Flywheel vs Directnic: Final verdict
Looking over Flywheel 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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Flywheel (Overall grade: 8.4)
excels in providing a high-performance hosting experience specifically designed for WordPress users. With features like FlyCache, CDN powered by Fastly, and auto-healing technology, Flywheel ensures optimal site speed and uptime. Flywheel’s focus on security, including free SSL certificates, nightly backups, and malware removal services, adds to its reliability. Users benefit greatly from Flywheel’s 24/7 customer support, intuitive site management tools, and seamless site migration services. However, Flywheel’s lack of email hosting and domain registration can be a downside, potentially leading to additional costs for users seeking these services.
Directnic (Overall grade: 6.8)
offers an affordable hosting solution that includes essential features like free domain registration, email hosting, and substantial storage and bandwidth across various plans. This makes it appealing to individuals and small businesses with basic needs. Directnic provides reliable customer support and easy-to-manage cPanel hosting, along with free SSL and comprehensive security measures. However, the platform’s 99% uptime guarantee, occasional reports of slow server performance, and generalized features may not meet the expectations of high-traffic or eCommerce sites requiring specialized optimizations, as offered by Flywheel.
 Overall grade:8.4 |
 Overall grade:6.8 |
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|---|---|---|
| Uptime and Availability | 9.7 | 6.3 |
| Hosting Performance | 8.2 | 7.2 |
| Hosting Security | 9.4 | 7.8 |
| Price | 8.1 | 7.8 |
| Hosting Features | 6.8 | 3.6 |
| Ease Of Setup | 8.9 | 7.8 |
| User Management | 7.8 | 6.5 |
| Customer Support | 8.5 | 7.7 |
| User feedback | 4.4/5 | 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.
9.7
6.3
🏆 Winner Flywheel: Superior uptime and customer support.
Flywheel offers an exceptional hosting experience with a 99.9% uptime guarantee backed by an SLA agreement. Short-term tests have shown Flywheel to achieve a perfect 100% uptime with an impressive response time average of 371ms. The platform’s 24/7 support through various channels and strategic server locations contribute to its high reliability. Flywheel stands out with its money-back guarantee, ensuring satisfaction across its services.
Directnic provides a more budget-friendly hosting alternative with various shared hosting plans. While the uptime guarantee is only 99%, its affordability makes it suitable for individuals and small businesses with basic needs. Directnic’s features such as free domain registration, SSL certificates, and website security services add value despite its lower uptime. The comprehensive support options align well with its user-friendly approach, although some users report issues with slow servers and customer service reliability.
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.
8.2
7.2
🏆 Winner: Flywheel: A premier hosting service built for speed and efficiency, ideal for WordPress sites.Flywheel stands out for its high-performance infrastructure specifically designed for WordPress sites. It features managed caching and super fast servers, which streamline site performance without additional plugins. A key advantage is FlyCache, custom technology for cache management tailored to WordPress plugins and themes. Flywheel also includes a CDN powered by Fastly, enhancing content delivery speed globally. The cloud platform is architected for high-speed performance, backed by auto-healing technology and dedicated resources ensuring robust uptime. While Directnic offers comparable basic performance features, including impressive storage and bandwidth, it falls short in specialized speed optimization and CDN capabilities.
Website speed
Flywheel excels in website speed due to its compute-optimized dedicated servers and an array of features designed to enhance performance, such as managed caching and auto-healing technology. Sites benefit from a 40% speed increase, particularly for WooCommerce users. The CDN powered by Fastly further boosts page load times, ensuring a smooth user experience. Directnic maintains reliable speed but lacks the specialized performance and caching optimizations offered by Flywheel, making it less ideal for high-traffic or eCommerce sites.
Scalability
Flywheel provides robust scalability with custom-built plans for higher traffic needs and dedicated resources for better performance. Sites do not share server space, adding an extra layer of security and efficiency. However, exact costs for scaling are not provided. Directnic offers various tiered plans that allow customers to upgrade as their site grows but lacks detailed information on dedicated server availability and automatic scaling options.
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.
9.4
7.8
🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel provides robust security features and comprehensive compliance measures for a reliable hosting environment.
Both Flywheel and Directnic, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.
