Kinsta vs Leaseweb: guide for 2024

Kinsta vs Leaseweb: Final verdict

Looking over Kinsta vs. Leaseweb, it’s clear why both hosts are so popular. They have both hosted millions of
websites that run on WordPress for decades, building up a loyal customer base.

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  Kinsta (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  
  excels in managed WordPress hosting, offering a highly optimized environment with exceptional uptime and performance. The seamless integration with Google Cloud Platform and Cloudflare ensures quick response times and robust DDoS protection, making it ideal for WordPress sites and high-traffic websites. Kinsta’s MyKinsta dashboard simplifies site management with user-friendly tools like one-click backups and staging environments. However, its higher price point and lack of built-in email hosting may deter budget-conscious users.
  
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  Leaseweb (Overall grade: 8.0)
  
  
  provides diverse hosting plans including cloud, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with a strong emphasis on customization and scalability. Its global network infrastructure with extensive points of presence ensures reliable performance and low latency. Leaseweb’s support for higher SSD storage and built-in email hosting adds value for businesses needing versatile and robust hosting solutions. Nonetheless, its performance in uptime tests and the lack of managed solutions like Kinsta’s may not appeal to users who prioritize advanced, managed hosting features.
  

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.

Detailed comparison

SECTION-1: Winner Kinsta: Kinsta demonstrates unparalleled reliability and performance with a strong focus on uptime and availability.

SECTION-2: Kinsta guarantees 99.9% uptime and excels in achieving even higher results in real-world tests. Notably, Kinsta recorded 100% uptime in tests ranging from seven-day periods to 12-month evaluations. The integration of Google Cloud Platform and Cloudflare enhances its performance, providing quick response times and robust DDoS protection. The consistent 461ms response time further highlights its well-optimized servers.

SECTION-3: Leaseweb offers a 99.999% core uptime guarantee and performs well with nearly flawless results in shared hosting tests. It boasts extensive network capacity and strategically located data centers for optimal reach. Leaseweb also puts considerable effort into monitoring and resolving incidents swiftly. Despite a commendable performance, Leaseweb’s uptime test scores and slower GTmetrix load time show it’s slightly less reliable than Kinsta.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Premium hosting solution with top-notch performance and security features.

When comparing Kinsta and Leaseweb on general performance, Kinsta clearly stands out. Kinsta leverages Google Cloud Platform’s premium tier network and fastest C2 and C3D virtual machines across 35 global data centers. This setup is enhanced by Cloudflare integration, providing a powerful edge caching solution for significant performance boosts. In contrast, Leaseweb relies heavily on powerful physical servers powered by Intel or AMD processors, offering customizable options with high bandwidth and low latency. While Leaseweb impresses with its state-of-the-art global network infrastructure including 43 points of presence and 29 Internet Exchanges, the lack of advanced managed solutions like Kinsta’s built-in application performance monitoring gives Kinsta an edge. Both providers offer extensive data center networks, but Kinsta’s streamlined cloud-based approach brings a modern, high-speed hosting experience.

Website Speed

Kinsta’s website speed is enhanced through various innovative methods like edge caching, continuous MySQL optimization, and code minification, which collectively cut TTFB by up to 50% and serve pages 30% faster with Early Hints. Kinsta’s seamless integration with Cloudflare for CDN further accelerates content delivery globally. Leaseweb, on the other hand, offers uncompromising performance with single-tenant servers and customizable compute options but does not provide the same level of built-in optimization tools. Leaseweb’s heavy reliance on physical servers may introduce variances in speed compared to Kinsta’s optimized cloud environment.

Scalability

Kinsta’s scalability shines with elastic solutions that automatically adjust resources as needed, offering a hassle-free scaling process. They provide dedicated servers and flexible access management, making resource allocation seamless. Costs to scale may involve add-ons such as increased PHP memory limits or extra disk space, but exact figures are not disclosed. Leaseweb offers flexible server configurations and easy upgrades, with competitive pricing options, but the exact scalability process isn’t as clear-cut. While Leaseweb supports GPU-enhanced workloads, they do not specify whether scaling happens automatically or if plan upgrades are required.

🏆 Winner Kinsta:Kinsta provides exceptional security features, making it a reliable hosting service for WordPress sites.

