Nexcess vs Directnic: Final verdict
Looking over Nexcess vs. Directnic, 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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Directnic (Overall grade: 6.8)
offers straightforward and economical hosting services. It is ideal for small businesses and personal websites that need essential hosting features without advanced requirements. With shared hosting plans that include a free domain, email accounts, and cPanel access, Directnic is accessible and easy to use. However, it falls short in advanced offerings such as high traffic handling, robust security features, and performance optimization tools. Additionally, its lower uptime guarantee and mixed reviews concerning server speed and customer service reliability further underscore its limitations for more demanding applications.
Nexcess (Overall grade: 8.2)
stands out as a highly specialized hosting solution, particularly for WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento users. It excels in offering advanced features such as autoscaling, integrated CDN, superior security measures, and proactive monitoring, ensuring exceptional performance and reliability. Nexcess delivers faster load times and better uptime than Directnic, making it a strong choice for businesses seeking long-term growth and scalability. Despite its higher price, Nexcess justifies the cost with comprehensive support, extensive customization options, and robust compliance capabilities suitable for more complex and high-traffic websites.
 Overall grade:8.2 |
 Overall grade:6.8 |
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|---|---|---|
| Uptime and Availability | 7.8 | 6.3 |
| Hosting Performance | 8.6 | 7.2 |
| Hosting Security | 9.2 | 7.8 |
| Price | 7.4 | 7.8 |
| Hosting Features | 5.7 | 3.6 |
| Ease Of Setup | 9.1 | 7.8 |
| User Management | 8.6 | 6.5 |
| Customer Support | 8.8 | 7.7 |
| User feedback | 3.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
Hosting types offered
Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.
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| Shared hosting | ||
| Cloud hosting | ||
| WordPress hosting | ||
| Ecommerce hosting | ||
| VPS hosting | ||
| Dedicated hosting |
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
Uptime and availability
Evaluates the average uptime statistics, uptime guarantee and overall availability of the hosting
provider
Score Components:
- Uptime percentage (30%): evaluates the uptime statistics in given period of time
- Uptime guarantee (20%): Assesses if the platform offers an uptime guarantee and
whether the actual uptime matches the promised guarantee. - General performance (25%): Evaluates how fast is the average response time and overall
it’s stability. - Responsiveness (10%): Adaptability to different devices and screen sizes.
- Availability (25%): Reflects the total downtime and number of outages.
7.8
6.3
🏆 Winner
Nexcess: A reliable hosting provider with transparent system updates and solid uptime.
Nexcess offers an impressive uptime of 99.88%, experiencing only 10 hours of downtime over the past year. It demonstrates a high standard of transparency with dedicated server status pages and prompt alerts for any outage. The hosting solution also includes a proprietary CDN to enhance performance globally and performs with an average load time of 1.56 seconds.
In comparison, Directnic guarantees only 99% uptime, which is below the industry standard. Though it is affordable with reasonable pricing and useful shared hosting features, it lacks advanced hosting options. Reports of slow servers and subpar customer service raise concerns about its reliability for critical applications. Nexcess, with its better uptime and additional features, stands out as the more dependable choice.
Which one has better hosting performance?
Score Components:
- Hosting speed (30%): This includes SSD quality, Load times, PageSpeed score ranges,
additional information on website speed, built-in plugins for performance enhancement, available caching
methods, and CPU/RAM options - CDN (20%): Considers whether CDN is available or not, whether it’s free or paid, and
the quality of the CDN service - Available data centers (30%): Evaluates the number of data centers and their locations
globally. - Scalibility (20%): Looks at whether elastic scaling is available, the process required
to scale (manual upgrade vs. automatic scaling), the presence of dedicated servers, and the costs
associated with scaling.
8.6
7.2
🏆 Winner
Nexcess: Exceptional performance and reliability for demanding websites
In comparing the general performance of Nexcess and Directnic Hosting, Nexcess stands out with impressive speed and performance. Nexcess boasts a 99.998% uptime and lightning-fast load times for WordPress sites, aided by an integrated caching solution powered by Nginx and Redis. Nexcess also includes a global CDN powered by Cloudflare, enhancing the delivery speed of content. Alternatively, Directnic offers a 99% uptime and includes a free domain registration but does not specifically mention any advanced caching methods or built-in performance-enhancing plugins. While both services have data centers and CDNs, Nexcess offers more detailed and comprehensive performance optimizations.
Website speed
Nexcess ensures rapid website speed through its robust infrastructure and advanced caching methods. With PHP workers auto-scaling during traffic surges and integrated CDN by Cloudflare, websites hosted on Nexcess are optimized for rapid load times and minimal disruptions. Directnic, in contrast, provides essential services like email accounts and cPanel hosting but lacks the advanced speed-enhancing features found in Nexcess, such as autoscaled PHP workers and global CDN integration.
Scalability
Nexcess offers free autoscaling, which seamlessly deploys extra resources during traffic spikes, ensuring sites remain performant without manual upgrades. With various storage and bandwidth options, Nexcess allows for scalable plans that grow with your site’s demands. Their plans, while pricier, include numerous PHP workers and substantial storage and bandwidth capacities. Directnic provides tiered plans with set increases in disk space and bandwidth, but the elastic scaling capabilities are not mentioned. Nexcess provides a fully automatic scaling solution, whereas Directnic requires manual upgrades as your website’s needs grow.
Which one has better security features?
and regulatory requirements
Score Components:
- Technical security measures (40%): This includes encryption, firewalls, DDoS
protection, secure configurations, server monitoring, access control and availability of security addons
(e.g Sitelock security). - Operational security measures (30%): Encompasses data privacy, backups and data
redundancy. - Compliance and certifications (20%): Adherence to legal and regulatory requirements
(e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and possession of certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2). - Business and reliability (10%): Factors in the provider’s reputation, uptime
guarantees, and customer support.
9.2
7.8
🏆 Winner: Nexcess: A robust hosting solution with advanced security features and compliance measures suitable for various sectors.
Technical security measures:
When comparing the technical security measures, Nexcess offers a range of SSL certificates, including Standard, Premium, EV, Wildcard, Multiple Domain, and Multiple Domain EV SSL. Directnic provides Basic SSL, Premium EV SSL, and Wildcard SSL. Nexcess features advanced security hardening, web application security solutions, and daily backups with one-click restore. Directnic has a fully-managed web application firewall, malware detection and removal, and 24/7/365 web security protection. Both providers offer DDoS protection, but Nexcess’s Performance Shield includes Cloudflare integration.
Operational security measures:
Nexcess ensures proactive security with enterprise server monitoring, automatic OS updates, and free daily malware scans for WordPress and WooCommerce hosting customers. Directnic offers a Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) with human surveillance and incident handling, and Security Information & Event Management (SIEM). Directnic also features a dedicated CSOC analyst and correlations over multiple incidents. Nexcess’s proactive monitoring and daily backups outshine Directnic’s features, providing a more comprehensive security environment.
Compliance and certifications:
Nexcess is highly compliant, being a PCI DSS Level 1 provider, ensuring full GDPR compliance, and undergoing SOC-1 type II and SOC-2 type II assessments under SSAE-18. Directnic, however, does not specify any compliance with PCI DSS, HIPAA, or GDPR, making Nexcess a more reliable choice for businesses needing robust regulatory compliance.
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SSL certificate |
Multiple types including EV, Wildcard |
Basic, Premium EV, Wildcard |
Additional security features |
Advanced hardening, web app firewall, daily backups |
Malware removal, CSOC, WAF |
PHP versions |
PHP 7 and 8+ |
Select PHP Version tool |
GDPR compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
HIPAA compliance |
Not specified |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
Hosting features
Score Components:
- Domains (20%): Assesses the availability of a free domain, domain purchase options, and
pricing - Email (15%): Considers if the provider offers full email hosting, or is reselling
third-party service, and if the email is only transactional or not - Website builder (15%): Checks if website builder is available, and it’s user
friendliness and overall the level of customization allowed. - Staging environment (20%): Determines if a staging environment is available, allowing
for testing changes before going live. - FTP & SFTP accounts (10%): Evaluates if and how easily users can access FTP and
SFTP accounts - Git and SSH access (20%): Assess whether Git is integrated into the hosting service and
if SSH access is provided
5.7
3.6
🏆 Winner Nexcess: A versatile hosting provider offering robust performance and comprehensive features tailored for various CMS platforms.
Nexcess and Directnic Hosting vary significantly in their offerings, catering to different user requirements and skill levels. Nexcess excels in providing highly specialized hosting solutions, including WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento. It offers a plethora of advanced features such as plugin and sales performance monitoring, WooCommerce automated testing, and proactive monitoring. Nexcess is a solid choice for developers and businesses looking for scalability and robust security, thanks to its PCI compliance, free SSL certificates, and daily backups. Free unlimited email, 24/7/365 expert support, and integrated WooCommerce and Magento features make Nexcess favorable for users requiring a high degree of customization and comprehensive support.
