iPage Review For 2023 (VERY Cheap, But is This Web Host Any good?)

In this iPage review, we dive deep into its features, customer support, performance, and much more to help you make an informed decision. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, a seasoned blogger, or an online store owner, our analysis will give you a clearer picture of what iPage offers and if it fits your specific needs. Stay tuned as we unpack the pros and cons of this popular and very cheap web hosting service.

iPage is a US-based hosting platform that has been around since 1998. As of 2023, it hosts over one million sites, so while it’s not the biggest hosting provider by any stretch, it still has a highly respectable number of customers.

The company is actually owned by Newfold Digital Inc. (formerly Endurance International Group), a large corporation that also owns two of the most popular hosting platforms, Bluehost and HostGator, among others.

Currently, iPage boasts two server locations in Boston and Waltham and provides shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting solutions.

What sets iPage apart from other hosting providers is the plethora of perks it offers its customers. You get a free domain registration, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, and unlimited domains hosted, all for an extremely affordable price.

So, is iPage worth it? Let’s take a closer look.

iPage Hosting Solutions

First, let’s check out all the different hosting solutions that are available from iPage.

iPage Shared Hosting

Many hosting providers like to overcomplicate things by offering many plans. Often – and especially for beginners – it can be hard to understand what you actually need. This leads to people paying over the odds for features they don’t need.

iPage breaks the mold by keeping things super simple. You get one plan that allows you to host an unlimited number of domains and websites. Easy-peasy.

And the plan appears to be nice and generous. Keeping with the “unlimited” theme, you also get unlimited storage, unlimited MySQL databases, plus no hard limits on the bandwidth data transfer. So, if you want to start small and scale, you can do so without having to find a different hosting provider.

iPage also likes to pile on the free goodies. You are thoughtfully provided with a free domain name (for the first year), then you get a free SSL certificate, a free email address, and free use of the iPage website builder (on a very limited basis). 

If you plan to set up shop, you can access several e-Commerce features, such as shopping carts and email marketing integration. And to take payments, iPage integrates seamlessly with PayPal. 

Finally, no hosting provider is worth a second look if it hasn’t invested in its security. And iPage has certainly done so. However, you don’t get the full whack of security features for the shared hosting subscription price.

Sure, you get some security, such as 24/7 network monitoring and an industry-standard security suite. But it isn’t much, and if you want the really good stuff, you must pay more to get full features like SiteLock or a Wildcard SSL (more on this later). 

And this is where the whole thing starts to get complicated. Dig a little deeper into the platform’s offering, and you realize that EVERYTHING comes at an extra cost. There are loads of added “extras” that kinda look like they’re included in the initial cost of the shared hosting plan. But it quickly becomes apparent that they’re not.

So while the initial price of the shared hosting may be cheap with lots of freebies thrown in, it’s going to quickly add up in cost when you start piling on these extra bits and pieces.

iPage Shared Hosting Pricing and Plans

The pricing for the iPage shared hosting is about as straightforward as it gets. Its single plan is available in three different subscription lengths. Although it shows the monthly price, you actually pay for your entire subscription upfront:

• 36 months: $1.99/month ($71.64 upfront)
• 24 months: $2.49/month ($59.76 upfront)
• 12 months: $2.99/month ($35.98 upfront)

Remember that these rates are promotional, so the cost goes up when the initial subscription term ends. You can also take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide you don’t like iPage.

iPage WordPress Hosting

Like the shared hosting plan, iPage’s WordPress hosting plans come with all the same unlimited and free goodies plus a few WordPress-related extras.

There are two plans available, and the key differences lie in the security. The WP Starter plan provides the same bog-standard security as shared hosting. However, upgrading to the WP Essential plan gives you automatic malware removal, the SiteLock professional security package, and a custom firewall.

Both plans come with a 1-click installer and a bunch of pre-installed themes and plugins, making it pretty easy to get your WordPress site up and running fast. Use the customized WordPress control panel to access everything and work on your WordPress site.

