For straightforward shared hosting with generous limits, CleverDot seems like a smart choice with packages that can cater to the needs of most individuals and small businesses.
CleverDot is a small hosting company that simply isn’t a match for big brands like Hostinger. The bigger hosting companies simply offer a better price for similar configuration.
CleverDot was established in 2002 and has been providing shared hosting and domain registration services since their inception. They’ve remained a smaller company that’s comfortable operating at their current scale. Currently, they provide hosting to U.S. and Canadian customers only. They’ve labelled themselves “the clever choice” because of their affordable and simple packages and their clever use of software.
Features and Ease of Use
Despite being a smaller hosting provider with a limited set of services, CleverDot still provides all the fundamentals such as:
Domain registration
SSL certificates
Manual backup manager
Antivirus protection
Unlimited email accounts and forwarders
MySQL databases
99.9% uptime guarantee
cPanel installation
They also provide a few other features that add a lot of value and utility to their web hosting plans:
RVSiteBuilder: This is a popular tool for beginners to easily build a website. It includes a decent number of templates and a drag-and-drop interface.
Softaculous: Softaculous is the most comprehensive script installer with dozens of hosting apps ready for installation at the click of your mouse.
Search Engine Submission Tool: This makes sure that your website gets indexed by Google and other search engines as soon as possible.
CleverDot has put a bit of effort into making their platform easy to use. Their pricing is simple, the signup process is almost effortless, and they provide a great range of software to help even the most novice users set up polished-looking websites.
However, your account will only be activated within an hour upon making payment: I found this a bit slow considering most shared hosting providers activate accounts almost instantly. Plus, their website looks very dated. This is probably where CleverDot falls short of their bigger and operationally-stronger competitors, and may also indicate that their platform may not be the most convenient.
Pricing and Support
CleverDot only offers three shared hosting plans. However, the terms are very generous with no setup fees, an exceptional 60-day money back guarantee, and a choice of monthly or discounted yearly billing. You can also get a discount if you choose to register a domain name with your yearly plan.
The plans come with:
Starter: 25 GB storage, 250 GB bandwidth, 25 databases, and support for a single website.
Advanced: 50 GB storage, 1 TB bandwidth, unlimited databases, and up to ten websites.
Pro: Everything is unlimited.
Although not the absolute cheapest, CleverDot’s packages are still in the more affordable range. The software and features you get with your hosting service also makes it pretty good value for money.
CleverDot only offers technical support through email; their phone line is for billing or order queries only. They appear to have a live chat, but the few occasions when I tried to access it, they were offline. However, at the very least, my experience with their support team was that they’re quick to respond and generally very competent and helpful, even if it took multiple emails before I got the issues resolved. Unfortunately, the help documentation in their knowledge base is minimal and they don’t regularly maintain any social media channels.
It all worked well, I used them for about 4 years and they had all kinds of good features like forum setup, cPanel, and always got back to me in 24 hrs from email support. I am looking to use them again.
If you only need a simple and cheap shared hosting service with beginner-friendly software, then CleverDot may be a good fit for you. Their unlimited plan makes it possible to have a stress-free solution. However, don’t expect the same support or features as larger providers.
CleverDot might offer a good service at a reasonable price, but does it match up with the top web hosting companies? We find it hard to say “yes.”
Pros
Simple and affordable pricing
Great selection of free software
Free SSL; discounted domains available
Unlimited plan
Cons
Very limited support
Only shared hosting; little scalability
Hendrik Human
Hi, I’m Hendrik, your web guru. The only two things you need to know about me are: I love making websites, and I love to write about how to do it. That’s why I’m here - to help make it fun and easy for you too.
