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Hostplay Reviews 2024 – Why There Are so Mixed Reviews

Onajite Omare Written by: Onajite Omare

Hostplay is a European-based web host that compares favorably with its contemporaries in both quality and performance. They’re not particularly beginner-friendly, but their above-average cheap and cheerful services make up for that.

Overview

host-play-overview1

European company Hostplay was launched in 2004 to provide quality, reliable, and affordable web hosting and web development services to personal and business customers. Their servers located in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Sweden, and Russia cater for thousands of customers around the world.

Features and Ease of Use

Hostplay offers semi-dedicated, Virtual Private Server (VPS), and dedicated hosting servers. Their web hosting plans come with above-average features suited to intermediate and expert website developers.

Businesses or individuals hoping to grow an online presence will enjoy these value-added benefits:

  • 99.9% uptime
  • Minimum of 30GB SSD storage
  • From 600 GB to 1500 GB premium bandwidth
  • Free Comodo SSL with an option to purchase RapidSSL
  • Paid extra dedicated IP across all plans

Hosting packages start with 30 GB SSD storage and a bandwidth of 600 GB on semi-dedicated servers. The dedicated server plan comes with 8 GB DDR3 RAM and 15 TB of bandwidth. Several front-page extensions and performance technologies such as the Ioncube loader are employed for improved speed and performance.

Beginners may find Hostplay challenging since there is no free website builder or CMS on the semi-dedicated plan. Although Softaculous and DirectAdmin are provided on the VPS and dedicated server plans, you have to pay a fee to use a website builder.

Hostplay offers automatic weekly backups for semi-dedicated servers. Backups on the VPS and dedicated servers work differently, and you would have to configure backups from cPanel. While this great initiative allows customers to set the backups as they prefer, it requires a basic knowledge of web hosting.

One thing I particularly like about Hostplay is the free Comodo SSL provided on every plan. It is attached to one domain or subdomain. There’s also the option of purchasing RapidSSL if you prefer.

Another Hostplay plus is easy migration from another web host provider since they handle the entire migration process for you.

Hostplay exclusively offers web hosting and business products, such as SSL certificates. They do not provide domain registration services, which may be unsettling for customers who are unfamiliar with connecting their hosting to a domain provided by another provider.

Pricing and Support


host-play-support

Hostplay is one of the cheapest web hosts on the market, and they compete favorably in terms of quality of service. Regardless of the hosting plan you choose, you can purchase additional resources such as extra disk space, dedicated IP, RAM, and bandwidth without having to upgrade your server.

While the seven-day money-back guarantee is less than the 30 days offered by many other web hosts, Hostplay does at least give you a week to work out if it’s the one for you.

Concerning customer support, I have nothing bad to report. I received a fast and appropriate response when I contacted them by web chat, and I’ve found the knowledge base to be comprehensive. Email and phone support are also available.

How much does Hostplay cost?

Hostplay offers multiple plans priced highest to lowest. The price depends on which type of hosting plan you choose. You can see the updated pricing table (updated weekly) below.

Which Hostplay plan should I get?

My recommendation is to start with a cheaper plan. You can always upgrade later on. Hostplay can help you with the migration to a more expensive plan. The increase in visitors many times takes longer than expected and you shouldn’t pay a lot of money until the need arises. Of course, your needs may vary, and you can consult with a hosting expert from Hostplay here.

How good is Hostplay’s customer support?

Hostplay is not ranked as one of our top web hosts. But that can also be a result of Hostplay being a small, under the radar, hosting provider. There are advantages to a small hosting company – as a customer, you are more important to them. You can also check out our comparison of the most popular web hosting services here.

Comparison

How does Hostplay match up to the competition?

1HostingerCompareOur Score4.9Compare
1IONOSCompareOur Score4.8Compare
1HostplayCompareOur Score4.6Compare
1Go4HostingCompareOur Score2.4Compare

Hostplay REVIEW: BOTTOM LINE

Hostplay is an above-average web host for intermediate and expert users. You will enjoy value-added features including improved performance, speed, and the ability to increase your server features without upgrading your plan. It’s all good unless you’re an absolute beginner.

