Arvixe vs. A2 Hosting: Which One Should You Use?

With so many features and so many companies, it can be difficult to make the important decision of which web hosting company to choose for your website. Use this one-on-one comparison between Arvixe and A2 Hosting to help you narrow down your choices.

Arvixe may not be as well-known as some hosting companies, but it has gained a reputation as one of the fastest growing web hosting companies in the industry. A2 Hosting was first launched with developers in mind, and their primary focus in on the performance.

Both companies began in the early 2000s – Arvixe in 2004, and A2 Hosting in 2003. Arvixe and A2 Hosting both provide shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and VPS and dedicated server plans. Arvixe has both Linux and Windows options, while A2 Hosting is Linux only.

Arvixe was named by Inc.com as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. and was named PCMag Editor’s Choice in 2015. A2 Hosting has won many “best of” awards, including “Best Web Hosting” from several sites in 2015.

Arvixe was purchased by Endurance International Group (EIG) in 2014. There are many web hosting companies under the EIG banner, but all operate under their own original names. While EIG companies are not clones of each other, they are similar enough that if you have had issues with one, you may have the same problems with another.

A2 Hosting is privately owned and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company’s name comes from the “A”s in Ann Arbor.

Uptime and Reliability

Uptime. Arvixe has a 99.9% guarantee, with a free month’s refund if a monthly average falls below that percentage. A2 Hosting has the same 99.9% guarantee, refunding 5% of the monthly fee for every hour your website is not reachable due to equipment or network failure.

Performance. Arvixe places much of the site related data on SSDs, including databases and email servers, for fast performance. A2 uses Dell servers with quad-core processors, and all their plans use SSD storage.

An Arvixe hosted website yielded a load time of 1.05s, faster than 89% of the sites tested. A test of a comparable A2 site resulted in an almost equally impressive load time of 1.49s, faster than 81% of the sites tested.

Reliability. Arvixe has data centers across the globe – in North America (Dallas, Texas), Europe (Amsterdam), and (Hong Kong). All the data centers are fully redundant, with multiple power and cooling options. The data centers are monitored onsite for security and reliability.

A2 Hosting is also global with data centers in Michigan, Amsterdam, and Singapore. The data centers are powered and cooled with redundancy and diesel backups and are monitored onsite for security and reliability. They also have more redundancy through quadruple network connectivity in their data centers.

Opinion

This is one of the rare comparisons where both hosting companies shine. Either one will provide fast, reliable performance.

Key Features

Note: A misleading term you will find when features are discussed is “unlimited” – sometimes referred to as “unmetered.” It does not mean “use as much as you want.” Instead, the terms refer to what hosting companies “deem reasonable usage,” and hosting companies will penalize sites they feel go beyond that – though most users will never exceed fair usage.

Domain Registration. Both hosts are domain registrars. Arvixe differs from the industry standard – it offers a free domain for as long as you have the plan. Arvixe also offers a free transfer if you already have a domain elsewhere. A2 Hosting doesn’t provide free domain registration, and there is a fee for transferring a domain to them from anywhere else.

Website Builder. Arvixe provides RvSiteBuilder, a WYSIWYG editor that has over 600 web templates. A2 Hosting does not have an integrated website builder in any of its plans, but it does support most of the free and commercial website builders.

Databases. Arvixe offers unlimited MySQL databases, and it supports PostgreSQL databases. A2 Hosting offers unlimited MySQL databases on all but its lowest tier, which is limited to 5 databases. It also supports PostgreSQL.

Email Accounts. Arvixe provides unlimited email accounts and email forwarding. A2, again, has unlimited except for its lowest tier, which is restricted to 25 accounts. Unlimited accounts are an advantage if you have employees, since it allows separate accounts to be set up for each one, and every department in your business, such as sales, support, and info, can have a separate account.

WordPress Hosting. Both Arvixe and A2 Hosting offer managed WordPress plans. Most hosting companies charge more for managed WordPress plans than a standard shared plan. Part of the extra cost is due to managed WordPress plans being placed on optimized servers with caching and extra security to enhance performance and stability.

Another benefit of managed WordPress hosting is that automatic backups and updating of your WordPress sites are done for you. This frees you from the tech stuff and allows you to focus on what’s important – your content. Neither Arvixe nor A2 Hosting charges extra for their WordPress plans.

eCommerce Solution. Arvixe and A2 Hosting support some free and commercial eCommerce options, many with 24/7 support and automatic installation.