Both Kinsta and Leaseweb have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Kinsta excels in providing robust technical security measures, including free SSL certificates, automatic hourly backups, and proactive site monitoring. In contrast, Leaseweb offers managed cyber security via a 24/7 Security Operations Center and hardware-based DDoS IP protection. While both providers offer SSL certificates, Kinsta supports custom and wildcard SSL certificates, enhancing flexibility. Kinsta also allows PHP version selection through its dashboard, a feature not specified for Leaseweb. Additionally, Kinsta’s continuous MySQL database optimization and built-in application performance monitoring tools provide thorough security and performance insights.

Operational security measures:

Kinsta offers comprehensive operational security measures such as a fully managed Web Application Firewall (WAF) with DDoS protection and free malware removal services. It also supports secure remote access over SSH or SFTP with WP-CLI and other developer tools. Leaseweb, on the other hand, provides penetration testing through Northwave and customizable security profiles and rules. Leaseweb’s use of a Security Information & Event Monitoring system and dashboards for an integrated security overview also stand out. Both providers emphasize proactive threat monitoring but Kinsta’s proactive site monitoring with checks every 3 minutes offers more frequent oversight.

Compliance and certifications:

Kinsta is SOC 2 compliant, ensuring enterprise-grade security standards, and is GDPR compliant, catering to data protection and privacy for EU users. Leaseweb complies with GDPR and PCI DSS regulations, securing personal and credit card information. Specific HIPAA compliance details are not mentioned for either provider. Kinsta’s security measures contribute to achieving PCI compliance for eCommerce sites hosted on its platform.

🏆 Winner Leaseweb: A solid choice for those needing versatile and scalable hosting solutions.

Both Kinsta and Leaseweb offer a range of features that cater to different hosting needs. Kinsta is known for its managed WordPress hosting with a user-friendly control panel named MyKinsta, which simplifies site management. This hosting provider shines with features like free SSL, Git, and SSH access through a secured SFTP connection. Users of Kinsta benefit from a unique staging environment, which allows for testing changes before going live. Another essential feature is the automatic daily backups, ensuring data safety. However, Kinsta does not include a free domain, potentially leading to additional initial costs.

Leaseweb, on the other hand, provides a variety of plans for different use cases, including web hosting and VPS. Users can enjoy the flexibility of both Linux and Windows OS options, catering to different technical requirements. Leaseweb supports FTP/SFTP and SSH access, offering comprehensive server control. One of its unique selling points is the availability of higher SSD storage across its plans. With VPS hosting, Leaseweb ensures 100% uptime and robust DDoS protection, making it well-suited for critical business applications. While Leaseweb doesn’t offer a free domain or site builder, its cost-effective plans and inclusion of email hosting services in every plan may appeal to a broader audience.

Both providers support a range of users from beginners to experts with user-friendly website builders and WordPress staging areas. However, in terms of developer tools, both Kinsta and Leaseweb offer robust options including SSH access, support for multiple programming languages, and Git for version control, thus appealing to developers looking for advanced capabilities.

Email services:

Kinsta does not offer built-in email hosting, encouraging users to rely on third-party services like Google Workspace. In contrast, Leaseweb includes email hosting in its plans, allowing users to create and manage mailboxes directly. Leaseweb’s email service supports sending transactional emails, which is useful for activities like form submissions. Both providers do not offer direct support for reselling third-party email services like Zoho, but users can independently integrate these if needed.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Kinsta provides an extensive range of features and plans suitable for various hosting needs.

Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

Comparing Kinsta and Leaseweb reveals varying strengths. Kinsta offers Managed WordPress Hosting with multiple plans starting at $35 USD/month for a single install, and scaling up to Enterprise solutions at $675 USD/month. Leaseweb provides more budget-friendly Web Hosting plans, starting at €5.99/month. Kinsta’s hosting plans come with additional features like free premium migrations and extensive CDN support. Leaseweb emphasizes affordability but lacks comparable premium features provided by Kinsta.

Enterprise plans

Kinsta’s Enterprise plan starts at $675/month, offering 60+ WordPress installs, over 100GB of storage, more than 2000GB of CDN, and 30-day backup retention. Leaseweb’s most powerful dedicated server—2x Intel Deca-Core Xeon E5-2650v3—costs $115.42/month, with 32GB DDR4 RAM, 2x2TB SATA storage, and 30TB of traffic. Kinsta’s focus is on managed WordPress and comprehensive support, while Leaseweb emphasizes high storage capacity and server power.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Kinsta offers a user-friendly and comprehensive hosting service, especially for WordPress users.

