I have been hosting with asmallorange.com (ASO) for 6 years now. They were a decent host for the most part. I was using a simple shared hosting package. However, in the past year I became a bit disgruntled and disappointed.
Complaints
Complaint 1: Free SSL
Google has long said that they will optimize for secure website. ASO did not provide this service. It would have cost too much hassle for me to do it on my own. When I researched other hosts, they provided it for free.
Complaint 2: Up to date PHP
PHP is currently on version 7.4. ASO would not let me up upgrade past 7.2 which is several years old. WordPress has been complaining about the version and that bothered me. Other hosting services provided up to date PHP.
Complaint 3: Cost
All hosts have the same program. They give you 3 years for a steep discount and then double the price. Some of them will give you the same 3 year discounted price to renew. ASO would not. So there was a cost savings involved.
Complaint 4: Service
As a customer for 6 years, I would have thought they would want to keep my business. I am a low traffic personal site that doesn’t complain much. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t meet me halfway. Therefore, I decided to switch.
Research
There were a few decent sites that seemed objective. The choices are all similar, and I tried chatting with many of them. I really liked Siteground alot. Their representative was friendly and well informed. Unfortunately, the way their package was setup, I could only host ONE site. I have 2 that I host; commadot.com and jaredlipka.com. (He is a young musician and needs to post his music online) I would have gone with them except for this one problem. My suggestion to them would be to have a mid-tier package that allows 2 or 3 sites, not just 1.
I tried Dreamhost for a little while. They came in 2nd place on my spreadsheet. They lacked a built-in CDN, but otherwise was good. Bluehost was highly rated, but their PHP only went up to 7.3. Greengeeks were OK but were slightly more money. I feel guilty about that one, their pitch was carbon neutrality.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting’s website is pretty awful to look at. Honestly, it almost made me go somewhere else. They had a good price and the rep was helpful on chat. Additionally, they had a complete migration package that meant I wouldn’t have to do a thing. They took care of all of it without me lifting a finger. SSL configured and ready to go.
This is my first post at the new site. I am paid for 3 years and hopefully I will not need to relocate again for a long time.
It’s stressful to change things and certainly something could go wrong. However, if you stay still, then nothing will get better. Change is a good thing. Worst case scenario, you will learn something.
Whatya think?