Features
GreenGeeks only provides one shared hosting plan, which is a bit restrictive, but the good news is that they pack in a good deal of features right off the bat. For starters, you get easy, one-click installation of Magento, so there’s no need to dive into complicated installation procedures. Beyond Magento, you can also quickly and easily install more than 150 applications, from WordPress, to Drupal, to Joomla, to Google Apps and more.
7th Place7.5 out of 10Unlimited
Storage and bandwidth, meanwhile, are both unmetered, which is great news for eCommerce stores. Take note, however, that you would still need to comply with their Terms of Service regarding unlimited storage and bandwidth. In short, if you fall within the range of normal usage, then you should be fine, but if you use your website for things like archiving or file sharing purposes, then GreenGeeks will have to impose certain penalties. Beyond that, you also get unlimited email forwarding accounts, unlimited autoresponders, unlimited parked domains and subdomains, and unlimited MySQL databases.
Security and Peace of Mind
In terms of security, GreenGeeks is certainly not lacking. Your eCommerce website, for example, is run on an SSL secure server, which ensures that customer data is safe and sound. The company also monitors their servers round-the-clock to ensure the best possible performance, and you also get free nightly backups. As if that’s not enough, they also provide a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can get a full refund if you are unsatisfied with their service. Not that you’d need it, as GreenGeeks is one of the better performing hosting providers out there.
Performance
The company’s uptime and page load speeds are quite excellent, with both going above and beyond the norm. For starters, their uptime scored an impressive 99.95%. Compared to the industry average of 99.90%, this is certainly one for the books – especially because the rock-solid uptime is pretty consistent. Next, their page load speeds scored a slightly-speedier-than-usual 799ms. The industry average is currently at 830ms, so, again, GreenGeeks manages to come out ahead of most of the pack. Both of these should ensure that your online store always stays up, and never slows down. That said, in case of unexpected downtime, the company provides a 99.9% SLA guarantee.
Pricing
As previously mentioned, GreenGeeks only has one shared hosting plan. Compared to other hosting providers, their introductory price is one of the lowest around. You can get it for only $3.95 per month, regardless of the subscription term you choose. The bad news? The renewal price is nearly triple the introductory price. Expect to pay $9.95 per month when your initial term is up.
Beyond their shared hosting plan, you can also opt for their VPS plan if you need more performance. Take note, however, that their prices are not the cheapest around. The lowest plan that they offer will set you back $39.95 per month, while the most expensive will cost you a whopping $159.95 per month.
Customer Support
GreenGeeks offers a pretty comprehensive knowledgebase, which is great, but Magento-specific help is lacking. On the bright side, they also offer various video tutorials so you can quickly learn the ins and outs of their service. Contacting them, meanwhile, is easy enough. You can talk to them via 24/7 live chat, phone, or email. Even better, the average resolution time, at least for their email support, is around 15-20 minutes. Not incredibly fast, but fast enough.
What's the Verdict on GreenGeeks?
GreenGeeks for Magento Review – Conclusion
It’s not that GreenGeeks is a terrible hosting provider — they aren’t. It’s just that there are much better choices that offer more options, for less. The fact that they do not offer any Magento-centric hosting plan, nor Magento-optimized servers also hurts their otherwise good offerings.
Still, if you can live without numerous plan options, and the added enhancements that a Magento-optimized hosting plan provides, then GreenGeeks should do just fine. Both of their uptime and speed performance are fantastic, and usually goes above and beyond the industry average. Plus, you also get a ton of features under their one shared hosting plan. So, at the very least, they are worth a look – but keep in mind that there are better services out there more suited to Magento hosting.
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