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Apptivo CRM review | TechRadar

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Apptivo CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management platform that aims to provide an all-in-one solution for managing sales, marketing, and customer service.

With a suite of over 65 integrated apps, Apptivo is one of the best CRM platforms on the market and offers a high degree of customization, allowing businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. It also features very competitive pricing compared to other major CRM providers, with plans starting at just $15/user/month – making it a great CRM for small businesses and startups.

In this in-depth Apptivo review, I’ll take a closer look at the platform’s features, ease of use, customer support, and overall value to help you determine if it’s the right CRM solution for your business. Let’s dive in and see how Apptivo stacks up.

Apptivo core capabilities

(Image credit: Apptivo)

Just like any CRM, Apptivo provides contact and account management tools that allow me to store and organize all my customer data in one centralized location. During my first few minutes with the platform, I found it easy to import my existing contacts via CSV file.

Once contacts are in the system, Apptivo makes it simple to track all interactions and communication history. You can log emails, calls, meetings, and notes for each contact. I like how Apptivo pulls in email conversations automatically when synced with Gmail or Outlook, saving the manual work of logging those touchpoints.

I can also automate lead assignment based on predefined rules, ensuring my sales reps are always working the most promising opportunities. The software offers lead scoring, which helps me prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert.

A visual sales pipeline provides a clear overview of all my deals, allowing me to quickly identify any bottlenecks or at-risk opportunities. I can drag-and-drop opportunities through each stage. Deal values and probability are clearly displayed. I can also create customized sales stages that align with my unique sales process. Apptivo’s forecasting tools use predictive analytics to provide accurate revenue projections, giving me valuable insights to guide my decision-making.

For analytics, Apptivo comes with a wide range of pre-built reports covering sales, marketing, and customer service metrics. I can also easily create custom reports and dashboards to track the KPIs that matter most to my business. For example, I can filter data, change chart types, add custom fields, and save custom views. The ability to schedule reports and have them automatically delivered to my inbox is a nice time-saver.

Beyond the core CRM capabilities, Apptivo offers a suite of integrated business apps that cover everything from project management to billing and invoicing. While I primarily use the CRM features, it’s great to know I can easily expand my usage as my business needs evolve. In terms of third-party integrations, Apptivo’s app marketplace also offers a variety of third-party integrations to further extend the platform’s functionality.

Unlike competitors with limited on-the-go capabilities, Apptivo offers mobile apps for iOS and Android that provide full access to the CRM’s features. Whether heading into a client meeting or dabbling in a bit of hybrid work, I always have the most up-to-date customer information at my fingertips. Plus, the mobile app’s user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate.

While Apptivo checks the boxes for core CRM functionality, the depth of features in certain areas leaves something to be desired compared to more mature CRM systems such as Salesforce and Hubspot. For example, Apptivo lacks some of the advanced lead scoring and routing options found in enterprise platforms like Salesforce. Additionally, while the reporting and analytics are solid overall, some of the pre-built reports lack flexibility and the custom report builder has a bit of a learning curve. Apptivo also currently does not offer a sales assistant in the form of an AI tool or forecasting, like some of the leading CRM players.

How easy is Apptivo to use?

(Image credit: Apptivo)

Apptivo features a clean and clear — if slightly dated — user interface. It starts you off on your agenda page, which functions similarly to a calendar view of your upcoming tasks and appointments. I like how you can quickly switch between different views to filter for just upcoming or overdue tasks. The left sidebar contains several useful project management links for tasks, emails, notes, follow-ups, and more.

The top navigation menu is where Apptivo organizes the various apps you have installed, grouped by functions like CRM, marketing, financials, etc. It’s highly customizable and modular, but it does mean the top menu can get crowded if you activate a lot of apps.

Diving into the core CRM features, I found adding new records like contacts, accounts and opportunities to be straightforward. The data entry forms are clean and support custom fields. However, this is where the dated nature of the interface starts to show itself. For example, the save button is at the top of the record, requiring lots of scrolling on longer forms.

Apptivo’s interface is very customizable, which is a double-edged sword when it comes to ease of use. On one hand, you can tailor the account to your preferences, like reordering the top nav apps, adjusting page layouts, and creating custom fields and views. On the flip side, the initial setup and customization process has a bit of a learning curve. You’ll likely need to invest some time upfront to optimize your account.

Luckily, Apptivo provides a variety of onboarding and training resources. There’s a comprehensive knowledge base with articles and videos covering the main features. But for a guided walkthrough, Apptivo offers paid training packages and professional services to help with implementation, data migration, and one-on-one training. These services typically cost extra, but can be helpful for those struggling with the interface.

Despite its datedness, Apptivo’s web-based CRM is usually quite responsive, even when dealing with a large database. When tested, the interface scored an impressive 91/100 for desktop speed on Google PageSpeed Insights. The mobile apps for iOS and Android are also well-designed and offer access to most key CRM functions on the go.

Despite a few shortcomings, I’ve found Apptivo to be a user-friendly CRM overall, especially considering its extensive feature set and customization options. The modular app structure and customizable interface do require an initial time investment to set up and learn. But once configured to your liking, Apptivo is intuitive to navigate and the core CRM features are straightforward to use.

Apptivo integrations

Out of the box, Apptivo provides integrations with a limited number of popular business apps and services. The most notable of these are the Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 integrations, which allow for the smooth syncing of contacts, calendar events, and emails. Apptivo also offers pre-built integrations with a few other business tools like Quickbooks for accounting, Mailchimp for email marketing, and RingCentral for phone systems.

For situations where a pre-built integration isn’t available, Apptivo provides an open API that allows for custom integrations with other software. The API documentation is comprehensive and the platform supports industry-standard REST and SOAP protocols. However, building custom integrations does require significant technical expertise, so most businesses will likely need to engage a developer for help.

Compared to some other CRM platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, Apptivo has a much more limited selection of third-party app integrations available. While the core bases are covered, businesses that rely heavily on niche software may find they need to build custom integrations more often with Apptivo.

I was also a bit disappointed to discover that Apptivo does not yet offer a direct data sync with any major social media platforms. The ability to automatically pull in lead and customer interactions from social channels can be very valuable for sales and service teams. While you can manually import social data or build a custom integration, a pre-built option would be a welcome addition.

That said, for the integrations it does offer, I’ve found the data syncing to be generally reliable and performant. When configured properly, data flows seamlessly between systems without any noticeable lag or errors. Apptivo also provides detailed logs that allow you to monitor the status of integrations and troubleshoot any issues that arise.

Unlike most other CRMs, however, you can also set up automated workflows that span multiple apps. For example, you can configure a workflow that automatically creates a task in Apptivo when a lead fills out a form on your website, then sends a personalized email follow-up via Mailchimp, and finally alerts the assigned sales rep in Slack. These cross-app workflows can significantly boost productivity and ensure no leads slip through the cracks.

For most small to midsize companies, Apptivo’s integration capabilities should be more than sufficient to streamline data flow and processes across their key software tools. However, enterprise customers with strong data centralization needs may want to look elsewhere.

How good is Apptivo’s customer support?

(Image credit: Apptivo)

Apptivo provides multiple channels for customer support, including live chat, email, and phone. The live chat is available 24/7 for all paid plans, which is a huge plus for businesses operating across different time zones or outside of regular business hours. For more complex issues or detailed inquiries, Apptivo offers email support. User reviews from around the internet mention fast response times, friendly support agents, and quick resolutions.

Apptivo also offers an extensive self-service knowledge base called “Apptivo Answers” that includes detailed user guides, video tutorials, and FAQs covering all aspects of the platform. I’ve found this resource to be well-organized and easy to search, with most of the usual questions answered without contacting support. The articles are clear and include helpful screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

For users who prefer a more hands-on approach, Apptivo provides live webinars you can attend on a regular basis. These cover topics ranging from getting started with Apptivo to advanced features and best practices in the CRM. If you’d prefer one-on-one training, Apptivo offers 60-minute paid sessions starting at $125 USD covering different modules and use cases. You can also enlist company professionals to migrate your existing data or implement the entire system for you for an additional fee.

While Apptivo doesn’t publicly disclose its average resolution times or customer satisfaction scores, the overwhelmingly positive reviews and ratings from users speak to the effectiveness of its support. On customer review sites like Capterra and G2, many users praise Apptivo’s customer service as one of its strongest assets, frequently citing the responsiveness, expertise, and friendliness of the support team.

Apptivo pricing and plans

(Image credit: Apptivo)Swipe to scroll horizontally

Plan

Lite

Premium

Ultimate

Enterprise

Price

$15/user/month

$25/user/month

$40/user/month

Custom pricing

Best for

Small sales teams managing deals and quotes

Fast-growing teams needing an all-in-one CRM

Large teams requiring automation and integrations

Enterprise organizations with complex integration needs

Features

18 apps; 100 custom fields per app; 24/7 support

46 apps; 250 custom fields per app; 3rd party integrations

57 apps; 350 custom fields per app; Advanced automation

65 apps; 500 custom fields per app; Dedicated account manager

Limitations

Lacks some advanced features and integrations.

Higher price than Lite plan but fewer features than Ultimate.

Significantly more expensive than lower tier plans.

Requires custom price quote and implementation.

Apptivo offers four pricing tiers — Lite, Premium, Ultimate, and Enterprise — which allows businesses to choose a plan that aligns with their specific needs and budget. Apptivo does offer a free starter plan, but it’s important to note that this plan is very limited in terms of features and functionality. It’s really more of an extended trial than a viable long-term solution for most businesses. That said, Apptivo’s 30-day free trial for paid plans is on par with the industry standard, with ample time to test the system before committing.

As for the paid plans, the Lite plan starts at just $15 per user per month when billed annually, making it one of the most cost-effective options on the market for a fully functional CRM. Even at the Lite tier, Apptivo includes essential CRM capabilities like contact management, opportunity tracking, and customizable dashboards. As you move up to the higher-priced plans, you gain access to more advanced features and a greater number of integrated apps.

For businesses that need more advanced features, Apptivo’s Premium plan at $25 per user per month (billed annually) offers a significant step up in functionality. This tier includes additional apps for project management, invoicing, and email marketing, as well as more advanced customization options and integrations. This is followed by the Unlimited plan at $40 per user per month, which also includes relationship management and inventory tracking. But in my opinion, the Premium plan provides the best balance of features and value for most small to medium-sized businesses using Apptivo.

Compared to other popular CRM platforms, Apptivo’s pricing is highly competitive. For example, Salesforce’s Sales Cloud starts at $25 per user per month for the Essentials plan but includes fewer features than Apptivo’s Premium tier at the same price point. Similarly, Zoho CRM’s Standard plan is priced at $20 per user per month, while Apptivo offers more advanced features for just $5 more.

I also appreciate that Apptivo doesn’t lock you into a long-term contract, unlike some enterprise-grade CRMs. All plans are available on a month-to-month basis, giving you the flexibility to adjust as your business needs change. But opting for annual billing does provide a significant discount of 20% compared to the monthly rates.

Still, I think Apptivo could improve its pricing by offering more bundled discounts or add-on packages. While the pricing for individual plans is competitive, there are fewer options for bundling multiple apps or features compared to some other CRM providers. However, it does offer custom enterprise pricing for larger organizations with more complex needs.

Apptivo CRM FAQ

What are Apptivo CRM’s core features?

Apptivo is a cloud-based business management platform that offers a suite of over 65 integrated apps. As such it offers a wide range of features – both in the core platform and through these integrations.

The core features include tools for managing contacts, leads, and sales pipelines. It also offers features like email marketing, customer segmentation, lead scoring, and automated lead assignment.

Does Apptivo CRM have a mobile app?

Yes, Apptivo is accessible through all mobile phones, including dedicated apps for iOS and Android.

Aide from the costs, what are the differences between Apptivo’s plans?

Apptivo’s different pricing tiers vary significantly in terms of the number of available apps, custom fields, workflows, and storage space. Higher-tier plans also offer advanced features like email sequencing, notification builders, and custom applications. Annual billing offers a discount compared to monthly payments.

How do I integrate Apptivo with other tools?

Apptivo offers integrations with a number of third-party business tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, PayPal, and Slack. It also provides an open API for building custom integrations, which may require technical expertise

How secure is the data stored in Apptivo?

Apptivo employs several layers of security to protect user data, including 256-bit encrypted SSL connections for data transfer and encryption of sensitive information stored in the database.

Apptivo review: Final verdict

Apptivo delivers a robust set of core CRM features, including contact management, lead tracking, opportunity management, and sales forecasting. While some advanced features may be lacking compared to enterprise CRMs, Apptivo covers all the essentials for small to midsize businesses.

24/7 live chat, responsive email support, extensive knowledge base, and regular training webinars ensure that users can get help whenever they need it. The support team is knowledgeable, friendly, and consistently goes above and beyond to resolve issues and answer questions. While there are some areas for improvement, such as expanding the third-party app marketplace and simplifying the setup process for non-technical users, Apptivo’s overall impression is a promising one.

For small to midsize businesses seeking an affordable, customizable, and user-friendly CRM with excellent support, Apptivo is a strong choice.



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Product Reviews

Insightly CRM review | TechRadar

by admin



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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Insightly is a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform that helps businesses manage contacts, sales pipelines, and projects. Founded in 2009, it is well established as one of the best CRM platforms and serves over 1.5 million users in more than 25,000 organizations worldwide. Insightly targets small to mid-sized businesses and emphasizes affordability.

During my review, I found that Insightly provides a strong set of features, including lead and pipeline management, project tracking, and workflow automation. It aims to give a unified view for handling customer interactions, enhancing team collaboration in sales and marketing.

What distinguishes Insightly is its focus on usability. The company asserts that its interface is easy for beginners while still offering essential features for growing businesses. In this review, I will assess how well Insightly fulfills its promises and analyze its strengths and weaknesses as a CRM.

