At Hostvix, our mission is to give you honest, data-driven, and useful hosting reviews. The hosting industry is full of flashy claims and marketing jargon, so we built our own review system to cut through the noise.
Every provider we cover goes through a hands-on, multi-stage testing process that measures what really matters: performance, reliability, transparency, and support. Our team doesn’t just look at specs on a website—we purchase hosting plans ourselves, set up real websites, and run live tests for weeks to see how each service performs under real-world conditions.
Here’s how we do it.
Our Review Process
We evaluate hosting providers across six core categories, each weighted to reflect its importance to real users.
1. Performance (30%)
Speed and uptime are non-negotiable. We monitor each provider for a minimum of 30 days using independent tools and custom scripts.
- Uptime monitoring (measured every minute, across multiple regions)
- Page load speed tests (first byte time, full page load, and repeat load)
- Server response consistency (how stable performance is under normal conditions)
- Scalability under load (stress tests simulating traffic spikes)
2. Reliability & Infrastructure (20%)
Beyond raw speed, we check how solid the backbone is.
- Data center locations and redundancy
- Network quality and peering
- Built-in failover systems
- Backup and recovery options
3. Security (15%)
Hosting security isn’t optional—it’s essential.
- SSL/TLS support and ease of integration
- Server security features (firewalls, DDoS protection, malware scanning)
- Account security (2FA, admin protections, account alerts)
- Compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, SOC2, PCI-DSS if applicable)
4. Features & Tools (15%)
Not all hosting is created equal—some providers offer developer-friendly features, others are barebones. We test:
- Control panel usability (cPanel, Plesk, custom dashboards)
- Developer tools (SSH access, Git, staging environments, CLI support)
- CMS & app integration (WordPress, ecommerce platforms, AI tools, etc.)
- Email, CDN, caching, and other bundled services
5. Customer Support (10%)
When things break, support quality matters more than anything else.
- Availability (24/7 chat, phone, ticket)
- Response times (measured by contacting support with real queries)
- Technical accuracy of responses
- Knowledge base quality
6. Pricing & Value (10%)
We analyze total cost of ownership, not just the intro offer.
- Clarity of pricing (no hidden renewal traps)
- Refund policies & guarantees
- Resources per dollar (CPU, RAM, bandwidth compared to cost)
- Upgrade paths (scaling to VPS, dedicated, or cloud)
The Scoring System
Each hosting provider is scored in every category above. The scores are then weighted by importance (as listed) to produce an overall rating out of 10.
We also assign:
- Best For labels (e.g., “Best for WordPress”, “Best for Developers”, “Best for Small Business”)
- Pros and Cons (summarized after testing)
- Real-world benchmarks (uptime %, average load times, stress test results)
Independence Matters
Every hosting plan we test is purchased by us, with our own money. Hosting providers do not supply us with free accounts, and they do not have any say in how we review or rate their services.
This firewall between our editorial team and our business team keeps our testing impartial and your trust intact.
Why This Matters
Choosing the wrong host can lead to downtime, slow websites, lost revenue, and even security risks. Our testing process is designed to highlight the truth—both good and bad—so you can make a hosting choice with confidence.
We don’t just tell you what’s cheapest or most popular—we show you what actually works.
At Hostvix, our job is simple: to test hosting so you don’t have to.