Hostinger vs Flywheel: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over Hostinger vs. Flywheel, both platforms excel in different aspects, making them suitable for varied user needs.

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  Hostinger (Overall grade: 8.7)
  
  
  provides a strong balance of affordability, performance, and features. With hosting options including shared, cloud, WordPress, and VPS hosting, it caters to a wide range of users. Notable strengths include excellent uptime, fast response times, extensive security measures, and a comprehensive feature set like a custom-built control panel, free domain, SSL certificates, and an easy-to-use website builder. However, it lacks dedicated hosting and more specialized compliance certifications like HIPAA. Hostinger’s AI tools and global data centers further enhance its speed and reliability, making it an excellent value for users looking for comprehensive yet cost-effective hosting solutions.
  
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  Flywheel (Overall grade: 8.4)
  
  
  offers a premium managed WordPress hosting experience tailored particularly for agencies and high-traffic websites. With superior uptime, fast servers powered by Google Cloud, and advanced caching solutions, it ensures efficient performance for WordPress sites. Flywheel excels with its workflow tools, dedicated account managers, and comprehensive security features which include malware removal and auto-healing technology. Despite its strengths, Flywheel’s limited hosting types, higher pricing, absence of email hosting, and lesser value in terms of storage and bandwidth compared to competitors may not appeal to users seeking more versatility or cost savings. However, its focus on developer-friendly tools and agency support makes it a strong contender for WordPress-centric professionals.
  

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 Hostinger: Fast, reliable performance with global data centers and extensive features.

In terms of general performance, Hostinger stands out with its high-speed CPUs and NVMe storage, ensuring rapid website loading and efficient data access. It provides 99.9% uptime, aided by LiteSpeed Web Servers and LSCWP Cache Plugin, which enhance speed and reliability. Hostinger CDN improves speed scores with features such as code minification and image optimization. Data centers spread across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America guarantee quick access for users worldwide. Flywheel also offers fast servers with managed caching and a CDN powered by Fastly, ensuring quick page loads. However, its reliance on monthly performance insights and auto-healing technology for improving site speed makes its approach more reactive rather than proactive.

Website speed

When comparing website speed, Hostinger’s robust setup featuring HTTP/3 and IPv6, along with object and LiteSpeed caching, makes it exceptionally fast. Flywheel’s managed caching at the server level also enhances speed, but it’s tailored more for WordPress-specific optimizations rather than general usage. Hostinger’s AI tools and Global Data Centers further boost performance to ensure minimal latency across various regions. Flywheel’s CDN and auto-healing technology contribute positively, yet Hostinger’s comprehensive array of speed-enhancing features set it apart.

Scalability

Hostinger offers versatility with its cloud plans, allowing for adjustments based on website needs. Upgrading plans provides clear enhancements in storage, RAM, and CPU cores. The scaling process with Hostinger is straightforward; higher-tier plans come with better resources. Flywheel’s approach, while it does offer dedicated resources and custom plans for high-traffic sites, often involves additional costs for overages and scaling. The specifics of automatic scaling remain unclear, implying a more manual approach to resource management compared to Hostinger’s structured tier upgrades.

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel provides a robust security environment with several advanced features and comprehensive compliance measures.

Technical security measures:

Hostinger offers continuous server monitoring, firewall protection, and advanced security modules like mod_security and Suhosin PHP hardening. It also provides enhanced DDoS protection and uses a Cloudflare protected nameserver. Flywheel, on the other hand, employs Fastly WAF for layer 7 attack protection and intelligent IP blocking across all sites. Flywheel also offers features like auto-healing technology and free malware removal, providing a higher level of automated security.

Operational security measures:

Hostinger has a dedicated internal security team, responsible disclosure policy, and stringent internal policies to maintain security standards. Regular vulnerability scans and penetration testing are part of their practices. Flywheel also maintains a high level of operational security with plugin security alerts and role-based permission models, allowing controlled data and algorithm sharing. Both offer 24/7 customer support, but Flywheel includes additional operational advantages like free migrations and nightly backups stored for 30 days.