Insightly CRM core capabilities

Insightly’s dashboard is super easy to navigate (Image credit: Insightly)

Insightly enables users to create comprehensive contact records, featuring custom fields, tags, and connections between contacts and organizations. Importing existing contacts and organizing them into categories was straightforward.

The platform includes a flexible pipeline system that can be tailored to various sales processes. I set up multiple pipelines for different products or services, each with unique stages. The drag-and-drop feature for moving opportunities between stages offered an intuitive visual representation of deal progress.

Real-time visibility into the sales pipeline allowed me to quickly evaluate the health of my sales funnel. I could filter and sort opportunities by criteria like value, probability, or expected close date. Insightly also provides pre-built reports and the option to create custom ones. The dashboard was particularly beneficial, enabling me to visualize key metrics at a glance.

The mobile app, compatible with iOS and Android, grants access to most core features. During CRM testing, I updated contact details, managed tasks, and captured business cards using my smartphone. However, some advanced features were missing, which might restrict field users who depend on mobile access, such as sales reps who spend a lot of time on the road – something that’s more and more common with the rise of hybrid work.

In addition to its CRM capabilities, Insightly serves as a project management tool. This allows for a smooth transition from opportunity to project after a deal closes. The platform offers plugins for popular email clients like Gmail and Outlook, enabling users to sync emails and calendar events. Insightly’s workflow tools automate repetitive tasks, send notifications, and update records based on set triggers. Although creating complex workflows required initial effort, they significantly enhanced efficiency once in place.

Nonetheless, Insightly’s social media integration features need enhancement. While it provides basic social profile linking, it lacks advanced social listening and engagement tools found in some other CRMs. Additionally, the useful workflow automation is only included in higher-priced plans. Although there is a built-in dialer and call routing for phone-based sales teams, these features are only available as paid add-ons.

How easy is Insightly CRM to use?

Insightly has carefully considered how best to present essential sales data to its users (Image credit: Insightly)

Insightly is a standout in the CRM world for its user-friendly design. As soon as I logged in, the clean interface made me feel at ease. The customizable dashboard lets me arrange widgets and data visualizations to prioritize the most important information for my workflow.

Navigating modules is simple thanks to a clear menu structure that helps me quickly locate what I need. The consistent layout across sections lessened the learning curve as I explored features beyond the main dashboard. I especially valued the quick access to recent items and favorites, which made my daily tasks much smoother.

Beyond the customizable dashboard, creating custom fields, pipelines, and workflows is quick and easy. This level of flexibility means Insightly can evolve with my business, which is vital for long-term use.

The onboarding process is well-organized, featuring guided tours and tooltips that introduce key features while I explore the platform. Insightly also has a thorough knowledge base, video tutorials, and webinars covering everything from basic functions to advanced features. I found these resources to be informative, straightforward, and easy to navigate.

Within a few hours, I felt at ease managing contacts, tracking opportunities, and generating basic reports. More complex tasks, like setting up automated workflows or customizing advanced reports, took longer to learn but were still manageable without extensive training.

But while it is generally user-friendly, some users may find certain advanced features less intuitive. For instance, the relationship mapping feature, although powerful, required some trial and error. Setting up complex automation rules also needed a closer look at the documentation. Nonetheless, my overall experience regarding ease of use remained positive.

Insightly CRM integrations

Insightly makes it simple to connect your CRM with all the other business tools you use (Image credit: Insightly)

Insightly features the AppConnect hub for third-party integrations, providing numerous pre-built connectors for popular business tools. Users can link Insightly with finance, ERP, marketing, HR, and other vital applications. Setting up integrations with Slack, Google Apps, and Microsoft Outlook was straightforward.

The platform offers plugins for both Gmail and Outlook, enabling direct syncing of emails and calendar events with the CRM. It also works with sales and marketing automation tools like MailChimp, Gong, Drift, and ZoomInfo. For ecommerce, connections are available with Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce. These integrations use an intuitive no-code platform, allowing easy setup of custom workflows without technical expertise.

For businesses needing complex integrations, Insightly offers access to its REST API. This open API supports custom integrations with nearly any system, providing flexibility for unique workflows or proprietary software. Advanced use cases become possible, such as connecting Power BI to Insightly via the API for detailed analyses and visualizations of CRM data.

Larger organizations benefit from Insightly’s integration with single sign-on (SSO) tools like the identity management solutions OneLogin, AuthO, and Okta Identity Management. This feature enhances security, data protection, and identity management while linking to preferred third-party applications, boosting productivity. This advantage is not fully utilized by many other CRMs.

One area for improvement is social media integration. While the platform allows basic social profile linking, it lacks advanced social listening and engagement features found in some competing CRMs. However, Insightly can connect with an iPaaS vendor like Zapier for more advanced social media integrations.

How good is Insightly’s customer support?

When it comes to customer support, Insightly offers a mix of self-service resources and direct assistance channels. But during my evaluation, I found lots of room for improvement in the support system, especially when it comes to the live communication options available to entry-level users. Issues like long wait times, insufficient product knowledge, and inactive community forums further accentuate this problem.

In the absence of 24/7 live support, Insightly’s primary customer service channel is by email. However, its response times can vary, which makes it unreliable during a busy workday. Thankfully, phone support is available between 9 AM – 4 PM PT on weekdays for regular users. On the other hand, the self-service knowledge base covers a wide range of topics, from basic setup instructions to more advanced features and troubleshooting guides. I found the articles to be clear and easy to follow, often accompanied by screenshots or video tutorials.

For users willing to pay extra for premium live support, Insightly offers the Guided Onboarding Program and the Premier Support and Success Plan. While the former costs $1,500 one-time, the latter is priced upwards of $3,000/year. User testimonials reveal the quality of support received to be quite good, but it’s unfortunate to have to pay thousands of additional dollars each year for some features that competitors are offering free of cost, such as integration and developer support.

Insightly CRM pricing and plans

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Plan

Plus

Professional

Enterprise

Price

$29/user/month

$49/user/month

$99/user/month

Best for

Small businesses needing basic CRM functionality

Growing companies requiring automation and advanced permissions

Large organizations needing unlimited storage and customization

Features

Custom email templates; Lead management; Basic reporting

Workflow automation; Role-based permissions; Lead assignment rules

Unlimited records; Unlimited storage; Custom objects

Limitations

Limited automation capabilities and storage

Some advanced features only available at higher tiers

Higher cost may be prohibitive for smaller businesses

Insightly CRM’s pricing is clear and structured, accommodating different business sizes and requirements. Currently, there are three main pricing tiers: Plus, Professional, and Enterprise, all billed monthly per user. The platform also used to offer one of the best free CRM plans, but this is no longer available.

The Plus plan costs $29 per user per month when billed annually. This plan is suitable for small teams or new businesses using CRM. It includes essential features like lead and pipeline management, custom email templates, and basic reporting. However, it lacks advanced features like workflow automation and lead assignment rules.

The Professional plan costs $49 per user per month, offering more advanced features. This tier includes workflow automation, lead assignment rules, and configurable dashboards. For businesses with complex sales processes or those looking to grow, this plan balances features and cost well.

The Enterprise plan at $99 per user per month when billed annually is Insightly’s most comprehensive choice. It offers advanced features like advanced permissions, custom objects, and API access. While it may be too much for smaller organizations, it provides the scalability and customization that larger enterprises or rapidly growing businesses may require.

Insightly offers a 14-day free trial for all plans but does not provide a money-back guarantee. For users needing more than a CRM, Insightly All-in-One combines CRM, Marketing, Service, and AppConnect, with a 30% discount compared to separate purchases. Although I did not find specific discount codes, choosing annual billing results in a slight discount compared to monthly billing.

Insightly CRM FAQ

Would Insightly CRM be better for a small business or a larger one?

Insightly is generally best suited for small to mid-sized businesses. While it offers robust features, some users have reported that it may be less ideal for large enterprises with very complex workflows or a need for deep customization.

For instance, larger enterprises often make use of a massive volume of data, and Insightly’s plans have specific limits on records, storage, and API calls. While the Enterprise plan offers a higher capacity, it may still not be sufficient for companies with hundreds of thousands or even millions of records. These limitations can hinder growth and require significant data management.

Does Insightly CRM have a mobile app?

Well aware of the hybrid work trend, Insightly does have a mobile app for both iOS and Android. This allows users to access and manage their CRM data on the go. However, some users note that the app may not have offline access.

What are Insightly’s security credentials like?

Insightly is SOC 2 Type II certified and offers security features such as data encryption, single sign-on (SSO), two-factor authentication, and role-based permissions. It is also GDPR-compliant.

What is the onboarding like for Insightly CRM?

Insightly offers a structured and comprehensive onboarding process designed to help new users and teams get up and running quickly. The approach is a mix of self-service resources and paid, hands-on guidance, catering to different needs and budgets.

For new users who prefer to learn at their own pace, Insightly provides a wealth of self-service resources. This is typically the first point of contact after signing up for a trial or a new account. Alternatively, businesses that require a more personalized and hands-on approach can opt for Insightly’s “Guided Onboarding Plan” in exchange for a one-time fee. This is a collaborative process where you work directly with an Insightly specialist.

Insightly CRM review: Summary

From my experience with Insightly, it is a reliable choice for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a user-friendly and feature-rich CRM. The platform offers strong core capabilities, with a quick interface that creates a seamless experience.

Insightly’s easy-to-use interface and customization options enhance its attractiveness, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced users. While customer support is adequate, there is room for improvement, especially in response times. Additionally, the lack of advanced social media integrations without using Make or Zapier is a notable drawback.

Overall, Insightly is a capable CRM dedicated to providing a good user experience. It may not match enterprise-level solutions like HubSpot CRM or Salesforce, but it certainly earns a spot as one of the best small business CRM platforms on the market.



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Product Reviews

Live Proxies Review | TechRadar

by admin



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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Established in 2020 to meet the growing need for proxy servers and IP addresses, Live Proxies has been successful in its mission. This means that its servers have allowed individuals and businesses everywhere to bypass geo-restrictions and scrape data from websites for half a decade already.

In late 2022, it expanded its service to provide – among other things – Live Servers, meeting the market demand for secure and reliable virtual machines. In 2023, the platform added static residential and rotating mobile IPs to its existing offerings of rotating residential proxies.

Today, this proxy provider proudly offers access to a pool of more than 10 million IPs spanning 55 locations. Users can take their pick among rotating residential, static residential, and rotating mobile IP addresses to enjoy unrestricted access to the internet.

Live Proxies: Plans and Pricing

(Image credit: Live Proxies)

As mentioned above, there are three types of proxies you’ll get with Live Proxies – rotating residential, static residential, and rotating mobile. Each category has its custom pricing, and there’s also a separate B2B option for businesses.

Customers can choose plans based on location, bandwidth, and number of IPs included. For instance, for 200 rotating residential IPs with a 4 GB bandwidth allocation for the duration of 30 days, you’d have to set aside $70, regardless of the selected country. At the same time, selecting the US as the target location allows you to specify the particular state where you want your IPs to be located. Extending this plan to 60 days brings the price to $85, whereas doubling the bandwidth to 8 GB (during 30 days) costs $100.

With a similar pricing structure, static residential IPs are charged $65 for 50 IPs with a 4 GB allocation for 30 days. Upping this to 8 GB for 45 days costs $110. Rotating mobile proxies are also priced depending on bandwidth and subscription length. Long story short – the higher the bandwidth and subscription length, the more you pay in total (but less per IP).

That said, static residential proxy locations are only available in the US, rotating mobile IPs in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom, whereas other locations support only rotating residential proxy plans.

Of course, unmetered options are pricier than the metered ones and don’t include rotating mobile IPs. So, the rotating residential plan of 25 IPs for 30 days is charged $130. The same option for static residential proxies costs $150.

As for the B2B plan, its pricing structure is simple – businesses pay a minimum $5,000 monthly to access the entire 10 million+ IP addresses. This is different from residential and mobile plans, which are limited to the specific proxy location.

This pricing plan organization is relatively easy to understand. All you need to know is where you want your IPs to be, how many proxy addresses you require, and how much traffic you need them for. However, the plans might be a tad costly compared to the competition.

Live Proxies: Features

(Image credit: Live Proxies)

Live Proxies not only offers a solid network of more than 10 million IP addresses and three main types of proxies – rotating residential, static residential, and rotating mobile – but also use cases across multiple categories, including web scraping, ad verification, unrestricted eCommerce, social media performance, gaming, brand protection, SEO, travel data aggregation, access to limited-edition sneakers, and much more.

Rotating residential IPs

In line with their name, rotating IPs “rotate” according to specific schedules. This means you’ll be switched to a proxy IP at a set time, like every hour or each time you start a new browsing session.

Live Proxies offers rotating residential IPs in multiple regions – US, Canada, UK, Mexico, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Israel, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Turkey.

Rotating proxies offer better anonymity, as the frequent change makes it difficult for websites to track your online behavior. Suppose you want to scrape data from a real estate listing site with anti-scraping features. Rotating proxies makes it challenging for the website’s admins to track your usage pattern and detect the proxy. They’ll likely assume the rotating proxies come from different individuals visiting their website.

Better off, Live Proxies offers residential IP addresses from legitimate sources. Device owners around the globe agree to add their IP addresses to Live Proxies’ pool in exchange for benefits. Then, you can use these IP addresses to bypass website restrictions and scrape data.

The drawback is that rotating proxies are slower than static proxies. Frequent rotation increases the likelihood of encountering slow connections, and rotating IPs are more expensive than static IPs.

(Image credit: Live Proxies)

Static residential IPs

Static proxy IPs can be used for as long as your subscription lasts, and Live Proxies offers plans for durations of 30, 45, and 60 days. You can select a domestic static IP to bypass geo-restrictions or, say, scrape data from a US-centric real-estate listing website.

At the moment, Live Proxies’ static IPs are only available for the US. We tested these and noted excellent speed and performance.

