for Linux and Windows operating systems, giving you a total of six shared hosting plans to choose from. All plans include SSL certificates, DDoS protection, daily data backup and recovery, and staging areas to help test everything out on a page before going live online.

A CDN service is also provided—as an optional paid add-on for Basic and Unlimited Plus, and free for Unlimited Pro—which helps in delivering content more efficiently to visitors no matter where they are located. A 1&1 SiteLock Basic account to help fend off hackers from your website is another add-on that’s not free with the Basic plan, but bundled into the higher tier plans. 1&1 also boasts of an extensive app center containing web apps, tools, and plugins that can help you build a more engaging and functional website. With these shared hosting plans, installation of platforms like Drupal, Joomla and Magento is as quick as clicking a one or a few buttons; and working with them is easy as pie.

1&1 Website Templates

Introductory prices can have these packages go for as low as $0.99 per month for the first year; but the regular rates aren’t so unreasonable considering what you’re getting. The Linux and Windows packages essentially carry the same features, though the offered Windows hosting plans also allow for ASP.NET applications and MSSQL databases. Here’s an overview of the three package types:

FeatureBasicUnlimited PlusUnlimited Pro
Introductory (12 Months)$0.99/mo$4.99/mo$8.99/mo
Regular Rate$7.99/mo$9.99/mo$14.99/mo
Storage100 GBUnlimitedUnlimited
BandwidthUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
RAMup to 2.5GBup to 6GBup to 9GB
MySQL Databases25UnlimitedUnlimited
MSSQL Databases (Windows only)51025
FTP Accounts20UnlimitedUnlimited
Email Accounts500UnlimitedUnlimited
Email Storage per account2 GBUnlimitedUnlimited
Mailing Lists5UnlimitedUnlimited
Symantec SSL CertificateYesYesYes
SiteLock BasicOptionalYesYes
CDNOptionalOptionalYes
Bing Ads Credits$100$100$100

You may be wondering about the memory provided by these plans. What’s the “up to” preceding the RAM caps? That’s actually top performance, and not guaranteed performance—which is only about half of the cap listed, for all plans. Want more? 1&1 offers 5 different performance levels to ensure that your website can handle sudden influx of visitors, without sacrificing its overall performance or having you pay for RAM you don’t really need. You can upgrade or downgrade as needed—adding from $1.99 monthly per increasing level—without changing plans. Here are the five different performance levels:

LevelMaximum RAMProcessesMemory Limit
Level 12.5 GB300/min512 MB
Level 26 GB600/min640 MB
Level 39 GB900/min640 MB
Level 415 GB1,200/min768 GB
Level 519 GB1,500/min768 GB

With their Performance Monitoring feature, you have a clear insight on how well your website is performing and if you need to make the proper changes to keep it running in maximum conditions. You can adjust the levels at anytime, and in any direction.

1&1 100% Smart Hosting

Now for the bad news: 1&1’s control panel isn’t exactly the highlight of their service. Their shared hosting services don’t make use of the industry standard cPanel; instead, customers must use a proprietary web-based control panel that falls short in terms of user experience. Sometimes even basic processes don’t work as intended; and technical features are displayed front and center, instead of focusing on  essentials that need quick, hassle-free accessibility—like ways to add domains, or peruse your file directory. Overall, the back-end interface isn’t terrible; but it could be much better.

Cloud Server Hosting: From $9.99 Monthly

1&1 also offers configurable cloud servers, with the option for full root access or server management services depending on your needs. You’ll get a Symantec SSL certificate, firewall coverage, and automatic backups for free; and if you opt for managed services, 1&1 will take care of all the routine maintenance tasks needed to keep your server running.

As with shared hosting, you can choose between Linux or Windows operating systems, though you’ll have to pay extra if you opt for the latter—to the tune of  an $5 per month, per vCore. Aside from this, you can also select the data center location that’s closest to your target audience, for a boost in speed and performance. All cloud servers are deployed in under a minute, so you can get started right away. Again, all plans come with proprietary 1&1 control panels; though for 1&1 cloud hosting with root access, you can pay a separate monthly fee to use Plesk ONYX or cPanel + WHM for easy server management and to perform more customizations.

