Flywheel vs Register.com: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over Flywheel vs. Register.com, Flywheel distinctly caters to WordPress users and agencies, while Register.com provides basic tools for general hosting needs.

• 
  Flywheel (Overall grade: 8.4)
  
  
  is tailored specifically for WordPress sites, boasting superior uptime, fast response times, and an intuitive user interface. The platform shines in areas like managed caching, built-in security features, and compliance certifications, making it particularly suited for businesses prioritizing performance and reliability. Flywheel excels in support, offering 24/7/365 availability and personalized assistance. However, recent pricing adjustments and slower customer service response times have raised concerns among users. Despite these drawbacks, Flywheel remains a go-to for agencies and professionals managing multiple websites due to its focused feature set and performance.
  
• 
  Register.com (Overall grade: 6.6)
  
  
  offers a broad spectrum of hosting plans with a focus on easy-to-use tools and extensive template selections. It performs reasonably well with its 99.99% uptime guarantee for Unix users and provides essential security features like SSL certificates and malware scanning. The platform is more suited to users needing straightforward solutions for basic web hosting and domain management. Unfortunately, Register.com falls short in areas that require high performance and advanced features, with many users reporting slow response times, high costs, and unaddressed technical issues. It remains a viable option for basic needs but doesn’t match the advanced capabilities and specialized support of Flywheel.
  

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
Flywheel: Provides stellar uptime, fast response times, and strong customer support.

Flywheel offers a high uptime guarantee of 99.9% which they exceeded with 100% uptime in a short-term test. With an average response time of 371ms, Flywheel significantly outperforms the market average. Their SLA-backed guarantee provides for 100% availability, accounting for required maintenance and unforeseeable events. Flywheel’s customer support is available 24/7/365, catering especially to high-spending customers.

Register.com promises solid uptime with 99.99% for Unix customers and 99.9% for Microsoft users. They manage files across multiple servers to ensure reliability. Their hosting plans provide comprehensive security features including malware scanning and SSL certificates. Register.com offers a range of plans with substantial storage and developer tools, making them suitable for various needs, but falls slightly short in offering the same level of uptime guarantee and response times as Flywheel.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel offers superior hosting speed and performance, leveraging their Flywheel Cloud Platform designed to be the speediest option for WordPress sites. With managed caching at the server level, an advanced CDN powered by Fastly, and dedicated resources for each site, Flywheel ensures swift load times and robust performance without the need for additional plugins. Register.com also performs competitively, offering a 99.9% uptime guarantee and speed enhancements for WordPress hosting. However, Flywheel’s built-in caching methods and compute-optimized servers tailored specifically for WooCommerce give it a notable edge.

Flywheel and Register.com both offer SSD storage and free CDN integration to enhance hosting performance and speed. Flywheel, however, showcases faster load times with a heavyweight theme clocked at 1.69 seconds, compared to Register.com’s 4.85 seconds. Flywheel operates 11 global data centers, which surpasses Register.com’s six, potentially offering better local loading speeds and content delivery. Moreover, Flywheel’s technology is more up-to-date, which may contribute to its superior performance.

Website Speed

Flywheel excels in website speed due to features like managed caching and a state-of-the-art CDN, which significantly reduce page load times. Their platform is backed by super fast servers and auto-healing technology, further boosting performance and reliability. Register.com also offers fast load times, claiming speeds twice as fast as competitors, but lacks the advanced caching and specialized WooCommerce optimizations that Flywheel provides.

Scalability

Flywheel offers custom-built plans to accommodate websites with specific requirements or higher traffic, ensuring easy scalability. While they do have dedicated servers optimized for compute-intensive tasks, details about elastic scaling or automatic plan upgrades are not provided. In contrast, Register.com’s hosting solutions are designed for growth, making it easy to upgrade your plan as your business needs expand. The cost for scaling with either provider wasn’t specified, so contacting their support teams for detailed information would be necessary.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Offers robust security features and comprehensive compliance certifications.

