Winner
TL;DR
It was a close battle but A2 Hosting managed to out-edge FastComet by winning 3 categories versus 2. Another 2 categories were tied.
A2 Hosting has proven once again to be one of the best web hosting companies out there. This privately held provider has 19 years of experience in the industry and thousands upon thousands of happy customers.
Starting your website and considering which web hosting provider to go with?
Check out this clash between A2 Hosting and FastComet and find out which one is the better option for you!
Let’s jump in!
Basic Information
|
Feature |
A2 Hosting |
FastComet |
|---|---|---|
|
About |
A2 Hosting launched in 2001 which means they have nearly 20 years of web hosting experience. The company has been independently owned eversince. A2 Hosting offers a number of web hosting plans from shared to dedicated and everything inbetween. |
Back in 2013, the company co-founders gathered a small team and started FastComet. From a humble beginning and a limited portfolio in 2014, they grew a formitable web hosting company we know today. |
|
Hosting Plan Name |
Startup Shared WordPress Plan |
FastCloud |
Both A2 Hosting and FastComet are privately owned web hosting companies which is a big plus.
This is important because many privately held hosting companies have been bought out by the big players in the industry.
When that happens, the quality of the service takes a big nose dive.
It’s great to see these two companies still being owned by their founders.
Pricing and Payment Options
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing – Year One | $2.99 per month | $2.95 per month |
| Pricing – Year Two and Beyond | $8.99 per month | $9.95 per month |
| Paypal as Payment Option | Yes | Yes |
| Other Payment Options | Skrill, UnionPay, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover | Visa, Maestro, MasterCard, American Express |
Year One pricing is nearly identical so the nether company has an edge there.
However, A2 Hosting is nearly a dollar per month cheaper in Year Two and beyond.
A2 Hosting supports a couple of payment options more than FastComet with both companies supporting Paypal which is preferred by many.
A slightly cheaper plan in Year Two and beyond coupled with more payment options gives A2 Hosting a slight edge in this category.
Category Winner: A2 Hosting
Server Details
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 | 1 |
| SSD Storage | 100GB | 15GB |
| Server Locations | North America, Europe, Asia | North America, Europe, Asia, Australia |
| Uptime | 99.94% | 99.93% |
A2 Hosting offers considerably more SSD storage space for your website, but keep in mind that 15GB offered by FastComet is more than enough to accommodate small to medium sites.
Both companies have data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Additionally, if you have a site that caters to primarily the Australian audience, you’ll be glad to hear that FastComet has a data center in that country which gives it a slight edge.
It’s only a tiny victory as this is not the biggest of deals, but it’s a victory nonetheless.
Category Winner: FastComet
Setup
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Registering New Domain | Costs extra. Can be done through A2 Hosting. | Costs extra. Can be done through FastComet. |
| Migrating Existing Sites | Free site migration service by the A2 Hosting team | Free site migration by the Fastcomet team |
| WordPress Setup | Done for you automatically after order processing | Done for you automatically after order processing |
| SSL Certificate (HTTPS) | Free (installed automatically) | Free (installed automatically) |
| WordPress Plugins | All supported | All supported |
Both companies will offer you a free existing site migration and a free SSL certificate that’s automatically installed on your site.
Both providers support all WordPress plugins and allow you to buy a domain through them for a price if you wish to do so.
This category ends in a tie.
Category Winner: Tie
Support
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| 24/7/365 Support | Yes | Yes |
| Live Chat Support | Yes | Yes |
| Email/Ticket Support | Yes | Yes |
| Phone Support | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Help Knowledgebase | Yes | Yes |
| Community Forum | No | No |
If you have any issues, you’ll be glad to hear that both of these companies have made many support channels available at your fingertips.
I do have to point out that the site you are on right now is hosted by A2 Hosting and I have only great things to say about their Support Team.
They have gone above and beyond each time I contacted them.
Apart from my personal experience with A2 Hosting as just one of their many clients, this category ends in a tie.
Category Winner: Tie
Security
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Site Backups | No | Yes (daily backups going back 7 days) |
| Perpetual Security | Yes | No |
| Two-Factor Authentication | Yes | Yes |
| DDoS Protection | Yes | Yes |
You’ll be glad to hear that both of these companies offer a secure environment for your website, for the most part.
Of course, bad things can happen.
Especially if you’re not careful.
Not a single web hosting provider can keep your site 100% secured if you have 30+ plugins, not keeping them up-to-date, share your personal info online, etc.
What gives an edge in this category to FastComet are daily site backups going back 7 days.
This feature is usually available in more expensive hosting plans by other providers but FastComet gives it to you in their cheapest plan too.
Category Winner: FastComet
Reputation
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot score | 4.2/5 based on 1,035 reviews | 4.7/5 based on 1,115 reviews |
| Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating | A+ (accredited since 2005) | F (not accredited) |
| 10 Industry Review Sites Aggregate Score | 4.47 / 5 | 4.35 / 5 |
FastComet fairs better on Trustpilot with a 4.7 score, but A2 Hosting is not far behind with a 4.2 score.
Both companies have over 1k reviews there so the high scores are worth noting.
I also looked at 10 different industry review sites that reviewed both providers and averaged out the score.
A single review might be flawed, but 10 of them combined do paint a fairly accurate picture.
A2 Hosting’s aggregate score was 4.47 versus the 4.35 average score for FastComet.
A tie-breaker in this category is the Better Business Bureau (BBB) score.
A2 Hosting has an A+ rating with BBB and has been accredited since 2005.
FastComet has an F rating and is not accredited with BBB.
BBB rating is not the biggest deal in the world, but it’s certainly telling about how much a company cares to resolve any and all issues that arise with the Best Business Bureau.
Category Winner: A2 Hosting
Money-Back Guarantee
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Full Money Back Guarantee | Yes – within first 30 days | Yes – within first 45 days |
| Partial Money Back Guarantee | Yes – for unused service anytime after 30-days | No |
Both companies are pretty fair when it comes to their refund policies.
FastComet offers a full refund within the first 45 days which is more generous than the 30 days offered by A2 Hosting.
However, A2 Hosting will offer you a refund for unused service anytime after the initial 30 days.
For example, if you pay for a year worth of web hosting and change your mind after 3 months, A2 Hosting will refund you for the 9 months of unused service.
This gives A2 Hosting a slight edge in this category.
Category Winner: A2 Hosting
Pros and Cons
| Feature | A2 Hosting | FastComet |
|---|---|---|
| Pros |
• Generous refund policy that extends even after the 30-day full money back guarantee• Excellent BBB rating (A+)• 19 years of experience in the web hosting industry• Perpetual Security |
• 45-day full money back guarantee• Daily backups going back 7 days |
| Cons |
• No site backups |
• Poor BBB rating (F) |
Final Verdict
A2 Hosting is the winner.
However, it’s by no means a landslide victory.
FastComet is a worthy contender and a fine option for your web hosting needs.
A2 Hosting is an outstanding web hosting provider with 19 years of experience in the industry and will serve you well should you decide to host your site on their servers.
Even though this did not influence the final score, I’ve been using A2 Hosting since mid-2018 and I have only words of praise to say about the company.
Make sure to check out their full pricing overview on the official site here.