A2 Hosting Vs Siteground

A2 Hosting Overview

A2 Hosting is a high-performance web hosting service provider founded in 2001. To date, they've served over 110,000 customers in over 200 countries.

While impressive, this nonetheless falls far short of the 2 million+ websites Siteground has powered and reflects the fact that A2 Hosting isn’t quite as well-known just yet. But while they might not be as popular as Siteground, they do have a stellar reputation.

They were one of the first web hosting providers to offer PHP 5 and high-speed SSDs. As they expanded, they shifted their focus to performance and introduced new features designed to improve page load speeds, such as their 'Turbo Hosting plan,' which delivers up to 20x faster page loads.

Since this feature was introduced in 2014, they’ve become known as one of the fastest hosting providers on the market.

A2 Hosting offers a range of different hosting services designed to meet the needs of different kinds of businesses, including:

In addition to web hosting, they also offer other services, including domain registrations, SSL certificates, email hosting, and optimization services.

Their flagship 'turbo hosting plan' is very affordable and a popular choice amongst small businesses and entrepreneurs that need the best possible performance on a tight budget.

Pros & Cons of A2 Hosting

A2 Main Hosting Features & Offers

SSD Drives For Speed & Performance

All A2 Hosting plans come with high-performance SSD (Solid State Drive) storage, which is up to 20x faster than traditional HDD storage. A2 Hosting was one of the first providers to switch to SSDs. Some of their higher-priced plans even come with NVMe drives, which are 3x faster than SSDs.

VPS Hosting

Unlike Siteground, A2 Hosting offers VPS hosting for businesses that need more control and better performance. VPS hosting solutions are faster and provide you with your own dedicated server resources, so you don’t have to share with other domains.

Cloudflare (CDN)

A2 Hosting provides Cloudflare CDN (Content Delivery Network) to all web hosting customers for free. CDNs enable websites to load faster while using less bandwidth by pulling cached files from the closest geographically distributed server to your website visitors.

Automatic backups

Most A2 Hosting plans also come with automatic backups. Automatic backups will regularly store a copy of your website, which you can restore if anything were to ever go wrong and you needed to revert back to a previous date.

Unlimited Storage and Data Transfer

Aside from the StartUp plan (which is capped at 100GB storage), all A2 Hosting shared plans come with unlimited storage, so you don’t have to worry about exceeding any limits.

24/7 Support

A2 Hosting has various support lines that are open 24/7, 365 days per year, so you can rest easy knowing tech support will always be available whenever you need it.

99.9% Uptime Guarantee

Uptime refers to the percentage of time that your web hosting service is working as expected to keep your site available to visitors. Fortunately, A2 Hosting is one of the most reliable hosts on the market and guarantees at least 99.9% uptime.

Free SSL Certificates

 SSL certificates are a must-have security feature for any modern website. They authenticate your website’s identity and allow encrypted connections. Some hosts will charge extra for SSL certificates, but A2 Hosting offers them for free on all plans. 

Siteground Hosting Overview

SiteGround is another international web hosting provider known for its high-performance, affordable plans. It was originally founded in Bulgaria but provides hosting services for over 2 million websites worldwide.

Siteground is much more popular than A2 Hosting globally, as we can see by the Google Trends data:

Part of the reason for its popularity is its superb reputation. It’s widely considered to be one of the best web hosts companies in terms of performance and support, with a 4.7-star rating on Trustpilot (A2 Hosting gets 4.4 stars). It’s also one of the only web hosts officially recommended by WordPress.

It doesn’t have a turbo plan like A2 Hosting, but its shared and WordPress hosting plans offer excellent performance (for the price). These plans are a popular choice for SMBs and businesses with a limited amount of monthly website traffic.

For larger and growing businesses with more traffic, Siteground also offers a powerful Cloud hosting plan (one of the only web hosts to offer this). WooCommerce sites can also take advantage of their managed WooCommerce hosting service.

Pros & Cons of Siteground Hosting

Siteground’s Main Hosting Features & Offers

Automatic WordPress Updates & Easy Install Wizard

There’s a reason Siteground is one of the only hosting services recommended by WordPress: it integrates seamlessly with the CMS. You can install WP in a couple of clicks from your Siteground account, and the easy install wizard will guide you through the entire setup process so you can get started quickly.

Cloud Hosting

Siteground is one of the only hosting providers to offer a cloud hosting plan. Cloud hosting is faster than shared hosting and offers powerful dedicated resources on demand. You can add CPU and RAM whenever you need more or automatically scale up your resources whenever you have unexpected traffic spikes. This is great for fast-growing and seasonal businesses that need a scalable solution.

Built-in WordPress Staging Sites

It’s good practice to test any big changes you want to make to your website in a staging area before deploying it to your live site. With Siteground, this is easy. You can set up WordPress staging sites in a few clicks.