Kinsta boasts an award-winning, custom-built admin panel called MyKinsta. This dashboard is designed with both technical and non-technical users in mind. Features such as one-click backup creation, easy cache management, and simple PHP version selection make it very accessible. It also includes tools for creating staging environments, which add a layer of convenience for testing changes before they go live. On the other hand, Leaseweb focuses on a straightforward delivery process but relies on a more conventional customer portal. While efficient, it lacks the intuitive design and advanced features Kinsta offers. Leaseweb’s admin panel serves its purpose well but may require a bit more effort to adapt to, especially for non-technical users.

In terms of migration tools, Kinsta provides both basic and premium migration services directly through their MyKinsta dashboard. Users have the option of requesting migrations by providing details about their current hosting provider or using a backup file. These services come with detailed steps and support, making the migration process easier and often free of charge, depending on your needs. Leaseweb, on the other hand, doesn’t offer as streamlined of a migration process. Its focus on quick-start guides and customer support is helpful, but users might need to rely more on manual methods or third-party tools, which could incur additional costs.

Kinsta’s help center stands out with its extensive documentation, 24/7 live expert support, and a community forum for static site hosting. Users can access a wide range of guides and tutorials covering various tasks, supported by experienced developers and engineers, ensuring high-quality assistance. Leaseweb provides a structured knowledge base that covers numerous topics but might come across as less comprehensive when compared to Kinsta’s offerings. It includes cheat sheets, SLAs, and various FAQs to aid users but lacks the same level of proactive and immediate support.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Kinsta offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. Leaseweb also boasts a detailed help center with an intuitive search function and around-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and ticketing, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Efficient and detailed user management system.

Kinsta provides a well-structured approach to managing user roles and permissions. It offers clear distinctions between different levels of access, such as Company Owners, Company Administrators, and Company Developers. These roles allow for a more streamlined and secure environment, ensuring that users only have access to what is necessary. Leaseweb, while versatile with its various control panels and API, does not provide explicit details on user roles and permissions, making Kinsta a better choice for those seeking a well-defined user management system.

Kinsta’s user interface for managing users is accessible through the MyKinsta dashboard. This platform allows users to enable Two-Factor Authentication for added security and manage user settings and roles efficiently. Leaseweb relies on familiar control panels like Plesk, cPanel, and Vesta, which are widely used and offer user management features, but without specific details of their implementation, Kinsta’s focused approach stands out.

Access control measures are integral for a comprehensive user management system. Kinsta’s mechanism for managing users, including adding and removing access levels, emphasizes security and efficiency. The responsibility is clearly laid out, ensuring users are aware of their roles and access privileges. Leaseweb’s control panel solutions provide essential user management functions, but given the lack of detailed information on handling large-scale user access, Kinsta shows greater promise in managing a growing number of users effectively.

Kinsta User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner
Leaseweb: Leaseweb offers comprehensive support and quicker response times compared to its competitor.

When comparing customer support options, Leaseweb stands out with a versatile array of contact methods, including live chat, phone support, and email support. They have a well-structured response time system depending on the SLA level, which ranges from 30 minutes to 12 hours. This structured approach to response times ensures that customers receive the level of support they need based on their chosen plan.

On the other hand, Kinsta provides a highly accessible support system primarily through their MyKinsta dashboard for paid customers. Their support is available 24/7 in English and offers multilingual support during specific hours. Kinsta’s emphasis on proactive site monitoring and a quick average response time under 2 minutes is commendable, although Leaseweb’s broader offerings and faster response times under higher SLAs give it the edge in customer support.

Kinsta vs Leaseweb: User feedback

Kinsta is highly recommended by users for its reliable and easy-to-use hosting services, particularly for WordPress sites. Customers appreciate the fast and responsive customer support, impressive speed, and robust security features provided by the platform. The user-friendly dashboard and extensive documentation also stand out as significant advantages, making it easy for both novices and tech-savvy individuals to manage their sites. However, some users find the pricing to be on the higher side, and a few have suggested improvements like expanding data center locations and providing direct access to all integrated services. Overall, Kinsta is praised for delivering a high-quality, dependable hosting experience.

The hosting provider excels in offering comprehensive services with impressive billing and contract flexibility, making it easier for businesses to manage their finances. Users appreciate the choice between “Volume” and “Premium” network options, which cater to different performance needs, and find the support and user interface to be intuitive and straightforward. However, customers have raised concerns about high charges for excess traffic, restrictive password policies, inconvenient login procedures, limited payment gateways, and a lack of variety in available system distributions. Overall, while the service is robust and user-friendly, there are areas in need of improvement to enhance the customer experience.

Kinsta vs Leaseweb: FAQ