The biggest plus here is that both plans are also fully managed and come with 24/7 WordPress support. This is managed and run by WordPress experts who have the knowledge and skills to help you with any WP-related issues.

iPage WordPress Hosting Pricing and Plans

Two plans are on offer for your WordPress hosting needs. A basic option and a more comprehensive plan. Like the shared hosting, you can pick the length of your subscription, and you pay for the lot upfront. However, the price per month remains the same:

• WP Starter: $3.75/month
• WP Essential: $6.95/month

Both pricing plans are introductory rates which rise after your initial subscription term has ended. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee.

iPage Dedicated and VPS Hosting

Unfortunately, iPage itself does not have any offering for a dedicated server or virtual private server (VPS) hosting. Although, if you search online, you can find old help articles that indicate otherwise. It would seem, therefore, that iPage may have offered this in the past.

I contacted the helpdesk to query this, and they confirmed they no longer provide dedicated or VPS hosting. I was then directed to iPage’s sister company Bluehost that does offer these services.

Additional iPage Services

iPage Domain Registration and Management

iPage gifts you with a free domain name for your first year. All you have to do is use the search bar to find the name you want, and if it’s available, it’s yours.

You can also purchase additional domain names directly from iPage. I had a quick scout at the prices, and they seem to be on par with other places. There are no introductory offers, though, so it can be initially cheaper to get your domain names elsewhere.

iPage SiteLock Security

I mentioned previously that if you want full security for your website, you can upgrade and pay for a SiteLock security package. And annoyingly, the cost racks up fast.

There are three SiteLock plans to choose from, from basic protection right up to Fort Knox standard security:

• Essentials plan: $3.99/month (daily malware scanning and automatic removal, bot attack blocking, and blacklist monitoring)
• Prevent plan: $14.99/month (database scanning and faster responses)
• Prevent Plus plan: $24.99/month (full security including PCI compliance and CMS vulnerability patching)

iPage SSL Certificates

SSL certificates are essential for building trust and increasing confidence among your site visitors. Additionally, Google likes a good SSL certificate, too, and having one helps boost your ranking score in search results.

Although iPage provides a single free SSL certificate, if you plan to have more domains hosted on iPage, then you will need to purchase additional domain-validated SSL certificates for each one. 

And if you want the Rolls Royce of SSL – the Wildcard – you’re also going to have to pay extra. Overall, iPage has three options to choose from:

• Domain validated SSL: From $2.75/month (for basic protection)
• Wildcard SSL: From $14.99/month (for multiple subdomains)
• e-Commerce SSL: From $9.99/month (for online stores and payment protection)

iPage Email Hosting

As I mentioned previously, iPage gives you a free email address and the ability to create as many additional addresses as you need. You can have both POP3 and IMAP email accounts, plus you can use iPage with third-party email accounts, such as Outlook.

All your emails can be accessed and managed from the iPage control panel, removing the need to log into a different interface. And you have the forwarding and autoresponder tools, you also won’t have to keep performing tedious and repetitive email management tasks.

iPage also allows you to connect Google Workspace with your hosting account (for an extra price, of course).

This costs from $7.20/month for professional Gmail and also gives access to the full suite of Google Docs apps with collaboration tools plus communication features, such as Google Chat and Meet.

iPage Website Builder and Templates

You get the website builder for free with iPage’s shared hosting plan, and you can use it to create a single website up to six pages in size. You have a decent selection of fresh, modern-looking templates to pick from, each with its own customizable layout.

Here’s the best bit, though. The website builder comes equipped with the power of AI! Simply answer a few questions about the type of website you want, and the AI will work its magic and conjure up an entire website for you in moments. This feature is a definite must-have if you’re designing a lot of websites en masse.

