HostPapa hosts over 500,000 websites on its data centers in the US and Canada.
That’s impressive considering they’ve only been around since 2006 (founded by Jamie Opalchuck).
One potential explanation for their meteoric rise could be their various customer service options, offering phone support in a few different languages including English, French, Spanish, and German to both domestic and international clients.
They must be doing something right to have grown so quickly over the past few years.
In order to find out, we purchased the HostPapa ‘Starter Plan’ and set-up a simple WordPress website to monitor their uptime and speed over an extended period of time.
Did HostPapa perform well enough to get our recommendation?
Read on to find out.
General Info & Hosting Overview
Our Rating: |
Our Verdict: 4.5 |
SPEED: | 565 ms (February 2020 to January 2021) |
UPTIME: | 99.99% (February 2020 to January 2021) |
SUPPORT: | 24/7 Live Chat, Phone, Email, Mail, Fax, and Knowledge Base |
APPS: | 1-Click Installs for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal+Softaculous App Installer for 400+ Apps |
FEATURES: | Unlimited Bandwidth, 100 GB Storage, Two Websites, Free Domain Registration, 100 Email Accounts, SpamAssassin, Free SSL Certificate, cPanel, 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee, |
HOSTING PLANS: | Shared, WordPress, VPS, and Reseller Hosting |
SITE TRANSFER: | Free |
PRICING: | Starting at $2.95/mo (renews at $9.99/mo) |
Pros of Using HostPapa Hosting
Upon signing up, we were excited to see what makes them tick. What could possibly cause such a quick ascent?
At first, we were pleasantly surprised by their great uptime (as you’ll see). They also offer a plethora of customer support options to choose from.
So far so good! But can they live up to the hype? Let’s take a look.
1. Great Uptime 99.99%
We’re happy to report that HostPapa’s uptime has been good since day one.
They’ve posted a 12-month average of 99.99% uptime with only an hour of downtime.
While it sounds trite and obvious, you’d be surprised just how many web hosts struggle with the most foundational element of actually hosting a website — keeping the damn thing live!

Last 12-month average uptime:
- January 2021: 99.99%
- December 2020: 100%
- November 2020: 99.99%
- October 2020: 99.97%
- September 2020: 100%
- August 2020: 100%
- July 2020: 100%
- June 2020: 100%
- May 2020: 100%
- April 2020: 99.94%
- March 2020: 99.96%
- February 2020: 100%
HostPapa’s uptime is on the same level as SiteGround’s uptime. Not bad.
2. Good Page Loading Speed
HostPapa’s uptime was great and their page loading speed is also decent.
Over the last 12 months, they had an average page load time of posting 565 ms, which is fast enough to have a place in our pros section.

Also, HostPapa’s loading time has been very steady throughout the whole year.
Again, not as fast as A2 Hosting or Hostinger, but definitely faster than many others.
3. Extensive Support Options
HostPapa offers extensive support options to help customers in a variety of ways.
You can browse their huge library of self-help videos. They offer 24/7 support through phone, mail, email, ticketing, live chat, and even fax (!).
They provide phone support in 18 countries (which might be the most we’ve seen from any company). They’re one of the only hosts to provide support in different languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German.
As if that’s not enough, they also provide an interesting support feature allowing you to connect in a one-on-one session with ‘Papa Squad Experts’, which are essentially guided walkthroughs using video or telephone conference.
We also tested out their live chat and received a response in less than a minute from their support staff. Answers to questions were provided within a modest two minutes.
4. Proactive Security Features
HostPapa’s shared hosting plans come with Panda Cloud antispam protection enabled, as well as a server firewall, monitoring, and intrusion detection. Over 37,000 websites get hacked daily, so HostPapa’s proactive security measures are reassuring.
Their Business Pro plan also comes with additional features including domain privacy protection, a free SSL certificate, a dedicated IP address, and automated website backups.
The last thing you need to worry about is security details like spam protection. It’s nice to have someone else watch your back.
5. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee & Free Site Migration
HostPapa offers an industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee for most of their hosting plans.
In addition, they’ll gladly help you transfer an existing website from another host (while also throwing in a free domain name too).
6. Good Value for the Starter Price
HostPapa’s basic pricing starts at $2.95 for the first three years.
The good news is that they do throw in a lot of value for this initial pricing. You get two websites, compared to just one that most other hosts offer. You also get free domain registration, 100GB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
Pretty good, right?
But that’s not all. You’ll also get their “Essential Features” which includes a free website migration, Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, and access to their 400+ apps and website builder.
So overall, it’s a pretty good value. Other hosts would make you pay for this stuff, easily pushing the monthly price up well above this initial $2.95/month range.
Cons of Using HostPapa Hosting
HostPapa started out strong, delivering fast page loading speed and uptime. Moreover, their customer support is knowledgeable and polite.
However, there are some downsides that need to be mentioned.
Take a look.
1. High Renewal Prices
HostPapa entry price starts at $2.95/month with a three-year commitment. As mentioned before they offer a good value for that price.
However, once the initial period ends, you’d have to pay double the price. For example, the cheapest Starter Plan will renew at $9.99/month, Business Plan at $14.99/month, and Business Pro Plan at $23.99/month. And that’s with a three-year commitment, which means you’d have to pay a lot of money in advance.
Seeing the renewal prices and features offered with that cost, the money-value ratio doesn’t seem so good anymore.
Overview of HostPapa Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Below is a quick overview of HostPapa’s three shared hosting plans.
Please note: Pricing tends to fluctuate often, and these low advertised prices required a three-year sign-up.
Starter Plan | Business Plan | Business Pro Plan | |
---|---|---|---|
Pricing | $2.95/month Renews at $9.99/mo |
$2.95/month Renews at $14.99/mo |
$11.95/month Renews at $23.99/mo |
Websites | 2 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
Storage | 100GB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Other Features | – | • Unlimited MYSQL Databases • 2x More CPU and MYSQL Resources |
• 4x More CPU and MYSQL Resources • Domain Privacy • Automated Website Backup • Premium Wildcard SSL and SiteLock Detect |
Quick Facts
- Free Domain: Yes.
- Ease of Signup: Very easy signup process.
- Payment Methods: Credit Card, Paypal.
- Money-Back: 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: Advertised price is only for the first payment term. Renewals are much more expensive. You will be charged a setup fee of $29.99 if you make use of their refund policy.
- Upsells: A few upsells.
- Account Activation: Activation can take a while.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
- Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): One-click installer to install popular apps and CMSs.
Do We Recommend HostPapa?
Yes, we do.
Hostpapa has improved its service quite a bit over the past year.
Their uptime is almost perfect and loading time is fast. They have a ton of different support options available, and we personally had a positive experience.
The only downside is their high renewal prices. However, if money is not an issue, then Hostpapa is a good option for you.
- Bluehost
Very Good Uptime | Easy to Use for Beginners | 24/7 Customer Support
Read Bluehost review - Hostinger
Extremely Affordable | Top 3 Load Time | Multilingual Support
Read Hostinger review - DreamHost
Best Month-to-Month Plan | 97-Day Refund Period | Unlimited Bandwidth
Read DreamHost review
Further reading: The 10 Best Web Hosting Services (In 2021)
What’s your experience been like with HostPapa? We’d love to hear about it, no matter if it’s positive or negative (as long as it’s transparent and honest).