Backups. Arvixe does daily snapshot backups of its servers using R1Soft, which is accessible by customers through the control panel. Backups are hosted on a separate server for redundancy. A2 provides Server Rewind for all but its lowest tiers. Server Rewind takes periodic automatic snapshots of your site and allows the restoration of files, databases, or the entire site.

Hosting Security. Arvixe scans and proactively acts against DDoS threats, as well as providing protection against brute force attacks. Arvixe plans come with SpamAssassin and Spamhaus filtering for email.

A2 Hosting also takes security seriously, and scans and proactively acts against DDoS threats, malware, and viruses with its Perpetual Security and HackScan – which are provided free of charge. It uses standard Spam Protection, plus Barracuda Advanced Spam Filtering for email. A2 also provides the Patchman Enhanced Security Tool, which scans for software and apps that need patching and notifies you when apps are out of date.

Arvixe’s Business plans have free SSL as long as you have a plan with Arvixe, and private SSLs are available for purchase. A2 provides free shared SSL for its plans through cPanel, and Private SSL may also be purchased. Control Panel. Arvixe and A2 Hosting use the industry standard cPanel.

Green. A2 boasts of a 100% carbon-free footprint and actively participates in tree planting and other eco-friendly activities in Ann Arbor.

Affiliate and Reseller Programs. Arvixe’s affiliate program pays from $70 to $135 per referral, depending on the number of referrals you have per month. Arvixe also has a reseller program for both Linux and Windows. A2 Hosting’s affiliate program offers $10 just for signing up, then $85 per referral. A2 has three SSD-based reseller plans.

Extras. Arvixe comes with a total of $200 in ad credits to Google and Yahoo. A2 has $50 worth of credits to Bing/Yahoo. Arvixe offers “Priority Support” for an additional monthly fee. A2 has email only and ad management hosting plans for monthly fees.

Opinion.

Both web hosting companies offer a wide range of features. However, Arvixe’s “free domain for as long as you have a plan,” support for both Linux and Windows, and its integrated website builder, gives Arvixe a slight edge over A2 Hosting in the features department.

Hosting Plans & Pricing

Note: Web hosting pricing constantly changes due to the competitive nature of the business, and promotional pricing is common. Promotion pricing is often limited to the first term of service, so signing up for a longer term will net greater savings.

Even without promos, longer terms of service usually result in price breaks for most hosting companies. The prices below reflect the pricing at the time of this comparison.

Arvixe. Arvixe divides its Linux shared plans into PersonalClass at $4 per month, PersonalClassPro at $7 per month, BusinessClass at $22 per month, and BusinessClassPro at $35 per month. All the tiers offer unlimited space, bandwidth, emails, and databases. The Pro tiers allow an unlimited number of sites, while the regular tiers only allow six. BusinessClass and BusinessClassPro have fewer users on the server, making it basically shared hosting with VPS features.

The ASP (Windows) plans run a few dollars more for each tier. Arvixe’s shared plans provide for unlimited MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. Also, BusinessClass plans have a free SSL certificate for as long as the site is hosted with Arvixe.

Arvixe offers two managed WordPress plans, at $4 and $7 per month, the same as the shared hosting. Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage, and an unlimited number of databases comes with all the plans. The $4 plan is limited to 6 websites, while the $7 plan allows an unlimited number.

A2 Hosting. A2 offers three shared plans: Lite, which allows one site, five databases, and is priced $3.92 per month; Swift, which allows unlimited websites, and unlimited databases, and is priced at $4.90 per month; and Turbo, which also has unlimited websites and databases allowed, and is priced at $9.31 per month. All three have unlimited SSD storage and unlimited bandwidth. A2 Hosting also has CloudLinux, a version of the Centos OS that is faster and states that it has fewer customers per server than most.

A2 offers three managed WordPress plans. Lite is limited to one website and five databases and is priced at $3.92 per month. Swift and Turbo offer unlimited websites and databases and are priced at $4.90 and $9.31 per month, respectively. All plans are SSD-based and have caching, though the Turbo Plan has optimized caching. They all have CDN and extra security options. Swift and Turbo also come with Server Rewind for backups.

VPS and Dedicated Plans: Arvixe offers two VPS tiers in both Linux and Windows. Arvixe plans are $40 and $70 per month for the Linux option. The two Windows VPS tiers are $60 and $100 per month. All four Arvixe plans have unlimited bandwidth, and they come with a free SSL certificate for as long as you have the plan. A2 Hosting offered unmanaged and managed VPS plans, with three tiers in each. All are SSD-based, with the unmanaged ranging from $5 to $15 per month, and the managed going from $32.99 to $65.99 per month.