Rotating mobile IPs

Mobile proxies are IPs sourced from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, for various use cases. For example, you can use Live Proxies’ reliable rotating mobile IPs to juggle multiple social media accounts without risking restrictions or having to check whether ads are displayed correctly to mobile users.

B2B

Live Proxies offers a simplified proxy IP plan for businesses. Companies can access the entire pool of 10 million+ proxy IPs across 55 countries for a monthly fee. This plan best suits companies with large proxy needs, such as a price comparison website scraping data from numerous sources.

Live Proxies: Ease of Use

We didn’t observe any hiccups when testing Live Proxies. Its interface is easy to understand, with features neatly arranged on the left side and the main dashboard on the right. The dashboard sports a white background plus a few shades of blue to highlight features. Everything is set up in a way that a layperson can quickly grasp.

(Image credit: Live Proxies)

Customer Support

Live Proxies has a decent help area on its website that includes a detailed knowledge base with answers to common issues. If you require further assistance, you can submit a ticket or reach out through the platform’s Discord channel. There’s no direct live chat on the site, nor is there any telephone support.

(Image credit: Live Proxies)

Live Proxies: The Competition

Live Proxies performed on par with most rival proxy tools we’ve tested. Its proxy IPs provide excellent speed and performance. The drawback is its limited pool of 10 million IPs across 55 countries, compared to rivals like Oxylabs, which has 102 million IPs across 195 countries and Bright Data, which has 72 million IPs across 195 countries.

Live Proxies: Final Verdict

Live Proxies remains one of the best proxy providers in the industry, where speed and performance are concerned. For instance, thanks to these capabilities, it reliably supports large-scale data scraping, SEO boosting, and ad verification in which speed is of the essence, especially useful to businesses. At the same time, it works great for individual use cases dependent on performance, like downloading files, gaming, unrestricted shopping, and social media navigation.



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Bluehost Web Hosting review | TechRadar

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Bluehost, one of the world’s largest and best web hosting providers, has almost two decades of experience in helping users build and host quality WordPress websites.

Bluehost is owned by Newfold Digital the company behind other major hosting names like HostGator, Network Solutions, and SEO tool Yoast too.

Bluehost has a real depth of knowledge in WordPress which goes way beyond most competitors. It has developers working on the platform full-time, and has been directly recommended by WordPress.org since 2005.

For a quick run through what Bluehost is like to use check out my One Hour With Bluehost article.

    Bluehost subscription options:

  • 12 month plan – $2.95 per month ($35.40 total cost)

What types of hosting does Bluehost offer? 

Bluehost provides some of the best WordPress hosting in the shape of shared, VPS hosting, cloud, and dedicated hosting plans. These plans are good for everything from blogs to ecommerce sites of all sizes.

The shared plans come in four flavours: Starter, Business, eCommerce Essentials, and eCommerce Essentials Premium. You’ll find yourself directed to these plans if you click through from WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce, and Web Hosting. The only difference is that if you click through from WooCommerce you’ll only be offered eCommerce Essentials, and eCommerce Essentials Premium.

The shared plans are ideal for up to 400K visits but those figures are based on the average site and don’t specify a performance level for the sites. You should consider the number an estimate and safety net. If your site gets a lot of visitors, you’ll likely need to use one of the VPS, cloud, or dedicated plans.

The VPS plans come in three flavours: Standard NVMe 4, Enhanced NVMe 8, and Ultimate NVMe 16. Plus, a bonus custom flavour. The number in the name corresponds to the amount of RAM you get with each plan. You get a 1:2 ratio of CPU cores to gigabytes of RAM. As for site visits, you’re on your own here when it comes to estimated levels but support will help you make the choice on which one is best for you.

The cloud plans also come in three flavours: Cloud 10, Cloud 25, and Cloud 50. Plus, the additional custom plan. The number in this name corresponds to how many sites each plan supports. The cloud plans are ideal for 300K – 23 million site visits a month.

It’s the same pattern with dedicated hosting plans: Standard NVMe 32, Enhanced NVMe 64, and Premium NVMe 128…and the custom plan. These plans have a CPU core to RAM ratio of 1:4.

Bluehost offers quality WordPress plans with some powerful extras (Image credit: Future)

Bluehost shared & WordPress hosting

Bluehost’s WordPress and shared hosting plans are the same. Opt for one of these plans and your website is stored on a server which also hosts many other accounts. This type of hosting saves money, because the cost of the server is shared between many users. But it runs the risk of unstable performance, because the server’s resources – the processor, the RAM, the network connection – are also shared by all the accounts.

The cheapest plan starts at $3.95/mo for 36 months and then renews at $9.99. It supports 10 websites and up to 40K visits a month. It provides 10 GB NVMe storage, a CDN, managed WordPress updates, SSL, and some security features. Email and back ups are only free for one year.

Spending more on the next plan will set you back $6.45/mo for 36 months and then $14.99/mo after. The only difference is that the plan supports more visitors (200K) but also malware removal and free domain privacy for one year.

Step up again and you’ll be paying 6.99/mo for more resources and more security, development tools, and ecommerce tools. This plan renews at $17.99/mo.

These are capable products, easy to manage, faster than most (more on that later) and powerful enough to handle many personal and small business sites.

(Image credit: Future)

Bluehost VPS hosting

VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is where a physical server is divided up into individual server environments. There are far fewer accounts on a server than you’ll see with shared hosting, and your VPS doesn’t have to share its resources with other sites. That’s a real performance plus, and while some shared hosting plans might struggle with large amounts of visitors, a good VPS can usually handle hundreds of thousands.

Bluehost has three VPS plans. The simplest gives you 2 CPU cores, 4 GB DDR5 RAM, 100 GB NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth and a cPanel/WHM license for $46.99/ month over three years, $65.99 on renewal. At the top of the range, an 8 core, 16 GB DDR5 RAM, 450 GB NVMe storage and unmetered bandwidth setup is priced at $94.99 a month over three years, $140.99 on renewal.

A full-featured cPanel setup is stuffed with web management features (Image credit: Future)

Bluehost dedicated hosting

Selecting a dedicated hosting package gets you the maximum resources and control: an entire web server, for your use only.

The server users the latest hardware including AMD EYPC processers. Speedy NVMe storage which is becoming the new standard SSD. You also get unlimited bandwidth, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, and a 99.9% SLA.

The servers are fully managed and come with white-glove onboarding.

Bluehost website builder dashboard (Image credit: Future)

Does Bluehost have a page builder?

Bluehost offers a WordPress page builder. It’s based on WordPress and has some of the same pain points of the WordPress built-in block editor but has some handy tools to make it easier. You can use this for all types of sites from blogs to eCommerce stores.

First of all, you get a helping hand if you’re stating out with your first WordPress site in the form of an AI built website. There are also suggestions and tutorials to help you make it better. There is also the WordPress Academy to help you better understand WordPress.

Then, there is the WonderBlocks tool that has loads of templates for all sorts of things you want to add to your site. You can read more about the experience of building your first site with Bluehost in my one hour with Bluehost review and the full Bluehost website builder review.

Bluehost’s uptime (Image credit: Future)

How fast is Bluehost? 

Performance matters in web hosting, even for the cheapest of plans. A slow site, regularly down, could be worse than having no website at all.

To test Bluehost we migrated a WordPress site to the most basic plans and then ran some WordPress benchmark tests to see how well the server performed in general. After that we did some gentle stress testing to see how well the site coped with some traffic.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyWordPress benchmark testing

CPU & Memory

Operations with large text data

8.8

Row 1 – Cell 0

Random binary data operations

5.14

Row 2 – Cell 0

Recursive mathematical calculations

6.13

Row 3 – Cell 0

Iterative mathematical calculations

7.2

Filesystem

Filesystem write ability

8.82

Row 5 – Cell 0

Local file copy and access speed

9.36

Row 6 – Cell 0

Small file IO test

10

Database

Importing large amount of data to database

8.68

Row 8 – Cell 0

Simple queries on single table

10

Row 9 – Cell 0

Complex database queries on multiple tables

7.7

Object Cache

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Network download speed test

10

Overall

Your server score

7.9

Swipe to scroll horizontallySiege test

Concurrent users

5

9

15

Transactions

1086

2110

1473

availability

95.6

96.7

95.71

elapsed time

299.22

299.87

299.11

Data transactions

13.96

25.95

19.45

response time

0.41

1.17

2.61

Transaction rate

3.36

7.04

4.92

throughput

0.05

0.09

0.07

concurrency

1.49

8.22

12.87

sucesful transactions

1086

2110

1473

failed transactions

50

72

66

longest transaction

19.77

19.93

20.21

shortest transaction

0.11

0.11

0.1

For benchmarking, the WordPress Benchmark plugin measures CPU and memory use, object cache, filesystem access, and network speed. It then provides a final benchmark score. Meanwhile, the command line tool Siege can simulate multiple concurrent visits, providing us with an idea of the server’s reliability when demand is high.

Our modest WordPress-based WooCommerce store, with around 20 items and a welcoming landing page scored 7.9 in WordPress Benchmark. This was a particularly good set of scores across the board, only let down by the “Persistent object cache enabled” benchmark unable to measure a score.

Meanwhile, the Siege testing found the hosting able to handle 9 and 15 concurrent visitors comfortably, responding well and with over 95% availability. Considered together, these test results offer some confidence that even with Bluehost’s most affordable hosting plans, you can expect reliable performance.

Note that these tests determine performance on a shared hosting plan. As such, they don’t offer any insights into speeds on dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, or VPS hosting plans.

What is Bluehost’s support like? 

There is only chat support for the most basic shared hosting plans. All other plans come with chat and phone support. There is also only a local US or international number for phone support and all support is in the English language. This might not be an issue if you’re in North America but it could be costly and less than ideal compared with having support in your local language.

To be fair, this shouldn’t be a big cross in the cons column because most hosting companies don’t offer phone support at all – let alone in multiple languages. Still, only offering English support across all support is going to be a dealbreaker for some and other hosts do offer multi-lingual support, such as Hostinger.

Final verdict

The company’s tiny and not-very-configurable VPS and Dedicated plans mean Bluehost is less likely to work for the most demanding business users, but overall, Bluehost remains a quality provider who delivers faster, more reliable and better quality hosting than most of the competition.

Bluehost’s underpowered VPS and dedicated hosting plans mean it may not work for the largest and most demanding business-critical sites, but it excels everywhere else, with all the feature-packed shared, WordPress, website-building and ecommerce plans you need to build fast and reliable personal and small to medium business sites.

Bluehost FAQs

What payment types does Bluehost support?

Bluehost accepts payment via card only.

Does Bluehost offer refunds?

Buy a Bluehost hosting plan, or some add-on products and you’re protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee. That’s typical for the hosting world, although a few providers offer more: InMotion Hosting gives you 90 days, HostGator 45 days.

We noticed one or two minor issues. Bluehost doesn’t offer refunds on SSL certificates, for instance; Hostinger does. But generally, this is a straightforward, catch-free guarantee which gives you exactly the protection you’d expect.

Does Bluehost have an uptime guarantee?

Bluehost doesn’t quote any target uptime figure, or have any formal method of compensating you if your server is down for a lengthy period.

That’s a little disappointing. Most providers quote uptime figures of at least 99.9%, some 99.99%, and say they’ll give you credits if the service doesn’t hit the mark.

These ‘guarantees’ don’t always mean very much, though. The small print might say downtime doesn’t count if it’s due to ‘unforeseeable circumstances’, for instance, something which could be used to rule out almost anything.

Overall, we’d prefer a host to have an uptime guarantee, but if this doesn’t happen, it’s not a disaster. We’ll look at our own and other measurements of uptime, instead, and in our experience Bluehost scores very well.

Where are Bluehost’s data centers?

Bluehost has local data centers for its various regions – USA, India, China – but your site is automatically assigned to the nearest location when you sign up. Buy at bluehost.com and your website is hosted in Bluehost’s USA data center, for instance; use bluehost.in and it’s hosted in India.

For comparison, GoDaddy has data centers in North America, India, Singapore and Europe, and you’re able to choose which data center to use for each hosting plan. That can be an advantage, as it gives you a better chance of hosting your website close to its main audience, improving download speeds.

What is my Bluehost IP address?

Finding your website server’s IP address can be handy, especially if you need to point a domain hosted elsewhere to your website.

There’s no single way to manage this on Bluehost – it depends on your product and control panel – but if your plan has access to cPanel, it only takes a moment.

Log into your Bluehost account dashboard (my.bluehost.com).

Click Advanced in the left-hand sidebar.

Browse the General Information box on the right. The server IP address is displayed as ‘Shared IP address.’ (If you don’t see a General Information box, look for and click a Server Information link).

What are Bluehost’s nameservers?

Bluehost’s nameservers are:

ns1.bluehost.com 162.88.60.37
ns2.bluehost.com 162.88.61.37

If you need more help, the support site has several useful articles on nameservers and DNS

How do I cancel a Bluehost product?

Log into your Bluehost control panel (my.bluehost.com).

Click the account icon top right (it’ll have your initials in a circle) and select My Products.

Find the plan you’d like to cancel, click the More icon to its right (three dots in a vertical line) and select Renewal Options.

Choose Manual Renew and you won’t be charged again. Your subscription will expire at the end of its term.

If you think there’s a chance you might want to cancel a plan, make the decision as early as you can. Bluehost’s auto-renewal scheme takes your money 15 days before the plan expires, so if you leave this to the last minute, there’s a good chance you’ll be too late.

Check out the latest Bluehost promo codes.

Bluehost deals



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Product Reviews

IPRoyal review 2022 | TechRadar

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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

A global proxy provider for individual and business use established in 2020, IPRoyal has grown to offer infrastructure to over 10,000 businesses around the world. What started out as an IPv4 and IPv6 address leasing business is now a full-fledged proxy service provider for a wide array of clientele, ranging from individual developers to startups to data teams to enterprises.

