Hostinger vs. 5GBFree – Which One Is Actually Better? [2021]

5GBFree is now NetHosting. Though it claims to offer almost free hosting, the truth is that you’ll get much cheaper hosting from several other providers, one among which is Hostinger. In case you need free web hosting, even 000webhost would be a better choice, I believe. I tested both Hostinger and NetHosting (which has taken over 5GBFree) thoroughly on multiple parameters and found Hostinger outshining its competitor.

You can click here to see Hostinger’s latest deals or continue reading to find out how Hostinger beats its competitor in this Hostinger vs. 5GBFree competition.

1. Plans and Pricing

Overall better rates and value for money make Hostinger the winner

Hostinger offers shared, WordPress, and email hosting plus VPS and cloud hosting. Though 5GBFree’s website has just one basic shared hosting plan, you’ll get shared hosting (including Windows hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and ShopSite hosting for online stores), cloud hosting, and dedicated servers from NetHosting.

At the time of writing this review, 5GBFree’s basic shared plan was available with NetHosting at the same rate, albeit for a limited period. But this and the other two plans are still more expensive than Hostinger’s shared plans. There’s another catch. This low-cost plan is available with a triennial term. The monthly term costs more than 3 times this price.

With Hostinger too, the best rates are available with the quadrennial term and the monthly term costs almost 10 times more for the starting plan. However, you’ll get more value for money with Hostinger. NetHosting’s managed WordPress plan costs much more (over 16X) than Hostinger’s lowest unmanaged WordPress plan.

Both these providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Hostinger wins with its overall better rates and value-added features.

2. Features

Hostinger outshines NetHosting with its robust features and freebies

With Hostinger’s shared plans, you can host 1-unlimited websites and will get CloudLinux OS, 30GB SSD-200GB SSD disk space, 100GB-unlimited bandwidth, custom-developed hPanel, free SSL certificate, free domain (with the annual term of 2 higher plans), LiteSpeed powered caching, daily/weekly data backups, auto-installer, a website builder (free for 1 month), and a custom cache manager.

NetHosting’s 3 shared plans let you host 1-unlimited websites and offer CloudLinux OS, cPanel, 100GB-unlimited disk space, and Installatron auto-installer for installing 5-unlimited web apps. However, except for the highest plan, there’s no free SSL and free domain. For automatic site backups, you’ll have to use cPanel’s feature. With its managed WordPress, you’ll get weekly automatic backups, thanks to SiteSecure.me. No free website migration is on offer though. In case you’re looking for free web hosting and domain, NetHosting won’t help.

You can compare these two providers by checking this comparison table.

Several freebies and robust features make Hostinger this round’s winner.

3. Performance

Hostinger delivers on its uptime guarantee where NetHosting fails

Hostinger has its servers deployed across 7 different regions for global coverage. In contrast, NetHosting’s servers are located in Orem, Utah. If you’re worried about performance, Hostinger will inspire confidence with its multiple performance-enhancing features like SSDs, CloudLinux, LiteSpeed cache plugins, GZIP compression, and optional Cloudflare CDN. NetHosting just uses Varnish Cache and CloudLinux.

4. Security

Hostinger’s exceptional security wins where NetHosting’s basic security struggles

With Hostinger’s Bitninja/Imunify360 (WAF), you’ll stay protected from DDoS attacks, brute force and hacking attempts, malware, botnets, and script injection. This provider also uses SSL certificate, weekly/daily backups, optional CDN, RAID-10 to ensure data redundancy, Wanguard anti-DDoS protection, LVE containers (to facilitate account isolation), and proactive and prognostic server monitoring. Though NetHosting uses a 100% PCI-compliant datacenter that’s serious about data security, its security measures are still very basic with biometric scanners, 24/7 live security cameras, etc. If you want to have peace of mind knowing your website and hosting are in secure hands, Hostinger is miles ahead of NetHosting.

By taking your website’s security seriously, Hostinger wins.

5. Support

Hostinger wins a close round

Hostinger offers superb support via its 24/7 live chat plus tickets (for logged-in users) and email. There’s a paid “Priority Support” too for those who hate waiting in the queue. I used Hostinger’s live chat, which was quick and competent. For self-help, you can use its multiple tutorials, a blog, and a knowledgebase.

NetHosting’s support is available 24/7 vialive chat, phone, and email. I used its live chat a couple of times and found it quite fast and efficient. For self-support, it has an FAQ section and a blog.

Hostinger wins with its overall support system – both in terms of manned and self-support channels.

Hostinger Scores an Easy Win

From features, performance, and pricing to security and support, Hostinger outshines NetHosting in all the categories. As a result, I would highly recommend Hostinger. If you still need another reason to choose Hostinger to meet your hosting needs, knowing that it features on our list of​ the best web hosting services​ may help.

Comparison Table

FAQ