MidPhase has been around for almost 20 years, with nearly half of that time under the ownership of the UK2 group. This merger caused some changes in the quality of service that some customers received, but has the long time that’s passed been enough to iron out the quirks?
For anyone looking to start a niche Internet site, price and value is a top factor, but it’s more important to make sure that the price you’re paying gets you a site with a consistent, regular uptime and quality service. After all, if your site isn’t up, it isn’t allowing your visitors to see your work, and isn’t building a steady stream of qualified prospects.
The MidPhase Review
MidPhase is one company I think you’ll want to check out. They provide a high-quality service at an extremely reasonable rate.
Host:
Type:
Performance
Uptime
Support
Price
Brief History of the company
MidPhase was started back in 1998 by a group of friends and technology specialists, and has grown throughout the years to becoming a popular option when it comes to Web hosting. They have more than 120,000 clients, who receive top-level care from more than 75 dedicated employees.
The company leaders are proud of their employees, who they note are “Mpowered” to think creatively and challenged to demonstrate good character in the work they do on a daily basis.
There are quite a few reports that the company is debt-free; I imagine this has to do in great part with the company’s merger with the UK2 group in 2007. This UK-based service-provider has expanded their reach, through a variety of different brands. Many of the other hosts I’ve reviewed that have been part of a larger company have produced good results, but have seen some pretty serious sticking points, as well. MidPhase, however, has an overwhelmingly great reputation, and for good reason.
MidPhase Hosting Plans and Pricing
MidPhase offers their customers a variety of different hosting packages, with seriously low introductory prices. Really low — less than a cup of coffee, low. The additional features of each plan are excellent, as well.
They offer VPS and Cloud hosting, dedicated servers, WordPress optimized hosting, and even reseller hosting plans, but the biggest value is seen in their shared hosting plans.
Personal Web Hosting
The shared plans start at $2.63 per month when you sign up for a three-year plan, and increase up to $6.95 per month for one month. They also offer three-, 12- and 24-month plans. The plan gives you quite a bit of unlimited components on their Linux servers. Personal Web hosting includes one free domain and one database, with unlimited Web space, bandwidth, and e-mail accounts, among many other features.
Professional Hosting
The mid-tier shared hosting plan starts at $3.97 per month when customers choose a 36-month plan. In addition to the unlimited Web site and bandwidth, the free domain, and unlimited emails on the main account only, customers can get up to three Web sites, three databases, and five subdomains. Add-ons
Business Web Hosting
A three-year business shared hosting plan makes Web hosting a breeze, including one free domain, as well as the standard unlimited Web space, bandwidth and e-mails. On this plan, though, customers receive unlimited databases, unlimited subdomains, free dedicated IP and SSL, and Stat2 Web Analytics.
Uptime 99.98%
MidPhase has a great uptime, which I’ve found to be very consistent over a variety of months. I know that some people have noted a difference in their uptime since MidPhase was purchased by the UK2 group, but even they admitted that any periods of downtime were rare. When I tested the uptime of MidPhase, I noticed that they have a very high uptime, and have been able to maintain that over many months.
They guarantee a 99.9 percent uptime, which my tracking shows they regularly exceed. For each hour your site is down, you’ll receive a percentage reimbursement. Anyone can also visit their status page to see any current downtimes, whether scheduled or not, for their servers.
Reliability
Not only is MidPhase consistent in their outstanding uptime, they are reliable. The excellent uptime is one indicator; the consistency in their page load times is another. They aren’t the fastest on the market, but the loading times are consistent and predictable.
I want to note that even though there are other companies slightly faster page loading times, there are many more with higher price tags that offer customers a poor experience because of poor or irregular loading speeds.
Quick Support Ticket Responses
When there is a problem with your Web site, you want it handled quickly. MidPhase does a great job of answering tickets in a very reasonable length of time. Most customers have seen thorough responses to their tickets within five minutes, which is about the same time their trained professionals need to answer e-mails, as well. Their reps receive extensive training, and are able to handle even complex, user-caused issues.
Very Inexpensive
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but MidPhase’s pricing and plans are cheap. Very cheap. While the 36-month plan provides the best pricing options, the prices for the 12- and 24-month plans are also extremely inexpensive. The one-month plans have the highest cost, but for many of their plans, even that cost is within the normal pricing structures of many hosts. For the amount of services and benefits included in the packages, I am very impressed with the prices.
Customer Service
The customer service at MidPhase is outstanding. They are quick and provide very detailed answers when they respond. MidPhase treats their employees very well, giving them freedom and respect, and it shows that they are happy to be working for a company that has a such a positive company culture. Reps are located in offices around the world, including two in Utah, London, Lviv in Ukraine, and Cochin, India.
MidPhase has a very informative client knowledge base, filled with questions and answers to many of their customers’ top question. They also offer e-mail, and 24/7 live chat. They also offer phone support, with both U.S. and international numbers, 24/7/365. In an industry where many hosting companies are foregoing phone service, to provide this service, especially internationally, is a great advantage.
Free Migrations & Transfers
MidPhase makes it easy to switch to their hosting services. They offer free migrations and transfers for customers who want to take advantage of their many benefits and extras.
Extras (Hosting plans come with a free domain name)
In addition to the free domain name with a shared hosting plan, MidPhase has a variety of special features.
- 90 days with SEOMOZ
- $100 credit for CakeMail
- 20 percent discount for My PC Backup
- Discount at SiteLock
- Free domain and site transfers
- Free e-commerce trial
- Web site builder
- Free CloudFlare integration and activation
Unlimited Disk Space and email Account
As with most other hosts, there are some limits to their unlimited, but they are designed to keep everyone’s sites up and running at the best possible speed, and their limits are extremely reasonable. They do note that anyone exceeding the limits they’ve put in the terms of service will be notified of having exceeded the limits.
30 Days Money Back Guarantee
MidPhase offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for your satisfaction, and they promise to refund the hosting package if you’re not happy. It looks like this is only available on shared and WordPress hosting plans, though, and is pretty vague. Considering many other hosts are moving to 45, 90, or even 97 days for their money-back guarantee, 30 days isn’t overly impressive. It is, however, up to part with industry standards, so knowing that you have that time period is a relief.
They guarantee doesn’t apply to certain types of hosting, like their dedicated plans, and doesn’t include money paid to outside companies for licenses, registrations, or transfers.
Offers web design
Not only will they host your site, but MidPhase has a team of experienced professionals who will help you design your site, as well, to keep it looking as smooth as it operates.
Some Negative Sides Too:
The control panel may be cumbersome for new users
The control panel they offer — not cPanel — can be a little long, and may be complicated for new users. There are a variety of different options that experienced Web site admins will likely appreciate, but those who are novices might be overwhelmed until they grow accustomed to the layout.
Pros & Cons of MidPhase: This Review in a Nutshell
Pros:
- MidPhase has extremely reasonable prices and a very fair plan and package structure.
- MidPhase has very consistent uptimes that exceed their 99.9 percent guarantee.
- MidPhase has exceptional customer service response times.
Cons:
- MidPhase doesn’t have the fastest page loading times in the industry — but they are definitely above average.
- Their unlimited plans aren’t truly unlimited.
- MidPhase doesn’t include cPanel, or a few other benefits and integrations that many others include at no charge.
Final Verdict
Do I recommend? Yes!
Despite being owned by a larger company, MidPhase provides customers with excellent value and service or the very low price, New users and experienced admins alike have found that site they’ve hosted with MidPhase have done very well.
Other Hosting We Reviewed: