InterServer vs IONOS
InterServer and IONOS compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. InterServer scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
InterServerWins overall
Secaucus host since 1999 with a $7 monthly plan, stated resources, free migration and a 30-day refund
The former 1&1: unlimited sites and traffic from $8 a month at renewal, with a free domain and wildcard SSL
InterServer wins 4 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.5 vs 7.1).
How do the scores compare?
InterServer leads on 4 sub-scores, IONOS on 1. Higher is better.
| InterServer | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 7.5 (better) | 6.5 |
| Uptime | 7.0 | 7.5 (better) |
| Support | 7.0 (better) | 6.5 |
| Features | 8.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Value | 8.5 (better) | 7.5 |
| Ease of use | 7.0 | 7.0 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| InterServer | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.5 (better) | 7.1 |
| Uptime (published)Cybernews 14 d vs Cybernews 14 d; methods differ | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, InterServer is cheaper ($7.00/mo vs $14.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| InterServer | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Standard | Plus |
| Intro price | $2.50/mo | $1.00/mo (better) |
| Renewal price | $7.00/mo (better) | $14.00/mo |
| Required term | 1 months (better) | 12 months |
| Websites | unlimited | unlimited |
| Storage | Unlimited | 350 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| InterServer | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | No | One domain free for the first year on every plan: .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz or .online |
| Free SSL | SSL support is listed on every plan | One DV wildcard certificate on Essential, Starter and Plus; unlimited wildcard certificates on Ultimate |
| Backups | Weekly backups on Standard | Daily backup of storage and databases with data recovery, every plan |
| Free migration | The migration team moves the site, database and email for new accounts | No |
| Free CDN | Cloudflare CDN on every plan | Starter, Plus and Ultimate; not on Essential |
| Caching | SSD caching servers, RAM caching for small files, LSCache for dynamic content and QUIC | Server compression and HTTP/2 listed; no caching layer named on the plan page |
| Staging | No | No |
| Unlimited accounts with outgoing mail routed through smart hosts for deliverability; 200 emails an hour on Standard | 1, 2, 4 or 5 accounts of 2 GB by plan, with forwarding, webmail and anti-spam | |
| Resource limits | Printed per plan: cores, memory, IOPS, processes, entry processes, inodes and emails per hour | CPU priority 1x, 3x, 5x and 10x by plan; 262,144 inodes on every plan; cron jobs 10, 25, 50 and 100 |
| Data center choice | No | No |
| Uptime guarantee | No | 99.99% in the general terms, with a credit for the month proportional to the downtime, on request and at IONOS's discretion |
| Security | InterShield attack blocking, malware scanning and a machine-learning firewall, with free DDoS protection | Daily malware scanning (basic, or advanced with automatic removal on Ultimate), DDoS protection, geo-redundancy |
| Windows hosting | A separate Windows hosting package | No |
| Phone support | No | 24/7, with a personal consultant |
| SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI and Git | Not stated | Every plan, with 200 SFTP accounts, Perl and Python |
| PHP versions | Not stated | 8.4, 8.3 and 8.2, with paid extended support for 5.6 and later |
| Websites and traffic | Not stated | Unlimited websites and unlimited traffic on every plan; 5,000 subdomains |
Company facts
| InterServer | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | DirectAdmin on Standard and Boost; cPanel on the cPanel hosting plan | IONOS's own control panel (no cPanel) |
| Data centers | 3 (better) | 2 |
| Support channels | ticket, knowledge-base | chat, phone, email, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 1999 | 2018 |