Server Level Caching

Caching involves temporarily storing data in a server near your visitors so that pages can be loaded more quickly. Siteground comes with built-in server-level caching to improve your website performance.

Free SSL Certificates

Like A2 Hosting, Siteground provides SSL certificates for free with all its hosting plans.

Cloudflare CDN

Also, like A2 Hosting, Siteground provides a Cloudflare CDN for all customers to reduce page loading times and boost performance.

Unlimited Email Accounts

You can create as many professional email accounts with your domain name as you want with Siteground, and access them through cPanel.

SG Optimizer For Performance Monitoring and Optimization

One of the reasons Siteground can offer excellent speeds is its SG Optimize plugin. This plugin comes pre-installed on your WordPress website and can help to optimize your images and minify code to improve speeds.

Unlimited WordPress Migrations

If you want to move your site over to Siteground from a different web hosting provider, you can do so with the Siteground Migrator plugin. It's totally free, and you can migrate as many sites as you want.

A2 Hosting Vs. Siteground: Which Hosting Is Best For You?

Now that you know what each platform has to offer, let’s take a closer look at how they compare. We compared the performance of Siteground and A2 Hosting in various categories, including pricing, speed and performance, and ease of use to see which was best. Here's what we discovered.

Plans & Pricing
The Winner: Siteground

Both Siteground and A2 Hosting offer different types of hosting packages for different types of businesses, but we thought Siteground’s plans were a little more affordable, all things considered.

Here’s what they both have in common:

Shared hosting

These are low-cost hosting plans in which server resources are shared between you and other customers. They’re cheap but offer lower performance, so they’re a popular choice for smaller websites. Both A2 Hosting and Siteground’s shared plans start from $6.99/month.

WordPress hosting

These are plans designed for users that are running their websites on the WordPress CMS. They typically come with WordPress pre-installed (or one-click install) and take care of things like updates to the software and plugins for you. Siteground’s WordPress plans start from $3.99/month. A2 Hosting’s WordPress plans start from $8.99/month.

Reseller hosting

These plans are designed for agencies that want to resell hosting services to their own clients. They typically offer white-label services so resellers can provide hosting under their own branding. Siteground’s reseller plans start from $6.69/month. A2 Hosting’s reseller plans start from $16.99/month.

In addition to the above, A2 Hosting offers two other hosting plans that Siteground doesn’t. These are:

Dedicated hosting

These plans are built for maximum performance. They provide you with exclusive access to your own fully managed servers (you don't have to share resources), so they're the best option for enterprises and high-traffic websites. A2 Hosting’s dedicated plans start from $159.99/month.

VPS hosting

VPS stands for 'virtual private server.' This type of hosting mimics dedicated hosting but is actually contained within a shared server. It gives you more control, but you still have to share resources with others. A2 Hosting’s VPS hosting plans start from $33.99/month.

Likewise, Siteground offers one hosting plan that A2 Hosting doesn’t:

Cloud hosting

This is a scalable hosting solution as server resources are automatically allocated based on demand. In other words, if you suddenly get a spike in website traffic, Siteground can automatically load more resources to support that traffic. This makes it a good option for fast-growing businesses. Siteground’s cloud hosting plans start from $100/month.

Shared hosting plans compared

If you’re a beginner, blogger, or small business with a small amount of traffic, you’re probably going to be choosing between the shared hosting plans. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the different shared plans each hosting service offers:

As you can see, there’s not much difference in the initial sign-up price between the two hosts. However, if you look at the renewal prices, it’s a different story.

Both services hike their shared hosting prices after the initial sign-up period, but A2 Hosting’s price hike is more substantial. Their StartUp plan rises to $19.99/month, which is around twice the price of Siteground’s renewal cost ($10.99/month).

That being said, you get more for your money with A2 Hosting’s shared plans. Their StartUp plan comes with 100 GB of storage, compared to Siteground’s 10GB of storage.

But even so, given the difference in renewal price, and the fact that Siteground’s WordPress and reseller hosting plans are significantly cheaper, we had to give Siteground the win in the pricing category.

One last point worth mentioning here is that both companies offer a fair money-back guarantee, but A2 Hosting’s policy is particularly generous. Siteground offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on shared plans and a 14-day on Cloud hosting plans. A2 Hosting offers an 'anytime' money-back guarantee, which means you can get a full refund in the first 30-days or a prorated refund of your unused service any time after the first 30 days.

Speed & Performance
The Winner: A2 Hosting

Your website speed and performance can greatly impact the visitor experience. Pages that load quicker convert better and rank better in the search engine results pages, so it's important to choose a hosting service that prioritizes performance.

To get an idea of how A2 Hosting and Siteground compared in this category, we looked at four different factors: average page loading speeds, bandwidth, uptime, and data centers.

