IONOS Review Australia
IONOS web hosting was founded in Germany in 1988. The company changed its name to United Internet in 2000 and moved its hosting products to the 1&1 Internet AG. After merging with ProfitBricks in 2008, 1&1 Internet AG was renamed 1&1 IONOS.
Finally, in August 2021, the company simplified its name to IONOS. Currently, IONOS has two locations in Germany, one in Pennsylvania, and six data centres across the EU and the US. In this comprehensive IONOS review for Australia, we’ll go through its features, pricing and performance to help you decide if it meets your needs.
IONOS Review Australia Highlights
This section highlights the key features and offerings of IONOS, a web hosting company catering to individuals, businesses, and eCommerce stores. IONOS offers a range of hosting services, including simple web hosting plans and access to its website builder.
The simple web hosting plans have relatively higher pricing than other web hosts, but the website builder is available for just $1 monthly. However, it’s important to note that IONOS doesn’t offer the option to pay in Australian dollars (AUD).
Although IONOS for Australia offers several eCommerce-friendly hosting options, two stand out. The first is the Online Store Builder, which allows you to create your website according to your preferences. The second is eCommerce Website Design, which involves a team of experts designing your online store.
Even though the simple web hosting plans offer attractive features like a free Wildcard SSL certificate, the lack of data centres in Australia may pose challenges for customers in that region. Performance, reliability, and cloud hosting have been IONOS’s recent focus, contributing to its growing popularity among users.
During our testing, we found that IONOS’s customer support was adequate. But there have been reports of users experiencing delayed responses (or not getting a response at all) from its support team.
Pros
- Plenty of web hosting options
- Free Wildcard SSL certificate on shared hosting
- Good value with competitive pricing
- Cloudflare CDN access
Cons
- No Australian data centres
- No option to pay in AUD
- Backend is full of upsells
- No free migrations
- High renewal prices
Quick Info
Personal consultant | Yes |
1-click installations | Yes |
99.9% uptime | Yes |
30-day money-back guarantee | Yes |
Ready to try IONOS for Australia?
If reliability and a rock solid server are your most wanted features, you should consider IONOS as your next web hosting provider in Australia. The website builder and the plethora of hosting plans sweeten the deal.
Starting from $1/mo
IONOS General Performance
3.0/5
Server performance is crucial for any online presence. While IONOS won’t make huge promises, the loading speeds are generally good.
Although loading speeds are favourable, they’re still behind the industry average regarding server response time, a crucial metric for web server performance. This is especially true for the land down under. IONOS for Australia performs slower than other hosts, and that’s because the company lacks local data centres.
We’ve noticed that Australia’s Time To First Byte (TTFB) is much higher than other hosts and regions IONOS covers. As an example, when testing our website, we observed a TTFB time of 650 to 700 ms.
Overall, with IONOS, users can expect a smooth and seamless experience with minimal downtime. They use top-of-the-line hardware and employ various optimizations, such as server-level caching, to ensure fast and efficient website loading times.
IONOS Uptime Report
3.7/5
When it comes to the uptime of your website, IONOS provides a solid and reliable hosting experience. With uptime consistently staying above the advertised 99.9% mark, IONOS ensures that your website remains accessible to visitors almost always.
It’s important to note that the uptime offered by IONOS is the same for users in Australia, meaning that you can expect the same level of reliability regardless of your geographical location. This consistency in uptime across regions underscores IONOS’s commitment to providing a reliable hosting environment for its customers.
Your website’s uptime and performance can be improved with a free CDN, DDoS attack protection, and automatic daily backups. These features help ensure the stability of your website.
IONOS Support Service
3.6/5
Knowing you’ll get great after-sales support precisely when you need it is critical when choosing a web host. With IONOS, you can expect a robust support system to assist you throughout your hosting journey.
After setting up your account and activating your personal assistant, you gain access to support through live chat, phone, and email. With over 2000 employees, IONOS has a sizable support team, and our expectations for swift support were met.
IONOS includes a help centre that covers a wide range of topics. Before seeking further assistance, it is advisable to check out the articles in the help centre, as your query may already have been answered. The IONOS blog is called “Digital Guide,” it’s kept updated periodically with new content.
