IONOS Review 2024: Features, Pricing, & More

Whether you’re building a new website or looking for a better hosting service for an existing site, securing a reliable hosting provider is essential. There are so many options to choose from, and it can be difficult to determine which is best for your specific needs. After conducting extensive reviews of dozens of providers, Forbes Advisor India found that IONOS is one of the best hosting providers available today.

IONOS manages 12 million domains and has contracts with 8 million customers worldwide. The company makes our list of the best web hosting providers, scoring so well primarily due to its affordable plans, unlimited storage, and reputation for reliability and security. Plus, at less than INR 100 per month for the first year, IONOS has one of the cheapest introductory offers on the market.

FEATURED PARTNER OFFER

Ionos

Starting price

INR 84.07 ($1) p/m (billed annually) Renews at INR 1,008.86 ($12) p/m

Features

Affordable hosting plans, free SSL certificates, daily backup

Free trial

30 days

Buy Now

On IONOS's website

Starting price

INR 84.07 ($1) p/m (billed annually) Renews at INR 1,008.86 ($12) p/m

Features

Affordable hosting plans, free SSL certificates, daily backup

Free trial

30 days

Pros & Cons

• Low-cost intro rates.
• Unlimited storage for Business and Expert plans.
• Fast website load speed.
• Free Wildcard SSL certificate.

• Inconsistent support quality
• Frequent upselling
• No free website migration
• Only one free email account per plan

IONOS is a popular web hosting and cloud services solutions partner specializing in serving small and medium-sized businesses. The company, named initially 1&1, was established in 1988 in Europe in 2003. In 2020, the company changed its name to IONOS.

Here are a few facts about IONOS:

• Operates 40 facilities and 21 operated data centers that are ISO 27001 certified that deliver 99.9% uptime.
• Custom support is available 24/7/365 via phone, email, and chat.
• Every hosting plan is backed with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• The IONOS Hosting Manager mobile app lets you manage your account from anywhere.
• In addition to shared hosting services, IONOS also offers VPS, dedicated, cloud and enterprise hosting.
• The company offers a wide variety of domain, hosting, and cloud computing solutions.

When building a website, you need a place to house your website design and data files. Web hosting is a service that provides the storage and resources you need to make your website visible and accessible on the internet.

A website hosting provider offers storage space on a server or group of servers explicitly designed for hosting websites. Customers pay the provider for their storage space, essentially renting it for their website’s needs.

IONOS offers all types of hosting services, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting services.

Shared hosting—which is when your website is hosted on the same server as others—is ideal for startups and small businesses with limited traffic and modest storage needs. Because you’re sharing resources, hosting fees are considerably lower than you’d pay for a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated hosting services—which are better options for those with more advanced website hosting needs.

In this review, we’re focusing on IONOS’ shared hosting services. If your hosting needs are more advanced, feel free to check out Forbes’ list of the best VPS hosting services and Forbes’ list of the best-dedicated hosting providers.

IONOS Shared Website Hosting

IONOS offers three levels of shared hosting plans, each designed for various levels of resource requirements. You can use the IONOS builder to create your custom website in a matter of minutes, even if you don’t have any technical or coding skills. IONOS supports popular web hosting applications, including TYPO3, Drupal, PrestaShop, and Joomla.

You can also build and host a WordPress website via IONOS. In fact, IONOS is ranked the best overall provider on Forbes’ list of best WordPress hosting services.

IONOS offers both self-managed and managed WordPress hosting plans. Self-managed hosting plans are ideal for those with technical backgrounds and who want more customization and greater control over their sites. Managed plans are perfect for less tech-savvy users who need a user-friendly setup and prefer to have routine updates managed for them.

Website Domain

You’ll need a domain for your website, and IONOS offers one free domain for the first year with its hosting plans. If you intend to host more than one website, you can register additional domains with IONOS.

Should you need multiple domains, you can register a new domain with IONOS for as low as INR 80 for the first year. Domain renewal fees average under INR 1,600 for most .com domains.

Here are some notable features offered by IONOS for users opting for its shared hosting plan.