Currently, the platform bestows access to residential, mobile, and datacenter proxies, with locations in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and more. It includes more than 650 tools and software integrations, and has so far provided over 98,000 petabytes (PB) of data traffic for its clients.

IPRoyal: Plans and Pricing

    IPRoyal subscription options:

  • 1 month plan – $1 per month ($1 total cost)

IPRoyal offers different proxy types and pricing plans. Users can choose among residential proxies, ISP providers, datacenter proxies, and mobile proxies, each with their own particular characteristics and perks.

You can purchase residential proxies either on a pay-as-you-go basis or as a subscription (with a 5% discount in this case). Pricing is based on the amount of traffic you want, which begins at 2 GB and costs $6.25 per GB. The more GBs you take, the lower the price goes per GB, so 10,000 GB is priced at $1.84 per GB.

The pricing for ISP proxies (previously called static residential proxies) is based on the plan duration and the number of proxy locations you require, whereas the traffic is unlimited. For instance, 24 hours of one proxy will set you back by $2, while adding another location brings the price up to $4.60, and three months of one address cost $3.60/month ($2.70/month/address if more than one).

Datacenter proxies have 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day subscriptions, and a one-month access to one proxy is $1.80. As is the case with ISP plans, this offering also includes better discounts with lengthier plans and more numerous proxy addresses. There are also bundle-based plans with their own specifics and discounted prices, but the traffic is unlimited, whichever you choose.

Finally, mobile proxies (supporting 5G, 4G, 3G, and LTE), arranged by the location and provider (e.g., T-Mobile and Verizon for the U.S., Orange for Spain, and so on) and rotating automatically every six minutes, are also priced according to the plan duration and the number of locations. Bandwidth and sessions are unrestricted.

Although IPRoyal doesn’t offer a free trial, it does give access to its trial proxies so you can test its features before deciding. If unsatisfied after paying, you can request a refund or a replacement, but this has to happen within a short 24-hour window, which is a lot shorter compared to some of the competition.

IPRoyal supports payment using credit cards, over 25 cryptocurrencies, PayPal, Google Pay, and Alipay.

IPRoyal: Features

Accessing IPRoyal’s features starts with creating an account. You can sign up with your email address or use an existing Google or LinkedIn account. You’ll be redirected to your dashboard after registration, where you can access these features:

Residential IPs

Residential proxies are sourced from real devices across the globe. Every internet-connected device has a unique IP address, and people agree to contribute their IP addresses to IPRoyal’s network for a benefit, e.g., a VPN subscription. As an IPRoyal user, you can then use one of these IP addresses to surf the web and bypass geographical restrictions.

IPRoyal offers roughly 34 million IPs, of which residential proxies constitute the majority (32 million). The countries with the largest available residential IPs are the U.S. (1.4 million), the U.K. (422,000), and Germany (439,000). You can choose an IP address by country, state, and city, making it easy to protect your anonymity and bypass geographical and IP restrictions.

Suppose you run a flight deals website that frequently scrapes prices from airlines’ websites. Many airlines don’t like external data scraping, so they use geographical and IP restrictions to block it. For example, website admins identify IP addresses used by scraping bots and block them from further access. In that case, IPRoyal’s residential proxies let you circumvent this block.

You can choose an endless list of proxies to scrape data from external websites. If one gets blocked, choose another and continue your scraping activity. Residential proxies also hide your online identity and prevent third-party tracking. As far as a website is concerned, your device is browsing from whichever IP proxy you use and not the actual location. You could be in the U.S. and surf the web with a German IP address.

During our test, IPRoyal’s residential proxies provided a reliable and fast internet connection. We noticed no slowdown compared to browsing without a proxy IP address. The dashboard provided detailed insights on our proxy usage, including bandwidth and speed.

ISP proxies

IPRoyal now also offers a wide selection of ISP proxies across over 30 countries, with 100% dedicated IPs, unlimited traffic, HTTPS and SOCKS5 support, speeds of up to 10 Gbps, and highly customizable plans. Users can select a specific number of proxies starting from a single IP.

After funding your account, you can select the exact number of proxies you need for the offered duration – 1, 30, 60, and 90 days – in your user dashboard on the IPRoyal website. Besides selecting the duration, number of proxies, and their location, you have the option to list extra requirements for an additional fee.

Once set up, you’ll be able to see your ISP proxies’ orders and their status in your online dashboard, filter them for easier navigation, or search through them based on the notes you left. Clicking the Details button for a specific confirmed order will take you to the configuration page for those particular proxies.

Upon testing, there were some problems with erroneous rerouting of certain proxies to wrong locations (like choosing a Portugal IP address and getting a UK one). Thankfully, the IPRoyal staff was helpful and quick to act, so we got the correct location not long after contacting them. That said, some users have reported not getting proper assistance with similar issues.

(Image credit: IPRoyal)

Mobile Proxies

IPRoyal offers a network of 2.5 million+ IP addresses from real mobile devices. These IPs mask your IP address for data scraping, ad verification, social media management, and many other use cases.

Mobile proxies work like typical residential IPs on IPRoyal. You can choose proxies from a specific country, state, or city, a specific mobile carrier (Vodafone, Orange, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.) and a network type (3G, 4G, or 5G). You can auto-rotate mobile proxies or do that manually by clicking a button.

The mobile proxies were notably fast during our test, with up to 100 Mbps download speeds. Your monthly IPRoyal mobile slot subscription grants access to the entire pool of 2.5 million+ IPs with unlimited rotation.

Mobile proxies are particularly useful for social media management and research. Most social networks like Facebook and Instagram have strict limitations on the number of accounts users can create on a single device. You can bypass these limitations with IPRoyal’s massive pool of mobile proxies. Your device’s real location stays hidden, and the social media platform assumes it’s another device because of its proxy IP address. Hence, it doesn’t flag your accounts.

You can manage as many social media accounts as possible with mobile proxies. You can also create many social accounts for research purposes, e.g., an academic study, without being flagged.

Datacenter Proxies

IPRoyal runs a network of IPv4 and IPv6 proxy servers that provide unlimited bandwidth for end users. These datacenter proxies are sourced from secondary corporations rather than internet service providers (ISPs). They provide much higher browsing speeds than residential and mobile proxies. The drawback is that they’re easier for websites to detect. But even if that happens, you can spin up a new one and continue your online activities.

Image 1 of 1

(Image credit: IPRoyal)

On IPRoyal, you have access to datacenter proxies in roughly 40 countries, unlike residential IPs available in 195 countries. Datacenter proxies cost more for IPRoyal to obtain, so their limited availability is understandable.

You can connect to IPRoyal’s proxy servers via the HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS5 protocols. During our test, they offered first-rate speed and performance with no downtime. IPRoyal places no bandwidth or session limits on proxy IPs, making them ideal for bandwidth-intensive use cases like data scraping, online streaming, content downloads, and app testing.

Browser extension

IPRoyal offers a browser extension that makes deploying and managing proxies easier. Instead of frequently logging into your dashboard to choose new proxies, you can use the extension to switch with a click. The proxy add-on is available on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

IPRoyal has an intuitive, user-friendly dashboard (Image credit: IPRoyal)

These browser extensions offer all-in-one proxy management. You can create distinct profiles for different proxies and switch between them with a single click. Each profile can have a single proxy or use different proxy IPs for specific traffic types (HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP). You can assign a backup proxy to ensure your internet access remains secure if your current proxy fails.

The browser extension doesn’t only work with IPRoyal’s proxy IPs. You can use it to manage IP addresses from other proxy providers your organization uses.

We’ve talked much about IPRoyal’s features, but there’s a crucial feature it lacks: web scraping APIs. Many proxy providers offer APIs that let users automate data scraping tasks. Users set a target website and the type of data they want to scrape. Then, the API scrapes the data to present in a tabular format. Unfortunately, you won’t find web scraping APIs on IPRoyal, so you’ll need an external platform for automated data scraping.

IPRoyal: Ease of Use

One of IPRoyal’s strengths is its high level of user-friendliness. Users get an intuitive dashboard to manage their proxies and other complementary tools. All features are neatly arranged in the left-hand menu, whereas on the right, you can gain access to the main menu. The interface is visually pleasing and easy to navigate, and you can select between light theme, dark theme, or the automatic theme that matches your browser settings.

IPRoyal has an intuitive, user-friendly dashboard (Image credit: IPRoyal)

IPRoyal’s browser extension (for Chrome and Firefox) also contributes to its ease of use. It lets you manage proxies regardless of the web page you’re currently on. Usually, you’ll need to open your IPRoyal dashboard to do this, but the extension removes this requirement. That said, you must first set up proxies on your IPRoyal dashboard before you can manage them via the browser extension.

IPRoyal: Customer Support

IPRoyal offers direct email and live chat support. You can open a chat support ticket from your dashboard or send a support email and expect a response within 24 hours. IPRoyal’s support staff was reliable during our test and answered our inquiries speedily. The drawback is that IPRoyal does not offer a telephone support option.

Users can access complementary support resources, including a FAQ page, user guides, and extensive technical documentation. The website’s “Docs” section provides detailed information about all features, making it the ideal first place to consult when facing challenges. If you don’t find a solution in the documentation or FAQ section, you can seek direct help.

IPRoyal: The Competition

The proxy software market is very competitive. IPRoyal has numerous competitors, and we’d like to highlight Webshare, Oxylabs, and Bright Data. These platforms have pros and cons compared to IPRoyal.

Webshare offers a network of 30 million+ residential and datacenter proxy IPs, slightly less than IPRoyal’s 34 million. Residential IPs constitute the majority of Webshare’s network, just like IPRoyal. Users have an intuitive dashboard and a browser extension to manage their proxies, just like IPRoyal. Webshare differentiates itself by being more affordable than IPRoyal and offering a free-forever 10-proxy plan.

Oxylabs has a massive network of 100 million proxy IPs, nearly triple that of IPRoyal. This broader network provides users with more redundancy and reliability. Oxylabs provides web scraping APIs and ready-made datasets, two features lacking in IPRoyal. We consider it a much better proxy provider than IPRoyal, albeit a more expensive one.

Bright Data has a robust network of 72 million+ IPs, more than double IPRoyal’s network. It offers a broader selection of residential, ISP, mobile, and datacenter proxies for data scraping. Bright Data also offers APIs for automated data scraping and pre-built datasets, which IPRoyal doesn’t have. Overall, we consider Bright Data a better proxy provider for enterprises, but IPRoyal is a more affordable solution we’d recommend for individuals and small businesses.

IPRoyal: Final verdict

IPRoyal has a reputation as a reliable proxy provider for individual and business use, and for a few very good reasons. It not only provides a robust and plentiful proxy network, but also friendly and capable customer support, as well as affordable and customizable pricing plans.

While it may lack some features you’ll see in rival platforms, such as a more extensive network and web scraping APIs, its proxies have low block rates, and some of them rotate automatically. This makes web scraping almost equally easy as if you were using an API.

Its user-friendliness and low entry cost make IPRoyal an ideal platform for individuals and small businesses seeking an affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use proxy provider with premium customer support available at all times.

To find out more, see our guide to the best proxies available. You might also like to read our guide to sneaker proxies, or find out the difference between residential and datacenter proxies.



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Product Reviews

Network Solutions review | TechRadar

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Network Solutions was launched in 1979 as one of the first companies to provide DNS (domain name system) technology. Since then, it has developed to provide many more services, all related to web hosting. Today they provide “all you need, in one place”, that is: domain names and various hosting options with a whole variety of features and accessible applications including a page builder. The company is headquartered in the US, with its main office located in Herndon and its data center situated somewhere in North America.

In 2011, Network Solutions was acquired by Web.com Group, one of the leading web technology companies that provided services to millions of customers all over the world. Then, in 2021 web.com merged with EIG to become Newfold Digital. Later, in 2025 Newfold Digital consolidated brands and absorbed web.com into Network Solutions.

So, it’s fair to say Network Solutions has had a long and varied life changing hands and merging more than most hosts. Is this Network Solution’s final form? Who knows but one thing is certain. It’s not staying power.

You’ll have to opt for the Premium plan in order to get an SSL Certificate (Image credit: Future)

Is Network Solutions good value for money?

Network Solutions’ Starter Plan is perfect for businesses just getting started. This plan costs only $2.99 per month for the first year and includes 10 GB of disk space, 1 website, and five email boxes. You also get 25 FTP accounts, a drag and drop page builder, and unlimited bandwidth.

For $4.99 per month, the Essential Plan gives you even more features than the Starter Plan. It includes 20 GB of disk space, 3 websites, 1,000 email boxes, and a domain name included in your package (for one year). If your business needs more than the Essential Plan provides, consider Network Solutions Premium Plan. This plan covers all of the features of the Essential plan plus 40 GB disk space and supports 10 websites for $6.99 for the first year.

Is Network Solutions easy to use?

Because Network Solutions doesn’t exactly have a myriad of hosting options, picking out a preferred plan shouldn’t be a time-consuming decision. The first thing you’ll need to know is if you want a simpler cloud-based solution or a WordPress-optimized one. For the most part, together with these hosting packages, you’ll be getting email services as well. If not (and you want them), digging a bit more around the website will take you to a few email hosting solutions as well.

Network Solutions is a decent choice for anyone looking for an easy-to-use web hosting service with sufficient features. Not only does it offer a good range of benefits such as domain registration, design tools, email hosting, marketing tools, and more but its user interface is also incredibly intuitive and simple to navigate whether you’re a novice or an experienced user. 

