To compare the best web hosts, we hosted the same WordPress website on each one and tested performance, customer service, and value for money. Check out the results here.
SharkServers is a privately owned web hosting provider with its headquarters in Reading, U.K. It was established in 2014 as an amalgamation of three other web hosting companies, and has since grown significantly to now offer shared web hosting, VPS, and dedicated server solutions to businesses of all sizes around the world.
The SharkServers website is in English. Although you can switch it into 25 alternative languages, it’s really only the menus that change.
Features and Ease of Use
SharkServers’ hosting solutions come with the following standard features:
- Free SSL certificates
- MySQL databases
- FTP accounts
- Optional backups
- Website statistics
- One-click app installer
- PHP support
- Linux and Windows support
The hosting solutions support both Linux and Windows OS platforms, and they are of two types. The four cPanel hosting plans are Basic, Advanced, Enterprise, and Ultimate, whereas the two DirectAdmin hosting plans are Basic and Advanced. cPanel and DirectAdmin are, of course, the control panels that you use to manage your hosting.
In both cases, the Basic plan comes with 1 domain name, 25 subdomains, 5 GB disk space, 10 GB monthly bandwidth, unlimited FTP accounts, 100 email accounts, and 10 MySQL databases.
SharkServers’ VPS solutions use KVM virtualization technology that manages memory virtualization and processor states to guarantee high performance. This makes VPS plans more scalable for all types of businesses. The VPS solutions come with optional backups, but there’s not much more information about this (or anything else) because…
I understand that SharkServers suffered database corruption on March 16, 2019, which resulted in some client data loss and took down the SharkServers website. Only the WHMCS-powered portion of its website (which allows you to purchase plans) is operational at the time of writing, and obviously, the whole episode has caused some customers to seek hosting solutions somewhere else.
Pricing and Support
SharkServers’ hosting plans are pretty pricey for the features on offer; especially so since this vendor may have to restore its reputation. You can purchase plans on a range of billing cycles from monthly to triennially, with discounts for longer-term commitments.
New customers can get DNS Management and ID Protection free for the first year, but beware that these will auto-renew at full prices in the second and subsequent years. Other add-ons at the checkout include the Weebly website builder, CodeGuard backups, SiteLock website scanning, and an email security solution. Of these, only SiteLock can be added for free (for up to five pages).
The stripped-back website doesn’t provide any details about a free trial, money-back guarantee, or uptime guarantee, but it would surprise me if one or all of these weren’t available.
Customers can reach out for 24/7 customer support via a ticket system or live chat. No telephone or email support is advertised on its website, but the associated Facebook page provides a support email address. I had no luck with the live chat, but I got a satisfactory response to my test support ticket in less than four hours:
Unfortunately, the knowledge base section of the SharkServers website is empty.