• Number of websites: IONOS allows users to host one website or unlimited websites, depending on the plans they choose
• Storage: IONOS shared hosting starts from 10GB to unlimited redundant storage, which utilizes two data centers so that the user’s website remains up and running even during scheduled maintenance.
• RAM: Users get 512MB RAM in the lowest-tier plan, which can be extended up to 19GB as per requirements.
• Free domain: All shared hosting plans of IONOS come with one free domain name for a year, which renews at INR 1,261.18 to INR 1,681.57 ($15 to $20) for the .com extension.
• Free SSL certificate: IONOS plans come with a free SSL certificate that provides security to your domain name and up to 1,000 sub-domains.
• Bandwidth: Users get unmetered bandwidth on all IONOS shared hosting plans, which allows unlimited data transfer within a speed limit.
• One-click installation: Websites built on WordPress can be easily hosted on the IONOS server with one-click installation.
• Backup and recovery: IONOS provides daily backup and recovery options to keep your data safe and can be recovered from unforeseen circumstances.
• Site scanner: IONOS provides a free site scanner to detect potential vulnerabilities.
• DDoS protection: All plans come with DDoS protection that stops potential cyberattacks that make your website resources unavailable.
• Third-party apps integration: Users can easily install popular open-source apps from the hosting dashboard.

While many web hosting platforms come with a pricing structure that is difficult to understand, IONOS’ is straightforward. With a rate of just INR 84.07 ($1) per month, IONOS beats almost every web hosting service’s introductory price, which sets IONOS apart from other popular hosting providers. IONOS is a terrific web hosting service if you need to keep costs low.

IONOS Features

In addition to budget-friendly plan fees, IONOS offers fast loading times, unlimited traffic, website security best practices, easy app installation, generous storage, extensive customer support options, business email, and marketing functionality.

RAM, Storage, and Bandwidth Limits

IONOS’ Essential plan comes with up to 512MB RAM, a 384MB PHP memory limit, 10GB of storage, unlimited traffic, and unlimited FTP accounts. The IONOS Business plan comes with up to 6GB RAM, a 768MB PHP memory limit, unlimited storage, unlimited traffic, and unlimited FTP accounts.

The IONOS Expert plan comes with up to 19GB RAM, an 896MB PHP memory limit, unlimited storage, unlimited traffic, and unlimited FTP accounts.

Ease of Use

IONOS makes creating and managing your website easy; you can launch a simple website with IONOS in mere minutes. IONOS has a drag-and-drop website builder that comes with hundreds of customizable design templates. WordPress hosting plans are also available, which allow for more website customization options.

IONOS offers one-click installation for more than 70 popular third-party applications. While most users find the IONOS dashboard intuitive and user-friendly, tech-savvy users report facing challenges using the IONOS interface to tailor their websites via advanced customizations.

Email

Each IONOS shared hosting plan comes with one accessible business email and up to 2GB of email storage. The one email limit is a bit low for the advanced plans, but you can purchase additional emails for an add-on fee. Email forwarding, webmail 2.0, anti-phishing, and anti-spam are included in all plans.

Marketing

IONOS offers a few marketing features with its plans. SiteAnalytics, Google Sitemaps, and 10 to 100 mailing lists are included with each IONOS shared hosting plan.

User Dashboard/cPanel

IONOS has made several improvements to the user experience over the past few years. Those with modest technical skills typically find the IONOS user experience largely positive, while beginners may experience a steeper learning curve.

More advanced users who are accustomed to working with cPanel—which IONOS does not have—sometimes report some confusion with IONOS’ proprietary tools.

Security

Every website hosting plan comes with a free SSL certificate with 256-bit encryption. IONOS server facilities are ISO 27001 certified, and geo-redundant hosting means that your data is mirrored in two data centers. Geo-redundancy ensures that a website remains live even if one server is down for maintenance or an unexpected outage. IONOS also includes malware and DDoS protection with its hosting services

*IONOS does not use cPanel, but rather uses its own proprietary control panel.

IONOS Essential Plan

The Essential plan is economical for smaller websites with minimal storage and processing needs. It costs INR 336.31 ($4) per month for the first year and renews at INR 504.47 ($6) per month after that. The Essential plan includes up to 512MB RAM, a PHP memory limit of 384MB, and a 10GB storage limit. It also comes with 10 MariaDB 10 or MySQL 8 databases, up to 2GB each, and ten mailing lists.

IONOS Starter Plan

The Starter plan is also ideal for smaller websites that want to upgrade storage and processing needs. It costs INR 504.47 ($6) per month for the first year and renews at INR 672.63 ($8) per month. The Starter plan includes up to 512MB RAM, a PHP memory limit of 384MB, and a 100GB storage limit. It also comes with 50 MariaDB 10 or MySQL 8 databases, up to 2GB each, and ten mailing lists.

IONOS Plus Plan

The Plus plan costs just INR 84.08 ($1) per month for the first year and renews at INR 1,008.94 ($12) per month. This mid-tier plan is a budget-friendly option for small to medium-sized websites with modest storage and processing needs. The Business plan includes up to 6GB RAM, a PHP memory limit of 768MB, and unlimited storage. It also comes with unlimited databases, unlimited websites, and 25 mailing lists.

