
Ask HN: Who is your go-to web hosting company? - pft
I&#x27;m looking for Web hosting (either shared or VPS) for a personal owncloud setup.
All the reviews I&#x27;ve seen online say different things or are obviously sponsored by a particular company so don&#x27;t give a proper representation of the quality of the services.<p>Any thoughts or recommendations?
What d&#x27;yall think of godaddy, hostgator and bluehost compared to AWS for value for money?
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valvar
For shared, I've never used a service that could measure itself with
NearlyFreeSpeech. Of course, I don't host anything huge or very important, but
I suspect that even if I did I would still go with NFS. Their pay-for-what-
you-use pricing, realm options, and support (for an extra but fair fee) are
simply phenomenal. I have nothing at all to complain about with NFS, whereas I
hold plenty of grudges against godaddy and hostgator.

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ddorian43
The best shared/pseudo-vps hosting that EXISTS in the world is:
[https://www.webfaction.com/?aid=9281](https://www.webfaction.com/?aid=9281)
(referral link)

Source: Have hosted from php/mysql stuff to 350+ requests/second uwsgi-python-
flask-postgresql webapp on a 10$/month shared-space.

I challenge every commenter on this thread to find a better host than
webfaction!!

~~~
BorisMelnik
does it come with cpanel license?

~~~
ddorian43
they have their own custom panel (better)

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damian2000
I've been using Linode for about 18 months, never had any problems. There's
been two hardware upgrades during that time. I'm on the $20/month plan.. I use
it to host several domains. I've also used AWS EC2 but found it was probably
overkill for my own personal needs, as I don't have the need to spin up and
down instances or scale or anything like that.

~~~
mc_hammer
i would have to say dont use linode - two companies were hacked in the last 2
years and the intruders got in by rooting all of [one section? of] linodes
datacenter.... all in all i would say if they didnt learn their lesson the
first time its not advisable to use them. probably better off with hetzner but
idk. there should definitely be a breach tracker site.

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sjs382
I just use DigitalOcean and don't think about it much anymore. They're
reliable, flexible and cheap.

Also, at the risk of triggering your "sponsored by a company" radar, here's my
promo code, which will get you $10 off:

[https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=9fad2cc71fbc](https://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=9fad2cc71fbc)

~~~
icpmacdo
And if you are a student you can get 100$ credit from the Github student pack.

[https://education.github.com/pack](https://education.github.com/pack)

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JohnMunsch
I've used DigitalOcean for about a year and been happy with it. Lately I've
been looking at Atlantic.Net and Vultr.com as well because they offer either
cheaper or have slightly different priorities in their pricing levels.

For example, Vultr offers more memory and less hard drive space in their
$5/month level.

These days I'm trying to get to a point where I have deployment software in
place that would allow me to use Ubuntu LTS anywhere in a fairly short period
of time. It's not that I'm actively looking to leave DigitalOcean, it's that I
would like to be able to recommend something like Atlantic.Net's GO plan to
somebody to put up a quick static site for $12 a year and know that it
actually works because I've tried it myself.

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pdx
I don't run owncloud, but if I did, I would want it to be, you know, my own
cloud!

I have an intel NUC [1] in my house, in the DMZ of my router, and running a
script to change it's ip address at my DNS provider when my house ip address
changes

I've got a lot of stuff running on that, which can be accessed by me from
anywhere, but it lives in my house, and so enjoys more legal protections and
physical security than a VPS.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computing-Black-
BOXDCCP847D...](http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computing-Black-
BOXDCCP847DYE/dp/B00B7I8HZ4)

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richardbrevig
I've had a "reseller" account with httpme.com for at least 10 years. Signed up
with them back when the original owner was very active on WebHostingTalk (if I
remember correctly, user "Aussie Bob"). Prior to them I bounced around at
least 5 different shared providers and had my own servers colocated for a
while. I've had minor problems that were all quickly resolved (one of my
friend's sites I was hosting had a script that began to eat up too many
resources, and they killed it).

The interface is standard WHM/cPanel. No SSH.

~~~
whichdan
He runs AussieHost.com now.

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ohashi
Well if you don't trust the big review sites you at least recognize bullshit
when you see it. That said, my startup is trying to give an actual unbiased
look at what people think about web hosting companies. It works by aggregating
and analyzing twitter sentiment about all those brands you mentioned (it only
works on bigger guys who get enough volume of discussion). Take a look
[http://www.reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare](http://www.reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare)

HostGator/BlueHost is a near identical product from the same company (EIG) and
the quality is quite low. GoDaddy doesn't have that much better of a
reputation but it's really hard to tell sometimes between quality of their
service and people who don't like them because of what they've done in the
past (sopa, elephant killing, advertising, etc). Doesn't help that they are
huge either.

AWS is expensive if you're comparing it to shared hosting. They are nowhere
near the same product. AWS is great if you need AWS features and are a
technical person who can handle all that (or afford paying a lot for
support/someone who can). The other companies are providing
management/support. If you goal is installing owncloud my first question would
be are you going to install/manage it or not? That generally cuts down which
companies might make sense.

~~~
pft
I plan on installing owncloud myself

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mrcold
I was sick of mainstream companies after endless problems and issues and I
found vultr on a web hosting forum:
[http://www.vultr.com](http://www.vultr.com)

And it's awesome. A good hosting provider is one you forget about. When you do
things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all. So far, I
didn't have any problems, didn't need any support and nothing went wrong. And
the reviews, when you finally find them, are usually great.

