GreenGeeks

greengeeks.com

User Rating:
5 Star Rating

An Introduction To GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is a web hosting service that has some unique offerings. It is also is a fantastic website for people who like to be more focused on sustainability. Using GreenGeeks, your website creates renewable energy. The website also has fantastic value and great support. If you are interested in these things, continue reading this review to get more information about the services that GreenGeeks offers. In addition to the 100% carbon neutral hosting, there are other benefits and features you should read up on in terms of what the provider offers. With three hosting plans, this California-based eco-friendly hosting provider is growing in popularity. It has above average performance, professional customer support, and is a great value for the price. Read on for more information about the services offered.


Services Offered

I prefer flexibility when it comes to services in web hosting packages. A big strategy for GreenGeeks is the focus on sustainability they have, but they are also highly ranked among web hosting packages. GreenGeeks offers numerous services, including shared hosting packages, VPS plans, dedicated hosting packages, and reseller hosting as well. It also resells domain names. While there is a large focus from the company in regards to getting the word out that they are eco-friendly, this review will expand to get the details on the pros and cons of the site to you.

There are three hosting plans available at GreenGeeks, including their lowest tier site Eco-site Light. They have a promotional price, but keep in mind that the site will go up to $9.95 per month after the initial term ends. This package is fantastic for small websites or blogs that are just getting started and beginning to grow. Another plan that is offered is called the Eco-site Pro, which is a higher price point, but better for sites that are growing and in need of more resources and speed.

The last offering in regards to shared hosting packages is the Eco-site Premium plan. This is a small business plan that is fantastic for online stores and busy websites. Each of these plans includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and email accounts. The differences in the plans is how many websites you can host, how fast the performance is, and how many emails you can send per hour.

The Eco-site Light plan allows you to host one website at the standard performance. It also limits plan holders to 300 emails per hour. The Eco-site Pro ups the number of websites you can host, giving you unlimited website capability. Also, the site is on a server twice as fast and still offers 300 emails per hour. The Eco-site Premium includes a premium SSL certificate, an even faster server, and a PowerCacher Tool. Each plan also offers numerous other features.


GreenGeeks Pricing

When considering pricing, there are numerous factors to think about. The least expensive pricing for each plan comes with a commitment of three years. Fortunately, there is a 30-day moneyback guarantee for you to check the site out. People who are signing up for a straight month-to-month plan will be paying more per month on average than those signing up for a three-year commitment. 

Also, keep in mind that if you do not get the premium plan, your plan will not come with a premium SSL certificate. If you are in need of this, you may need to consider upgrading your plan, or you may need to pay an additional sum to get what you are looking for. The Eco-site Pro costs $9.95 per month at a month-to-month rate. This price will decrease with longer terms, however. Keep in mind that you will be at a promotional rate when you first join the site and that when you renew, the rate will go to the standard rates again.

Another available plan is the Eco-site Pro costs $14.95 per month, with lower rates available for a longer-term contract. This plan is excellent for websites that are growing and need more resources than the previous level. You get unlimited websites with this package, as well as faster performance with an improved server.

The Eco-site Premium plan offers an SSL certificate of premium quality, an even faster server, and other features. This plan starts at $24.95 per month; the longer-term commitments will see which lower rates on average.


Reliability Of GreenGeeks

Many other reviews put the reliability tests of the site lower in the reviews, but I understand the importance that reliability has. After numerous tests, you can tell how the performance of a site is. The server performance does well, sitting just above average. A big website visitor influx won’t slow you down, a key feature of reliability. One of the essential aspects of reliability is the response time of the site and the uptime the site has. The uptime is fantastic at 99.97%. This means you can expect very little downtime, relatively speaking, each month. The response time is also well below the industry average, which is also fantastic.


Features On GreenGeeks

In addition to the features described above, like premium SSL certificates, PowerCache Tools, and email capability, and there are numerous other features that going green with GreenGeeks can bring. For many people, using servers that are “green” is especially beneficial for their business image and their personal desires. These plans all offer unlimited data and a classic cPanel that many people know and love. In addition to the shared hosting plans listed above, other services are offered by GreenGeeks, include Virtual Private Servers, also called VPS. Dedicated servers are available as well. These options are harder to find, as they are not clearly advertised all over the site like the shared hosting packages are.

The company buys enough wind tokens to power itself, but it also buys additional energy tokens to help support other companies as well. With the 100% green energy-based servers, the company covers its carbon footprint, but also those of others. The server locations are also decided based on how eco-friendly they can be. Servers are located in the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States.

It is fantastic to find companies that offer unlimited emails, FTP, data, and bandwidth.

The pricing is laid out in a very simple fashion, and this is beneficial. Keep in mind, however, that no unlimited plan, nor unmetered plan, is truly unlimited. There are not infinite numbers of servers. If you need extensive amounts of data, bandwidth, emails, or FTP, take some time to read the service agreement to make sure that your website will not overflow the host's servers.

There are not any third-party security installs here, so you are trusting in GreenGeeks to handle this. With constant security scans to prevent malicious software from entering, the company does a lot. It seems they’re doing a fantastic job with this, though not having separate anti-DDoS and malware protection is not ideal.  


Support On GreenGeeks

The customer service at GreenGeeks is easy to access. There are numerous options for support, including 24/7 email, live chat, and e-mail. There are also numerous tutorials and a knowledgebase on the site to assist you with questions that could come up. Email response is quick, coming in at under 20 minutes even for more technical questions. Many websites have customer service that takes up to three hours or more to respond to emails. The answers were well articulated and engaging.

The phone service was also impressive, with simple menus and a short wait until you are chatting with a person. Sometimes the agents seem bored, and at times it took a little bit longer than expected to get answers due to a lack of proactive conversation with them. This was a small percent of the agents I spoke with, but is worth mentioning. It is a minor negative, overall. The chat support was very efficient.


Other Considerations

Many people also like that they can get their choice of servers, including servers in Amsterdam, Montréal, Phoenix, Toronto, and Chicago. By hosting your site as close to your audience as possible; page load times decrease. There are tons of benefits for this, including decreased bounce rates, increase conversion, and sometimes better Google rankings. One of the negatives, a small one, is if you decide to switch servers is going to cost you $29.95. This is a larger server location switch fee than most places. For people with multiple websites and accounts, this could add up. 

Many providers offer tons of features, and GreenGeeks is quite a bit more simple than these companies. You can purchase additional security services if you like, or you can look at other top web hosting reviews that I have done and an option that fits all of your needs.


My Final Conclusion

This web hosting service is reliable and has many positives. It has fantastic speed, uptime, and general performance, and the customer service provided by this smaller company was also phenomenal. GreenGeeks is an environmentally friendly hosting provider, doing more than its part to help the environment. There are a few drawbacks to the company, including expensive server location change fees and higher rates for renewals. You do get a lot for your money, and I highly recommend this hosting service.


Review Pros

  • Performance Is Above Average
  • Great Price And Value
  • Eco-Friendly Web Hosting
  • Fantastic Customer Support
  • Reliable Uptime

Review Cons

  • Renewals Are Expensive
  • Confusing Refund Policy

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