HostDash provides shared, managed VPS, reseller hosting, and dedicated server plans at competitive prices. All shared plans are compatible with most popular content management systems (CMSs), meaning you can easily set up a WordPress site, or just about any other type of site or online app (OpenCart, Drupal, and MyBB are just a few other offerings).
HostDash has focused its service on shared and reseller plans, so it’s intended primarily for small sites or clients looking to start their own web hosting businesses. The inclusion of LiteSpeed server technology, the Imunify360 security suite, and generous resource provisions add good value to all of its hosting packages.
Features and Ease of Use
Some hosting providers lock their best perks into the higher-priced plans. Not this one, though. HostDash plans come with a variety of features including:
- Managed site migrations from other vendors
- Free SSL certificates
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited email accounts
- Unlimited NVMe storage with all shared plans
- Up to 75GB NVMe storage with reseller hosting plans
- Up to 160GB SSD storage with VPS plans
- Standard cPanel control panel with Softaculous app installer
- Imunify360 Linux web server security suite
HostDash pairs speed-boosting technology like LiteSpeed web servers with NVMe SSD storage (even faster than regular SSDs) on all plans. These are often paid upgrades – or simply not available – from many other popular web hosts.
Something else that makes HostDash stand out is the free .com domain “for life” (available from one to ten years) when you pay upfront for a long-term plan. Then there is the Price Lock Guarantee – the price you sign up for is the price for the lifetime of your subscription.
HostDash offers some help for those with less web hosting experience, whether you’re building a new site or moving from another provider – you can contact the sales team 24/7 to get help choosing a plan, and the support team will move a site from another provider for you.
You get the usual cPanel access with shared hosting, and this includes single-click installation for 450+ apps. WordPress optimizations are built into the server configuration as well, so you don’t have to perform significant settings tweaks just to get set up.
Pricing and Support
HostDash offers you two ways to sign up:
- Pay up front for a long-term plan and you’ll get a knockdown price as well as a free .com domain, or
- Take a 30-day trial for $1 and renew at a higher price
Because HostDash also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee (twice the time of the industry-standard 30 days) for all purchases, I went for the “pay upfront” option. If you want to test HostDash before you buy, remember that the overall cost for the year will be significantly higher.
If you plan to move from another provider, HostDash offers up to 6 months of free hosting to compensate for your old plan. An attractive option if you’re halfway through a dud subscription and don’t want to lose money.
As they all offer unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, and storage, the three shared plans differ mainly by a somewhat vague allocation of “Performance”: 1x, 2x, and 3x, respectively. Aside from that, the entry-level Startup plan allows for a single website, while the other two plans allow for an unlimited number. If you ever find yourself in need of a plan upgrade, keep in mind that you’ll need to contact customer support to enable it.
The reseller plans are very competitively priced, offering 25, 50, or 75 cPanel licenses and a corresponding amount of storage depending on tier. Each plan also includes the premium Clientexec billing software for managing your web hosting operations. These offer the same LiteSpeed servers and NVMe SSDs as the shared plans.
HostDash’s VPS plans are roughly in line with industry standards, though they do not appear to include NVMe drives. The 3-year plan undercuts the costs of industry leaders by a fair amount.
Web hosting support services are typically hit-and-miss, but HostDash’s support team impressed me. I was able to reach an agent within 10 minutes who installed WordPress and a few plugins for me. That’s a lot better than some others I’ve dealt with.
Using a knowledge base is never a pleasant experience, but HostDash’s informative articles provided me with a step-by-step manual for managing A records on my domain names. While the support team remains highly responsive, it’s reassuring to understand that there’s an alternative resource in case they become inaccessible.