Here’s where it becomes less appealing. As I mentioned, the building tool is free, but it’s good for one website only. If you want to create more, you have to cough up some extra cash:

• Starter plan: Free (one website up to six pages)
• Business plan: $6.99/month (unlimited pages, revision history, and analytics integration)
• e-Commerce plan: $12.99/month (e-Commerce tools, such as inventory management, coupons, and more)

iPage E-Commerce and Online Store Solutions

When it comes to e-Commerce, iPage is confusing. On the shared hosting page, it lists e-Commerce features as part of the shared hosting package, but that simply isn’t true.

To get e-Commerce, you have to pay for the e-Commerce website builder, which costs an extra $12.99/month. But the catch here is that it doesn’t really detail what you can do beyond “selling products” and integrating with PayPal.

Also, if you look along the top of the iPage website, there’s a banner telling you to head to web.com for e-Commerce websites and selling online. 

When I clicked through to web.com, it certainly seemed like it had comprehensive and detailed e-Commerce hosting solutions.

Naturally, I contacted support to question why this web.com banner was here, and this is the response I got:

“iPage and Web.com have partnered so we can ensure to offer better services and products that we believe our customers will definitely benefit from. This, in turn, would give us the ability to continue to make strides to improve our hosting platform and all essential tools necessary for you to have a successful online presence.”

Clear as mud, right?

Honestly, I gave up at this point. Even the live chat couldn’t seem to give me a straight answer. 

In short, I don’t think iPage has great e-Commerce tools. If it did, it wouldn’t be directing us to another platform. So if building an online sales empire is your dream, I think you’d do better to look elsewhere.

iPage Performance and Reliability

iPage Server Speed and Uptime

I tested out iPage’s performance on my own testing site to see how it performed, and the results weren’t great. 

Taking almost two seconds to load and with a performance grade of 55% (D), the time to first byte (TTFB) was 3.1 seconds (this should really be in the milliseconds!), and it took a whopping 8.4 seconds for the page to load fully.

Also, if we look at ToolTester’s “Fastest Web Host” report from October 2022, the results for iPage are dire. Apart from Hostgator, iPage was the worst-performing provider out of all the major hosting platforms, with an average page load speed of over 2.60 seconds.

iPage’s uptime results weren’t stellar, either. Although not that bad, the platform’s uptime of 99.86% still fell short of the near-perfect uptime of other hosting providers.

The uptime of iPage isn’t the best. In my monitoring, it experiences lots of outages:

iPage Data Center Locations and Infrastructure

iPage’s two data centers are located in Boston and Waltham, both in Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from each other. This is ideal if you’re based around the east coast of the USA. International customers, on the other hand, may experience a slower and less reliable service.

Your non-US-based website visitors may also find that your website is slower to load and faces more lag than if they were located on US soil.

iPage doesn’t really reveal what type of infrastructure it uses for its data centers, so it’s hard to tell if the hardware is decent or not.

iPage Customer Support

You’ve probably noticed that I had to enlist the help of iPage customer service more than once to get clarity on a couple of things. And I’m pleased to report that the response times were faster than Usain Bolt after ten cups of highly caffeinated coffee.

Honestly, it was instantaneous. Plus, I didn’t have to wait between responses, either. I often find with live chat that agents are dealing with several customers simultaneously, so you don’t always get full attention, and a conversation can take ages.

iPage excels here with zero wait times (at least in my experience). 

I will also point out that I’m not in the USA right now and requested help when US folks were probably tucked up in bed. That didn’t affect things, though, and iPage clearly has agents on hand around the clock.

If you prefer, iPage has a wide knowledge base with a tonne of training material to guide you through any issue or platform feature. While the information here is certainly comprehensive, there’s a lot. Therefore, it may be quicker to get a hold of a customer service agent to get the answers you need.

iPage User Experience

When you first log into the iPage interface, a setup wizard guides you through everything and gets you up and running more or less pain-free.

The platform has chosen to use its own proprietary “vDeck” control panel rather than the more popular cPanel widely used by hosting providers. However, it’s still high-quality and easy to navigate and use. The interface makes use of icons that allow you to quickly identify and access your frequently used tools from the home dashboard.