Technical security measures:
Flywheel offers free SSL certificates for each site and supports third-party SSL certificates, while Directnic charges for SSL certificates ranging from $42 to $249 per year. Flywheel utilizes Fastly WAF for application-layer protection and intelligent IP blocking to deter intruders. Directnic offers a fully-managed WAF, 5-layer DDoS protection, and malware detection. Both providers support the latest PHP version, with Flywheel offering PHP 8.1 compatibility and Directnic allowing flexible PHP version selection via its Hosting Console.
Operational security measures:
Flywheel provides nightly backups stored for 30 days, auto-healing technology, and plugin security alerts, along with free malware removal services. Directnic offers 24/7/365 surveillance and a Cyber Security Operations Center to handle incidents, plus a Secure CDN for enhanced performance. Flywheel’s focus on fast intrusion detection and comprehensive malware removal services edges it slightly ahead of Directnic’s operational security offerings.
Compliance and certifications:
Flywheel meets multiple compliance standards, including HIPAA, GDPR, 21 CFR Part 11, GCP, and is SOC 2 audit certified. Directnic does not specify compliance with GDPR or HIPAA, and no PCI compliance details are provided. Flywheel’s broader range of certifications assures users of a secure and compliant hosting environment.
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SSL certificate |
Free SSL |
Paid SSL ($42-$249/year) |
Additional security features |
Fastly WAF, Intelligent IP Blocking, Plugin Security Alerts, Malware Removal, Auto-Healing, Nightly Backups |
CSOC, SIEM, Secure CDN, Malware Detection, Fully-Managed WAF, 5-layer DDoS Protection |
PHP versions |
PHP 8.1 |
Select PHP Version Tool |
GDPR compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
HIPAA compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Not specified |
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
6.8
3.6
🏆 Winner Flywheel: Exceptional managed WordPress hosting with extensive features and robust support.
Flywheel and Directnic offer hosting services with distinct features suitable for various user needs. Flywheel specializes in managed WordPress hosting, providing a comprehensive suite of features tailored for WordPress users, including managed caching, security, software updates, and expert support. The presence of additional tools like FlyCache, Genesis Framework, and premium themes ensures robust site performance and design flexibility. Flywheel’s automatic backups, staging environments, and site-cloning capabilities enhance the development process for developers. While Flywheel doesn’t offer a free domain or email accounts, its superior performance insights, free SSL, and exceptional security features make it a strong contender for serious WordPress users.
Directnic, on the other hand, offers more straightforward web hosting with significant benefits at a lower price point. With free domain registration and email accounts, Directnic is appealing for users looking for a budget-friendly option with essential hosting services. Their cPanel hosting, easy script installs, substantial storage, and bandwidth options across various plans cater to a broad user base—from individuals to small businesses. Despite the lack of advanced WordPress-specific features and customization tools seen in Flywheel, Directnic’s simplicity, affordability, and inclusion of email hosting make it an attractive choice for users needing basic yet reliable web hosting.
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| Free domain | No | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes | No |
| Email hosting | No | 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, 60 days | Yes |
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 Flywheel and Directnic 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:
Flywheel does not offer email hosting services, recommending users to use third-party providers like Google Apps. This approach allows users to leverage specialized email platforms but necessitates separate management and potential additional costs. On the contrary, Directnic includes email hosting in all plans, offering a range of POP3 email accounts starting from 50 in the Lite plan to 250 in the Deluxe plan. Users can easily set up their email campaigns directly through their hosting, providing a cost-effective and integrated solution for email services directly within their hosting environment.
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.
8.1
7.8
🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel offers a diverse range of plans suitable for varying needs, catering well to both individual users and larger organizations.
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.
Flywheel provides a range of WordPress-specific plans starting from $13/month with features like 1 WordPress site, 5,000 monthly visits, and 5GB storage, scaling up to $242/month for agency needs. They also offer additional services like Performance Insights and Managed Plugin Updates. Directnic offers more affordable shared hosting beginning at $2.48/month featuring 10GB disk space and 100GB data transfer, with their deluxe plan at $7.98/month providing 200GB disk space and 2000GB data transfer. Their SiteBuilder options range from $15.99/month to $35.99/month, catering to users seeking extensive web building tools and additional security features.