Given that Siteground outperformed both Bluehost and Inmotion in the performance category in our previous comparisons, we expected it to take the win again here. But surprisingly, A2 Hosting came out on top. Here’s why.

Page loading times

First, we looked at speed test data to determine which host loaded pages faster, on average.

Now here’s the thing: A2 Hosting actually already ran their own speed tests on sites migrated from Siteground to A2 Hosting and found that, on average, pages loaded 0.13s quicker after their customers made the switch.

However, given that these tests were carried out by A2 Hosting themselves, we were a little skeptical that the results might be biased.

So, in the interests of objectivity, we also pulled some page loading data from Pingdom tests carried out by WebsiteSetup:

As you can see, the results verified A2 Hosting’s claim. Siteground’s response time was much higher this month than A2.

Uptime

Both companies have excellent track records when it comes to uptime, and both offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

As part of their uptime commitment, A2 Hosting states that they’ll provide a 5% service credit of your monthly hosting fee for every hour of unscheduled downtime greater than 0.1% of the total time per month. This is actually a little disappointing - 5% is only a tiny fraction of your monthly hosting fee.

Siteground, on the other hand, backs up their annual uptime guarantee by offering a month of free hosting if they fail to meet the target, which seems much more reasonable.

Bandwidth

Some web hosting providers limit your monthly bandwidth, which can affect website performance. Fortunately, this isn’t a problem with Siteground or A2 Hosting, as both companies offer unlimited/unmetered bandwidth on all shared hosting plans.

Data centers

Data centers are the physical location of your web hosting provider’s servers. Many web hosting services have multiple data centers in different geographical regions. It’s worth choosing a web host with data centers close to where most of your website visitors are located, as this should help your pages to load faster.

Siteground has six data centers in total, which are spread throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.

A2 Hosting has four data centers in total. Two of these are in the USA, one is in Europe, and one is in Asia.

Ease Of Use
The Winner: Siteground

With Siteground and A2 hosting, setting up your site is fairly quick and simple. With A2, WordPress comes pre-installed, so this makes setup just a little bit easier. However, overall, the client area isn't super easy to navigate. The dashboard is cluttered and isn’t very intuitive for users. If you're a beginner or a non-developer, you might find it a little overwhelming.  Similarly, the cPanel is also tricky to navigate.

Siteground, on the other hand, is a lot easier to find your way around. Although WordPress isn't pre-installed on Siteground, you can set up your site in just a few clicks using the intuitive setup wizard. The wizard will ask you which application you want to build your site with and will automatically install WordPress when you select it. It's super easy to do and only takes a few seconds to get started.

Siteground also offers a code-free, drag-and-drop page builder to help you quickly design website pages. In addition, it integrates with the popular site building tool Weebly to allow you more customization options. The benefit of the Siteground page builder is that it isn't exclusive to WordPress sites. You can still use it if your site is powered by a different application.

A2 hosting also offers a page builder that is free for single-page sites when you buy a shared hosting package. However, if you want to create more pages, you'll have to purchase a site builder package separately.

In addition to these features, Siteground is overall more intuitive and easy to use. The layout of the client area is clean and decluttered, and they've recently switched from cPanel to Siteground Site Tools, which is a lot easier to navigate for beginners. So, if you're not an expert when it comes to hosting, Siteground is probably the best option.

Privacy & Security
The Winner: Siteground

Both A2 Hosting and Siteground have tons of privacy and security features that help your site to stay protected.

Both offer free SSL and backups. However, Siteground is a little more secure, as it offers automatic backups for customers on all pricing plans.

A2, on the other hand, offers security features like HackScan protection and KernelCare, as well as virus scanning against brute force attacks.  However, they don’t offer automatic backups for customers on the Startup plan, which is the most affordable option.

Additionally, A2 suffered an outage back in 2019 due to hackers installing ransomware in their systems. Reportedly, frustrated customers were left without access to their sites for as much as 8-days as the team at A2 struggled to get everything in order.

Siteground has a clean track record when it comes to hacking and malware, so it may be the most secure option out of the two.

Support
The Winner: It’s a tie.

Support is really important when it comes to hosting, as things can get confusing, and you never know when you're going to need a helping hand from an expert. Both companies offer a variety of support options. With Siteground, you have access to round-the-clock live chat and ticket support.

When I tried out the Siteground live chat, I received a response in less than 10 seconds, which is nothing to grumble at. Also, the overall experience was helpful and efficient.

Siteground also offers advanced priority support for GoGeek plan customers.

A2 Hosting also offers live chat support as well as ticket, sales, and phone support options. On the first try, the live chat didn't load for me, but after refreshing and trying again, I received a super-fast response (just a few seconds) after filling in a short form to get started.