1&1 Cloud Server Hosting

Your monthly fees depend on your chosen server configuration. Here’s a quick look at the prices and differences between each offered plan based on 1&1’s standard configuration parameters, and assuming that the plans run on Linux:

Features
Regular Pricing per Month
CPURAMSSDRoot AccessManaged
Cloud Server M1 vCore1 GB50 GB$9.99$14.99
Cloud Server L2 vCores2 GB80 GB$19.99$24.99
Cloud Server XL2 vCores4 GB120 GB$29.99$34.99
Cloud Server XXL4 vCores8 GB160 GB$49.99$54.99
Cloud Server 3XL8 vCores16 GB240 GB$129.99$134.99
Cloud Server 4XL12 vCores32 GB360 GB$249.99$254.99
Cloud Server 5XL16 vCores48 GB500 GB$349.99$354.99

If you want a non-standard configuration for your cloud hosting plan, 1&1 also offers Cloud Server FLEX. This plan allows you to fully customize what you get in terms of CPU, RAM and SSD allocations. Each added vCore, added 1 GB of RAM or added 100 GB of SSD storage bumps up your monthly fee in $7.20 increments. For example: Want 1 vCore, 4 GB of RAM and 300 GB of SSD storage? Done! That’ll be $57.60 monthly, assuming you have no paid add-ons and you’re running Linux with root access. The best part is that similar to the scalable performance levels available for 1&1’s shared hosting plans, you can adjust these cloud server resources at any time to fit your needs.

VPS Hosting: From $4.99 Monthly

One of the best reasons to go with 1&1’s VPS hosting services, apart from the enticing prices, is the freedom of choice.

1&1 VPS Hosting Flexibility

You are afforded full root access and can go for either Linux or Windows-based hosting; though take note that, similar to how it’s done with their cloud hosting plans, going with the latter means paying an extra fee monthly. Another thing that’s carried over from their cloud hosting plans is the power to choose which data center location you prefer: US, Germany or Spain. Beyond that, all of 1&1’s VPS hosting plans allow for unlimited traffic and provide SSD storage and VMware Virtualization for better performance. That said, the SSD storage doesn’t help much in certain circumstances—speed seems to take a pretty noticeable hit the more data you have on your website.

Of course, 1&1 throws in the standard security features that are bundled into all of their plans: Symantec SSL certificates and DDoS protection. For VPS hosting, they also provide daily automatic backups, and the ability to restore your data as far as eight days prior.

Here is a quick breakdown of 1&1’s four major VPS hosting plans:

Cloud MCloud LCloud XLCloud XXL
Introductory (12 Months)$4.99/mo$9.99/mo$19.99/mo$29.99/mo
Regular/Renewal Rate$9.99/mo$19.99/mo$29.99/mo$39.99/mo
Storage50GB SSD80GB SSD120GB SSD160GB SSD
BandwidthUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
CPU1224
RAM1GB2GB4GB8GB

Keep in mind that these prices are not inclusive of separate add-ons—like the aforementioned choice of going with Windows as your OS, or availing of Plesk or cPanel—that have their own monthly costs.

1&1 VPS Hosting Features

There is also a new 1&1 VPS hosting plan that is leaner and meaner compared to the previously bottom tier Cloud M: the Cloud S, with only 512 MB of RAM and 30 GB of SSD storage. There is no introductory price and 12-month lock-in period for the Cloud S; just a hassle-free, month-to-month payment of $4.99.

Dedicated Hosting: From $59.99 Monthly

If the recent spate of high-profile hacks and website shutdowns has you worried about the fate of your dedicated server, then you should give 1&1’s hosting packages a look—after all, providing security features in the form of the oft mentioned Symantec SSL certificated and DDoS protection is what’s most notable across all their plans.

There are 12 1&1 dedicated hosting plans all in all; but they are divided equally into two subcategories—either High Performance or Value—and then tiered. High Performance plans are for huge undertakings, while Value plans are for relatively small projects. While 1&1 does not really promote their dedicated hosting servers like so, a managed dedicated server under 1&1 can also be used as a reseller hosting platform—though it will be very limited and unwieldy—should you wish to try that out as a business opportunity.