In our testing, we had a positive overall experience with its customer service, with support being prompt and responsive.
These were the average support wait/response times encountered during our testing:
Live Chat | 0m 34s |
Phone | 0m 44s |
21m |
IONOS: Ease of Use
3.9/5
With IONOS, the ease of use is prioritized despite the control panel not being based on the industry standard cPanel.
IONOS has designed its control panel with user-friendliness in mind, aiming to create an interface that is accessible to beginners. While some users who are familiar with cPanel may have initially expressed reservations, most users find IONOS’s control panel easy to navigate and use.
Additionally, IONOS offers easy one-click installations for popular software like WordPress, enhancing its appeal as a user-friendly hosting provider, particularly for beginners.
Overall, IONOS prioritizes the ease of use for its customers, despite its control panel differing from the industry-standard cPanel.
Combined with easy one-click installations, IONOS proves to be a friendly host, especially for beginners in the Australian region.
IONOS Pricing
4.3/5
Pricing is a crucial factor to consider when choosing a web hosting provider. IONOS offers competitive pricing options, starting at just $1 per month for its Plus plan in shared hosting.
However, it’s important to note that the pricing ramps up to $10 per month, which may be a significant jump for some users. The Essential plan, priced at $4 per month for the initial billing cycle, is suitable for a single website or project.
While IONOS’s initial pricing may be attractive, the high renewal prices are worth considering. These higher costs upon renewal might lead users to explore alternative options that offer more features at similar or even lower prices. It’s important to weigh the long-term affordability and value of IONOS’s hosting plans.
These are the shared hosting prices IONOS offers to its Australian clients:
- Essential: Suitable for one website, this plan costs $4 per month (USD) and can reach $6 when it renews in 12 months. The plan offers 10GB storage, 10 databases, basic CPU and memory resources, a free Wildcard SSL certificate, and a free domain name included for 1 year.
- Starter: Ideal for up to 10 websites and projects. This plan costs $6 per month (USD) and renews at $8 per month after the first 12 months. It comes with everything in the Essential plan and 100GB of storage.
- Plus is aimed at larger web projects, and it’s, according to IONOS, its best-selling hosting plan. It offers everything in the Starter plan and support for unlimited websites, storage and databases, and enhanced CPU and memory resources. All that comes at $1 per month for the first 12 months. Then the plan renews at a whopping $12 per month.
- Ultimate: The final shared hosting plan offered by IONOS is designed for larger corporations and businesses. However, there’s some overlap between this plan and the Plus plan. While it comes with even more web server resources, there isn’t an option for a free domain name for 1 year, and there’s even an inode limit.
Unfortunately, IONOS for Australia doesn’t provide payment options in Australian dollars and requires all transactions to be conducted in US dollars or Euros, depending on your region.
Ready to try IONOS for Australia?
If reliability and a rock solid server are your most wanted features, you should consider IONOS as your next web hosting provider in Australia. The website builder and the plethora of hosting plans sweeten the deal.
Starting from $1/mo
Our Verdict
3.7/5
With solid performance and uptime exceeding the advertised 99.9% mark, IONOS ensures that websites remain accessible to visitors. Its integrated status monitoring solution allows users to address potential issues, maintaining optimal performance proactively.
In our IONOS review for Australia, the support team is prompt and responsive, although there have been occasional reports of delayed or insufficient responses.
Pricing-wise, IONOS offers competitive options, but it’s important to consider the high renewal prices. Potential customers should carefully evaluate the long-term affordability and value of IONOS’s hosting plans. However, the inclusion of a 30-day money-back guarantee provides a level of assurance for those considering its services.
The performance we measured in our IONOS review for Australia was decent. Still, the lack of data centres in Australia makes the decision harder for the local people looking to create a new website.
In conclusion, IONOS delivers good performance for the Australian market; it’s user-friendly and has adequate support and uptime for the region, despite the lack of local servers.
Scoring
When determining the best web hosting providers, we take into account multiple factors like user reviews, the web host performance, value for money and customer support.
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