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Tiny Plan $13/month
1 site, 5GB storage, 20GB bandwidth, 5,000 monthly visits, SSL certificates, daily backups Value for price:8.5
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N/A |
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Starter Plan $25/month
1 site, 10GB storage, 50GB bandwidth, 25,000 monthly visits, SSL certificates, daily backups Value for price:8.7
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N/A |
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Freelance Plan $96/month
Up to 10 sites, 20GB storage, 200GB bandwidth, 100,000 monthly visits, SSL certificates, daily backups Value for price:9.0
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N/A |
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Agency Plan $242/month
Up to 30 sites, 50GB storage, 500GB bandwidth, 400,000 monthly visits, SSL certificates, daily backups Value for price:9.2
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N/A |
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Custom Plan Custom pricing
30+ sites, custom storage and bandwidth, millions+ monthly visits, SSL certificates, daily backups Value for price:9.5
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N/A |
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Performance Insights $25/month
Monthly performance summary, actionable insights, dashboard Value for price:7.5
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N/A |
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Managed Plugin Updates $8/month
Technical specialist help, advanced settings, visual regression AI Value for price:8.0
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N/A |
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| N/A |
Lite Plan $2.48/month
3 domains, 10GB disk space, 100GB data transfer, 50 emails, 10 MYSQL databases Value for price:7.0
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| N/A |
Pro Plan $4.48/month
15 domains, 100GB disk space, 1000GB data transfer, 100 emails, 50 MYSQL databases Value for price:8.0
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| N/A |
Deluxe Plan $7.98/month
30 domains, 200GB disk space, 2000GB data transfer, 250 emails, 100 MYSQL databases Value for price:8.5
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Add-ons custom pricing
Insights and updates scaling with number of sites |
Sitebuilder Starter $15.99/month
Unlimited storage, drag & drop builder, no ads, advanced stats Value for price:7.5
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| N/A |
Sitebuilder Pro $24.99/month
Unlimited storage, site search, password protection, HD videos, up to 100 members Value for price:8.0
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| N/A |
Sitebuilder Business $35.99/month
Unlimited storage, membership registration, 0% transaction fee, unlimited products, SSL security Value for price:8.5
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| N/A |
cWatch Starter $3.90/month
1 domain, malware removal 2x/month, manual scanning Value for price:6.5
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| N/A |
cWatch Pro $9.90/month
1 domain, unlimited malware removal, scans every 6 hours Value for price:7.5
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| N/A |
cWatch Premium $24.90/month
1 domain, unlimited malware removal, scans every 4 hours Value for price:8.0
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Enterprise plans
For enterprise needs, Flywheel’s Agency Plan at $242/month offers up to 30 sites, 50GB storage, 500GB bandwidth, and 400,000 monthly visits, making it suitable for large-scale operations. Directnic does not offer a specific enterprise plan but their Sitebuilder Business plan at $35.99/month provides features like unlimited storage, SSL security, unlimited products, and 0% transaction fee, which can benefit online businesses demanding heightened security and comprehensive features. Flywheel, however, appears to cater more directly to enterprise-level demands with more extensive site handling and visitor capacity.
Flywheel 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.
8.9
7.8
🏆 Winner
Flywheel: In terms of ease of use, Flywheel stands out due to its flexible and affordable site migration options, intuitive custom admin panel, advanced setup features, and a highly praised help center.
Flywheel employs a custom panel called Site Tools, which replaces the traditional cPanel. This interface is designed to be more intuitive and streamlined, enhancing user experience with advanced tools like SG Optimizer and integration of Cloudflare’s CDN to improve website performance and speed. Flywheel’s help center is known for its clear and detailed content, which is highly valued by its users.
Flywheel on the other hand, offers a dual interface that combines a custom dashboard with full cPanel access, catering to both beginners and technically advanced users. The platform includes a comprehensive help center filled with a wide variety of guides and tutorials, aimed at assisting users in managing and optimizing their websites effectively.
Both Flywheel and Directnic offer migration services for websites, but their approaches and costs differ. Flywheel provides free automated migrations for WordPress sites specifically within the first 30 days after purchasing a new shared hosting plan. For non-WordPress sites, however, Flywheel charges $149 for migration services, although users have the option to undertake manual migrations, which demand considerable technical expertise. On the other hand, Directnic offers both automated and manual migration options for WordPress and non-WordPress or custom sites alike. Their paid migration service is considerably more affordable at approximately $30.
The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Flywheel 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.
7.8
6.5
🏆 Winner
Flywheel: Superior user management and access control features.
