I’ve heard about Just Host, and was interested to learn more about the company, which has a wide variety of both positive and negative reviews. To get to the bottom of their host’s performance, I opened my own account. This is what I found.
Host: JustHost
Type:
Performance
Uptime
Support
Price
Brief History of the company
Created by Chris Phillips in the early 2000s, an entrepreneur from the United Kingdom, Just Host experienced moderate growth in its first few years of existence. The company prided itself on its responsiveness and strong customer interaction. Between 2010 and 2012, Endurance International Group purchased the company, and I was interested to see how Just Host fares now compared to other Web hosts, including some of EIG’s other brands.
While it was started in California, when Just Host was purchased by EIG, it saw a greater expansion, and now has offices in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia. Their data center is an eco-friendly site in Illinois.
JustHost Plans and Pricing
Shared Hosting
Just Host offers three different shared hosting plans, each of which offers increasing services. All the shared plans include unmetered bandwidth for one included domain.
Basic: $3.95 per month; usually $9.49 per month. For one Web site, you get 50 GB, five parked domains, 25 sub domains and five E-mail accounts with 100 MB per account.
Plus: $6.95 per month; usually $12.49 per month. You can have up to ten Web sites, with 20 parked domains and 50 sub domains. The plan includes 150 GB Web site space, up to 100 E-mail accounts with 500 MB of storage per account, and throws in $150 in marketing offers and one Spam Experts.
Pro: $14.95 per month; normally $25.49 per month. This plan offers unlimited Web sites, parked and sub domains, unmetered Web site space, unlimited E-mail accounts with unlimited storage, $300 in marketing offers, two Spam Experts, one SSL certificate,one dedicated IP, one domain privacy, and SiteBackup Pro.
VPS Hosting
Standard plan: $14.99 for your first month, $29.99 per month after that. You get one IP, 30 GB, 1 TB per month, and 2 GB of RAM on a dual core processor.
Enhanced: $29.99 for the first month, $59.99 per month after that. Hosted on a dual core processor, you get two IPs, 4 GB RAM, 60 GB, 2 TB/month and two IPs.
Premium: $44.99 for your first month; $89.99 per month after that. A triple-core processor includes 6 GB RAM, 120 GB, 3 TB per month and two IPs.
Ultimate: $59.99 for your first month; $119.99 per month after that. Hosted on a quad core processor, you get 8 GB RAM, 240 GB, 4 TB per month and two IPs.
Dedicated Hosting
Just Host offers three different dedicated hosting plans, all with instant provisioning.
Standard: $74.99 for your first month; $149.99 per month after that. Your site is hosted on a dual core, 2.3 Ghz Intel Xeon machine, 3MB cache, with 4 GB RAM, 500 GB of RAID 1, and 5 TB per month. You also get three IPs.
Enhanced: $99.99 for your first month; $199.99 per month after that. This plan is hosted on a quad core, 2.5 GHz Intel Xeon processor, with 8 MB cache, 8 GB RAM, 1000 GB of RAID 1 and 10 TB per month, as well as four IPs.
Premium: $124.99 for your first month $249.99 per month after that. THis plan includes a quad core, 3.3 GHz Intel Xeon processor, and many of the same specifications as the enhanced plan, but bumps you up to 16 GB RAM, 1000 GB of RAID 1, 15 TB per month, and five IPs.
Uptime 99.88%
As far as consistency goes, Just Host can be hard to predict. Over the time I monitored a site on Just Host, I saw an average uptime of 99.88 percent, which translates to about 51 minutes of downtime each month. Not quite industry standard of 99.9 percent, but not horrible, either.
Other customers, though, saw uptimes of anywhere from 99.07 to 99.91 percent, or between nearly seven hours or almost 39 minutes of downtime. When you ideally want a 100 percent uptime, which I know isn’t realistic, having some level of consistency is a sign of stability for your Web site.
Speed
Yes, consistency is good — and as we mentioned with the uptime, it’s even better when the consistency is good. When it’s repeatedly not good, and it involves your Web site, you might not appreciate the predictability.
Unfortunately, Just Host has another great inconsistency, this time in its page loading speedings. They are regularly more than 5 percent slower than the industry average, which can drive your customers and Web site visitors away from your site, and to your competitor’s site.
Customer Support
Just Host offers 24/7 phone support, a fantastic addition that many other hosts are choosing to remove from their support options. They also have non-stop live chat and E-mail, although the wait times for those are slightly longer than I would like. This is also consistently inconsistent, unfortunately.
