HostArmada Review: Is it Good Choice to Host Your Blog?

HostArmada review: Is it worth it?  That’s what I’ll try to answer throughout this piece. I’ve actually used servers from the company, ran multiple tests on the same before scribbling this review down.

I’ve covered everything, including server locations, freebies, speed, speed and performance under pressure, pricing plans and everything in between.

If you need a hosting server, HostArmada may just be worth a peek. But hey, don’t take my word for it. Go through this HostArmada review and make that decision on your own.

Why trust this HostArmada review?

Anyone can visit a website and write a “review”. I don’t do that.

Before I write a review, any review, I test the company/tool/project thoroughly. Only after personally using said tool, I present something worth reading for you folks here.

So, I got an actual server from HostArmada. Here’s my order invoice:

I hosted the domain www.updateland-hostingreview.online on the server and built a full-fledged websites on the same.

This IntoDNS report will show you that the nameserver indeed is pointing to HostArmada:

All the tests, monitoring and everything else for this review will be done on the domain mentioned above.

Even for these tests, you do not have to take my word (or screenshots) for it! All the published results can be independently and conclusively verified by you!

Hopefully that tells you why this HostArmada review won’t be a waste of your time, doesn’t it?

HostArmada Overview

HostArmada is based in Delaware, USA. It offers almost all the primary features that we seek with any host, here’s an overview:

• Website: https://hostarmada.com/
• Free SSL: Yes, for all domains
• Free Doman: Yes
• Free transfers: Yes, up to 5
• Free daily backups: Yes, minimum 7 guaranteed
• Free site builder: Yes
• Plans start at:$3.33/month

HostArmada User Interface

This isn’t “the” most important aspect when choosing a server. However, it still is the first thing I notice when I sign in so let’s get you an idea?

As the screenshot shows, it’s pretty simple and basic. I can manage my services, invoices, domains and everything else right here. The left-sidebar too lets me do the same things.

Point is, even if this is your first-ever server, you can use HostArmada easily.

HostArmada Server locations

I pay a lot of attention to this. That’s because this  affects three aspects of my server.

First, depending on the location, my website speed will vary for different users. E.g. when targeting U.S users, I’d like a server closer to U.S.

Second, I like to see a higher number of  available servers for any location. This is so I know that the server wouldn’t be overloaded. E.g. if there’s just one U.S server, all the U.S clients will opt for the same, which may lead to a bottleneck for my website.

And third, because of the legal hiccups. Depending on the location, what content I can or can’t host differs. I’ve explained this in detail in the AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) section on this HostArmada review.

The company impressed me in this regard. It offers servers from 7 countries! That’s one of the highest location options I’ve seen in recent times.

Its “number of different cities” in the same continent further makes me happy. You get:

• North America: Freemont/ Dallas/Newark/ Toronto
• Europe: London/Germany
• Asia: Mumbai/ Singapore
• Australia: Sydney

This means, regardless of which country you’re targeting, the audience wouldn’t be served a slow website.

Acceptable Use Policy

So, what can and can’t be hosted on HostArmada?

The company is based out of the United States. As a result, it obviously complies to U.S laws. This means, you can not host anything that’s illegal in the States.

Secondly, it also complies to local laws. This means you can not host content that’s illegal in your server-country.

However, there’s no “Global law” compliance. Meaning, as long as your content is legal in the States, and legal in your server country you can host it.

Free SSL for all domains

SSL is obviously a necessity now. Without that, Google will warn your users against visiting your website .You’ll also not rank well, and obviously probably never succeed.

HostArmada offers free SSL certificates. That’s not “impressive” even though it’s a happy feature. Most other best hosting companies I’ve reviewed offer that.

What’s impressive is, HostArmada offers the free SSL for ALL domains! Meaning, on any plan, regardless of how many domains you host, the free SSL is attached to all of them.

That’s rare and uncommon. Even some of the most expensive web hosts do not offer the feature.

Multiple free daily backups

How many hosts do you know which offer free backups even on their cheapest plans? HostArmada does.

The even better news is, these backups are “daily”. And not just one! Even the cheapest plan will get you 7 daily backups!

If you opt for more expensive plans, you can get 14 and 21 daily backups depending on your package.

Free domain and migration/transfer

You don’t already own a domain? You don’t need to! The company offers free domain for most TLDs.

You can get any one of the following domains for free:

.biz, .business, .ca, .click, .cn, .co.uk, .com, .com.br, .de, .es, .eu, .football, .in, .info, .net, .nl, .org, .space, .tokyo, .uk, .us

Now, while I’ve seen good hosts offer free domains, they’re generally limited either to .com or some TLD I do not want. Well, that’s not the case here, is it?

You may already own a domain as well, right? In that case, HostArmada offers completely free migrations!