IONOS Expert Plan

If you need more computing power, you’ll need to go with IONOS’ Expert plan, which is ideal for those with multiple or larger web projects. The Expert plan costs INR 840.78 ($10) for the first year and renews at INR 1,345.25 ($16) per month. It comes with unlimited websites, unlimited storage, and unlimited databases, plus 100 mailing lists. The Expert plan also has up to 19GB RAM and an 896MB PHP memory limit.

IONOS offers extensive customer support options; you can contact the company 24/7 via telephone, email, or live chat. Forbes used both phone and online chat support when writing this review and found the experience helpful, prompt, and courteous in both instances.

The company hosts an extensive online help center and an online community where users can connect. These resources are ideal if you want quick answers and prefer to seek them yourself rather than reach out for personalized help.

Feedback on IONOS customer reviews is mixed. Positive reviews mention unbeatable pricing, responsive support, and platform stability and reliability. The less favorable reviews comment on website glitches, billing misunderstandings, pushy upselling, and complications with launching websites.

IONOS offers website development and design solutions through its MyWebsite Design Service. The IONOS team of designers and copywriters will create a website for you; they’ll even develop a logo for your business. Choose from three levels of website and design maintenance services.

The Starter plan is perfect for businesses that require a relatively small website and anticipate minimal changes. This plan includes a website design with up to 10 custom pages. The fee is INR 504.47 ($6) per month for an annual subscription.

The IONOS Plus plan is ideal for medium-sized websites that require more frequent updating. This plan includes a website design with up to 200 pages with advanced design options. The fee is INR 84.08 ($1) per month and renews at INR 1,513.41 ($18) per month for an annual subscription.

Those with more significant website needs may want to go with IONOS’ Pro design service. For INR 1,429.33 per month, you’ll receive a website with unlimited pages and unlimited website edits.

IONOS also offers e-commerce design services in all plans. Your website will come complete with payment and shipping setup, Facebook and Instagram Shop integration, and unlimited maintenance, edits, and updates.

All website design plans require a minimum 12-month commitment and renew month-to-month after the first year. Each website is optimized for search. IONOS offers a free consultation to see if this service is a fit for you.

IONOS compares favorably to many other popular shared web hosting service providers. At only INR 84.08 per month for the first year, IONOS has the best introductory price we’ve seen. With IONOS, you can only lock into that INR 84.08 per month deal for one year, which is a benefit and disadvantage.

On the one hand, you don’t have to pay upfront; on the other hand, you’re hit with the higher INR 1008.94 per month renewal fee sooner than with providers that let you lock in the lower introductory price for three years, which TMDHosting, HostGator and InMotion all allow.

IONOS vs. TMDHosting

Both IONOS and TMDHosting offer unlimited storage and bandwidth and 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat. With a starting price of INR 84.08 versus INR 755.86 ($8.99) per month, IONOS delivers a far better upfront value than TMDHosting. TMD scores higher in terms of guarantee—60 days compared to IONOS’ 30 days—and number of business emails allowed—unlimited compared to IONOS’ paltry one email per plan.

IONOS vs. HostGator

HostGator’s lowest-priced starter plan only provides 10GB of storage, compared to unlimited storage with IONOS. Both providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, unlimited bandwidth, a free domain, and an SSL certificate. HostGator offers unlimited emails, whereas IONOS limits each plan to just one free business email.

IONOS vs. InMotion

While IONOS offers a better starting price, there are a few areas where InMotion shines. InMotion’s 90-day guarantee is undoubtedly better than IONOS’ 30-day guarantee. InMotion allows 10 business emails per plan, compared to the IONOS one.

IONOS has an advantage over InMotion in terms of storage capacity, offering unlimited storage compared to InMotion’s 100GB storage cap on its core plan. Also, InMotion does not include a free domain on its starter plan; IONOS offers a free domain on every plan.

IONOS shared hosting is an excellent option if you’re building a relatively simple website and are looking for an affordable web hosting provider. However, it may not be the best option if you require a great deal of customization or anticipate building a large, content-heavy site that can support extensive website traffic. For that, you may want to consider its VPS and dedicated hosting.

IONOS Is Best For:

• Launching a simple website quickly using IONOS’ basic templates
• WordPress websites
• Small e-commerce websites
• Startups that need a budget-friendly hosting service

IONOS Is Not Recommended For:

• Those who need their existing WordPress websites migrated to IONOS for them; while IONOS says a WordPress migration tool is coming, it is not available yet
• Content-heavy websites (e.g., sites that host large video or image files)
• Highly customized websites
• Large, high-traffic website

Also Read: IONOS Vs. GoDaddy

Overall, IONOS has a solid reputation for reliability and security and offers the lowest introductory pricing we’ve found, given the number of features provided. We recommend IONOS for startups and small businesses on a tight budget.