Justhost vs WestHost: guide for 2024

Justhost vs WestHost: Final verdict

Looking over JustHost vs. Westhost, both providers offer various features and performance enhancements tailored to different user needs, with Westhost having a slight edge in overall value.

• 
  Westhost (Overall grade: 7.8)
  
  provides diverse hosting plans, focused on reliable performance and security. It promises a remarkable uptime of 99.995%, allowing for a stable environment backed by globally distributed data centers and RAID-10 redundancy.
  Security features including fraud, virus, and spam protection, along with support for newer PHP versions, make it a strong choice for developers and businesses. Free SSL certificates and migration services enhance its appeal, though the user interface and some documentation could use improvements.
  With transparent VPS pricing and top-notch support, Westhost stands out as a dependable, secure, and flexible option.
• 
  JustHost (Overall grade: 7.4)
  
  offers a user-friendly hosting solution with competitive uptime, a free domain for the first year, and a variety of plans to suit different needs. It excels in customer support and operational security, with features like Spam Assassin and customizable error pages.
  The cPanel interface is intuitive, making it accessible for beginners while providing advanced configurations via VPS root access. Despite lacking some modern features like SSDs in all plans and needing premium plans for automated backups, JustHost’s enhanced caching, reliable performance, and straightforward pricing make it a practical choice, particularly for new users and those seeking simplicity.

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

🏆 Winner
WestHost: A reliable hosting service with global data centers and strong security measures.

JustHost offers an uptime of 99.95%, meeting industry standards, and features a data center located in Utah. While response speeds and customer service have room for improvement, the hosting includes weekly backups and Cloudflare CDN compatibility. Nevertheless, premium plans are necessary for automatic backups.

WestHost, despite no explicit uptime guarantee, recorded 100% uptime over one month and touts globally distributed data centers. Their speed performance is average, and they prioritize security with RAID-10 redundancy and other protective measures. The service includes a commendable uptime SLA of 99.995%.

🏆 Winner: Westhost: Provides a comprehensive hosting solution with an impressive uptime guarantee and extensive security features.

Westhost and Just Host offer various hosting plans and performance levels. Westhost promises a 99.995% uptime, offering a stable environment with solid-state drives for quicker data access and faster load times. Just Host also maintains strong uptime with 24/7 network monitoring and high-performance servers but their page load speeds may not be as fast as those on SSDs. Westhost includes a Content Delivery Network (CDN) in higher-tier plans for improved global site performance, while Just Host provides enhanced caching and mirrored storage for dedicated hosting plans. Both have multiple data centers ensuring data reliability and redundancy, but Westhost’s global datacenter network appears more extensive.

Website Speed

Westhost’s use of SSDs in their VPS cloud hosting facilitates rapid read/write operations, translating to faster website load times. Compatibility with various web frameworks and free SSL certificates for secure connections enhance performance. Just Host offers high performance in its Pro Plan with standard performance in other plans. Enhanced caching and smart storage management for dedicated hosting users ensure consistent performance, although the lack of SSDs might be a limitation compared to Westhost.

Scalability

Westhost shines with its cloud SSD VPS hosting, allowing flexible resource adjustments without manual upgrades. Prices for VPS plans are transparent, starting at $8.00/month for 1GB RAM and scaling up to $128.00/month for 16GB RAM. Just Host offers instant provisioning for VPS and dedicated hosting accounts, with prices likely varying based on the specific resources required. Both services support various hosting needs, but exact pricing for scaling isn’t clarified by Just Host.

Winner Westhost: Westhost offers robust security features across the board, making it a reliable choice for hosting your websites.

Technical security measures:

Just Host provides comprehensive malware protection through SiteLock with daily vulnerability scanning, automatic malware removal, and a dynamic verifiable security badge. Their security extends to defacement, database vulnerabilities, and XSS vulnerabilities. On the other hand, Westhost also offers SiteLock for free for the first year, alongside fraud, virus, and spam protection. Additionally, Westhost supports PHP versions up to 8.2, compared to Just Host’s PHP 5 and 7 support. Both providers offer SSH access for secure server operations.

