Hosting.com vs KnownHost
Hosting.com and KnownHost compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Hosting.com scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
Hosting.comWins overall
The former A2 Hosting under World Host Group: stated cores and RAM, 30-day backups, staging from Pro, phone support
Managed cPanel hosting since 2006 on LiteSpeed and NVMe with stated cores and RAM, daily backups and three locations
Hosting.com wins 3 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.7 vs 7.4).
How do the scores compare?
Hosting.com leads on 3 sub-scores, KnownHost on 1. Higher is better.
| Hosting.com | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.5 (better) | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.0 (better) | 7.0 |
| Support | 6.0 | 7.5 (better) |
| Features | 8.5 (better) | 8.0 |
| Value | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Ease of use | 7.5 | 7.5 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| Hosting.com | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.7 (better) | 7.4 |
| Uptime (published)Kripesh Adwani 365 d vs TechRadar 30 d; methods differ | 99.99% | 100.00% (better) |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, KnownHost is cheaper ($7.16/mo vs $13.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| Hosting.com | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Starter | Basic |
| Intro price | $1.99/mo (better) | $3.47/mo |
| Renewal price | $13.99/mo | $7.16/mo (better) |
| Required term | 48 months | 36 months (better) |
| Websites | 5 | 1 |
| Storage | 15 GB | 10 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| Hosting.com | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | First year | No |
| Free SSL | Standard on Starter and Pro; premium certificate on Max | Every plan, every domain |
| Daily backups | Stored off-server, restore to any point in the last 30 days | Not stated |
| Staging | 3 sites on Starter, 20 on Pro, 200 on Max | No |
| Free managed migration | Yes | Not stated |
| Web application firewall and malware removal | Yes | Not stated |
| Caching and hardware | LiteSpeed caching, tuned MySQL, AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe storage | Not stated |
| AI website builder for WordPress | Yes | Not stated |
| OpenAPI and MCP server | On every plan; Claude skills pack and Node.js from Pro | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per month; 5% of the service fee credited per hour of unscheduled downtime, up to the full month, on request | The network page claims a 99.999% availability SLA and 99.99+% uptimes; the terms of service contain no uptime clause or credit schedule |
| Service level agreement | Max plan only | Not stated |
| Phone support | +1 (734) 222-4678, 24/7/365 | A US toll-free number on every page, with 24/7 ticket support |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Backups | Not stated | Daily JetBackup with 2-day and 1-week retention on every plan; extended retention sold as an add-on |
| Free migration | Not stated | Migration team copies files, databases and email and tests the site |
| Free CDN | Not stated | No |
| Caching | Not stated | LiteSpeed Web Server with LSCache on every plan; Redis and Memcached optional |
| SSH, Git and cron | Not stated | Every plan, with current PHP versions |
| Resource limits | Not stated | CloudLinux isolation with 1, 2, 4 and 6 cores and 1, 2, 4 and 6 GB memory limits by plan |
| Data center choice | Not stated | Atlanta, Seattle or Amsterdam at checkout |
| Security | Not stated | Imunify360 with real-time malware scanning and a web application firewall; Patchman optional on Basic and Standard, included above |
| Not stated | 5, 25 or unlimited mailboxes by plan, with webmail |
Company facts
| Hosting.com | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | cPanel with the hosting.com panel on top | cPanel with Softaculous |
| Data centers | 5 (better) | 3 |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, phone, email, knowledge-base | ticket, phone, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2003 | 2006 |