Features and Pricing
SiteGround offers you three different Drupal hosting plans: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek. All of these plans come equipped with unlimited bandwidth, fantastic security services, and some great Drupal-specific features, though the storage limits put SiteGround behind many of its competitors.
9th Place8.6 out of 10StartUp: A Great Start at $3.95 Per Month
At an introductory price of $3.95 a month, with a standard price of $9.95 monthly, StartUp is a cost-effective hosting solution aimed at smaller sites that get around 10,000 visits per month. You’ll get one website, plus 10 GB of storage space and all of SiteGround’s essential Drupal hosting features.
Built For Drupal
These include free Drupal installation and transfer, saving you tons of hassle and potential downtime. SiteGround also gives you constant monitoring of security updates for Drupal and its accompanying plugins, so you can plug up old version vulnerabilities and stay on top of key patches without a sweat.
Drush 6.0 comes pre-installed for those who’d prefer to administer Drupal using a command line interface. What’s more, SiteGround offers Drupal-specific technical support, assisting you not just with the main Drupal application, but with popular Drupal modules, themes, and plugins as well.
Advanced Management and Development Tools
SiteGround gives you an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop website builder, for effortless creation of your website. You’ll also get the Softaculous installation platform, so you can install from a huge library of scripts and web applications with just one click. This includes e-commerce solutions like Magento, osCommerce, and PrestaShop, among other useful applications.
Aside from that, SiteGround integrates the industry-leading cPanel control panel software into your dashboard. This gives you a streamlined but powerful tool for managing all aspects of your account. You’ll have access to everything from file, email, and domain managers to IP filtering and cron jobs management; in addition, SiteGround gives you a selection of customized skins and features, to further enhance cPanel’s functionality and navigability.
If you’d like to stretch your developer muscles, SiteGround offers support for multiple PHP versions, along with Perl and Python. SiteGround also lets you use numerous PHP libraries, encoders, and other technologies, like ImageMagick, CURL, Smarty Templates, and more. SSH and SFTP support, meanwhile, assures you of secure, encrypted connections and account-restricted access.
GrowBig: Site Growth for $7.95 Per Month
If you’d like more features, though, check out the GrowBig plan. At a starting price of $7.95 monthly, with a regular price of $14.95 per month, this plan is for medium-sized websites that get around 25,000 visits every month. You’ll be able to host multiple websites, and you’ll get 20 GB of storage.
On top of all of StartUp’s features, you’ll get SiteGround’s in-house SuperCacher service to accelerate your site. You’ll also get more site backup copies, plus priority technical support and a free year of the premium Wildcard SSL certificate.
GoGeek: Experts’ Tools for $14.95 Per Month
At $14.95 per month to start, and a regular price of $29.95 monthly, GoGeek delivers all of the StartUp and GrowBig plans’ features, and then some. GoGeek delivers 30 GB of storage space and is crafted for websites that get around 100,000 visits monthly.
SiteGround ensures that you share server space with fewer accounts. The plan also includes certification of PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance, giving your online business top-grade security and trustworthiness. You’ll also get SiteGround’s unique SG-Git interface preinstalled, so you can work on repos with an intuitive visual interface.
Lightning-Fast Performance
SiteGround guarantees lightning-fast website performance for all plans, thanks to its cutting-edge SSD technology and Linux container-based system architecture. Coupled with the company’s use of Apache and NGINX server technologies, you’re assured of nimble, responsive servers that can handle multiple simultaneous requests with ease.
SiteGround adds a free CDN for even more speed. All plans get CloudFlare CDN free of charge, ensuring that your audience is served from the nearest possible data center. Add to that SiteGround’s own use of 4 different data centers across 3 continents, to ensure the best possible speed for audiences from the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific area. SiteGround also supports the HTTP/2 protocol, so you don’t have to choose between security and speed.
Enterprise-Grade Security
Speaking of security, SiteGround offers outstanding security measures for all plans. Open-source Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates come free with every tier, though GrowBig and GoGeek plans also get one free year of Wildcard SSL certificates. SiteGround also offers extensive network protection through its constantly updated Web Application Firewall and anti-hack systems, SPAM Experts-powered protection, and more.
Free daily backups give you copies to fall back on in case of emergencies: one for StartUp, and 30 each for GrowBig and GoGeek. GrowBig plans get ready access to a backup restore tool, while GoGeek plans also get automatic restores and unlimited manual restores courtesy of SiteGround’s support team.
Linux container-based server architecture means SiteGround can easily scale resource allocation to respond to higher loads, so you don’t have to worry about traffic spikes tanking your website. Redundant hardware and power source setups drastically reduce the risk of downtime from outages, and 24/7 monitoring gives you immediate notice of any malicious intrusions or attacks on your servers.
Uptime Guarantee
It’s no wonder SiteGround confidently offers all hosting plan subscribers a 99.99% uptime guarantee. That’s a fantastic promise, especially in comparison to many competitors who offer only limited SLA coverage at best.
Contract Terms
SiteGround offers you billing cycles lasting 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years. Fortunately, the same monthly rates apply no matter how short your chosen term, so you won’t need to get a three-year contract just to get a discount.
SiteGround also offers you a month-long trial period, thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee. However, if you only sign up for the trial, SiteGround will charge you a setup fee.
Customer Support
As mentioned earlier, SiteGround offers support coverage that stretches to cover even issues with Drupal-related modules. You’re promised query responses in under 5 minutes, and their support staff is available 24/7 through phone, livechat, or the company’s ticketing system. GrowBig or GoGeek plans also get priority assistance.
What's the Verdict on SiteGround?
SiteGround Drupal Hosting Review – Conclusion
If you’re looking for top-notch security, some stellar freebies, and outstanding uptime, all for affordable prices, then sign up for SiteGround today. The company’s dedication to quality service and customer protection gives you Drupal hosting plans built on state-of-the-art Linux container-based server architecture, plus extensive security measures on all levels. SiteGround’s adherence to their “handcraft” philosophy also means you get prompt assistance with a personal touch, from account setup to any inquiries sent to their ever-present support staff. The storage caps and long contract terms are notable downsides, but with great features and rock-solid guarantees, there’s no reason not to try SiteGround today.
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