In fact, depending on your plan, up to 5 free website migrations are available. In my personal experience, this is a first in the industry.

Unmetered bandwidth

I’ll be honest. This is neither a “wow” feature nor something that’s uncommon. But hey, not “all” web hosts offer it so it does deserve a mention, doesn’t it?

So, HostArmada wouldn’t reduce or restrict you in any way depending on the “bandwidth” you use. You’re free to use as much of that as you want, as long as you do not violate its policies.

Free Site Builder

Gone are the days when you had to be a “coder” to build websites. HostArmada offers a free website builder on all its plans.

The website builder takes “seconds” (literally) to finish building your website. After it’s done, you get a completely drag & drop interface.

As the screenshot shows, you can add content and widgets such as text, rows, media, buttons, testimonials, alerts, slides and basically everything else.

Even with 0 previous experience, building a (very professional) site shouldn’t be a problem with the company.

HostArmada Performance Tests

The company offers impressive features! Great! But is it fast? Can it handle a traffic rush? Ultimately, these factors are what decide the quality of a web server, don’t they?

To test the same, I’ll be testing my domain on 3 different grounds. Do note that my domain isn’t blank. It has a full-fledged website created using the HostArmada site builder. It has text, images, background scripts, sliders, tickers and a lot more.

I do that to ensure the results are realistic and not from a blank, “anyway fast” website.

Basic ping test

This I believe is the simplest speed test out there. When we talk of “website speed”, this is what most people measure.

This test takes into account the time taken to load all the aspects of my website. It’s basically the “page load time” test.

So, I got the fastest result from Japan. It took only 2.15 seconds to load my website. (Verify this result)

I also tested it from other locations. From USA it took 2.96 seconds, London and Sydney required 3.23 seconds 3.69 seconds respectively.

Anything in or around 2 seconds is acceptable to me (and to Google). Considering I’m using Mumbai servers, I’d say this is pretty impressive.

Server Response Time Test (SRT)

As mentioned above, the speed shown above is for the entire website and all of its contents. Meaning, a heavier website will take longer to load and a basic, lighter website will load faster.

However, a SRT test primarily calculates the server’s time to respond to a user’s request. In other words, it’s less affected by every individual website and more by the server itself.

Hence, I believe this will tell you more about the server quality.

Here are the results:

(Verify screenshot and result authenticity)

So, the average SRT is 179ms which is exactly what I’m looking for. Anything below 200 ms is what’s desirable to me.

If you look at individual SRTs, Mumbai responded within 3ms because that’s where my servers are from. Even Singapore, Germany and Japan had a <130ms response time which is impressive.

This proves that the server doesn’t disappoint when it comes to speed, period.

SRT test during traffic rush

The above SRT is sure impressive. However, it’s on a site no one is visiting. Will you get the performance when there’s a rush of traffic, or will the server crash/slow down?

In an effort to make this HostArmada review, let’s test that as well?

So, I’ll send 20 virtual users to my site. I will monitor how to site reacts to users piling up.

If you look at the graph at the bottom-left, you’d see the SRT doesn’t spike (except the one exception) as the traffic rises.

The average SRT remained at 170ms. This is actually lower than the 179ms SRT we obtained earlier.

This proves that the server doesn’t crack or slow down under pressure.

HostArmada Hosting plans

The company offers everything, this includes  Shared/VPS/Dedicated servers and even WordPress hosting.

Because I personally am using their shared plans, let’s look at those:

• Start Dock: $3.33/month-1 website (best suited for about 10K hits/month)
• Web Warp: $3.91/month- Unlimited websites (handles about 60K hits/month)
• Speed Reaper: $4.72/month- Unlimited sites (120K hits/month)

There’s even a 45-day moneyback guarantee just in case things don’t work out.

In my opinion, it’s pretty rationally priced considering all the free perks that come with it.

HostArmada Support

Surprisingly, this is my happiest moment on this HostArmada review. I know, features, speed, pricing, everything else is generally more important.

However, the speed, availability and quality of support HostArmada provides is unbeatable.

They offer a 24X7 live-chat. Eh, so what? Most reputed hosts offer the same. What’s impressive is their support team!

The replies feel human, connected, real. With almost all other companies, in any industry, there’s a touch of “extra” professionalism and robotic replies.

So, if nothing else, I’d urge you to try their support even if you aren’t sure about their servers yet.

HostArmada Review- Final verdict

So, is HostArmada worth it? I’ll say yes! Its multiple server locations, free SSL/domains, and impressive server speed/quality are reasons why I say so.

I tried to find a “con” (something negative) just to list on this HostArmada review. Fortunately and surprisingly, there’s none.

That’ll be all for this HostArmada review. Why don’t you go try it out? With its 45-day moneyback guarantee you’ve got nothing to lose, have you?

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