I remember comparing performance when I made the decision. And basically, all
the major players suck big time. GoDaddy, HostGator and BlueHost are shit. AWS
works for large scale stuff, for everything else it's shit. If you want
quality, go with a small provider. The mom and pop shops of the tech world.

Bigger companies use cost reduction to increase profits and squeeze out every
last penny. Small companies and startups are hungry for clients so they focus
on great services and products.

~~~
KhalPanda
Even though it's obvious, it's considered good etiquette to disclose when
you're using a referral link.

Also, you're on a new account. There's also another reply vouching for Vultr
on a new account in this thread, albeit without a referral link.

Something smells.

If I were OP I wouldn't even consider vultr.

>
> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9118593](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9118593)

>
> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9118652](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9118652)

~~~
mrcold
Yes, you got me. I created my account 10 days ago and commented on various
threads just to post a referral link to a web hosting provider.

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bpg_92
DigitalOcean is awesome for both side projects and complex ones, let us not
forget OpenShift (redhat), heroku (it is free :D) and linode that has support
for Tor. But DO is awesome for starters. For registrar I suggest NameCheap, I
have used Godaddy and I am sad I did. AWS is beautifully awesome for high
scalable projects.

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violentvinyl
I've had good experiences with HostGator since moving there from a smaller
company that basically stopped responding to support requests. They seem to
update software regularly, and it's cost effective.

I've heard bad things about GoDaddy from various sources, and that's why I
opted not to go with them. Not that I'm putting up any content that is
infringing or even remotely in a grey area, but I've heard their policy as a
company is to take down your site at the smallest complaint and then they only
look into the complaint after you ask why your site is down.

All that said, I'm still on the lookout for a hosting stack (hosting provider,
OS, and application) that allows me to rapidly prototype new ideas (Drupal
looks awful without a lot of customization and I'm not clued up enough for
Docker).

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cweagans
There's no reason to deal with shared hosting providers anymore. VPSes are so
incredibly cheap that it doesn't make any sense.

In order of price (low to high): DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS.

Take your pick. They're all good.

~~~
kafei
But then I'd have to manage and maintain a server. What if I don't want to be
a server administrator?

~~~
cweagans
It's not that time consuming. Digital Ocean will set up LAMP for you (or even
install Drupal or Wordpress if that's your thing). Secure SSH, set up your
app, set up monitoring and leave it alone.

~~~
genoki
I want to move from shared hosting. Looking at DO. Have scores of sites to
migrate. I use NameCheap for domain reg and point to host. Can I host multiple
domains at DO? How does it work for multiple sites?

Would setup be something like:

1\. Get DO account 2\. Install LAMP 3\. Setup multiple sub domains in DO? 4\.
Create site directories in DO and copy site files into them? 5\. Point domains
to sub domains?

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paulmd
I get my domains through DreamHost. Their "unlimited" hosting is not, and it's
spotty, but if you register domains through them they give free domain-
registry privacy proxying. I have bit of a hangup about my personal info being
freely available through lookup.

I'm up for re-evaluating my hosting soon, but right now I'm through Lithium
Hosting. Haven't done much app-related stuff, but they've been fine for
regular low-volume hosting stuff, and I pay $10/month (legacy plan). Web-
faction sounds nice.

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taf2
If all you are concerned with is cost go with something like digitalocean. If
you intend to run your business on it I recommend aws.

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lcmatt
Quite a few of my sites are hosted with EUKHost, in terms of support they've
always been near perfect and I've never had to wait for help. Servers are
reliable too, can't think of any major downtime in the last 5 or so years.

Tried AWS and preferred Digital Ocean instead, the $5 servers are quick and
it's easy to spin one up to use for various needs.

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MalcolmDiggs
I use Linode, Rackspace and AWS pretty heavily. Overall I recommend Linode the
highest. Good prices, decent server-monitoring built in, and I love how much
bandwidth they give you for each server.

AWS kills me on the bandwidth charges. The cost-calculators are practically
worthless unless you're really good at estimating your potential bandwidth
usage.

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Someone1234
In my experience with OwnCloud it is a rather expensive thing to run. Running
it on a $10 VPS regardless of the host, you're likely going to have a bad
time.

With DigitalOcean, the SSD will definitely help, but I'd look at the $20 plan
just for the RAM. However expect to have to tweak OwnCloud's environment a
little to get the best out of it.

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fmisle
Disclaimer: I work for Rackspace.

We have a once click Orchestration install of OwnCloud that will install and
fine tune your server according to their best practices and specifications,.
We also have a developer+ program where you can get $50/mo for 12 months in
credit to try us out (developer.rackspace.com/signup)

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jchmura
I use DigitalOcean. I know people have had issues with them but so far its
been nothing but a good experience. I also prefer being close the metal as far
as a server goes so it fit my needs perfectly.

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dhagz
I like DigitalOcean for my hosting, and NameCheap as a registrar. DigitalOcean
has a ton of tutorials and other good resources to learn how to use its
platform, and NameCheap is, well, cheap.

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DoritosMan
I've used RamNode and had a great experience using them.

~~~
tarminian
Same here.

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ras15
Check www.vultr.com it's cheep and you can spin your own ISO for OS install.
Best I found so far.

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pft
ITT: Op asks for honest opinions about webhosts because other sites just give
me a bunch of referral links.

Gets a bunch of referral links.

But thanks for those who've offered good advice, I think I might go for
digitalocean.

~~~
ddorian43
I think I explained my choice ?

Just try it, you have 60days money back guarantee. But it's not a complete
vps.

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mromanuk
DigitalOcean

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alltakendamned
Hetzner, since a long time.

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hharake
linode (a VPS web hosting provider).

N.B: I do not trust any shared hosting company.

