Templ.io Review 2024: Can It Compete with the Big Players?

Can a Young Company like Templ.io Compete with the Giants of the WordPress Hosting Industry?

Templ.io has made quite a bit of noise since its launch. Claiming to be “an alternative to slow and insecure low cost shared web hosts,” this Swedish host receives a lot of positive reviews for its customer support and features. But are these reviews real, and more importantly, is Templ.io the right service for you? I did the research so you don’t have to.

Templ.io’s standout feature is that it’s powered by Google Cloud. Instead of maintaining its own hosting infrastructure, the company uses more than 20 Google Cloud Platform (GCP) data centers distributed across five continents.

Templ.io focuses entirely on managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting. You won’t find any cheap shared hosting options here, nor will you be able to build your website using a different CMS (content management system). For a more versatile and affordable web host, you’re better off with Hostinger.

But if you want to build a WordPress site, Templ.io could be a viable option. Keep reading to find if it’s right for you.

Templ.io Offers Excellent Performance and Security Tools, but Some of Them Will Cost You Extra

Templ.io offers all the features you’d expect from a managed WordPress hosting service, and then some. You get one free WordPress installation, assistance transferring an unlimited number of websites, SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt, and automatic daily backups.

All Templ.io plans include the same features and tools, which is great news if you’re only hosting a single website and don’t want to miss out on any of the benefits of higher-tier plans. That said, the entry-level plans are quite limited in storage space and bandwidth, so you will eventually need an upgrade if your website grows.

Just keep in mind that Templ.io charges an added fee for some features that are free with other hosts. For example, you have to pay extra if you want more than one WordPress installation, and automatic WordPress updates are free only for the first year.

Let’s take a closer look at some of Templ’s most interesting features. If you don’t mind the cost, this host has a lot to offer.

Built on Google Cloud

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is one of the leading names in cloud computing, and for good reason. When you host your website on GCP you can count on enhanced performance, stability, security, and scalability.

And With Templ.io, you don’t have to worry about provisioning, configuring, and maintaining your own server – the team does it all for you. You can also scale your server up or down with no downtime.

You also get to choose from 20+ of Google’s data centers around the world, so you can host your website as close as possible to your target audience. You can even switch your data center as needed.

Managed Caching and CDN

A GCP server comes without any software, so you’d normally have to install everything yourself, but with Templ.io, the provider’s proprietary server stack is installed for you and ready to go.

Templ.io also gives you server-side caching to help your website load faster, and the Google Cloud CDN helps with speedy delivery of your content to visitors from around the world. Unlike with other hosts, you don’t have to install or configure the CDN yourself. Just get in touch with tech support and they’ll do it for you.

Hacked-Site Guarantee

Most web hosts make you pay extra for proper website security, but Templ.io takes a different approach. In addition to Google’s impressive security features, which include DDoS protection and data encryption, you get Templ.io’s own regular malware scans to ensure that your account isn’t compromised.

If your website does get hacked while hosted on Templ.io, tech support will offer to remove all malicious code and restore the site for you. Take it from someone who’s had to clean up after a hack: That’s huge.

Developer-Friendly Tools

Templ.io offers SSH access on all plans, so if you prefer to work with WordPress using WP-CLI, you can. A staging site is also included, so you can easily clone websites to test changes before they go live.

If you collaborate with several other developers, you can customize their access to your account. And if you’re managing several websites, you can contact Templ.io to create a fully customized agency plan.

Templ.io’s Simplified Control Panel Makes Everything Easy

Templ.io makes it easier to access and maintain a Google Cloud server, while its dashboard is clean and easy to navigate. That said, some essential beginner-friendly tools are missing, so the host is more suitable for users who already have some experience with building a website.

For example, while WordPress is easily installed on a new account, you don’t get a one-click installer like Softaculous for other plugins, nor do you get a website builder. If this is your first time creating a site, you should take a look at Hostinger’s list of features, which can make it easier for you to get started.

If you already know your way around WordPress, you’ll enjoy Templ’s well-optimized, time-saving platform.

Simplified Control Panel

One of Templ’s most attractive features is its proprietary control panel, which greatly simplifies hosting management for you.