Operational security measures:

Just Host excels in operational security with features like Spam Assassin protection, hotlink protection, and customizable error pages. They offer phone support with average wait times and toll-free numbers for US and international customers. Meanwhile, Westhost guarantees 99.9% uptime and provides 24/7 expert support. Westhost’s managed security clean-up services for a flat fee and regular backups ensure operational efficiency and data safety.

Compliance and certifications:

Just Host supports GDPR compliance with GDPR Domain Masking and Whois Privacy. However, PCI compliance is not explicitly mentioned. Westhost, despite not specifying PCI compliance, boasts ‘Privacy Shield’ certification under the EU – U.S. Privacy Shield framework. This enhances its reputation for GDPR compliance, providing an added layer of trust for customers handling sensitive data.

🏆 Winner
Just Host: Comprehensive hosting solutions with extensive features and free services.

Both Just Host and Westhost offer a range of features that cater to diverse hosting needs. Just Host provides a free domain name for the first year, which can be particularly appealing for those starting new websites. Just Host also includes a website builder with drag & drop capability, making it user-friendly. Additionally, their plans come with plenty of unmetered disk space, a significant consideration for businesses and developers who require substantial storage. One-click installations for various CMS and e-commerce platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Magento add to its versatility. Just Host’s free marketing tools, including Google AdWords and Microsoft Advertising credits, provide additional value for those looking to promote their websites effectively.

Westhost, on the other hand, offers its services starting at just $1 per month, which can be highly attractive for budget-conscious users. They also provide a free SSL certificate, frequent backups, and unlimited FTP users, enhancing security and ease of use. Westhost supports a broad range of PHP versions (5.3 to 8.2) and includes 80+ free applications, making it an excellent choice for developers seeking flexibility. The availability of a user-friendly control panel (StackCP), a free domain with an annual plan, and a content delivery network (CDN) further boosts its appeal. Westhost’s free migration service is another standout feature, easing the transition for those looking to switch their existing websites to a new hosting provider.

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 Just Host and Westhost 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:

Both Just Host and Westhost provide robust email hosting with features like unlimited email accounts and autoresponders. Just Host stands out with unlimited email accounts and support for both POP3 and IMAP. Westhost offers webmail, personalized mailboxes, and spam protection, along with fraud and virus protection. While Just Host doesn’t explicitly mention support for reselling third-party email services, Westhost’s offerings are comprehensive, catering to those who need reliable, functional email solutions for their domains.

🏆 Winner Just Host: Offers a wide variety of flexible hosting plans with a focus on premium features.

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.

When comparing Just Host and Westhost, Just Host offers a more comprehensive range of hosting plans that cater to various user needs, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting. Just Host’s shared hosting plans include more premium features, such as unmetered bandwidth across all plans and more MySQL databases. Westhost, while more budget-friendly, does not match the extensive features provided by Just Host, especially for higher-tier plans which include dedicated IPs and automated backups.

Enterprise plans

For enterprises, Just Host’s Pro Plan offers unlimited websites, high performance, automated backups, dedicated IP, and premium SSL certificates, making it ideal for large-scale operations. Westhost’s Premier plan, on the other hand, provides up to 150 GB storage, unlimited number of websites and databases, and additional security features like SiteLock and Domain Validated SSL, suited for businesses looking for secure and scalable solutions.

🏆 Winner
Just Host: Offers simple integration with various features and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Just Host utilizes the cPanel control panel, which is known for its user-friendly interface. The cPanel allows both technical and non-technical users to manage their hosting accounts easily. It integrates multiple functionalities such as email configuration, domain management, and database administration, and offers 1-click script installs through SimpleScripts. This makes setting up a website straightforward for beginners and efficient for advanced users.

Westhost also provides cPanel for managing websites, ensuring a familiar and accessible interface for users accustomed to this admin panel. Additionally, Westhost includes a website builder designed for those without technical expertise, allowing them to create their own sites quickly. The inclusion of one-click app installations for over 80 applications like WordPress and Joomla further simplifies the process. Both cPanels are designed to cater to a wide range of users, although Westhost pairs it with a more guided website builder experience.