Overall, it's really easy to get support from both companies, and both sites have expansive knowledge centers that can help you troubleshoot issues on your own.

Email Configuration
The Winner: A2 Hosting

When it comes to email configuration, both A2 Hosting and Siteground offer good options. However, A2 comes with the better email package out of the two. They offer unlimited email accounts and storage across all their plans, from the cheapest startup plan to the more expensive Turbo Max plan. With Siteground, you can have unlimited email accounts too. However, you're limited to 10GB of storage for your emails.

Therefore, if you're running a  larger business and have many different emails and email accounts to manage, A2 is the better option, as you won't have to worry about limits or purchasing additional storage space further down the line.

Discounts, Promo & Coupon Codes
The Winner: A2 Hosting

If you want to get a good deal on your hosting plan, it's always a good idea to have a look around for coupons and deals. Many providers will offer sizeable discounts if you're a new customer and you can get reduced rates on your first year of hosting.

A2 hosting lists all their current coupons and discount on their website. You can find them here.

Siteground, however, doesn't offer promotions or discounts, as prices for first-time customers are already heavily discounted, so there is no way to make further savings.

Domain Registration Costs
The Winner: A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting and Siteground also offer domain name registration services as well as hosting services. However, the prices on each site are slightly different. With Siteground, its prices for popular domains start at $17.99 per year and $17.99 per year after that for renewal.

A2 hosting offers slightly lower prices, with .com domains starting from as little as $14.95/year for the first year and renewals. So, as you can see, A2 Hosting is the more affordable option for domain purchases. However, it's worth noting that the domain search tool on A2 was a little less intuitive than Siteground, which makes it slightly harder to find the domain you're after.

Best For?

After comparing each and every one of Siteground and A2’s features, it’s tough to make a firm decision on which one is best. Both have a lot to offer, but here’s our final verdict:

Comparisons with Popular Hosting Alternatives

Not sure if A2 Hosting or Siteground is right for you? Here’s how they measure up to other major hosting providers in the industry.

A2 Hosting vs. Siteground vs. Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the world's largest hosting providers and an affordable alternative to Siteground and A2 hosting.

They offer a variety of hosting options, including VPS, shared, and dedicated plans. Bluehost also offers an online store and website builder.

Prices for basic hosting plans start from as little as $2.95 a month. Like Siteground, Bluehost offers customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so A2’s pro-rata money-back scheme is still the better option here.

A2 Hosting vs. Siteground vs. Inmotion

Inmotion is a popular US hosting provider that offers plans like WordPress hosting, dedicated hosting, and VPS Hosting.

Inmotion offers affordable plans, starting from around $6.99 for shared hosting, which is the same as Siteground and A2 Hosting.

However, Inmotion offers a 90-day money-back guarantee on all plans. With Siteground, you only get a 30-day money-back guarantee if you cancel within the first three months.

A2 Hosting vs. Siteground vs. GoDaddy

GoDaddy is one of the world's most popular domain registrars, and it also offers a range of other services, including marketing tools and hosting.

GoDaddy offers a super cheap alternative to Siteground and A2 Hosting, with shared plans starting from as little as $1 per month. Like Siteground, it has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. However, they don't offer a money-back guarantee, but they do have a refund policy in place.

People Also Ask (FAQs)

Does A2 Hosting use cPanel?

Yes, A2 Hosting does use cPanel. You can access cPanel through the A2 Hosting customer portal.

How do I renew my a2hosting?

To renew your A2 hosting plan, go to your customer portal and click billing. You’ll then see options for renewing and changing your plan. To renew a domain purchased through A2 Hosting, click on Domain in your customer portal and then click Renew Domain. Prices may increase when you renew if you’ve reached the end of your promotional period.

Does Siteground use wordpress.org or wordpress.com?

Siteground can be used to host WordPress.org blogs and is recommended as a hosting provider by WordPress.org. However, WordPress.com is a hosted blogging solution, so you won’t need to use an external host like Siteground or A2 Hosting as it's included in the package.

How long does a Siteground migrator take?

WordPress migration using the Siteground migrator plugin usually takes around 2-3 hours. In some cases, it takes a bit longer, but it shouldn't be more than 24 hours.

How can you add a domain in Siteground?

If you want to add a new domain to Siteground, you can register one easily in the Client Area. Simply click Services > Domain > New Domain and input the domain name.

Conclusion

So there you have it, an in-depth look at everything Siteground and A2 Hosting have to offer. The real question here is - is A2 Hosting better than Siteground?

Our answer is no. Although A2 Hosting is excellent when it comes to performance, Siteground is still very fast and offers users an overall better experience. In addition, it's much easier to navigate for beginners and offers better value for money.

However, if you prioritize speed over everything else, you might want to consider an A2 Hosting turbo plan instead.