Still not sure if this is the right web host for you? Check out our top recommended web hosts to learn more.

Pros

  • Seven days money-back guarantee
  • Pricing flexibility and upgrade
  • Ioncube loader and a variety of front-page extensions
  • Free Comodo SSL on all plans

Cons

  • Semi-dedicated plans are not beginner-friendly
  • No paid or free domain name provided
Onajite Omare Onajite Omare
Onajite is a content writer and Website developer that is focused on helping businesses attract, engage, and convert customers on the internet. When she’s not writing content, crafting designs, or codes, she enjoys a good book.
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Very helpful support option.

Never had any unscheduled downtime, my experience with support has been outstanding (and quick), and the Skype is a helpful support option. Hostplay offshore semi-dedicated hosting is really good and professional. In the months that followed the support team has always answered my questions with thorough technical knowledge, making sure that even a small business customer could handle the technical advice. I am totally impressed by their dmca ignored hosting.

1 avatar
Dawid Olson, Sweden
May 27, 2024
5
really good provider.

Decided to move to Hostplay offshore dedicated hosting server. Compared about 10 web hosting providers and was impressed with Hostplay dedicated hosting deals. Chose Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 server cos the price is fantastic - $142.50 Monthly (8 GB Ram, DISK 240 GB SSD + 500 GB SATA2). That is really good provider and really good service.

1 avatar
Kaiden Tanner, Bulgaria
January 18, 2024
5
Extremely helpful support, thanks!

I've been working with one of HostPlay support guys over the past couple of days via chat and email. I cannot stress how smooth he made this entire process. I had many questions and concerns, and he answered all of them to more than my satisfaction. I was extremely impressed by the offshore managed vps hosting service received from them.

1 avatar
Finnley Taylor, USA
October 30, 2023
5
Good offshore dedicated hosting provider!

I really appreciate all the efforts earlier and I am thankful for the team's patience and coolness! I would like to thank Hostplay offshore dedicated hosting provider for a very detailed response in relation to my case. As mentioned in my email to the support staff, I do not understand much about web jargons and expressed my frustration, they took time to explain and even apologise on behalf of the staff who handled me over the MSN.

1 avatar
James Fritz, USA
October 10, 2022
5
Servers Respond Fast

Setting up with them was a snap. I had my full site online and at 100% steam within 2 hours. I highly recommend Hostplay offshore hosting services. They are easy to work with. Customer support is available 24/7 - this makes this web host preferable.

1 avatar
Beauden Mcnamara, Spain
August 12, 2022
5
Excellent communication and response times

Reliable uptime (99.9% guarantee), and decent customer support (works 24/7 and really helpful) on occasions when I've had trouble with my site. Hostplay offshore semi-dedicated hosting has a very attractive pricing structure, great reliability and above all a perfect customer support. I know I'm not good in properly describing tech issues, but they always tend to find the understand and way to solve the issue.

1 avatar
Maddox Oakley, Netherlands
July 22, 2022
5
Very good offshore hosting service

When I contact Hostplay tech support and ask for help I know that I will talk with real people who will think and act in order to understand and resolve the problem, not simply inform me that this is not possible or that is not allowed like some other providers do. On top of this, the cost of offshore hosting is relatively cheap and their work is based on quality.

1 avatar
Frankie Arnold, Austria
May 26, 2022
5
A professional web host

Well, Hostplay is by far the best offshore hosting provider I have ever been with. The service available and customer care is excellent and the price, far cheaper than other companies with twice the things available - amazing! Only been here a few days and I'm already very happy, so happy in fact I feel the need upgrade my hosting package.

1 avatar
Elisha Redmond, Netherlands
February 01, 2022
5
Family sharingMulti User SharingExpert SupportBackupSmart syncPersonal SolutionBusiness SolutionTeams optionsOffline foldersFile history and recovery Read more reviews
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