Network Solutions offers a drag-and-drop website builder in addition to its web hosting plans (Image credit: Network Solutions)

All plans come with a proprietary control panel, which isn’t as user friendly as some industry-standard alternatives, but we managed to find our way around. From there, most of the famous apps can be yours after a click or two (WordPress, Joomla, Durpal and so on) and all developers out there will be glad to hear that a whole variety of website development features are supported as well (PHP5, Python, Ruby on Rails, Java Servlets, Zend Libraries and much more). A number of e-commerce features (and all-inclusive ecommerce solution) are available for purchase, as well as a competent drag-and-drop website builder.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our Network Solutions site (Image credit: GTmetrix)

Speed and experience

When trying to convince us of the superiority of their services, Network Solutions brings up their “reliable” uptime with the guarantee of 99.9%, live tech support and flexible hosting plans, without any promises regarding the speed. Not knowing what to expect, we tested the speed performance of Network Solutions’ main website using GTmetrix as a tool. It placed the website’s speed performance above the average with the conclusive result of B (85%), which is quite good.

We decided to test the uptime of Network Solutions’ main website by using UptimeRobot and see if we’re going to take advantage of the guarantees they provided us with. After a month of constant monitoring, UptimeRobot reported a few occasions of downtime, with the longest one lasting for 19 minutes straight. However, the total of downtime was around 42 minutes. This means the total recorded uptime was 99.917% and that Network Solutions managed to deliver on their promises by a whisker.

While this isn’t a true reflection of the speeds you can expect from your site on shared hosting, it is a good indicator of how reliable and powerful Network Solutions’ infrastructure is.

Network Solutions has a searchable Help Center (Image credit: Network Solutions)

Help and support

The first help options you’ll probably notice with Network Solutions are their telephone number (which is advised to be used for urgent matters only) and “Contact us” button that will present you with a few ways to help yourself. Their knowledgebase (titled as “Help Center”) can be browsed with the help of a search box or you can pick out some of the preselected categories. There seems to be a decent number of articles which are mostly written in an easy-to-follow way (often with pictures) and rated by users with a five-star rating system. 

If you would rather rely on support agents from Network Solutions’ technical team, you can get in touch with them via support ticket, live chat and telephone, all of which ought to be available around-the-clock.

Network Solutions features a community forum, where its registered users (we assume, since trying to proceed without registration made us hit the dead end) can seek answers to their questions, answer questions from other users or leave feedback for others to see. However, when we tried to register, not a single one from dozens of display names (and some were quite original) was deemed acceptable (the only explanation we got was “Name you entered is already in use”, which doesn’t seem to be the case), so we can’t report anything more than this.

The competition

Bluehost is also one of those hosts that will provide their users with everything need but also have servers in Europe and Asia. Even so, Bluehost provides a great value for money and offers (unlike Network Solutions) VPS hosting, managed WordPress and dedicated server in addition to basics, so it is better suited for more ambitious users.

HostGator can provide you with everything Network Solutions can and go beyond that, and we are not thinking about hosting types only. The entry-level (adorably named “Hatchling”) plan with HostGator includes a domain name, website transfer, unmetered bandwidth and SSL certificate, all cost-free. In comparison, Network Solutions’ elementary plan has less bonus features to attract new users with.

Both of those brands are also owned by Newfold Digital. If you wanted to look outside of that group you could also consider Hostinger.

Is Network Solutions right for you? 

Since it was founded at the end of the disco era, Network Solutions certainly knows how to get groovy with its hosting packages, offering a great deal of helpful tools to get your website down with a boogie in no time. 

When deciding on a web hosting service, there are many factors to consider such as price point, customer service availability, and uptime guarantee. Network Solutions offers all these features in one package, making them a great option for anyone who wants reliable web hosting without breaking the bank. 

Network Solutions FAQs

Does Network Solutions support WordPress?

The short answer is yes. Network Solutions supports WordPress, which means you can create a fully functioning website with ease. The service includes auto-installers so that you don’t have to worry about installing WordPress manually or dealing with complex server configurations. You also get access to hundreds of themes so you can customize your site with ease, as well as numerous plugins that further extend the functionality of your online presence.

What is Network Solutions used for?

Network Solutions can be used for much more than just hosting websites and registering domains. The service also offers support for email services, online stores, SSL certificates, marketing, and SEO tools.



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Product Reviews

Web.com review | TechRadar

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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Web.com was founded in 1999 and worked its way to become one of the leading web hosting technology companies, as well as one of the largest providers of online marketing services in the USA. It was a part of the Web.com Group which also owned a whole portfolio of brands including Network Solutions and Register.com. Their main aim was (or so they claim) to “help customers of all sizes build an online presence that delivers results”.

In 2021 web.com merged with Endurance Web Presence resulting in a new company Newfold Digital. Then, in 2025 web.com was absorbed by Network Solutions.

I’ve left this review up for posterity and for those that are not yet in the loop. This review will no longer be updated and eventually it will be redirected to Network Solutions.

Plans and pricing

    Web.com subscription options:

  • 12 month plan – $2.99 per month ($35.88 total cost)

Web.com services aim to cover all the bases when it comes to hosting, website design and the problem of security. Besides shared hosting, they provide domain registration (and transfer) services, their own website builder and WordPress-optimized hosting (managed and unmanaged).

At first, the pricing seems cheap and cheerful, but if you decide to dig a bit deeper you’ll reveal that the displayed price is valid for the first month only. From the second month onward, the price will be more than doubled and if you haven’t read everything through and through, you might feel like you’ve been played for a fool. For instance, the cheapest hosting package (labeled as “Essential Hosting”) is priced at $5.95 per month, yet this goes for the first month only and the second one is going to cost you $14.95, which is a broad daylight robbery in comparison. Well, at least you should get a “free” domain name registration with every package in addition to their beginner-friendly website builder.

As for supported payment methods, they accept all major credit/debit cards and PayPal. If you are wondering about their refund policy, they are rather rigorous about not providing any, although you can cancel their services at any time.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Web.com gives you access to a website builder and even an online store (Image credit: Web.com)

Ease of use

To kick off your website, you’ll first have to decide which is the right hosting solution for you and whether you want to build your website by yourself (there are several ways to do so) or you would rather put it in the hands of experts (by opting for the “Build It For Me” option). If the latter is the one you want, you should schedule a call with Web.com’s team to get a consultation on the matter (at no cost).

Anyhow (sooner or later), you’ll have to pick out a plan and, since they are well presented, this should be as easy as anything. If you are new to all this, the FAQ section below might be of some help. After adding this plan to the cart, you’ll be asked (as expected) to register a new domain (all of them are free for a year, except for “.co”) or use the one you possess. However, keep in mind that after the renewal period your domain can cost you up to $38 per year, which is a handsome sum of money. There, you can apply a promotional code (if you are lucky to have one), enter your name,e-mail address and password and proceed to create your Web.com’s account.

With all shared hosting packages, Web.com provides its users with an access to cPanel, which is great news. Thanks to its intuitive and beginner friendly interface and one-click installer (for about 25 open-source applications), your website will be on fire in a heartbeat. If you haven’t had much experience with coding and yet you want to develop your website by yourself, Web.com offers a newbie-friendly drag-and-drop website builder which should do the trick.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our Web.com site (Image credit: GTmetrix)

Speed and experience

Although Web.com is quite keen on presenting itself in the best possible light, it (curiously) doesn’t emphasize blazing speed performance as one of its greatest assets. Nevertheless, after putting Web.com’s main website to the test, we learned that they have nothing to worry about concerning this. After taking into account all of the vital web metrics, GTmetrix (our speed testing tool) rated speed performance of Web.com’s website with a B (95%), which is a pretty good result.

Web.com promises an industry-standard uptime of 99.9%. However, after consistent monitoring of Web.com’s main website for a month we got a less favorable outcome resulting in 99.83%. There were four instances of downtime and together they lasted for 67 minutes, the longest one persisting for 28 minutes straight. Although this is not the most dreadful performance we’ve seen, it’s needless to say that we were hoping for better results.

Web.com has an extensive Online Help Center that offers similar functionality to a knowledgebase (Image credit: Web.com)

Support

If you find yourself in need of help, proceed to Web.com‘s “Online Help Center”, which has familiar functionality of a knowledgebase. There, the articles are sorted out into eight fitting categories and each of them is rated by a system involving stars, from one to five. Most of these are beginner-oriented and offer solutions to various potential problems described in great detail, more often with pictures than without. Using the search box should get you a good deal of hits, although a number of them might be rather loosely connected to the actual problem.

As an addition, there is a FAQ section on Web.com‘s site for each product type presented and it provides some helpful insight for all the newcomers.

As a more human-centered alternative, you can reach out to Web.com’s technical team via telephone, ticket and live chat, all of which should be available day-and-night. Other than that, you can get in touch with them via text messages on Facebook and Twitter, which is a nice touch for all the users out there.

The competition

As children of the same parent company, Network Solutions and Web.com are somewhat similar. Both try to be accessible to new users and offer some affordable hosting solutions without the need for compromising the quality. That being said, Web.com gives its users an access to cPanel (probably the user-friendliest solution of its kind out there), while Network Solutions doesn’t, so the choice might be up to that.

Both Bluehost and Web.com have packages aimed at new users in particular, and pretty good ones to boot.  Nevertheless, if you’re looking to save some bucks, Bluehost is a better choice, since its entry-level plan goes for $2.95 per month, while it is $5.95 with Web.com. However, if you fail to read about the renewal rates after the promotional period, both hosts might make you jump out of your skin.

While both HostGator and Web.com are more than able to cover everything needed to launch a small business, HostGator can do the same for medium-sized businesses as well. In addition to shared hosting, it provides several options for reseller, VPS and dedicated servers, which is a must-have for a growing business.

WestHost is a fellow US-based web hosting provider with more than two decades of experience in the industry. The smallest plans with both of them are beyond budget-friendly at start (especially WestHost’s entry-level plan which is going for $0.99 at the moment), but they will raise the price after the promotional period to its fullest capacity. Even so, Web.com’s starter plan (which comes as no surprise) puts less restriction on its features and throws in a free domain registration to even the odds.  

Final verdict

At the end of the day, Web.com is pleasantly honest in not trying to be something more than it actually is. Their hosting solutions are primarily aimed at newcomers, which they try to supply with everything it takes so they can quickly kickstart their website across the virtual web highway. Hence, if you consider yourself one of them, Web.com’s hosting packages might provide you with a good value for money.

However, if you have bigger plans for your website (or are determined to save some money for the rainy days), your dream website might find a forever home with more celebrated companies like Hostgator, Bluehost or GoDaddy.



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Product Reviews

Windscribe VPN review | TechRadar

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Windscribe is one of the best all-rounders in the VPN market. It’s got some handy privacy-boosting tools, the speeds you need to enjoy HD streaming, and apps for pretty much every platform out there. So, even though it can’t quite match up to today’s best VPNs, it’s still worth checking out if you’re on the hunt for something new.

During our hands-on testing, we were impressed by Windscribe’s core features and unblocking power, but we did run into issues with its UI. So, to help you figure out if Windscribe is your match made in heaven, we put its approach to privacy, server network, and overall value for money to the test. Keep reading, and let’s dig in.

Features

    Windscribe subscription options:

  • 1 month plan – $9 per month ($9 total cost)

Windscribe boasts a generous spread of servers across 69 countries, and 134 cities, all over the world. That’s a decent spread that’ll suit most people’s geo-spoofing needs, but it’s worth noting that NordVPN has it beat with coverage in 118 countries.

There’s a Windscribe for every device out there, too, which is exactly what we like to see from today’s most modern providers. Windscribe is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux, with feature and UI parity remaining consistent across all of its apps. Plus, if you’re looking for a more lightweight option that still packs a privacy-boosting punch, there are also browser extensions available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

In terms of VPN protocols, Windscribe ticks all the right boxes, offering a choice between IKEv2, OpenVPN, and WireGuard. Industry-standard AES-256 encryption also ensures that your web traffic is kept safe from cybercriminals and snoopers, while stealth technologies try to obfuscate your VPN usage, perhaps allowing you to get online even in countries that actively block VPN traffic.

ROBERT is Windscribe’s DNS-backed tool to help users block ads, malware, trackers and more (Image credit: Windscribe)

The powerful apps look great and are easy to use for beginners but also include many advanced features including split tunneling (on the desktop as well as mobile devices), MAC address spoofing (a clever way to reduce the chance of being tracked), versatile auto-connect rules, full IPv6 support, and even a command line interface to automate the VPN from scripts.

ROBERT is Windscribe’s DNS-based tool for blocking ads, malware, trackers, and various internet content types like gambling, porn, fake news, clickbait, and so on. How effective is it? We’ll take a look later.

There’s no 24/7 support but Windscribe does have a decent web knowledge base and a helpful support chatbot. You can raise a ticket if you need more advice, and in our experience, replies are detailed and helpful.

New features include Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) that can bypass SNI filtering so others can’t try to view or maybe block the domains you’re trying to access.

While many VPNs offer no control over DNS at all, Windscribe allows you to define which DNS to use when the VPN is connected or disconnected. The latest addition includes support for DNS-over-HTTPS, and as Windscribe also runs Control D (a very configurable DNS service, with a free plan) we expect to see more related features appear over time.

The Android app has a new ‘Decoy Mode’ which is an interesting privacy feature (Image credit: Windscribe)

In addition to paid plans, Windscribe also offers a very generous free plan (Image credit: Windscribe)

Windscribe pricing

Windscribe’s free plan offers a generous 10GB of data transfer a month if you register with your email address, and 2GB if you don’t. You’re limited to 11 countries – North America, across Europe, and Hong Kong – but that’s still far better than some (Hotspot Shield and a few others don’t give you any choice of locations at all).

Upgrading to a commercial plan gets you unlimited data and access to all 110 locations.

One of our favorite things about Windscribe is the fact that it gives users unlimited simultaneous connections to play with. So, if you have a lot of devices you need to protect, or want to share your account with friends and family, you only need to pick up a single subscription. It’s great value for money that you don’t see everywhere.

Prices are fair. Monthly billing is only $9 – many VPNs charge $10-$13. Pay for a year upfront and the price falls to an equivalent $5.75. That’s not cheap but it’s within the range we expect for a premium VPN, and it’s still far lower than some. ExpressVPN and Hide.me both ask $8.32 a month on the annual plan, NordVPN charges $8.29 from the second year.