Flywheel and Directnic vary greatly in managing user roles and permissions. Flywheel allows collaborators full site access, similar to owners but with restrictions on billing and site deletion. This provides a flexible yet controlled environment for collaboration. Directnic doesn’t offer specified details on user roles, making it harder to gauge its flexibility and completeness in user management. Flywheel’s capacity to enable collaborators to add and remove other collaborators reflects a more dynamic and adaptable system. This feature aids in fostering an intuitive environment where users can effectively manage roles.
The user interface and tools for managing users are more detailed in Flywheel. Its dashboard grants collaborators the capability to perform site management tasks, access SFTP, and manage databases. On the other hand, Directnic’s user management tools are unspecified, meaning they potentially lack the depth and ease of use presented in Flywheel’s comprehensive dashboard environment. The streamlined process of Flywheel for adding or removing collaborators also highlights a user-friendly approach designed to facilitate convenient management.
Access control measures on Flywheel are clear and effective. Collaborators can conduct site operations freely but are restricted from handling billing, site deletion, and resetting the site. This ensures a secure and controlled access environment. Flywheel is built to manage a growing number of users efficiently, with features like seamless login and database management. Directnic lacks detailed information, making it difficult to assess its effectiveness in scaling with user growth. In Flywheel, the balance between accessibility and control is adeptly maintained, catering even to growing teams.
Flywheel user roles table:
| Role | Description | Access highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Collaborator | Trusted users who manage most site aspects. | Full site access except billing, can add/remove collaborators, manage databases, use SFTP, change settings. |
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.
8.5
7.7
🏆 Winner
Flywheel: Flywheel offers extensive customer support options with round-the-clock availability.
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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) |
Flywheel and Directnic provide a range of customer support services, though Flywheel offers a more comprehensive suite. Flywheel provides 24/7 chat support, phone support, and email/ticket support, allowing for seamless issue resolution at any time. They also cater to specific needs with a Migration Dashboard and dedicated account managers for personalized assistance. Additionally, their client management tools and free migrations add significant value.
Directnic also offers 24/7 technical support via chat, email, and tickets, along with phone support during working hours. Their support features include planning, installation, and troubleshooting services. However, they lack advanced hosting options and have received mixed reviews concerning downtime and server speed. Both offer comprehensive knowledge bases and additional resources, but Flywheel’s extended support hours and dedicated agents make it the stronger choice.
Flywheel vs Directnic: User feedback
Flywheel is highly regarded for its intuitive user interface, efficient WordPress management, and reliable speed and performance. Customers appreciate the ease of site migration, robust support, and included features like SSL and backups. However, some users highlight concerns over recent pricing changes, slower customer service response times, and issues with email limits and staging environments. Despite a few drawbacks, Flywheel is praised for its agency-oriented focus, making it a strong choice for professionals managing multiple client websites.
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.
Flywheel vs Directnic: FAQ
Which platform is better suited for hosting WordPress websites?
Flywheel is better suited for hosting WordPress websites due to its optimized infrastructure specifically designed for WordPress users. It offers advanced tools like managed caching, auto-healing technology, and seamless site migration, making it the preferred choice for WordPress hosting. Directnic also provides WordPress hosting but lacks the specialized features and performance optimizations that Flywheel offers.
Which hosting service offers better security features?
Flywheel offers superior security features compared to Directnic. Flywheel includes free SSL certificates, Fastly WAF for application-layer protection, nightly backups, and comprehensive malware removal services. Directnic also provides robust security with options like managed WAF and 5-layer DDoS protection, but Flywheel’s broader compliance and specialized tools make it more secure.
Which platform offers better customer support?
Flywheel offers better customer support with 24/7 chat support, phone support, and dedicated account managers available for personalized assistance. Their comprehensive support includes a Migration Dashboard and managed plugin updates. Directnic provides 24/7 support via chat, email, and tickets, but lacks Flywheel’s dedicated support agents, making Flywheel the stronger choice for customer service.
Which hosting service offers more scalability options for growing websites?
Flywheel provides more robust scalability options with custom-built plans for higher traffic needs and dedicated resources ensuring performance. Sites on Flywheel benefit from managed caching and a CDN for enhanced scalability. Directnic offers tiered plans allowing upgrades as the site grows, but lacks detailed information on dedicated server availability and automatic scaling options.
How do the providers handle email hosting and what features are included?
Flywheel does not offer email hosting services and recommends third-party providers like Google Apps, which may lead to separate management and additional costs. In contrast, Directnic includes email hosting in all plans, offering a range of POP3 email accounts, making it a cost-effective and integrated solution within their hosting environment.
The making of this blog
We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.