Directnic Hosting, on the other hand, caters mainly to users seeking a straightforward, economical hosting service with fundamental needs. Offering 99% uptime, free domain registration, and cPanel hosting, Directnic is perfect for small businesses or personal sites. It provides three tiers of plans (Lite, Pro, Deluxe) with extensive storage and bandwidth options at competitive prices. The inclusion of email accounts, easy script installs, and a money-back guarantee across all plans adds to its appeal. However, advanced features like SSH access and in-depth performance monitoring tools available with Nexcess are not explicitly offered with Directnic Hosting.
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Free domain |
No |
Yes |
Free SSL |
Yes |
No |
Email hosting |
Yes |
Yes |
Website builder |
No |
No |
Staging environment |
Yes |
No |
FTP & SFTP accounts |
Yes |
Yes |
Git and SSH access |
Yes |
No |
Free backup |
Yes |
No |
Money back guarantee |
Yes, 30 days |
Yes |
a location.
As a result in rare cases the features mentioned here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
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 Nexcess and Directnic Hosting 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:
Nexcess offers free unlimited email hosting, making it suitable for users managing multiple email accounts or requiring immediate email setup for campaigns. Directnic’s plans each include a clear limit on the number of POP3 email accounts available, tailored more towards basic email needs rather than large-scale email campaigns. While neither provider explicitly mentions transactional email capabilities, Nexcess’s comprehensive support and scalability features may offer more flexibility for businesses needing advanced email management.
Price
Score Components:
- Plan value (40%): What each pricing tier offers.
- Transparency and clarity (30%): Clearness of pricing structures.
- Flexibility of plans (20%): Range of options to suit different budgets.
- Hidden costs (10%): Additional expenses not included in the plan.
7.4
7.8
🏆 Winner
Directnic: Directnic offers cost-effective plans with more features for users with their distinctive pricing options.
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.
Directnic edges out Nexcess by providing more competitive pricing across its plans. Nexcess offers a range of cloud and WordPress hosting plans with specialized features, comprehensive support, and strong performance metrics, but their higher costs limit their accessibility for budget-conscious users. Directnic, on the other hand, offers a wide array of hosting and SiteBuilder plans at lower prices with substantial features such as extensive data transfer capabilities and unlimited storage in higher-tier SiteBuilder plans. Both providers have their merits, but the balance of cost to features places Directnic slightly ahead.
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Spark $21
1 site, 15GB storage, 2TB bandwidth, 24/7 WordPress support, backups, staging, SSL. Value for price:7.0
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N/A
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Spark+ $43
3 sites, 25GB storage, 2.5TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.2
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N/A
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Maker $47.85
5 sites, 40GB storage, 3TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.4
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N/A
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Designer $54
10 sites, 60GB storage, 4TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.5
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N/A
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Builder $73.80
25 sites, 100GB storage, 5TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.6
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N/A
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Producer $147.60
50 sites, 300GB storage, 5TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.7
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N/A
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Executive $270.90
100 sites, 500GB storage, 10TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.8
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N/A
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Enterprise $492.75
250 sites, 800GB storage, 10TB bandwidth, Same as Spark Plan. Value for price:7.9
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N/A
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N/A
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Lite $2.48
3 domains, 10GB storage, 100GB transfer, 50 emails, 24/7 support. Value for price:8.0
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N/A
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Pro $4.48
15 domains, 100GB storage, 1000GB transfer, 100 emails, 24/7 support. Value for price:8.3
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N/A
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Deluxe $7.98
30 domains, 200GB storage, 2000GB transfer, 250 emails, 24/7 support. Value for price:8.5
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XS $52
11 sites, 50GB storage, 1TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, SSL, backups, autoscaling, SEO. Value for price:7.0
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N/A
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S $104
16 sites, 75GB storage, 2TB bandwidth, Same as XS Plan. Value for price:7.2
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N/A
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M $184
21 sites, 125GB storage, 3TB bandwidth, Same as XS Plan. Value for price:7.3
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N/A
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L $315
31 sites, 400GB storage, 5TB bandwidth, Same as XS Plan. Value for price:7.5
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N/A
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XL $578
41 sites, 600GB storage, 8TB bandwidth, Same as XS Plan. Value for price:7.7
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N/A
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XXL $894
51 sites, 800GB storage, 10TB bandwidth, Same as XS Plan. Value for price:7.8
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N/A
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Enterprise plans
For enterprise-level solutions, Nexcess offers plans like the Enterprise Managed WordPress Hosting starting at $492.75 per month with 250 sites, 800GB storage, and 10TB bandwidth. This plan includes comprehensive features like 24/7 WordPress support, automatic updates, staging sites, and advanced support tools. Directnic, while more cost-effective at lower tiers, does not explicitly state enterprise-specific hosting, putting Nexcess ahead in this regard for large-scale business needs with specialized requirements.
Nexcess vs Directnic: Ease of setup
platform.
Score Components:
- Site migration (25%): Assesses whether the provider offers tools for site migration,
either automated or manual, and whether these services are free or require a fee. - Admin panel usability (35%): Evaluates the type of admin panel provided, such as the
standard cPanel or a custom solution, focusing on its accessibility and user-friendliness for both
technical and non-technical users. - Setup features (20%): Examines the availability and ease of use of various setup
features, including FTP accounts, file managers, email account setup, PHPMyAdmin, and easy CDN
configuration. - Help center quality (20%): Measures the quality and accessibility of the provider’s
help center resources, including articles and tutorials.
9.1
7.8
🏆 Winner
Nexcess: Nexcess provides an effortless and feature-rich website hosting experience.
Nexcess offers a user-friendly experience with its custom admin panel, designed to simplify complex hosting tasks. Features such as DNS propagation and professional email setup are integrated to ensure quick setup times. The inclusion of a drag-and-drop builder for WooCommerce and pre-installed WooCommerce itself makes it accessible for those without coding knowledge. Moreover, the Visual Compare Tool can help in evaluating how plugins will affect the site’s appearance, enhancing user-friendliness for both technical and non-technical users.
Directnic, on the other hand, employs the widely recognized cPanel for managing web hosting. cPanel’s intuitive interface allows users to manage their hosting environment efficiently, making it a popular choice for its ease of use. Directnic also provides a drag-and-drop builder through SiteBuilder by Weebly, which includes website templates and a shopping cart, making it suitable for users of all proficiency levels. The easy script installations further add to the user-friendly nature of Directnic’s admin panel, simplifying the process of adding new functionalities to a website.
Nexcess stands out in migration tools, offering free managed migrations handled by experienced professionals. This service guarantees a hassle-free transition from another hosting provider. On the contrary, Directnic’s migration tools are primarily self-service through the cPanel interface, which might involve a bit more technical know-how and are generally not managed by their support team. While Directnic does provide guidance through its knowledge base, the absence of managed migration services can make the process challenging for those less technically inclined.
Nexcess provides an extensive help center with 24/7/365 support available by phone, chat, and email. The knowledge base is rich with articles, tutorials, and additional resources such as webinars and white papers, providing well-rounded assistance for users. In comparison, Directnic offers 24/7 technical support with a Trouble Ticket System and a comprehensive repository of knowledge articles covering a range of topics from basic account setup to troubleshooting. While both providers have solid help centers, Nexcess stands out for its in-depth resources and application-specific support.
The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Nexcess offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. Directnic 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.
User management
accessibility.
Score Components:
- Role customization (40%): Flexibility in creating and defining user roles and
permissions. - Ease of management (30%): User interface and tools for managing users.
- Access control (20%): Effectiveness of access control measures for different user
levels. - Scalability (10%): Ability to manage a growing number of users efficiently.
8.6
6.5
🏆 Winner
Nexcess: Outstanding customization and flexibility in user management.
Nexcess and Directnic offer different approaches to managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility. Nexcess stands out with its versatile role configurations, providing Superuser, Billing, and Technical roles, along with the ability to create custom teams. This flexibility allows for tailored permissions based on the specific expertise of team members. On the contrary, Directnic’s information about user management is unavailable for comparison. This leads to a significant advantage for Nexcess in terms of role customization and precise permission allocation.
In terms of user interfaces and tools for managing users, Nexcess provides a comprehensive client portal accessible via their website, supporting a straightforward method to handle user roles and permissions. The platform allows users to create, edit, and assign teams with ease, ensuring a user-friendly experience. While Directnic’s interface and tools cannot be evaluated due to a lack of information, Nexcess clearly offers a seamless process with intuitive tools for managing users effectively.
Assessing access control measures, Nexcess demonstrates strong capabilities in managing user access and permissions. Their system allows for no hard limits on permissions, enabling administrators to adjust access as organizational needs grow. This ensures that multiple users can manage client sites without restrictions, enhancing operational efficiency significantly. Without data on Directnic’s measures, Nexcess’s approach appears more comprehensive and scalable, effectively handling an increasing number of users while maintaining high security standards.
Nexcess user roles table:
| Role | Description | Access highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Superuser | Equivalent to an administrator. | Full access to all functionality within the Nexcess Client Portal. |
| Billing | Focused on account management and invoicing. | Can manage invoices and accounting-related tasks; less technical. |
| Technical | Access to more technical aspects of the portal. | Can perform technical functions but restricted on billing and admin. |
| Custom Teams | Customizable roles based on team members’ expertise. | Permissions tailored to team needs, ensuring flexibility and specificity. |
Customer support
hosting provider.