If low prices are top of your priority list, though, there’s money to be saved elsewhere. As we write this, Private Internet Access has a three-year plan that’s only $2.03 a month for the first term, while Ivacy’s five-year offering is only $1 a month. Sure, we don’t like long-term contracts either, but look at the totals. Hand over $69 to Windscribe and you get one year of protection. Give Ivacy $60 and you’re covered for five.

Windscribe does offer a ‘Build a Plan’ scheme that cuts costs by allowing you to buy only the locations you need for $1 each. Each location adds 10GB to your free bandwidth allowance, and your plan must have a minimum of two locations.

For example, providing your email address gets you 10GB of data a month. Add the US and UK locations, and you’ll get 30GB of data for $2 a month. You can upgrade to unlimited data for another $1, or a total of just $3 a month, and that’s billed monthly. No need to sign up for years.

If you only use a VPN for occasional short trips, say, that looks like a great deal. Surfshark’s monthly-billed plan is more than four times as expensive at $13, for instance – okay, that’s the full service with all the locations, but if you don’t need them, who cares?

Another option, ScribeForce, enables signing up a group of users (a business, a family) with the same account. There’s a five-user minimum, but you’ll pay just $3 each, billed monthly, for access to the full and unrestricted service.

Unusual add-ons include static IP addresses. Adding a US or Canadian residential IP costs $8 a month (data center IPs are $2) and could greatly improve your chances of accessing any blocked sites, and enable connecting to IP-restricted business and other networks. Once you have a static IP, you can also enable port forwarding in the Windscribe web console.

Whatever your preference, Windscribe supports payments via card, PayPal, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies via CoinPayments.net, along with gift cards and assorted other options via Paymentwall.

Windscribe doesn’t have the lowest headline prices, then, but it’s fairly priced for the features on offer, and there are huge savings to be made if you’re covering multiple users.

There is a small catch in Windscribe’s money-back guarantee, which only covers you for three days and if you’ve used less than 10GB of traffic. So, if you think that might be an issue, download and try the free version before you buy to make sure it delivers what you need.

Windscribe protects your privacy with AES-256 encryption and doesn’t keep logs (Image credit: Windscribe)

Privacy and logging

Windscribe’s privacy features include strong AES-256 encryption, SHA512 authentication, a 4096-bit RSA key, and support for perfect forward secrecy (keys aren’t re-used, so even if a snooper gets hold of a private key, it will only allow them to view data within one session).

The apps use multiple techniques to reduce the chance of data leaks, including redirecting DNS requests through the tunnel to be handled by the VPN server, and optionally using a firewall to block all internet access if the connection drops.

We checked Windscribe’s performance on a Windows 10 system using the websites IPLeak, DNSLeakTest, and DoILeak and found no DNS or other leaks.

Windscribe claims its ROBERT DNS filter can protect your privacy by blocking trackers, but how well does it work? We connected to our nearest server, then tried accessing 156 common trackers, and ROBERT blocked 147. That’s one of the best results we’ve seen. ROBERT did even better at keeping us away from malicious sites, and the ad blocker scored an excellent 93% (most VPN ad blockers managed 40-90%.)

We enabled the Windows app’s firewall (similar to a kill switch) and began using various tricks to forcibly close the VPN connection and see what happened.

We found the app didn’t display a notification to warn that we’d been disconnected. If it wasn’t able to reconnect immediately, that might leave the user with no internet, and no idea why.

This situation probably won’t last long, though, as the app tries to reconnect as soon as it spots the problem, and we were typically online again within a few seconds. This may be a small usability issue, but in privacy terms, the client worked perfectly, handling every oddball situation we threw at it and always protecting our traffic.

Windscribe’s stance on logging is covered in a clearly written and refreshingly short privacy policy which explains what the company does and doesn’t collect.

There’s a tiny amount of very minimal long-term logging, but it’s limited to the total bandwidth you’ve used in a month (essential to manage usage on the free plan), and a timestamp of your last activity on the service to allow identifying inactive accounts.

The system collects some connection details – username, VPN server connected to, time of connection, bandwidth used during the session, number of devices connected – but these are held in the VPN server’s RAM only, and are lost when the session closes.

Other than that, there is no logging of connections, IPs, timestamps or browsing history. Or as the privacy policy puts it, ‘we do not store any logs on who used what IP address, so we cannot tie user activity to any single user.’

Here is some of the data from Windscribe’s transparency report (Image credit: Windscribe)

As there is no data on your activities, Windscribe points out that there’s nothing to share. This is backed up by a transparency report which covers the numbers of DMCA and Law Enforcement data requests over the year, and in both cases states that: ‘Exactly zero requests were complied with due to lack of relevant data.’

This is all good, but we would like to see Windscribe go further. Many VPNs have had their systems publicly audited to check for logging or other privacy issues, and that gives far more reassurance to potential customers than comforting words on a website. We hope that Windscribe (and all other VPN providers for that matter) will soon do the same.

In June 2023, Windscribe’s Co-Founder and CEO, Yegor Sak, was hit with a lawsuit in connection with alleged offences committed by an unknown user. Fast forward to April 2025, and the case was dismissed in court due to a lack of evidence, becoming a landmark victory for no-log VPNs as law enforcement bodies increasingly pressure VPNs to keep lawfully accessible records of user records.

In the meantime, it’s worth remembering that Windscribe gives you 2GB of data per month, for free, without requiring an email address or any other personal data. If you’re just looking to protect email and basic browsing, and can live with the data limit, this automatically gets you more guaranteed anonymity than you’ll have with almost everyone else.

Speed testing is an important part of any VPN review (Image credit: Speedtest.net)

Performance

We put Windscribe’s performance to the test using a 10 GB line and a local UK-based server. We then measured download speeds using benchmarking services including SpeedTest (both the website and command line app), Cloudflare, Measurement Lab, and more. We ran each test using at least two protocols and in both morning and evening sessions.

Windscribe’s WireGuard speeds are, in a word, awesome. The VPN clocked in at 840 Mbps – making it one of the fastest providers in our most recent round of testing, beating the likes of PIA and ExpressVPN (using the Lightway protocol).

OpenVPN speeds tend to be a little slower than their WireGuard counterparts, primarily because the protocol isn’t as streamlined and efficient. It’s made up of more lines of code, too.

So, it wasn’t a huge surprise when we saw Windscribe clock in at 368 Mbps using OpenVPN. It’s not a chart-topping performance, as ExpressVPN and Surfshark were both faster, but you’ll still have no trouble checking out HD streams or enjoying stable torrenting.

We can only measure the speeds for our test locations, of course, and you may see different results. If performance is a top priority for you, using the free version gives you the chance to check local speeds (from the 11 free locations) without as much as handing over your email address.

Alternatively, Windscribe’s ‘Build A Plan’ option could give you a month of unlimited traffic to a couple of locations for only $3, a low-priced way to run all the intensive speed testing you need.

Windscribe was able to unblock Netflix for all but one of the regions we tried (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix and streaming

Plenty of today’s biggest and best streaming platforms geo-restrict their content – meaning the shows you love won’t be available if you head overseas on vacation or for work. Luckily, VPNs like Windscribe can help you regain access by geo-spoofing your location. All you need to do is connect to a server back home.

However, some platforms are cracking down on VPN usage, blocking IP addresses known to belong to VPN services. It’s why only the best VPNs, and the ones that frequently refresh their IP address pool, actually work as streaming VPNs.

To put Windscribe’s unblocking powers to the test, we first threw it at a selection of Netflix libraries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan libraries. We’re happy to report that it worked like a charm every time.

The good news continued. We had no trouble tuning into Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Channel 5, and Australian services 9Now and 10 Play.

The only hiccup we encountered happened when we attempted to check out Prime Video. The site sniffed out our VPN usage and refused to display any streaming content until we relented and switched Windscribe off. This isn’t a deal-breaker in our books, but it is something to keep in mind if a lot of the content you love is exclusive to the platform.

Failing only one of our test sites is a very impressive result. If only a 100% track record will do, though, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, PureVPN, and Surfshark all unblocked every one of our test services in their last review.

Windscribe fully supports P2P and torrenting (Image credit: BitTorrent)

Torrents

VPN providers generally don’t boast about their torrent support, and it can be a challenge to figure out what you’re allowed to do. TunnelBear was so quiet about its P2P policy that we had to email tech support to ask.

Windscribe is much more open and transparent. Just point your browser at the company’s Status page and you’ll see its full list of locations, which of them support P2P (most) and which of them don’t (India, Lithuania, Russia, and South Africa, at the time of writing).

Your options are just as clear in the Windscribe apps. Locations where torrents aren’t allowed are marked with the same crossed-out ‘P2P’, but select anything else and you can download whatever and whenever you like.

We don’t like to take a provider’s website promises for granted, even when they’re from a VPN we trust, so we tried downloading torrents from three P2P-approved servers. Everything ran smoothly, and our downloads completed with no connection or performance issues at all.

Factor in Windscribe’s free plan and various anonymous payment options (cryptocurrencies, gift cards), along with its decent performance levels, and the company makes a great torrenting choice.

Windscribe offers clients for most major platforms (Image credit: Windscribe)

Client setup

Tapping the ‘Get Started’ button on the Windscribe site took us to the Download page. The website detected and highlighted the best choice for our laptop – the Windows client and Chrome extension – but there were also links to downloads for Mac, Android, and iOS, extensions for Firefox and Edge. Plus guides to cover setup on routers, Linux, Kodi, Amazon Fire TV, and other devices.

Still not enough? No problem. Paying customers get tools to build custom configuration files for OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2. These can be used to manually set up connections with third-party apps, routers, and more.

Installing the Windows app is easy. You’re able to create an account just by entering a username and password, which gets you 2GB of data a month. Hand over your email, too, and you get 10GB. Tweet about Windscribe, just once, and you get an excellent 15GB a month forever (not just a one-off.)

To put all that in perspective, TunnelBear’s generosity stops with a 2GB monthly data allowance, and Avira Phantom VPN’s free package gives you a tiny 500MB.

Windscribe’s Windows app features a smartly designed interface (Image credit: Windscribe)

Windows app

Windscribe’s Windows app has real visual panache, with rounded corners and classy flag backgrounds (check the screenshot above) to highlight your current location.

It’s more cluttered than most, with plenty of text, icons, and buttons crammed into a very small space, but there’s also been real thought put into the design and overall it works well. Hover your mouse over an icon, for instance, and a tooltip explains what it’s about.

Windscribe’s full location list shows you countries to begin with, which can be expanded to view available servers (Image credit: Windscribe)

The app displays your current protocol and port, always helpful, but it’s not just a static label. Click it and you can change the protocol and settings to whatever you need. The app even offers to set the protocol as a default for that network. So, if you have to use one protocol to get online at the library and another at the coffee shop, you don’t have to change them manually. Once you’ve connected, allow the app to save your settings for that network, and it’ll automatically connect next time.

Tapping Locations displays the full location list. This opens with a list of countries and you can expand any of these to view its available servers. Each server has a latency indicator to help you find the fastest option. You can also mark countries as Favorites, displaying them at the top of the list for zero-scroll reconnections later.

The Windows client has lots of useful expert-level settings (Image credit: Windscribe)

The interface is very configurable. You can order locations by alphabet, latency, or location. You can even display latency as bars or figures, have the interface docked or a free-floating window, display notifications for events or hide them, and the list goes on.

There are many interesting connectivity features, and these are often as tweakable as the UI.

Windscribe gives you plenty of choices when it comes to VPN protocols (Image credit: Windscribe)

Supported protocols include WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, Stealth, and WStunnel, connection times were speedy at 1-2 seconds, and the app uses helpful notifications to tell you when you’re connected, and when you’re not.

OpenVPN is securely configured with AES-256-GCM encryption and SHA512 authentication. We couldn’t find any issues with Windscribe’s WireGuard setup, and it’s good to see IKEv2 connections that don’t store your credentials and are configured to use maximum-strength encryption so that they’re not vulnerable to theft.

Split tunneling allows you to decide which traffic is routed through the VPN, and which bypasses it. Unlike most VPNs, this isn’t just for apps, you can set up rules for specific IP addresses and host names, too.

Unusual extras include the ability to set up your device as a Wi-Fi hotspot (if your OS and network adapter supports it), or as a proxy gateway for use by TVs, gaming consoles, or anything else that can work with a proxy server.

One surprising feature is that Windscribe’s desktop clients can import custom OpenVPN and WireGuard configuration files from other providers, and then display those servers alongside their own. If you use another VPN but its app is underpowered, you might be able to use Windscribe’s instead. You don’t need a subscription.

There’s a lot to like here, especially for advanced users who like to tweak every aspect of their VPN. If you can find the settings you need, that is. We got lost several times scrolling up and down, clicking various icons, opening drop-down lists, and generally trying to figure out what’s what.

If you’re happy with the basics, the good news is you won’t even see most of the complexities unless you go looking. As long as you can choose a country from a list and click a Connect button, Windscribe’s apps will work just fine.

Windscribe’s Mac app is an impressive piece of work (Image credit: Windscribe)

Mac app

If you’re a Mac user then you’ll doubtless be very familiar with VPN providers largely ignoring all your needs, saving their best features for Windows and leaving you with the bare minimum. But here’s some good news: Windscribe hates that approach just as much as you do, and its Mac app is as close a match to the Windows edition as anyone could expect.

Take the interface, for instance. There are no pointless variations, no ‘do it this way on Windows, but that way on Mac’ rules to remember. It’s the same stylish look, the same icons, the same main menus, and almost the same options, all in the same order.