One gripe is that you get a bunch of annoying ads and attempts to upsell iPage’s add-on features. If I’m already paying for a service, I expect my interface to be ad-free, with no exceptions.

Overall and ads aside, this interface is perfectly adequate, and the user experience is beginner-friendly and fast to grasp. Those familiar with cPanel, however, may find vDeck lacking somewhat in features.

iPage Customer Reviews

Of course, my opinion of the iPage platform is just one of many. Let’s take a quick look at what others have to say.

iPage’s TrustPilot score is excellent. Currently standing at 4.1, this is far better than many bigger names in the hosting world. 

However, many of the platform’s one-star reviews have occurred in the past couple of years, with customers citing issues with customer service and multiple platform problems and frustrations. 

If you scan back through the bad reviews, it’s apparent that over 50% of them were written after 2020, so it looks like things may not be as good as they have been in the past. It’s definitely something to keep a close eye on.

On the other hand, the five-star reviews rave about how good the customer service is and how efficient the hosting products are.

iPage Advantages

iPage, in its most basic form, is very cheap, and you do get a nice number of extras thrown into the price. 

While I personally find all the add-on costs annoying, I can also see that it presents an opportunity for you to tailor the service to your requirements rather than paying for a bunch of features you don’t actually need; instead, iPage lets you choose which ones to include.

iPage Limitations

Even though iPage claims to be good for e-Commerce, I beg to differ. The features seem very limited, and iPage itself directs you to a different platform for setting up a shop. If this is your plan, I believe there are far better platforms out there (Bluehost, for example) with comprehensive e-Commerce features.

Additionally, only having servers based in a single location presents its own set of problems, particularly for our international folk. This is already an issue where page load speeds are concerned, so if iPage wants to speed things up, it needs to invest in more or better infrastructure.

iPage Success Stories and Case Studies

Despite the platform’s drawbacks, there are customers that have achieved success using iPage’s services.

Reflections by Renee’ is an award-winning nature and animal photographer. She joined iPage in 2010 and set up her website as a way to showcase her portfolio and direct potential customers to examples of her work.

She chose iPage because of the customer service and its intuitive web page-building tools. She particularly likes the ease of the drag-and-drop builder and has stated that she can always rely on the iPage team whenever she has an issue she cannot overcome herself.

A Vintage Wedding Too is a site dedicated to antique and vintage wedding gowns that customers can view and purchase.

The website showcases the gowns through multiple photographs and has been hosted with iPage for the past 20 years.

The site owner was initially drawn to iPage for its introductory offers and unlimited bandwidth. Nowadays, she enjoys using the drag-and-drop page-building tool and how easy it is to keep the site modern and updated.

iPage Alternatives and Competitors

So, if iPage isn’t up to scratch, what is? Well, there’s no shortage of other hosting providers to pick from. Here’s my quick rundown of the current competitors to iPage:

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary – iPage Review for 2023

My gut feeling overall is that iPage has had its heyday. Certainly, with the ridiculous number of expensive add-ons, the provider doesn’t match up to other more comprehensive and cheaper platforms that are widely available.

Besides the unlimited storage, which is a nice plus point, the platform doesn’t seem to offer anything else that’s special or different.

If all you want is a very basic hosting package and you’re based in the USA (preferably the east coast), then you’ll do just fine with iPage.

If you’re elsewhere on the planet or have an e-Commerce business, I recommend you go elsewhere.

InMotion Web Hosting Reviews

The cheap price sucked me in

Rated 3 out of 5

June 15, 2023

The cheap price sucked me in but now I’m thinking of leaving… my site loads average and I think that’s not a great thing for SEO. I’m gonna migrate to a better host soon.

Lukas

Submit Review

InMotion Web Hosting Reviews

The cheap price sucked me in

Rated 3 out of 5

June 15, 2023

The cheap price sucked me in but now I’m thinking of leaving… my site loads average and I think that’s not a great thing for SEO. I’m gonna migrate to a better host soon.

Lukas

Submit Review

References:

• https://newfold.com/brands
• https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.ipage.com