Score Components:
- Support communication channels (30%): Measures the variety of customer support types
provided (live chat, chatbot, email, phone, etc.) - Availability (20%): Assesses the availability hours for each channel, including 24/7
support options. - Technical support quality (30%): Assesses whether the provider offers comprehensive
technical support, including hardware upgrades (e.g., HDD to SSD), software installations, and web
server configuration changes. - Enterprise support (20%): Checks if there are dedicated or priority support services
for enterprise-level customers.
8.8
7.7
🏆 Winner Nexcess: Exceptional customer service and extensive support features across multiple channels.
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Phone support |
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Live chat support |
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Chatbot |
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Email/ticket support |
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Enterprise support (dedicated agent, priority support) |
When comparing the customer support options of Nexcess and Directnic, Nexcess leads with 24/7/365 support through phone, live chat, and email, ensuring constant availability. Directnic also offers 24/7 support but limits phone support to business hours from Monday to Friday. Both offer comprehensive troubleshooting assistance; however, Nexcess further strengthens its support with specialized expertise in PHP-based applications like WordPress, Magento, and WooCommerce. Additionally, Nexcess includes managed migrations, daily backups, and proactive monitoring at no extra cost.
Directnic, on the other hand, provides planning, installation, and training alongside its other services, making it a practical choice for users needing initial setup help. They offer a wealth of knowledge base articles and video tutorials, catering well to those preferring self-help resources. Directnic’s mixed reviews, primarily around downtime and server speed, contrast with Nexcess’s higher customer satisfaction and specialized support. Overall, Nexcess offers a more comprehensive and dedicated support experience.
Nexcess vs Directnic: User feedback
User feedback on Nexcess hosting is highly polarized. Positive reviews frequently commend the platform’s knowledgeable and responsive customer support, emphasizing swift issue resolution and a user-friendly interface. However, negative reviews highlight significant issues with the backup system, slow migration processes, and unreliable server performance, causing operational disruptions and reputational damage. Many users note the decline in service quality following the company’s acquisition, culminating in mixed recommendations.
The hosting provider has a long-standing presence in the industry, which has contributed to a stable domain registration experience for some users. However, there have been significant issues with domain security breaches and slow response times for resolving these problems. Additionally, the server performance is reported to be slow, and customer support is not highly rated. Overall, the service has received average feedback, and some users would not recommend it.
Nexcess vs Directnic: FAQ
Which platform is better suited for hosting WordPress websites?
Nexcess is better suited for hosting WordPress websites, offering features like 1-click staging, plugin updates, and integrated Yoast SEO tools. The platform’s superior support, autoscaling, and faster load times make it an ideal choice for WordPress users who require high performance and reliability. Directnic does not specialize in WordPress hosting and lacks the advanced features Nexcess provides.
Which hosting service offers better security features?
Nexcess offers superior security features compared to Directnic, including a range of SSL certificates, advanced security hardening, web application firewall, and daily backups with one-click restore. Its proactive security measures, such as automatic OS updates and daily malware scans, further enhance protection. Although Directnic provides essential security features like a managed web application firewall and malware protection, Nexcess’s comprehensive suite of security solutions gives it an edge.
What are the major differences in pricing and value between nexcess and directnic?
Nexcess offers specialized hosting plans with advanced features, which come at a higher cost, while Directnic provides more budget-friendly plans with essential hosting services. Directnic’s shared hosting plans start at $2.48 per month, making it accessible for basic needs, whereas Nexcess’s plans are tailored for users requiring robust performance and support, starting at $21 per month for WordPress hosting. Despite the higher price, Nexcess delivers better value through advanced functionalities and superior performance.
Which hosting service offers more scalability options for growing websites?
Nexcess offers a more robust and flexible scalability solution, with free autoscaling that deploys additional resources during traffic surges and various storage and bandwidth options to accommodate growth. Its plans include numerous PHP workers and substantial capacities, allowing for seamless scaling as website demands increase. Directnic, while offering tiered plans with increased resources, does not match the automatic scaling capabilities provided by Nexcess.
Which platform offers better customer support?
Nexcess offers superior customer support with 24/7/365 availability via phone, live chat, and email, along with managed migrations and proactive monitoring. Their help center provides extensive resources including articles, tutorials, and webinars. Directnic also provides 24/7 support but limits phone availability to business hours, and has mixed reviews regarding downtime and server speed issues. Overall, Nexcess provides a more comprehensive and specialized support experience.
The making of this blog
We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.
