Hosting Canada Testing & Review Methodology

Looking for the best web hosting provider can be a can be a daunting task. At Hosting Canada, we've taken it upon ourselves to simplify this process for you. Our review methodology is a meticulous blend of user feedback from platforms like Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, and Hostadvice, combined with expert analysis from our dedicated team. We delve deep into the intricacies of hosting providers such as HostPapa, Namecheap, and SiteGround, evaluating them on a multitude of parameters ranging from reliability and security to performance and support. Our aim? To furnish you with reviews that are both comprehensive and unbiased.

Our methodology is not just about numbers; it's about context. We understand that a hosting provider's reputation is built over time and is a reflection of its commitment to quality, security, and customer satisfaction. Therefore, we don't just rely on quantitative data. We set up services, simulate real-world scenarios, and even stress-test them using tools like Pingdom and UptimeRobot to gauge their true potential. Additionally, we constantly update our evaluation process, ensuring that our reviews remain relevant in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Whether you're a seasoned webmaster or someone just starting out, our reviews are designed to give you a clear picture of what to expect from a hosting provider. From the nitty-gritty of technical specifications to the nuances of customer support, we cover it all. So, the next time you're in a quandary about which hosting provider to choose, remember that Hosting Canada has done the heavy lifting for you. Dive into our reviews and make an informed decision.

How we rate products

Every review on the website is based on two factors:

Users’ score

Where we gather scores from user reviews across all the major hosting and review platforms (e.g., Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, Hostadvice, Serchen) and provide an average for you here.

Expert’s score

Our own score given by the expert reviewer and team. The scores are based on specific criteria that we evaluate the same way across the compared products and services.

For hosting providers (e.g., HostPapa, Namecheap, SiteGround), we have a very stringent evaluation process which we have summarized below.

Steps

1. Define the Criteria – Based on preliminary research and our expert opinion, we define which criteria will be evaluated across the products or services being compared.

2. Background Research – We look into the company behind each product or service, their history, reputation, and current standing in the industry.

3. Hands-On Testing – By setting up each service and imitating real-world scenarios, we can more deeply understand its functionality and capacity.

4. Performance Assessment – We conduct stress tests, speed tests, and other relevant assessments to determine the reliability and robustness of the product or service.

5. Feature Analysis – We do a deep dive on all the features and highlight the ones we found best.

6. Pros and Cons – To provide you with an honest review, it’s only fair that we list the pros with the cons to help you decide if it’s the right fit.

7. Cost and Value – We look at the pricing model of each service and evaluate their costs and benefits.

8. Comparative Ranking – Finally, we compare and rank each product or service with their competitors and determine which is best for which use-case.

Hosting Service Review Process

When reviewing hosting service providers, we have a thorough evaluation process where we target specific criteria, have a consistent scoring process, and have established specific testing procedures.

We make sure to note any issues or problems that arise during testing and we repeat testing regularly to ensure that the hosting providers maintain their performance over time.

Details on the criteria we target, how the scoring system works, and what kind of testing we perform are explained below.

Criteria

We conduct a full technical review of hosting providers and evaluate six major criteria listed below from most important to least.

Let’s take a look at each one and how they are evaluated:

• Reliability
  By looking at their uptime guarantee, the hosting provider’s transparency on how they report downtime (e.g., status pages, email notifications), and the number of downtime events per year.

• Security
  We check if the hosting servers have the following security features: DDoS protection, malware protection, brute-force protection, server virus and/or account virus scanners, firewalls, and regular backups.

• Price and Value
  Here we assess a number of parameters to determine what the user gets for the price. This includes free vs. paid add-ons, disk space, CPU cores, bandwidth, RAM, the number of hosted domains, email accounts, FTP accounts, and databases.

  We compare the cost of plans to current average monthly prices. There shouldn’t be hidden fees, refund policies should be clearly communicated and have at least a 30 day window, SSH access and migration from an old hosting provider should both be free.

  We also look at what technologies are supported (e.g., scripting languages, frameworks, database management), and ease of scalability (e.g, it should be possible to upgrade your account without data loss and with help from the provider).

• Performance
  This is determined based on checking several technical parameters such as the operating system of the servers, (e.g., Linux, Windows) and the type of web-server (e.g., Litespeed, Apache, Nginx, Microsoft IIS, Node.js). Linux is preferred for shared hosting and Litespeed is the current best type of web server.

  Additionally, hosting providers should offer at least 2-3 data center locations spread globally, where more is better. Server connection speeds checked using traceroute or Ping commands should return low RTT (less than 100ms), minimal packet loss (less than 1%), and few network hops (ideally, less than 10).

• Ease of Use
  We check how easy it is to setup an account and get the service going after purchase. Is it easy to log in? What control panels are used (e.g., cPanel)? Are there any website installation options provided? How about Content Management Systems, Word Press installation, or website builders?

  We also check if they offer script installers for easy CMS installation (e.g., Softaculous) and one-click/quick WordPress installation. The best hosting services offer these options free of charge.

• Support
  We assess the support provided by the provider by first looking at which options are available (e.g., chat, email, tickets, phone) and how responsive they are. To test this, we have a list of requests and questions that we ask each provider in order to determine the quality and speed of support.

  Easier support options where we receive fast, friendly, and more complete responses, are valued higher.

Scoring

Each criteria we listed in the previous section (e.g., reliability, security, price and value, performance, ease of use, and support) is scored on a scale of 0 to 5 based on the specified testing scenarios and lists of questions we described.

We carefully evaluate each criteria and calculate an average score for each one.

The overall score out of 5 points for each hosting provider is then determined based on the average scores achieved for each criterion.

Testing Environment

To maintain a consistent evaluation process, we use the same tools to test and monitor each hosting provider.

The following tools are currently used to monitor the uptime of the hosting provider’s servers:

• Pingdom
  
• UptimeRobot
  

Their automated uptime monitoring and ping-testing functions allow us to test if the hosting provider’s servers are online, up and running, up to 50 times per minute (yes minute) 24/7. We’ve tracked that data over the years to get some great long term insights on the reliability of each hosting provider.

Sample Reviews

Here are some of our latest reviews of hosting provider’s using the methodology we just described.