Mac VPN apps generally don’t have as many advanced features as Windows, mostly because Apple’s security model doesn’t give them as much control over your device. Seems like no-one told Windscribe this, though, because its Mac app has all the key features we saw on Windows: WireGuard support, the firewall (kill switch), custom DNS settings, MAC spoofing, split tunneling, port and protocol options, network allow-listing, proxy support and more.

If your VPN needs are simple, or you’re just not interested in the low-level tech, all this power might sound intimidating. No need to worry, though: unless you click the Menu icon and go exploring, you’ll never even know these options are there.

Whether you fine-tune every setting or ignore them entirely, the Mac app is generally very easy to use. Tap the On/Off button and you’re speedily connected to your nearest server, then tap again to disconnect, and there’s a list of other locations if you need them.

The app still looks a little more complex than some of the competition, just because it has more icons, buttons and status information. But, generally, it’s a well-designed mix of functionality and ease of use, and a must-see for any Mac user looking for a little extra power.

The mobile apps are good, too (Image credit: Windscribe)

Mobile apps

Windscribe’s Android app follows a similar design to the Windows version, with the same gorgeous background flags, the big On/Off button, and details on your new IP and preferred protocol.

A list of countries (expandable to city level) makes it easy to find the server you want. You can switch to list Favorites and specialist Streaming locations. There’s also a Custom Config list that might enable using other VPN servers with Windscribe’s interface and features.

A comprehensive Preferences screen comes absolutely stuffed with features. The Connection panel alone enables choosing between WireGuard, OpenVPN UDP, TCP, IKEv2 or Stealth, and selecting your preferred port, as well as choosing which apps use the VPN, and which don’t (split tunneling). It also provides integration with Android’s Always-On feature to let you set up a system-wide kill switch, or enable GPS spoofing, define a packet size, allow or block local network traffic, and more.

A Network Whitelisting tool enables automatically connecting to Windscribe whenever untrusted networks are accessed while ignoring others. So, for instance, you can configure the service to automatically connect when you access Wi-Fi on the train, but stay offline when you’re at home or work.

Windscribe’s iOS app earned bonus points immediately for an unusual privacy plus. The app detects your external IP and network but can blur them, ensuring you won’t give away clues to your identity if you share a screenshot.

Although the app can’t match the Windows edition for power, it still has wide protocol support, kill switch, and ad, malware, and content blocking. That’s already outperforming most iOS apps, but it’s Windscribe’s more unusual options that really help it stand out from the crowd. Most VPN apps can’t access servers from another provider, for instance, or allow you to set a preferred protocol depending on the network you connect to.

Windscribe even offers browser extensions for most popular web browsers (Image credit: Windscribe)

Browser extensions

Windscribe’s Chrome, Edge, and Firefox extensions provide a quick and easy way to connect to the VPN from your browser. This has its limitations – they’re simple proxies and only protect your browser traffic – but if you only need the VPN for basic browsing tasks, they’re your most convenient and straightforward option.

The extensions make an immediate positive impression, courtesy of a stylish interface along the lines of the desktop and mobile apps. The basic operations work much as you’d expect. Autopilot mode enables connecting to the best location with a click, you’re able to choose countries or individual cities from a list, and set your most commonly used cities as Favorites.

There are some nifty privacy features with the extensions (Image credit: Windscribe)

Need more? The extension can block WebRTC leaks, fake your GPS location, time zone, and language to match your chosen Windscribe server, keep switching your browser user agent to make you more difficult to track, stop websites begging you to let them show notifications, and even delete first or third-party cookies when you close the tab.

The browser extensions support Windscribe’s ad and malware-blocking tool ROBERT, even for free users. Known malicious and phishing sites, bandwidth-sapping ads, trackers, social media widgets, and other nasties can all be exterminated in a click or two.

The sheer volume of options can make the extensions look complicated but Windscribe does a lot to help. A small start-up tutorial explains which buttons do what, and a useful additional introduction is that the many settings each have a sentence or two describing what they’re all about.

Put it all together and this is a very capable extension that delivers far more than you’ll get with other VPN providers, and even many standalone Chrome privacy extensions. Don’t just take our word for it – the excellent 4.7 rating on the Chrome store suggests most users agree.

Windscribe has a knowledgebase but it’s rather lacking (Image credit: Windscribe)

Support

If you have any technical troubles, Windscribe’s support site is a good place to begin looking for answers. Resources start with collections of articles on common topics, including ‘getting started’ guides, technical troubleshooting, billing questions, and some general FAQs.

These tutorials don’t always have the range and depth we’d like, but they more than cover the basics. The Android setup guide doesn’t just say ‘go install the app at Google Play’, for instance, as we often see with lesser providers. It quickly explains what a VPN is for, gives a link to the Play Store, an alternative direct APK download if you need it, and covers the setup and usage basics, complete with helpful screenshots.

If your problem isn’t covered by the website, you can always contact support directly via a ticket system (there’s no live chat). In our experience, replies can sometimes take around a day to arrive. When they do, they’re friendly, accurate, and complete. We think they’re generally well worth the wait.

Windscribe review: Final verdict

Windscribe is a likable VPN, with good-looking and powerful apps, expert-level features, and one of the most generous free VPN plans around. The array of advanced options and settings means this probably isn’t the best choice for newcomers or anyone only looking for the VPN basics. If you’re unsure about Winscribe, there’s an easy and risk-free way to find out for sure. Just install the free version and see how it works for you.

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Kinsta review | TechRadar

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When it comes to best web hosting and website management, there is no shortage of options. The vast majority of companies out there offer affordable services that are good enough to get the job done. For us, Kinsta is the stand-out choice for hosting for agencies.

Kinsta is a cloud-based hosting solution providing services for WordPress websites, web applications, databases, and static sites. They provide access to high-performance servers and features such as staging environments, automatic backups, enterprise-level Cloudflare integration, and more.

Kinsta also includes quality security features such as DDoS protection, SSL certificate with wildcard support, and malware scanning and removal.

    Kinsta subscription options:

  • 12 month plan – $284 per month ($3,408 total cost)

From the main website, you can access Kinsta’s official blog. It’s easy on the eye and filled with a myriad of articles, most of which are related to WordPress and software development. In addition to this, Kinsta offers a fresh and video-packed YouTube channel and relatively active presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

(Image credit: Future)

Kinsta features

Kinsta offers high-end CPUs, as well as global availability thanks to Google’s C2 and C3D machines on its premium tier network. By using these top-of-the-line CPUs, you are guaranteed that your website will be up and running faster than ever before.

To further improve the speed of your website, Kinsta also offers a global content delivery network with over 260 locations around the world. This allows Kinsta to deliver fast pages and serve cached assets from your visitors’ closest location.

Kinsta also comes with built-in application performance monitoring (APM), which is its custom-designed performance monitoring tool specifically for WordPress sites. We used this feature to identify any potential issues or bottlenecks slowing down our site during our test of the hosting service.

Kinsta’s DevKinsata feature provides a comprehensive development environment that makes it easy to develop applications locally on your computer. DevKinsata includes many helpful features such as version control which allows developers to roll back to previous versions of their code if needed, easy debugging capabilities with Xdebug integration, and deployments to production servers with just one click.

With the new Kinsta Cloudflare integration, we took advantage of a wildcard SSL certificate which let us secure our subdomains with just one certificate. A wildcard SSL is an SSL certificate that secures both a root domain and its individual subdomains. This is in contrast to other types of certificates that require you to list each individual subdomain on the certificate.

As part of its Cloudflare integration, Kinsta offers customers a unique benefit – reserved IP addresses. Reserved IPs are unique IP addresses assigned to each Kinsta customer site. These IP addresses are reserved exclusively for use by that specific customer and ensure that the DNS A-record IP address will not be shared by other sites on Cloudflare’s network. In some cases, this can cause problems if a service blocks a spam site that happens to share the same Cloudflare IP address as your site.

We were also impressed with the Kinsta Brotli Compression Tool (a lossless compression format that is supported by all major browsers and achieves better compression ratios than gzip).

Kinsta also released a tool called Edge Caching. This is an incredibly powerful tool for websites running WordPress that can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to serve cached HTML to site visitors. Edge Caching is included free with all Kinsta plans, and no additional plugins are required.

Kinsta’s Edge Caching works by saving your website/page cache to Cloudflare’s global network of over 260 data centers. When site visitors load your website, cached responses will be delivered from the location closest to them, helping to reduce latency and ensure faster loading times.

With the help of the Early Hints, you can further improve site speed. Early hints is a modern web standard that defines a new 103 HTTP status code. Enabling this web standard on your site, it gives your site visitors’ browsers the chance to download certain resources in advance or in parallel with others. This results in a faster page rendering speed.

A curiosity of Kinsta’s hosting, but one that we found made sense, is the apparent lack of a temporary URL for checking the site runs accurately. However, this is a feature that can be easily turned on and off, and lasts for around 60 minutes when enabled. Given that a site doesn’t need to be seen by the public or crawlers before launch, this is useful.

For web hosting services in Australia, Kinsta CDN is in six Australian cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

(Image credit: Future)

Is Kinsta easy to use? 

We find Kinsta easy to use – from signing up to navigating through the dashboard. The web host provides you with an intuitive dashboard that makes hosting your website easy. The dashboard let us quickly access all the features and settings in one place, which makes it simple to manage our website’s performance and security.

With Kinsta, you can also set up and manage multiple websites from one account, as well as deploy applications, databases or static sites, meaning you don’t have to switch between different accounts every time you want to make changes or update your site or create a new web app.

Kinsta also has a number of helpful features that make managing your website easier. All these features are designed so that even those who aren’t tech-savvy can easily manage their website without too much hassle.

As a fully managed WordPress hosting provider, Kinsta’s prices are higher than other web hosts (Image credit: Future)

Kinsta plans and pricing

Kinsta offers different plans, ranging from $35/month to $1700/month. All plans include free wildcard SSL, CDN, staging, and unlimited migrations. But what do you get when you purchase one of these plans? The Single plans starts at $35/month and allows you to install 1 WordPress, 10 GB of storage space, 125 GB free CDN, and 35,000 visits per month. The Single-site plans scale with each step up getting more site visits, storage, and CDN bandwidth. Each Single site plan denotes the support amount of visits. The plans go as high as 1,250,000+ visits, 15 GB+ storage and 1000GB CDN bandwidth.

Multiple-site plans support multiple WordPress installs. Each plan name denotes the amount of WordPress installs supported. Each multiple-site plan supports multisite network and site cloning. For WP 2 ($70/mo) you get two WordPress installs, with 70,000 visits, 250 GB of CDN bandwidth, and 20 GB storage. As the plans increase in price the resources, site visits, and amount of WordPress installs increase too. The WP 40 plan ($450/mo) supports 40 WordPress installs, 60 GB storage, 1500 GB of CDN, and 75,000 monthly visits.

Kinsta also offers an Enterprise Plan for multiple sites, which starts at $675/month and includes 60+ WordPress installs, 100+ GB of space, 1,250,000+ visits, and a 30-day backup retention.

All the above plans come with unlimited free migrations and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you are not satisfied with the service, you can request a refund. Select plans on Single and Multiple-site tiers also include a one month free trial.

Agency Hosting

Kinsta’s Agency program is targeted, price-wise, at established digital agencies. The Agency 20 plan, which we tested, offers support for 20 WordPress installs, so potentially 20 clients. It also includes an extra site, for your agency. 500,000 visits, 50GB of storage, and 1,000GB CDN storage makes this an attractive starting point, but Agency 40 ($375/month with annual billing) and Agency 60 ($563/month under the same terms) are also available, with corresponding increases in installs.

These plans also include a white label provision, removing the Kinsta branding for reselling the hosting to the client, and access to beta tools. Backups, advanced caching, and migrations are also included with these packages, along with that all-important developer support. A number of tools are available here, from easy site cloning to Git integration and access to the Kinsta API.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our Kinsta site (Image credit: GTmetrix)

Kinsta speed and experience

Kinsta argues that it is almost a certainty that users will see “faster page load times, along with back-end (WordPress dashboard) speed” when hosting with them. Faster than what, we asked ourselves. Faster than the average speed, faster than lightning or faster than Superman?

In any case, GTmetrix (a tool we used to test the speed performance of Kinsta’s main website) appears to agree with them given that it rated the performance of their website with an A (91%), which is not a result we often see. All major core metrics related to the speed were above the average, which looks pretty promising.

When it comes to uptime, Kinsta’s technical team monitors all of its users’ websites at all times, which means that they will be notified if any downtime occurs and lasts longer than five minutes, and, thus, prompt them to rush to resolve the issue. After monitoring Kinsta’s main website for a month using UptimeRobot, we couldn’t find a single trace of downtime, which does inspire confidence.

Latest results

We recently ran more tests on Kinsta for our best hosting for agencies guide. We did the same test we do for every host. We migrate a simple website and perform some baseline WordPress benchmark test and do some Siege testing for concurrent visitors. We used the Agency 20 plan. While these don’t show what the server is like under load. It does show a good baseline score for site performance.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyWordPress benchmark

Performance metric

Result

Operations with large text data

6.68

Random binary data operations

8.24

Recursive mathematical calculations

7.32

Iterative mathematical calculations

8.63

Filesystem

Row 5 – Cell 1

Filesystem write ability

9.71

Local file copy and access speed

9.56

Small file IO test

10

Database

Row 9 – Cell 1

Importing large amount of data to database

9.23

Simple queries on single table

9.88

Complex database queries on multiple tables

8.23

Object cache

Row 13 – Cell 1

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Row 15 – Cell 1

Network download speed test

10

Server score

8.1

Swipe to scroll horizontallySiege

Performance metric

5 concurrent visitors

9 concurrent visitors

Transactions

8484

13580

Availability

96.37

96.36

Elapsed time

299.43

299.19

Data transferred

91.72

145.90

Response time

0.17

0.18

Transaction rate

28.33

45.39

Throughput

0.31

0.49

Concurrency

4.87

8.11

Successful transactions

8164

13068

Longest transaction

1.33

39.76

Failed transactions

320

513

Shortest transaction

0.09

0.08

Kinsta security

Kinsta is one such provider that offers quality security measures (in our opinion) including SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates. An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that provides encryption and authentication for data sent over the internet. It helps protect user information, like credit card numbers and passwords, from being accessed by malicious third parties.

