Founded back in 1998, Hostek is a hosting company based in the U.S.A. that specializes in a wide range of hosting solutions for both Linux and Windows. These solutions include shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and other services.
Hostek’s servers are located in the U.S.A. and the U.K. Its information-packed website is entirely in English, and all prices are displayed in U.S. dollars.
Features and Ease of Use
Hostek offers two Linux-based (cPanel Hosting) shared hosting plans – Personal and Business. Both plans come with unlimited disk space and monthly bandwidth together with the following features:
- cPanel
- Softaculous installer
- 99.999% uptime guarantee
- Automatic daily backups
- SSD storage
- CloudLinux OS
- Antivirus/Anti-spam
Unlike most hosting providers that I’ve come across, Hostek only includes free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates with its Business plan. However, both plans come with free shared SSL. It also offers RapidSSL or GeoTrust Premium SSL certificates as optional paid add-ons.
All shared hosting accounts on the Hostek servers are protected by the CloudLinux OS, isolating each account on the server to protect your site from external cyber threats. This feature also ensures that the server resources are allocated fairly among all accounts.
Both plans come with cPanel, which is known for its ease of use and wide range of useful tools. Through cPanel, you can easily manage all aspects of your website, including FTP accounts, databases, website files, domains, website backups, etc.
Pricing and Support
Hostek’s prices are slightly higher when compared to the rest of the market. All plans are available on a monthly or annual term contract. However, if you go with a yearly contract, the average monthly cost will be slightly lower. On a brighter note, Hostek regularly offers promotional discounts.
This company accepts payments via major credit/debit cards as well as PayPal. All plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee, and even after these 30 days, you can get a refund for unused periods at any time.
When it comes to support, Hostek has a pretty comprehensive knowledgebase that includes articles, tutorials, and FAQs covering the most critical topics. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for there, you can always contact customer support via live chat, phone, email, or a support ticket.
I went for the more convenient option, the live chat, or so I thought. When you send in your questions, it states at the top of the chat window that they reply in under an hour, but I received a reply after more than four hours. This delay was disappointing and gave me the impression I couldn’t rely on the support team in an emergency.
