HostBuddy

Founded in 1999, HostBuddy is a subsidiary of BusinessICS International Ltd. and operates data centers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, and Amsterdam. With over two decades of experience, the company offers a range of hosting services, including shared hosting, VPS, and cloud hosting. HostBuddy positions itself as an affordable and reliable hosting provider catering to businesses of all sizes.

HostBuddy offers budget-friendly shared hosting, with no price increases at renewal - a notable advantage over many competitors. Their Basic plan starts at $1.95/month, making it one of the cheapest options for small websites.

Pricing is transparent, with no major hidden fees. However, domain registration ($12/year) and privacy protection ($8/year) are not included, adding to the overall cost. There's no aggressive upselling, but customers should review add-ons carefully.

HostBuddy provides a 60-day money-back guarantee, double the industry standard, giving users plenty of time to test the service risk-free.

Uptime

We perform thousands of uptime checks each day to ensure our reviews are accurate and reliable. The statistics below are based on the uptime checks we have performed in the last 30 days.

HostBuddy guarantees 99.9% uptime, which allows for up to 44 minutes of downtime per month. However, their terms do not specify whether compensation for downtime is monetary or in the form of service extensions, leaving it unclear how they handle prolonged outages.

Our monitoring has previously detected periods of extended downtime, but in the past few months, uptime has been a flawless 100%, according to our monitoring tool. While this is a strong indicator of improved reliability, we will continue tracking performance to ensure consistency over time.

Data Center Locations

HostBuddy operates multiple data centers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, and Amsterdam, providing solid coverage for North America and Europe. Choosing a closer data center can help improve latency and site performance for visitors in these regions.

However, HostBuddy does not have data centers in Asia or Australia, which may result in higher latency for users in those areas. Businesses targeting audiences in these regions should consider using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) to optimize load times.

HostBuddy has data centers in the following countries:

Storage

HostBuddy provides unlimited SSD storage, offering faster data retrieval and better reliability than traditional HDDs. However, strict Inode limits apply, which restrict the number of files a website can store. The Basic plan allows 10,000 files/folders, the Advance plan allows 50,000, and the Premium plan allows 100,000.

These limitations make HostBuddy better suited for small static websites rather than large WordPress installations that generate frequent file updates. As a site grows, users may need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan to accommodate more files.

HostBuddy provides customer support via live chat, email, and phone, ensuring multiple ways to get assistance. Live chat is the most efficient option, with close to no wait time and clear, to-the-point responses that directly address user queries. Email responses typically arrive within an hour.

One drawback is the lack of a detailed knowledge base or tutorials, meaning users must rely on direct support rather than self-service resources. However, for those who prefer immediate, real-time assistance, HostBuddy's strong live chat performance is a major advantage.

HostBuddy's website is easy to navigate, with a clean layout that clearly presents hosting plans, pricing, and features. However, instead of allowing users to purchase a plan directly, HostBuddy pushes new customers toward a free 60-day trial, requiring them to upgrade later. While this is a generous offer, some users may prefer the option to skip the trial and choose a paid plan upfront.

Managing hosting services is done through a custom-built control panel rather than the widely used cPanel. While functional and capable of handling routine tasks like website management, databases, and email configurations, it may have a learning curve for those accustomed to industry-standard panels.