An SSL certificate also helps verify the identity of a website so that users know they are connecting to the correct server and not a malicious one.

Kinsta uses Cloudflare’s infrastructure to provide wildcard SSL certificates with 128-bit or higher encryption as well as 2048-bit RSA keys. Kinsta says its servers are also constantly monitored 24/7 for any signs of suspicious activity or hacking, which is good to know. Kinsta also offers a 99.9% SLA-backed uptime guarantee.

There’s also a Malware Security Pledge in which Kinsta’s team will help restore a site in the event of an attack. Kinsta have earned SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance so security standards are high and hopefully you’ll never have to use that.

You’ll find plenty of how-to guides in Kinsta’s knowledgebase (Image credit: Future)

Customer support

Kinsta offers knowledgeable sales representatives who can help you find the hosting plan that best fits your website or project.

If you want a deeper dive into all of Kinsta’s features, consider scheduling a personalized demo with one of its experts. This is an excellent way to get familiar with Kinsta’s powerful dashboard and hosting features, as well as ask any questions that come up during the process.

We had a few questions about our website and contacted Kinsta through its question form on the website. They got back to us the next day with answers tailored specifically to our hosting dilemma.

Kinsta’s support team is available 24/7/365 via live chat in the MyKinsta dashboard so that you can quickly receive help. You can also open up tickets here if there are ever any issues with your site.

As noted, we also tried Kinsta’s Agency 20 plan, arranging for a site to be migrated via a backup. The support operative who took ownership of this task completed it within a couple of hours, a timescale that included not just scanning the ZIP file for potential issues, but also fully migrating it and testing the site.

We later ran into an issue trying to point a domain at the hosting. This requires a bit more clicking and settings configuration than with other hosts (switching nameservers is just one aspect of this), but while I found this baffling at first, the support team member who walked me through it helped me solve it within 15 minutes.

Kinsta also offers free webinars to its customers (Image credit: Future)

There are more than a few self-help options including regularly updated documentation, free e-books, free webinars, a newsletter and a blog we mentioned before, and everything is dedicated to bringing knowledge about WordPress to its users. In addition to this, Kinsta’s YouTube channel is filled with step-by-step guides and the new ones are coming out on a week-to-week basis at the very least.

As an alternative, you can reach Kinsta’s “timely and knowledgeable” support via email and chat.

Kinsta alternatives

Much like Kinsta, Flywheel is a fellow US-based host specialized in “top-of-the-line” managed WordPress hosting solutions. Both of them strive to be beginner-friendly, offer well-rounded, feature-packed packages and are on the high-priced side of the spectrum. However, Kinsta’s least expensive solution starts at a whopping $30, half as much as what is offered by Flywheel. Therefore, if the price is the key criterion (since both hosts are competent) for you, you could save some bucks by going with Flywheel.

Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting options on the market today, even when it comes to managed WordPress hosting. In comparison with Kinsta, Bluehost has a myriad of hosting types and options besides WordPress and its WordPress plans are well-structured and suitable for newcomers. If you are, however, looking for premium managed WordPress options, you might find yourself at home with Kinsta.

DreamHost is a US-based provider supplying WordPress-optimized hosting solutions and related services, including a domain registration, which is something you won’t get with Kinsta. Another thing they don’t provide is a website builder and you’ll have that as an option with DreamHost. What is more, in addition to offering more hosting options, DreamHost has more pocket-friendly plans, so you’ll save some money as well.

Although HostGator does not specialize in WordPress hosting, it has a few rather attractive solutions on the offer. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a premium fully managed WordPress hosting (and you are ready to shell out the money) Kinsta might be a better pick. If you would rather have something simpler and more on the affordable side, HostGator is an excellent choice.

WP Engine is also a great alternative as it offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to managed WordPress hosting and dedicated servers. WP Engine is known for its fast speeds and reliable uptime, as well as its excellent customer service and support team.

SiteGround is another great option if you’re looking for an alternative to Kinsta. This provider offers a variety of hosting plans that range from shared hosting to VPS and cloud solutions. SiteGround also has excellent customer service and support, which makes it a great choice if you need help getting started or have questions about how to use their services.

Is Kinsta right for you? 

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including easy scalability, managed updates, automated daily backups, and 24/7 support.

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including automatic scaling, managed updates, automated daily backups,SSH access, WP CLI, a powerful API, Application Performance Monitoring, and 24/7/365 support in 10 languages, with a response time within a minute and 98% client satisfaction.

Kinsta also prides itself on its performance and reliability – It’s caching technology ensures websites load faster than ever before; this helps keep visitors on your site longer which can lead to increased conversions.

Kinsta FAQs

Is Kinsta only for WordPress?

No! While Kinsta is an excellent choice for WordPress websites, that’s not all it can do. It also supports static sites, application hosting, and database hosting.

Do I need a security plugin with Kinsta?

No – and that’s one of the many advantages of using Kinsta hosting. The security at Kinsta is built into the platform itself; all accounts are automatically scanned daily for malicious code and activity and protected with regular backups as well as enterprise-grade DDOS protection.

Plus, every account includes free SSL/TLS encryption to protect your data in transit.



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WP Engine review | TechRadar

by admin



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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

One in twelve people online visit a website hosted on WP Engine daily. They host over one and a half million sites across 150 countries and still maintain a customer satisfaction rate of 96%. That is reliable hosting.

WP Engine uses its own caching system and content delivery system (CDN) and your get your choice of data centers in North America, Europe, or Asia. Plus, your websites are hosted on the fast Google Cloud Platform. This all means your customers should have a better user experience because of faster loading times and reliability.

WP Engine manages your WordPress site for you making the day-to-day running of your site easier allowing you to focus on your business. In addition, WP Engine provides features like automatic plugin updates, malware detection, and automated backups. Although managed hosting comes at a higher cost than unmanaged, it’s not until a vulnerability is discovered at 2am on a Saturday that the value of having someone look over the security and updates of your server becomes really noticeable.

If you run a digital or marketing agency, WP Engine also offers a hosting solution to support managing multiple clients. Whether you have 5 or 50+ clients on your books, shared and container-based servers are available, complete with the same managed WordPress experience and updates to PHP, MySQL, and of course, WordPress itself.

The startup spec for these hosting plans is 25GB of storage, supporting 50,000 visits per month, two sandbox sites and five live sites. Various configurations can be selected, designed to enable easy scaling as your client base expands and your business evolves. Specific agency hosting features are included, such as bulk site management, Git integration and other developer tools, and as the plans increase in price, things like WooCommerce optimizations, Stripe Connect checkouts, data insights, and a dedicated WP Engine API.

The cheapest WP Engine plan starts at $25/month (Image credit: Future)

WP Engine Plans and pricing

WP Engine have three main types of hosting: WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting, and Headless.

WordPress hosting has five plans which are all on a shared infrastructure. The most basic plan is Startup which provides hosting for one site, 25,000 monthly visits (with a 50GB bandwidth cap which is enough for the average website), and 10GB local storage.

With this plan you get chat only support, security patching, plugin risk scans, daily backups, EverCache, and global CDN. This plan is $20/mo and refreshingly there are no confusing renewal prices.

From there onwards, the plans support 3, 10, and 30 sites and the bandwidth, storage space, and monthly visits increase as you would expect. There is also the option to completely customize your plan starting from $600/mo.

For WooCommerce, the plans are similar in their specs and what they support but they come with lots of features as standard such as elastic search capabilities, support for unlimited products, Live Cart, and more. These plans are slightly more expensive than the WordPress hosting plans and the custom plan costs a minimum of $800/mo.

You can use the Page Performance tool to diagnose issues with a slow-loading site (Image credit: WP Engine)

Features

The core reasons to choose WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, performance, support, and management, but these are hard to quantify. Some features stand out when you browse the interface, however, that can give you some insight into the service offered.

WP Engine Page Performance is a neat tool designed to help you speed up your WordPress site by offering meaningful metrics on performance.

Running a test returns you a page-performance report that details how quickly your page rendered, how long it took to load in its entirety, and the total size of the page. It even includes historical data on your site’s performance over the past six months and recommendations on how you can reduce page load.

You can develop your WordPress site in a Staging or Development environment before making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine)

Avoid embarrassing mistakes on your site by making changes to a copy of your website before it goes live. This is called Staging, and it allows your developers to make extensive changes to your site without affecting your customers.

WP Engine has a comprehensive list of plugins that are disallowed (Image credit: WP Engine)

In a relatively unusual move, WP Engine restricts the WordPress plugins you can install. Those typically restricted are plugins that have been noted to cause performance issues and security holes. For important features such as caching, backups, and search engine optimization tools, WP Engine has made alternatives available that don’t put a high load on the server.

Interface and in use

WP Engine’s interface is professional and well laid out, but the powerful features might mean a steep learning curve for inexperienced users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and redirect rules, you’ll be right at home here, but otherwise you’ll need to spend some time on the support site.

Creating a site in WP Engine is made simple, thanks to a straightforward process. Whether you’re hosting on a domain, or building a staging site, the process is automated, so you don’t need to do anything. Once the name of the site has been set, and you’ve decided on adding WordPress on its own, or Word Press with WooCommerce, it will self-install while you make a coffee.

Note that WP Engine doesn’t offer any AI-guided site generation tools here. Anything you create will have to be done manually through the current WordPress theme management environment.

One of the main attractions for many customers is promised easy migration. Intended to make it simple to move a WordPress site from one host to another, WP Engine offers a dedicated plugin specifically for this purpose. Using it is simple enough – you install the downloadable plugin on the source (old) web host, create a secure key when prompted, then paste this into the plugin on your WP Engine hosting. In testing, the migration of a site around 500MB in size was pretty slick, completing in just a few minutes.

The WP Engine support center has detailed guides on using each of the service’s key features (Image credit: WP Engine)

Support

A managed WordPress service should offer extra value through its support, and WP Engine delivers. The support site includes videos and articles of a quality you’d expect from a paid training course, with help on deeper WordPress functionality that many WordPress hosts don’t go into.

There’s 24/7 live chat support and a ticket system, too. In our testing, the response was quick and the agent knowledgeable. For all plans except for single-site plans, there’s telephone support, too.

While WP Engine has a strong collection of support resources, we found that its sales team were not as well-informed as they could be. Specifically on the topic of agency hosting plans, they seemed to be unaware as to some of the intricacies. We have been separately informed by WP Engine contacts that the agency hosting plans rely on shared hosting for the Agency Essential plans, scaling up to container-based hosting for Agency Plus and Agency Pro. However, two conversations via the online chat tool revealed that the sales team were under the impression that all agency plans use container hosting.

If you’re planning to use WP Engine for agency hosting, and as it isn’t easy to find the answer within the support resources, you might consider requesting a call or email conversation with their tech support to establish whether they suit your requirements.

Testing

Testing the performance of WP Engine – specifically, the Essential Startup – I was intrigued to find that while reasonably slick, it seemed slower than other hosts. Now, I’ll preface this with the knowledge that WP Engine specifically aims for efficient WordPress hosting. It is known to block some plugins that can affect performance; it opts for its own caching plugin, for example. So, gauging performance with benchmarking tools on WP Engine is a little different to other hosts.

However, the tests delivered results around 30% slower than other hosts. Given that the comparisons were with plans for a similar budget and server specification, I was surprised at how poorly WP Engine scored.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyWordPress Benchmark

Performance metric

Result

Operations with large text data

6.9

Random binary data operations

7.93

Recursive mathematical calculations

5.06

Iterative mathematical calculations

7.9

Filesystem

Row 5 – Cell 1

Filesystem write ability

7.79

Local file copy and access speed

8.25

Small file IO test

9.76

Database

Row 9 – Cell 1

Importing large amount of data to database

1.94

Simple queries on single table

6.66

Complex database queries on multiple tables

5.78

Object cache

Row 13 – Cell 1

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Row 15 – Cell 1

Network download speed test

9.5

Server score

6.4

Swipe to scroll horizontallySiege

Performance Metric

5 concurrent visitors

9 concurrent visitors

Transactions

9583

17028

Availability

96.28

96.31

Elapsed time

299.70

299.33

Data transferred

106.33

189.25

Response time

0.15

0.15

Transaction rate

31.98

56.89

Throughput

0.36

0.63

Concurrency

4.84

8.15

Successful transactions

9578

17028

Failed transactions

370

652

Longest transaction

2.25

5.67

The competition

If it’s the higher level of customer support you value in a managed WordPress host, Liquid Web often tops customer satisfaction polls. It has a focus on high-end products like virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated servers, so if your needs extend beyond a high-performance WordPress site into other software solutions, we recommend checking it out.

TsoHost is another managed web hosting provider we recommend. The price can ramp up, with even the most basic VPS options starting at $52 per month, but you get a level of on-hands customer support that’s virtually unrivaled.

If managed WordPress hosting is your primary motivation, however, one of WP Engine’s key competitors is Kinsta. Both offer a managed hosting environment specifically geared towards WordPress, along with a similar price point. However, Kinsta doesn’t allow manually migrated data, so if you prefer to be more hands-on, WP Engine is the better option.

You might opt for Kinsta in another scenario, however. While WP Engine has a solid set of agency hosting plans, we found that while it omits smaller scale agency plans, Kinsta bundles in more features and boasts superior performance.

Final verdict

WP Engine is not the cheapest hosting around and it doesn’t seem to be the fastest either. It’s also not the first WordPress host we’d recommend to newcomers, as the breadth of tools can be intimidating.

WP Engine used to be the champion of WordPress hosting but I think that’s starting to change with hosts like SiteGround and Kinsta taking over.



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