Both Flywheel and Register.com have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Flywheel provides free SSL certificates and supports third-party SSL certificates, whereas Register.com offers various levels of SSL certificates with 256-bit encryption, including EV and OV certificates. Flywheel supports PHP 8.1, while Register.com allows users to select from multiple PHP versions through its PHP Manager. Flywheel’s intelligent IP blocking and auto-healing technology enhance its technical security. Register.com’s malware protection is managed through SiteLock, which includes automatic malware removal, while Flywheel provides Plugin Security Alerts and free malware removal services.

Operational security measures:

Flywheel includes nightly backups stored for 30 days, whereas Register.com uses CodeGuard for automatic website backups. Flywheel’s role-based permission model ensures secure data and project sharing, and its federated identity service simplifies user authentication. Register.com offers password protection for website access, customizable error pages for better security, and detailed monitoring through raw log files. Flywheel provides a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with Fastly and other proprietary rules to prevent various web attacks; Register.com does not specify a similar feature.

Compliance and certifications:

Flywheel meets several regulatory requirements, including HIPAA, GDPR, 21 CFR Part 11, and Good Clinical Practice (GCP), and is SOC 2 audited. Register.com complies with GDPR by masking certain fields in the WHOIS output and uses SSL certificates to ensure PCI compliance for secure transactions. Flywheel’s extensive list of compliance regulations and their auditing practices ensure a higher level of security standards.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: A comprehensive managed WordPress hosting service designed for developers and agencies.

Flywheel offers a robust suite of features specifically designed to cater to WordPress users. Their managed WordPress hosting plans include free site migrations, 24/7/365 support, and staging sites, providing a seamless user experience. Flywheel also offers a local development environment and nightly backups. They incorporate managed caching, security, and software updates, making it easy for users to maintain their sites without hassle. Unique selling points include their free SSL certificates, FlyCache technology, and compatibility with PHP 8.1. Suitable for both developers and agencies, Flywheel’s pricing plans cater to a variety of needs with the added benefit of a 14-day demo site for testing.

Register.com, meanwhile, focuses on flexibility with features like a Website Builder and FTP Account Manager, which make it easier for users to build and manage their websites. Their platform supports multiple programming frameworks, including Ruby on Rails and JSP, and offers tools to manage custom error pages, PHP versions, and database management. Register.com also provides free website backups and the ability to reset file permissions, adding an extra layer of convenience. However, it lacks some advanced features such as a staging environment and exclusive managed services like Flywheel. Register.com’s offering is better suited for users needing broader application support and straightforward website management, although users may need to contact their support team to confirm the availability of SFTP and SSH.

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 Register.com 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:

Email services at Flywheel does not provide email hosting services, recommending third-party providers like Google Workspace for email needs. Register.com, on the other hand, offers basic email hosting services, allowing users to manage their email campaigns directly. Transactional email capabilities, such as those for form submissions, aren’t explicitly detailed for either provider. For more complex email requirements or large-scale campaigns, users would likely need to look into specialized email service providers.

Winner Flywheel: Offers competitive pricing and a variety of features suitable for different types of users, from individuals to large agencies.

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.

The comparison between Flywheel and Register.com reveals Flywheel’s extensive and nuanced hosting plans ranging from $13 to custom pricing, catering to a variety of needs with features like free SSL, CDN, and daily backups. Flywheel offers high flexibility with its diverse plans, making it suitable for both small businesses and large corporations. Register.com, on the other hand, provides straightforward and less feature-rich hosting options that emphasize disk space and basic services. Flywheel’s value is more compelling when considering its range of features and better-suited plans for professional use, although it is priced higher than Register.com.

Enterprise plans

Flywheel’s Agency Plan at $242/month offers robust performance with support for up to 30 websites, 50GB storage, and 500GB bandwidth, ideal for comprehensive business needs with additional features such as customizable plans. Register.com does not specifically outline plans tailored for enterprise needs with customizable options, making Flywheel a more fitting choice for large-scale businesses looking for tailored solutions.

🏆 Winner
Flywheel: Offers comprehensive, user-friendly features for an effortless website setup and migration.