1&1 Hosting's Maximum Security and Reliability

Let’s look at the Value options first, which all come with Software RAID 1. The prices listed below are exclusive of a separate one time $49 setup fee, and assume that there are no optional add-ons—no Windows, no management, no other frills. Almost all of these plans comes with a 12-month lock-in period; the only exception is the A8i plan, which you will have to stick to for 24 months:

Features
Pricing per Month
ProcessorSpeedRAMHD spaceFirst 3 MonthsRegular
A8iIntel®Atom™ C27508 Cores x 2.4 GHz
(2.6 GHz Turbo Boost)
8 GB
DDR3 ECC
1,000 GB
(2 x 1,000 GB SATA)
FREE$69.99
A8i SSDIntel®Atom™ C27508 Cores x 2.4 GHz
(2.6 GHz Turbo Boost)
8 GB
DDR3 ECC
240 GB (2 x 240 GB) Intel® S3500
SSD
$29.99$79.99
XL6AMD Hexa-Core6 Cores x 2.8 GHz
(3.3 GHz Turbo Core)
16 GB
DDR3 ECC
1,000 GB
(2 x 1,000 SATA)
FREE$79.99
X4iIntel®Xeon® E3-1270 V34 Cores (HT) x 3.5 GHz16 GB
DDR3 ECC
1,000 GB
(2 x 1,000 GB SATA)
SSD optional
$59.99$119.99
XL8AMD Opteron™ 4274 HE8 Cores x 2.6 GHz
(3.5 GHz Turbo Core)
16 GB
DDR3 ECC
1,500 GB
(2 x 1,500 GB SATA)
FREE$119.99

Not included above is the highest tier and most differently configured Value option: the XL12i plan. This plan boasts of an Intel®Xeon® E5-2640 processor, a speed maintained by 6 Cores (HT) x 2.5 GHz (3.0 GHz Turbo Boost), 32 GB DDR3 ECC RAM, and 2,000 GB (2 x 2,000 GB SATA) of HD space—not surprising at all, until we get to the price points. You’ll be locked in for 12 months; the first half of which you will be paying a discounted $149.99 monthly. The last half of the term period leaves you with the regular rate of $299.99 per month. On top of thus, the setup fee for this plan is considerably higher: $99.

Now let’s look at the heftier, pricier High Performance options, which also all come with a 12-month lock-in period:

Features
Pricing per Month
ProcessorSpeedRAMHD spaceFirst 3 MonthsRegular
L-16Intel® Xeon® E3-1230 v64 Cores (HT) x 3.5 GHz16 GB
DDR4 ECC
1,000 GB
(2 x 1,000 GB SATA)
480 GB SSD optional
$49.99$69.99
XL-32*Intel® Xeon® E3-1270 v64 Cores (HT) x 3.8 Ghz32 GB
DDR4 ECC
2,000 GB
(2 x 2.000 GB SATA)
800 GB SSD optional
$79.99$99.99
XL-64*Intel® Xeon® E3-1270 v64 Cores (HT) x 3.8 GHz64 GB
DDR4 ECC
2,000 GB
(2 x 2,000 GB SATA)
800 GB SSD optional
$109.99$129.99
X8i**Intel®Xeon® E5-2630 V38 Cores (HT) x 2.4 GHz
(2.6 GHz Turbo Boost)
64 GB
DDR4 ECC
4,000 GB
(6 x 1,000 GB SATA)
SSD optional
$224.99$449.99
XL8**AMD Opteron™ 4274 HE8 Cores x 2.6 GHz
(3.5 GHz Turbo Core)
16 GB
DDR3 ECC
1,500 GB
(2 x 1,500 GB SATA)
FREE$119.99

The L-16 comes with Software RAID 1, while the next two tiers* come with Hardware RAID 1—all three come with a one time setup fee of $49. The last two tiers** come with Hardware RAID 6 and a one time setup fee of $99.

There is also a new, lean and mean dedicated hosting plan—similar to the VPS hosting plan Cloud S—called the Flex Special L4i. This plan comes with Software RAID 1, an Intel® Quad-Core processor, a speed maintained by 4 Cores x 3.1 GHz (3.4 GHz Turbo Boost), 12 GB DDR3 ECC RAM,  and 1,000 GB (2 x 1,000 GB SATA) of HD space. You will be billed a setup fee of $49; but after that, there’s no lock-in period—just a hassle-free, month-to-month payment of $59.99.