Reps, though, are extremely helpful and very detailed, as is the online help center that features video tutorials, articles, and a blog with information about Web basics and viruses. I wish they would keep this updated; the last post was in April 2014, but they were extremely informative and timely when they were being published.
Instant Server Provisioning
If you sign for either the premium, dedicated, or VPS services, you get instant server provisioning, an excellent feature that many other companies aren’t providing. What this means for you is that instead of a lengthy and extensive signup process, which can include various levels of verification and security to get your Web site up and running, you can get started instantly.
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Industry standard for money-back guarantees is 30 days, and that’s exactly what Just Host offers. As is typical, you’ll get a full, no-fuss refund if you cancel within the first 30 days, for the services you paid for that were to be delivered by Just Host. Domain registrations, outside fees, and other costs aren’t included in the refund.
Many Add-Ons and Integrations
With so many companies moving toward Google’s plethora of apps to run their business, being able to integrate these applications into your Web site can offer you an efficient way to keep your company and Web site running smoothly.In addition, they make E-commerce extremely easy-to-include, so that you can sell your services or products.
Just Host integrates Magento, Opencart, and ShopSite, among others. E-mail configuration is extremely easy, with a few clicks in the control panel, along with a built-in password generator.
Great Upgrade path
As your Web site grows — a good thing — you want a host that makes expanding your site clear and easy to do. Just Host has provided a very straightforward upgrade path through later additions of expanded hosting plans. If you start at shared, you don’t need to worry about reaching the shared ceiling with nowhere to go. They have Pro,VPS, and dedicated plans that are reasonably priced, and really amplify the features and space allotments.
Free Domain Name
Just Host is flexible, offering all new customers a free domain name. This is nice, especially as many other hosts either don’t offer a free domain name, or limit this benefit to customers at certain levels.
Open Source Hosting
As an open source host, Just Host gives users greater flexibility, with the possibilities for more app integrations, greater customization, and powerful systems. Many companies have shifted to open source hosting, and Just Host is no different, providing its customers with a quality hosting experience.
Unlimited Domains
Unlimited domains from Just Host means you can continue to grow your businesses, Web sites, and online options. Customers do have to operate within the terms of service and agreements to maintain that unlimited feature, but they don’t regulate this. Follow the rules, and you’ll see some great benefits with Just Host.
Integrated Cloudflare
I was very happy to see the Cloudflare integration. Not only does it help to optimize your Web site and distribute your content, giving you greater speeds for both tasks, but it gives a great level of security, with an enterprise-level firewall and added protection against DDoS attacks.
Some Negative Sides Too:
3 Year Signup period required for the best deal
The prices at Just Host, at first glance, are excellent, starting at $3.45 per month. However, that’s only for new customers who pay upfront for a three-year contract. There are significant price increases in the shorter term-length plans — which also need to be paid upfront.
Once your plan is done and you need to renew, expect a price increase, as well, as those low prices are only valid for new customers. It’s unfortunate, because the value you’re getting for Just Host compared to others with faster speed and more responsive customer support rivals some of the top hosts and their plans.
Unfriendly cPanel customization
If you’re a cPanel diehard, Just Host’s customization might not be your favorite feature the company offers. They’ve tried to customize their cPanel, but when you want to bring your Web site over from another host, you’ll find that it’s incredibly difficult to not only import your information, but to also export your site should you want to change hosts in the future.
Some hosts that offer free Web site transfers may even tell you that yours can’t be transferred as a result of the cPanel customization.
Pros and Cons in a while:
Pros:
- Just Host offers weekly backup to help safeguard your Web site’s information.
- Just Host offers WordPress hosting, with easy software installation. At one point, the company was recommended by WordPress.
- Just Host is an open source host, which has become a very popular, important ingredient of many Web hosts.
Cons:
- If you go over the company’s pre-determined thresholds for storage, subdomains, and databases, or exceed the memory and usage allotments, you might get lucky enough to have them warn you. More likely, though, is the fact that your Web site will experience slower speeds or be moved, or you might be asked to purchase a larger plan.
- Just Host doesn’t guarantee they will back up your Web site on the weekly basis they offer.
Final Verdict
JustHost is a fantastic option for experts and novices alike, with a special emphasis on hosting for small business owners, bloggers, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who want consistency with low prices.
Do I recommend? Yes