Flywheel provides a custom admin panel specifically designed for WordPress users. Its interface is user-friendly, efficient, and less overwhelming for non-technical users. Features like free migrations, staging sites, and local development environments make it easier to manage WordPress sites. Flywheel’s dashboard is straightforward and provides access to critical aspects such as domain management, backups, and performance insights without requiring deep technical expertise. The platform’s aesthetic is clean and intuitive, which enhances the user experience.

Register.com uses a more traditional approach, featuring a mix of custom tools and standard options like cPanel. The admin panel includes utilities such as the FTP Account Manager and Database Manager, making it relatively approachable for technical users. However, non-technical users might find the interface somewhat complex, especially when dealing with open-source applications, script libraries, and other advanced features. The traditional design might require a learning curve for beginners unfamiliar with settings like PHP management and AWStats.

Flywheel excels in migration tools with its free migration service, making it effortless to transfer existing sites. Users can track and prioritize their migrations via the Migration Dashboard, ensuring transparency throughout the process. Conversely, Register.com does not specify free migrations, indicating that site transfers could potentially incur a cost and may not be as streamlined as Flywheel’s service.

Flywheel’s help center is comprehensive and accessible, providing a rich array of resources including 24/7/365 chat support, detailed help docs, and performance insights. The addition of phone support and a dedicated account manager further enhances the support experience. Register.com also offers 24/7 customer service with a solid range of support resources, including FAQs and MyTime Support for product setup. However, its offerings in terms of depth of articles and tutorials are less extensive.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel offers comprehensive user management features with extensive collaborator access.

Flywheel provides an extensive set of user management features, allowing collaborators nearly the same level of access as site owners, minus a few critical actions like managing billing, deleting the site, or resetting it to default. Collaborators on Flywheel have the ability to handle a multitude of tasks such as adding or removing fellow collaborators, managing site settings, and accessing the site via SFTP and the WordPress admin directly from the Flywheel dashboard. On the other hand, there is no available information on user management or roles for Register.com, which makes it difficult to assess its capabilities in this context. Flywheel’s detailed and versatile approach to user roles clearly distinguishes it from Register.com.

Flywheel’s user interface for managing users is designed for ease and flexibility. The Flywheel dashboard provides a straightforward process for adding or removing collaborators, simply requiring a name or email address for invitation. Notifications ensure everyone stays informed about access changes. Additionally, collaborators benefit from seamless SFTP and WordPress admin access, given the site owner enables these features. Although information on Register.com’s user interface for management is unavailable, Flywheel’s user-centric tools and smooth navigation set it apart.

Access control measures at Flywheel are stringent yet adaptable, allowing owners to retain control over key actions while granting collaborators comprehensive site management capabilities. This balanced approach ensures that site integrity is maintained even as user access expands. Flywheel’s Happiness Engineers are also available to assist with any issues, further enhancing management efficiency. Without specific details on Register.com’s measures for access control and scalability, it’s clear that Flywheel’s comprehensive and user-friendly methods are well-suited for managing a growing number of users efficiently.

Flywheel user roles table:

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel offers premium customer support that stands out with 24/7/365 availability and personalized attention.

Flywheel and Register.com both provide strong customer support but cater to different needs. Flywheel excels with its 24/7/365 chat support and guarantees prompt responses anytime, including after-hours phone support. Flywheel also offers dedicated account managers and free migrations for personalized service. Register.com ensures extensive phone support availability, including late hours and weekends, and boasts an award-winning support team.

While both providers excel in different areas, Flywheel’s advantage in personalized and round-the-clock support makes it a preferable choice for those requiring comprehensive and immediate assistance. Register.com covers essential support options well but lacks the extensive personalized support features Flywheel offers.

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.

Customer feedback on Register.com is notably polarized. A significant number of users commend the platform for its easy-to-use interface, extensive template selection, and generally satisfactory customer service, emphasizing that it meets basic web hosting and domain registration needs effectively. However, many users also express frustration over high costs, slow response times, and unaddressed technical issues such as unreliable email services and slow page loading speeds. While some customers have had positive long-term experiences, others warn against the service due to unreliability and poor customer support, resulting in business losses and dissatisfaction.

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