Compliance and certifications:

Hostinger complies with GDPR but does not provide environments intended for HIPAA or PCI compliance. It also lacks ISO 27001 and SOC certifications. Flywheel offers more comprehensive compliance, meeting GDPR, HIPAA, 21 CFR Part 11, GCP, and holds a SOC 2 audit certification, demonstrating a higher commitment to regulatory compliance and security.

🏆 Winner
Hostinger: A hosting solution that offers robust features and excellent value for a wide range of users.

Hostinger provides a custom-built hPanel control panel that is user-friendly and accessible for beginners while also catering to more advanced users with its extensive developer tools like SSH access, Git integration, and WP-CLI. Hostinger includes a free domain and SSL with most plans, which adds value right off the bat. Their intuitive drag-and-drop website builder, enhanced with AI features, allows for easy site creation and customization, making it an appealing choice for users who appreciate simplicity and efficiency. Additionally, Hostinger stands out by offering daily and on-demand backups, free automatic website migration, and multiple PHP versions, ensuring a secure and flexible hosting environment.

Flywheel, on the other hand, focuses on managed WordPress hosting. They deliver tailored solutions for WordPress users with features such as FlyCache for enhanced performance and managed caching, demo sites for testing, and a wide range of workflow tools including Blueprints and staging sites. Flywheel’s platform offers advanced security measures and nightly backups stored for 30 days, aiming to keep your site secure and maintain its integrity. A unique feature is their auto-healing technology, which addresses service failures automatically. Their pricing includes transparent overage charges, and they have various support options, including 24/7 chat and dedicated account managers, making them a solid choice for businesses heavily reliant on WordPress.

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 Hostinger and Flywheel 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:

Hostinger includes email hosting, which allows users to manage their email campaigns and responses directly through their hosting account. They support various transactional email capabilities without any specific limits noted. Flywheel does not offer internal email hosting but recommends using third-party providers like Google Workspace for comprehensive email needs. This approach might suit users who prefer separating their email services from their hosting, especially with reliable providers like Google.

🏆 Winner Hostinger: Hostinger offers a comprehensive range of plans with more value-packed features, making it a strong contender for various hosting needs.

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

When comparing Hostinger and Flywheel, Hostinger offers a wider range of hosting plans at competitive prices. Hostinger’s Premium Web Hosting plan starts at $2.99/month with features like 100 websites and 100 GB SSD storage, while Flywheel’s Tiny Plan is priced higher at $13/month for just 1 WordPress site and 5 GB storage. Hostinger also provides daily and weekly backups in some plans, compared to Flywheel’s nightly backups. For enterprises, Hostinger’s top cloud hosting plan is priced at $29.99/month, providing extensive resources and support, in contrast to Flywheel’s Agency Plan at $242/month with different bandwidth and storage capacities.

Enterprise plans

Hostinger’s Cloud Enterprise plan at $29.99/month is suited for enterprises needing high storage, RAM, and CPU cores, with unlimited websites and bandwidth, making it a cost-effective option. Comparatively, Flywheel’s Agency Plan at $242/month offers up to 30 sites, 50GB storage, and 500GB bandwidth, making it less competitive in terms of price-to-feature ratio for large-scale operations.

🏆 Winner Hostinger: Hostinger provides an easy and user-friendly web hosting experience, making it ideal for both beginners and seasoned web developers.

Hostinger offers a custom-built admin panel called hPanel, which is specifically designed to be intuitive and accessible. With its streamlined interface, users can easily perform tasks such as setting up professional email addresses, installing content management systems, and using the website builder without needing any prior technical expertise. The admin panel includes over 100 one-click app installations and built-in AI tools that assist with various tasks, ensuring a smooth and efficient setup process. Automated updates for popular applications like WordPress further enhance the user experience.