Regardless of your chosen dedicated hosting plan, you get unlimited monthly data transfers; which is a good deal in comparison to the usual 3, 5, or 10 TB bandwidth limits you see from many providers. A Linux OS also comes free; and you can choose among Archlinux, CentOS 6 or 7, Debian 7 or 8, and various versions of Ubuntu. If you select Windows, you’ll have to pay an additional $35 per month regardless of which version you get. This is a raw deal if you’re sticking to Standard, which other providers charge lower fees for—if at all—but a good enough rate if you’re getting Enterprise/Datacenter versions, which generally fetch upwards of $100 per month with other providers. You also get your own local mail server, with unlimited mailboxes that have up to 2 GB of storage each. Plesk 12.x also comes free with any dedicated server plan, but sadly cPanel is not available even as a paid add-on. This latter piece of information should be the final nail in the coffin of your 1&1 reseller hosting dreams, even you are still even considering it.

1&1 also offers other optional services that come with separate fees: SEO spotlight tools, FTP storage and professional backups, as well as server management services. The latter comes at a relatively low $10 per month, and covers all typical server management tasks like monitoring and routine maintenance. It’s worth noting that managed servers also come with additional services like website templates, integrated database functions, and site analytics. Compared to other providers, 1&1’s managed server offerings are a pretty good deal.

1&1 WordPress Hosting Performance

Specialty Hosting

As mentioned above, many of the specialty hosting services that 1&1 promotes—for Drupal, Magento, Joomla and more—are simply their generic plans with the information reworded and repackaged to shine a light on the features and resources that benefit the platforms in focus. The exception is 1&1’s WordPress hosting suite of plans; which obviously also works for WooCommerce, as it is a WordPress plugin.

Here’s a look at the three WordPress hosting plans offered by 1&1:

FeatureWP BasicWP PlusWP Unlimited
Introductory (12 Months)$0.99/mo$4.99/mo$8.99/mo
Regular Rate$7.99/mo$9.99/mo$14.99/mo
WordPress Projects15Unlimited
Storage50 GB SSD250 GB SSDUnlimited SSD
SSD databases15Unlimited
FTP Accounts20UnlimitedUnlimited
SiteLock BasicNoneYesYes
CDNNone1&1 CDN1&1 CDN with Railgun™

All of these plans come with resources to support unlimited visitors to your site, as well as unlimited e-mail accounts. There’s also one domain free for 12 months, and 1&1’s vaunted security and reliability measures: SSL certificates, DDoS protection, data recovery and geo-redundancy measures, as well as pre-live staging. If all of this looks familiar, it’s because the WordPress hosting plans are based on the shared hosting services that 1&1 offers. However, there is a significant increase in quality of service when it comes to these specialty plans: You will also benefit from Managed WordPress, which includes automatic security updates, pre-installed plugins, and 24/7 expert support.

Managed WordPress Included in 1&1 WordPress Hosting Plans

Customer Support

Much like their overall service, 1&1’s customer support is a mixed bag. On one hand, they offer comprehensive self-help resources that discuss the intricacies of their service in a more in-depth manner. They also offer a community forum where you can either browse for answers to common problems or ask questions yourself. On the other hand, their support agents, which you can contact via phone or email—and most recently through live chat—can sometimes take forever to respond or even resolve a concern.

Solid Uptime

1&1 offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee for all its services, which is a good but mostly industry standard percentage in this day and age. They have their geo-redundant architecture to back up this claim, though, which is something that some of their competitors may not be as transparent about.

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Additionally, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is again standard for most providers. It’s worth noting that the company tries to lock most new sign-ups in to longer-term contracts, though, so if you’d like the freedom to terminate services worry-free beyond the 30-day money-back period, 1&1 might not be the best choice for you.

What's the Verdict on 1&1?

Worth It, Some Issues

1&1 Hosting Review 2020 – Conclusion

There’s no doubt that 1&1 is a good starting point for anyone looking to launch a website. This hosting provider has dirt-cheap rates, options for both Linux and Windows, scalability like no other, ISO-certified data protection and security protocols, and geo-redundant servers to keep websites running without a hitch. Unfortunately, once your low-cost initial subscription is up, you’ll be renewing at slightly higher fees. And if you’re a big fan of cPanel, you may be surprised to find that some plans don’t offer it at all—even as something to add on with a separate fee! Still, there’s no beating 1&1’s security and reliability, and their money-back guarantee lets you try their services risk-free.