HoboHost Review
Paul Mahony
2 comments
2019 October 2nd
"Why pay for unlimited when you don't use it?" is the HoboHost motto. It's an organization set out to provide better value for money when compared to their competitors, as well as speed and ease of use.
But with such a competitive market - can it deliver on their promises?
My HoboHost review will get to the bottom of the matter.
Decent Performance From The Start
After going through the setup procedure with HoboHost, I realized that it's pretty good. There is no live chat option, but its support tickets seem to be regularly checked - as responses are received within a couple of hours.
Everything is generally easily located, and the company's one-click claims more or less hold firm. I found that the WordPress installations are particularly comfortable, too.
The control panel has a decent load time - nothing spectacular, but HoboHost is cornering the budget market here. So you shouldn't expect miracles.
HoboHost Pricing
I was immediately impressed by the pricing structure offered by HoboHost. Their most basic option - the Floor package - is just $0.92 per month.

Admittedly, there are hundreds of providers out there offering free hosting options, but when you move up to their top-of-the-range hosting package, it's still only $5 a month. (All of these rates are accessible by entering promo codes when you place your order).
For a hosting service to have four paid-for packages for $5 a month or less, is virtually unheard of.
But what do you get for your money?
Plan Features
Floor | Bench | Box | Subway | |
Disk space limit | 3GB | 5GB | 7GB | 8GB |
Bandwidth limit | 20GB | 40GB | 60GB | 20GB |
How many domains allowed | 10 | 30 | Unlimited | 10 |
SSD or HDD used in servers | SSD | SSD | SSD | SSD |
SSL | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Email accounts | 10 | 30 | Unlimited | 10 |
Website builder | Included | Included | Included | Included |
Money back guarantee | 3 days | 3 days | 3 days | 3 days |
Customer Service | Online tickets, phone, email | Online tickets, phone, email | Online tickets, phone, email | Online tickets, phone, email |
One of the most notable things about the HoboHost plans is that the most expensive one isn't the one with the unlimited databases, FTP accounts or mailing lists. Also, you get SSD servers and a free SSL certificate - even in the lowest-tier option.
The plans are packed with features that go above and beyond the prices you're asked to pay. 10 addon domains and SSD servers, for less than a dollar a month? Sounds good to me!
The only comment I would make here is that 8GB isn't a large amount of disk space, and that's the maximum HoboHost offer in any of their plans. While they are competitive on most other features, larger businesses with big databases aren't going to be coming knocking.
Performance
There are a few issues with load times and dropped connections, but no noticeable downtime.
However, for $0.92 a month, it's difficult to complain.
Generally speaking, performance is average across the board - averaging at just 600ms. The response time in Japan is quite concerning though.

Summarizing My HoboHost Review
HoboHost have made a conscious decision to keep costs down and make a bold statement that "unlimited" is nothing more than a gimmick if you don't need it.
For the most part, they're right. Even though it's difficult to look past the disk space issue if you're a medium-to-large business, other features make HoboHost very exciting for smaller projects on a tighter budget.
What would your HoboHost review say? Value for money or not enough features? Let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment.
Pros
- Well-priced across the plans
- Responsive customer service
- Reliable uptime
Cons
- Not very fast, especially in Japan
- Not great for disk space
User comments
Casey
2019 April 15th
Pricing is great but the customer service is so horrible, who ever answers the support tickets is super confrontal and so rude, never again.
Pricing is great but the customer service is so horrible, who ever answers the support tickets is super confrontal and so rude, never again.
L. Green
2018 December 3rd
Hobohost failed to provide the service I paid for. My email has not worked in weeks, and their service department failed to correct the problem, and they refuse to refund...
Hobohost failed to provide the service I paid for. My email has not worked in weeks, and their service department failed to correct the problem, and they refuse to refund the fees for the service I paid for that they failed to provide.