Flywheel, on the other hand, provides a local development environment for developing WordPress sites. Users can test new ideas in staging sites before going live and use blueprints to save an existing site’s theme and plugins as templates for future projects. Flywheel’s control panel enables site cloning, offering a practical way to replicate sites for new projects or demo purposes. While it also supports non-technical users, its features are particularly appealing to developers who frequently work on multiple WordPress sites.

Both Hostinger and Flywheel offer free website migration services. Hostinger provides fully automated website migration with no downtime, making it seamless for users to switch to their platform without any hassle. Flywheel also offers free migrations, allowing users to transfer their existing sites without incurring any extra costs. Flywheel’s migration dashboard helps manage and monitor migrations effectively, adding an extra layer of convenience.

Hostinger and Flywheel both excel in providing extensive help center resources. Hostinger offers 24/7 multilingual support, along with a comprehensive help center that includes tutorials, video guides, and detailed articles covering a wide range of topics from basic setup to advanced configuration. Flywheel also provides 24/7/365 chat support and phone support during business hours. Their help documentation is thorough and includes guides on getting started, site management, and developer tools. Flywheel’s additional resources like ebooks, videos, and case studies further support users in maximizing the platform’s features.

🏆 Winner
Hostinger: A comprehensive and efficient user management system with easy client onboarding and centralized control.

When comparing Hostinger and Flywheel in terms of managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility, both offer strong options though with different focuses. Hostinger provides a more streamlined approach to adding new clients through their hPanel, allowing users to quickly add or request access with specified access levels. Flywheel, in contrast, offers flexibility through Collaborator access, with nearly everything an owner can do except for managing billing, deleting or resetting a site. Both systems allow for efficient user role creation and permissions setting, yet Hostinger’s defined access levels offer built-in simplicity that might be preferable for users seeking straightforward management, while Flywheel offers broader control options for experienced users.

Hostinger’s hPanel interface is user-friendly, guiding users through steps with clear labels such as “Account Sharing” and “Manage Domains”. This makes task completion intuitive for both novices and experienced users. The centralized dashboard features for site and domain management reflect well-thought design principles. Flywheel’s Flywheel dashboard also provides a smooth user experience, granting collaborators full access to site management settings, SFTP, and database management. Flywheel users can appreciate the fluidity of moving between site management functions, though it might appear complex to those new to hosting.

Regarding access control measures and the ability to handle a growing user base, Hostinger excels with its systematic approach. By defining specific roles and restrictions clearly, Hostinger ensures that users only access what they need. This makes managing a growing client list efficient without compromising security. Flywheel’s approach allows Collaborators extensive permissions, which might be useful in a team-centric environment. However, the broader scope of permissions could potentially introduce security risks if not tightly managed. Both providers show a strong capability to manage user growth, but Hostinger’s built-in safeguards offer an extra layer of security.

Hostinger user roles table:

Flywheel user roles table:

🏆 Winner Flywheel: Flywheel offers exceptional customer support, including round-the-clock services and personalized solutions.

Hostinger provides 24/7 live chat support, email support for various inquiries, and a comprehensive knowledge base with tutorials. Their Academy offers video tutorials, and they have priority support with specific plans. Hostinger’s customer service team speaks multiple languages and responds quickly, resolving issues in under 3 minutes.

Flywheel, on the other hand, goes the extra mile with 24/7 chat support, phone support during business hours, and email/ticket support. They offer a migration dashboard, dedicated account managers, managed plugin updates, and performance insights. Flywheel also supports free migrations, 60-day money-back guarantees, and additional resources such as eBooks, help docs, and demo sites.

User feedback

Hostinger receives high praise for its user-friendly interface, competitive pricing, and robust performance. Customers appreciate the wide range of features, including seamless website migration, the intuitive hPanel, and excellent uptime. The standout feature, consistently mentioned across reviews, is the exceptional and responsive customer support available 24/7 via live chat, although some users express a desire for phone support. On the downside, a few customers report issues with renewal pricing, occasional slow support response times, and the limitations of the lower-tier plans.

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.

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