The six single-processor dedicated server tiers from Arvixe are priced from $128.70 per month to $227.50 per month. For those needing more performance, Arvixe has two multi-processor tiers priced at $357.30 per month. Arvixe also offers cloud options, starting at $108 per month. All of the Arvixe dedicated plans are managed for you. A2 Hosting, again, has unmanaged and managed dedicated server plans. The unmanaged start at $99.59 per month, and the managed start at $141.09 per month.

Money-Back Guarantee: Arvixe’s 60-day money-back guarantee is better than the industry standard. A2 offers an “Anytime Money-Back Guarantee.” The first 30 days provide a full refund, and after 30 days the refund is pro-rated. If you have the free domain registration on Arvixe, a domain registration fee will be withheld from any refund, and you will keep the domain name.

Opinion.

These two hosting companies are competitively priced, though if you require Windows, Arvixe is your only choice between these two. A2 Hosting’s VPS plans have some pretty tight limits on storage and bandwidth, but for a smaller site or business that would like the advantages of a VPS, the pricing is hard to beat.

Ease of Use

Control Panel. Arvixe and A2 Hosting both use the user-friendly, icon-based interface of the industry standard cPanel. This makes transferring your site less difficult should you decide to switch hosting companies in the future.

One-click Installer. Both Arvixe and A2 Hosting use Softaculous as the one-click installer for hundreds of applications.

Website Navigation. Both Arvixe’s and A2 Hosting’s sites are well laid out. Both have handy comparison charts for comparing tiers in their plans, with A2’s charts having a useful popup feature for terms used in the charts.

Opinion.

These two hosting companies are nearly identical in ease of use and user-friendliness.

Technical and Customer Support

Arvixe used to have an outstanding reputation for customer support. Since the EIG buyout, customer complaints about service and support have risen. However, it still rates above average in customer support. Customers consistently highly rate A2 Hosting for the knowledge and friendliness of the support and service personnel.

Arvixe and A2 Hosting have a phone, email, and live chat 24/7. Both have an extensive knowledge base with tutorials and videos, and both have an active blog. Both have a social media presence with Facebook, Google +, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.

Opinion.

Up until 2014, either one of these companies would have been equally impressive for support and service. Today, however, A2 Hosting has a slight edge in this department.

User Reviews

Note: Never use reviews from users to decide which host to choose. Most of the time, reviews are either strongly negative or strongly positive, because comments are usually from passionate customers. However, if something consistently comes up, it may be something to consider.

Negative Reviews for Arvixe and A2 Hosting

Arvixe. Until recently, there were few negative reviews of Arvixe. Since 2014, however, there are complaints of poor customer service and long wait times.

A2 Hosting. There are fewer negative customer reviews for A2 than most companies, but those that are negative are usually for bad experiences with customer support.

Positive Reviews for Arvixe and A2 Hosting

Arvixe. Arvixe gets high praise for its budget pricing and abundant features. Windows users are pleased to find hosting at an affordable price.

A2 Hosting. A2 gets far more positive reviews than negative from its customers – often concerning customer support. Customers are also impressed with the speed and number of features for the price found with A2.

Opinion on User Reviews

Overall, both of these hosting companies are well received by customers. However, due to recent support complaints about Arvixe, A2 Hosting gets the nod here.

Conclusion

Arvixe and A2 Hosting each have pros and cons that set them apart from each other.

Reasons to choose A2 Hosting over Arvixe:

• If it matters to you, it is not EIG owned
• SSD on all plans
• Anytime (pro-rated) money-back guarantee

Reasons to choose Arvixe over A2 Hosting:

• Free domain registration as long as plan is hosted
• Windows server options for all plans
• Integrated website builder

Arvixe’s full-featured managed WordPress plans priced the same as shared hosting is a plus for WordPress users, though A2 Hosting’s managed WordPress plans are competitively priced. A2 Hosting’s VPS plans are attractively priced but somewhat limited in storage and bandwidth. If you are just starting out, or have a smaller site, the plans would be suitable.

Both Arvixe and A2 Hosting are fast and reliable, and both of these hosting companies offer good prices for the number of features they provide. Nearly the only thing that separates these two is the fact that Arvixe offers a free domain for the life of the account and has a website builder.

Though these are two appealing options, there are other web hosting companies you could consider. Another host that would appeal to WordPress users is InMotion Hosting. Another host with fast servers and premium features (though priced slightly higher) is SiteGround.

Do you have any questions about Arvixe or A2 Hosting? What have been your experiences with web hosting in general? Leave your comments and let us know.