The control panels that usually come with a managed WordPress site – cPanel or Plesk – often include a bunch of options and tools you’ll never actually use. But Templ’s control panel has ditched the clutter, giving you all the essential options, like domain management, email, usage statistics, backups, and even data center location.

Ready for WordPress and WooCommerce

Templ.io’s focus on WordPress comes with certain advantages. Not only is the server stack specifically optimized for WordPress, but the software installed on your account during the initial setup is preconfigured for optimal performance.

Whether you’re building a business website or a WooCommerce platform, you don’t have to tweak settings for hours to make sure that your site loads quickly. And if you get stuck along the way, there’s 24/7 specialized support.

Help with Debugging

Here’s another big plus with Templ.io. If your website is slow or not working at all, most web hosts will tell you that fixing the problem is outside the scope of their support. Templ.io helps with debugging, and the support team will suggest changes that can improve your loading speeds.

In addition, when you migrate a website to Templ.io for the first time, you get a free performance audit and fix. You can opt for this service later instead, but it’ll come at a pretty hefty cost.

Flawless Performance Powered by Google Cloud

Since Templ.io runs on GCP, it’s very unlikely that you’ll encounter any performance or uptime issues. In fact, your website will be hosted on the same cloud infrastructure that hosts Google Search and YouTube. When was the last time you heard of either of these services going down?

All plans come with solid-state drives (SSDs), which are about 20 times faster and more reliable than HDDs. In addition, Templ.io uses the Nginx web server rather than the more common Apache, which translates into improved performance and stability.

You also get Templ’s performance-enhancing suite, with server-side caching, the latest PHP versions, MariaDB, Redis object cache, and the next generation internet protocol, Quic. If all this sounds like gibberish to you, don’t worry: Templ.io manages everything so you can just sit back and enjoy your website’s quick loading speeds.

To deliver an even better experience for your visitors, you can choose the data center closest to your target audience. Templ.io currently uses over 20 GCP data centers, and the company plans to expand this already impressive list of locations.

But what about uptime?

Templ.io has a solid 99.95% uptime guarantee backed by a service level agreement (SLA). The provider does offer compensation for downtime, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll experience any.

There’s a Single Tech Support Channel, but It’s a Good One

For sales questions, you can get in touch with Templ.io through 24/7 live chat and email, while phone support is available between 7AM and 5PM (UTC+1). Once you become a paying customer, however, you can only get tech support through live chat.

According to Templ.io, live chat is the best support channel because your account can be easily identified by the support agent, and the entire Templ.io team can see your messages and contribute to a more effective answer. To be honest, this is fine with me.

Templ.io promises to respond to inquiries within a few minutes during business hours and in no more than 15 minutes otherwise. In my experience, the support team delivers on this promise.

When I contacted support through live chat, it took the support agent no more than one minute to respond. The agent was polite and helpful, and I got the answers I was looking for.

I also got in touch by email to ask about the Google Cloud CDN. The reply, which answered my question in full, came about one hour later.

Templ.io support agents specialize in WordPress and WooCommerce, but if you’d rather address an issue yourself, there’s a fairly substantial knowledge base with guides and tutorials.

Fair Prices for a Great Managed WordPress Hosting Service… but There’s One Major Problem

Compared to low-cost shared hosting, Templ.io’s plans will seem fairly expensive. As a matter of fact, if you don’t need a managed WordPress hosting solution or the features that come with cloud hosting, then you’re better off with a more affordable host (you can see all the best deals on our web hosting coupon page).

But compared to other managed WordPress hosting services with similar features, Templ’s fees are only slightly higher than average. And with all four of its plans hosted on GCP’s cloud infrastructure, Templ.io is more than worth the difference.

There’s more good news. Templ’s pricing is transparent and the company doesn’t try to push you into long-term deals. You do get a discount on yearly plans, but unlike with other hosts, you don’t have to worry about high renewal fees.

One significant downside is that Templ.io doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, but you do get a free 10-day trial to test its features before you decide whether it’s right for you.

Templ.io welcomes all major credit cards for payment. However, alternative choices are not provided by default. If you wish to utilize PayPal, kindly initiate a request for manual payments via our customer support. There is a possibility that you will receive a prompt to make payments on a quarterly, as opposed to a monthly, basis.