Both Just Host and Westhost offer migration tools to facilitate the transfer of websites. Just Host’s integrated control panel with cPanel makes it easy to manually transfer files and databases, although automated migration isn’t explicitly mentioned as a standard feature. Westhost provides a Migration Center in their knowledge base, which implies a structured, step-by-step guide or tool for the process. Neither provider specifies if the migration assistance comes with an additional fee, suggesting that manual migration may be the primary, no-cost option available to users.

The help centers of both hosting providers are extensive and accessible. Just Host offers a detailed knowledge base with articles covering a wide range of topics and robust support options, including phone, email, and chat support. Their help center includes tutorials to assist users with setup and troubleshooting. Westhost similarly provides a comprehensive knowledge base with dedicated sections for domains, email hosting, web hosting, and more, backed by 24/7 technical support through live chat and a ticketing system. Both offer thorough resources to help users, but Westhost’s 24/7 live chat support adds a slight advantage.

🏆 Winner JustHost: JustHost offers a comprehensive set of user management features through cPanel.

JustHost and WestHost both provide valuable user management tools, but their approaches differ. JustHost relies on cPanel, which simplifies account management, offers greater control with root access for VPS, and supports unlimited email and domain management. On the other hand, WestHost uses its Site Manager, focusing more on individual user setups like email and FTP users. WestHost’s user management allows specific permissions for each account but lacks the multi-account management feature found in JustHost. Overall, JustHost presents a more flexible system for defining and managing user roles and permissions.

The user interface in JustHost, powered by cPanel, is designed to be intuitive, making it appealing for beginners while allowing advanced users to customize settings extensively. JustHost’s enhanced cPanel environment in VPS setups offers more features than the standard configuration. WestHost’s Site Manager is straightforward but requires more manual setup for each user, making it slightly less streamlined compared to cPanel. Both interfaces are user-friendly, but JustHost’s cPanel provides a more centralized and enriched user management experience.

For access control, JustHost excels with features like FTP and SSH access for comprehensive file and server management. Additionally, JustHost supports customization of error pages and cron jobs, allowing for better resource management as user numbers grow. WestHost provides effective access control by configuring specific email and FTP user permissions, including quota limits and directory specifications. However, JustHost’s multi-account management and enhanced VPS control make it better suited for efficiently handling a growing user base.

JustHost user roles table:

WestHost user roles table:

🏆 Winner
JustHost: Offers round-the-clock support with consistent uptime and a diverse range of hosting services.

JustHost and WestHost both provide comprehensive customer support options available 24/7, including phone, live chat, and email/ticket support. JustHost stands out with multiple validation methods to ensure secure support interactions, whereas WestHost offers a useful knowledge base and community forum for self-help. Both services ensure customers have easy access to assistance at any time.

Despite their similarities, JustHost edges ahead with its simple integration with cPanel and a free domain for one year with certain plans. WestHost, although having a polite and resourceful support team, has received mixed reviews for response times and effectiveness. Both providers have a 30-day money-back guarantee, but JustHost’s consistent uptime and wide range of hosting services make it the favored option.

Justhost vs WestHost: User feedback

Users appreciate JustHost for its simplicity and ease of use, making it an excellent choice for those new to hosting and cPanel. The interface is intuitive and mirrors that of other major hosting platforms, with reliable performance and minimal outages pre-2020. The introductory pricing offers significant savings, especially with long-term contracts, although the renewal rates are considerably higher. Overall, JustHost remains a solid option, though the price increase after the initial term may be a drawback for those on a tighter budget.

Users find WestHost to be a reliable hosting provider with minimal downtime and high-quality support. The competitive pricing is appreciated, but many users express frustration with the outdated documentation and the need for customer support intervention for tasks like updating SSL certificates. While the service itself is smooth and hassle-free, the administrative interface and outdated guides significantly detract from the overall user experience.

Justhost vs WestHost: FAQ