Ionos vs Aplus.net: guide for 2024

Ionos vs Aplus.net: Final verdict

Looking over IONOS vs. Aplus.net, 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.

• 
  Aplus.net (Overall grade: 6.1)
  
  also offers a variety of hosting plans with features like unmetered bandwidth and high storage capacity, which are beneficial for multimedia websites. However, reviews indicate mixed reliability due to its single data center and an extended uptime measurement period. Although it provides essential hosting features such as email services, Cloudflare CDN, and SiteLock integration for malware protection, it lacks some of the advanced capabilities found in IONOS, such as managed WordPress hosting and extensive SSL options. Customer support, while available 24/7, sometimes faces criticism for slow response times. Moreover, Aplus.net’s pricing tends to be higher with fewer included services, making it less attractive compared to IONOS’s more feature-rich and cost-effective plans.
• 
  IONOS (Overall grade: 8.2)
  
  offers a diverse array of hosting types, including WordPress, ecommerce, and VPS hosting, making it versatile for various use cases. With a 99.9% uptime guarantee and georedundant infrastructure, reliability is paramount. Their plans include a free domain for the first year, SSL certificates, daily backups, and advanced security features like DDoS protection. The platform provides excellent customer support, including 24/7 phone and chat support, a personal consultant, and a comprehensive help center. The use of SSD storage, PHP 8.2, HTTP/2, and Cloudflare CDN ensures outstanding performance and scalability. Additionally, IONOS’s user-friendly admin panel and Click & Build applications facilitate easy setup and management for users at all skill levels.

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
IONOS: High reliability and extensive features make IONOS an excellent choice for hosting needs.

IONOS offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee with georedundant infrastructure, ensuring high availability. It features DDoS protection, a widely distributed CDN, and daily backups. Their plans also include a free Wildcard SSL certificate and enhanced performance levels. Users benefit from a mobile admin app for managing products and billing, along with 24/7 customer support.

Aplus.net also offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, but the measurement period extends over three months, which some reviews indicate may affect reliability. The single data center in Phoenix and various support channels, although sometimes slow to respond, present additional factors to consider. Despite these offerings, frequent downtime and mixed reviews raise concerns about its dependability.

🏆 Winner IONOS: stands out for its impressive performance features and robust customer support.

IONOS offers outstanding hosting speed, leveraging SSD storage for fast read/write capabilities and PHP 8.2 with JIT compiler for better execution. It incorporates HTTP/2 and a Cloudflare CDN for quicker page load times. Its data is mirrored in two data centers to ensure redundancy. Aplus.net also uses SSD technology and offers Cloudflare CDN, but its data centers’ details are less specific. Both providers include cPanel control but IONOS offers scalable performance management, whereas Aplus.net rotates services within cloud clusters to prevent data loss.

Website Speed

IONOS provides superior website speed through its dual platform technology, combining web servers and storage for optimized performance. The integration of HTTP/2 protocol enhances page load times, especially for SSL encrypted traffic. IONOS’ use of PHP 8.2 with JIT compiler ensures peak performance. In contrast, Aplus.net provides decent speed with SSD storage and Cloudflare CDN but lacks specific enhancements like PHP 8.2 and HTTP/2, making IONOS the better option for speed.

Scalability

IONOS excels in scalability with its scalable performance management, allowing users to adjust performance levels as needed for a $2/month fee per additional level. The platform does not automatically upgrade plans, requiring user intervention for scaling. Information on dedicated servers is not provided. Conversely, Aplus.net’s scalability largely revolves around rotating services in cloud clusters, but further specifics on automatic scaling or dedicated servers are not mentioned. IONOS provides clearer and more flexible options for scalability.

🏆 Winner IONOS: A broad range of advanced security features and compliance measures.

Both IONOS and Aplus.net, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

IONOS offers extensive technical security features, including various SSL certificates (Domain Validated, Organization Validated, Extended Validation) with up to 256-bit encryption for maximum protection. They support all PHP versions from 4.0 onwards, with PHP Extended Support and performance optimizers like JIT Compiler and OPcache. Aplus.net provides SSL certificates suitable for small business websites and leverages SiteLock for daily malware scanning and removal. While both providers offer SSL certificates and malware protection, IONOS stands out with its broader support for PHP versions and enhanced SSL options.

Operational security measures:

IONOS includes daily backups with up to six days of recovery, georedundant data centers, advanced DDoS and malware protection, and customizable firewall rules, ensuring a reliable operational security setup. Aplus.net offers domain privacy, strong password requirements, and SiteLock integration for blacklist monitoring and threat removal, along with Cloudflare CDN for faster site performance and security. Despite Aplus.net’s robust offerings, IONOS provides a more extensive operational security suite, including a dedicated personal consultant and 24/7 technical support.

Compliance and certifications:

IONOS is fully GDPR compliant and features ISO-certified data centers, affirming its strong commitment to regulatory standards. PCI compliance is suggested through their emphasis on security but not explicitly stated. Aplus.net offers strong password requirements indicating an awareness of compliance needs, but doesn’t provide specific details about GDPR or PCI compliance. IONOS displays a clearer alignment with stringent regulatory standards.

🏆 Winner IONOS: A versatile and robust hosting provider with a comprehensive set of features and exceptional customer support.

IONOS and Aplus.net both offer a range of web hosting services tailored to different user needs. IONOS provides a georedundant infrastructure, ensuring high reliability with its 99.9% uptime guarantee. Specifically, their use of HTTP/2 protocol and CDN with Cloudflare significantly boosts page load speeds. On the other hand, Aplus.net excels in offering pure SSD drives for optimal server performance and speed. Both providers include Cloudflare integration, enhancing security and speed. Notably, IONOS offers a free domain for the first year and various plans that cater to different website hosting needs, while Aplus.net includes access to backups for data safety and quick restoration.

In terms of user-friendliness, IONOS supports easy installation with Click & Build for various apps like WordPress and Joomla, making the platform suitable even for beginners. Managed WordPress hosting includes automatic updates and malware scanning, which adds a layer of convenience. Conversely, Aplus.net uses the popular cPanel control panel with WHM (WebHost Manager), allowing extensive customization and resource management. IONOS has a distinct advantage with extensive customer support, including 24/7 service and a personal consultant for personalized technical advice. While Aplus.net provides full control over MySQL databases and offers dedicated IP addresses, it lacks the personalized touch found in IONOS’s customer service approach.

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 IONOS and Aplus.net 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 IONOS and Aplus.net offer email hosting services. IONOS includes professional email accounts with all their plans. While there is no specific mention of transactional email capabilities or third-party email services reselling by either provider, IONOS’s offering seems more integrated with overall hosting features. Aplus.net provides full control to allocate email addresses via cPanel, making it flexible but potentially more complex for less experienced users.

🏆 Winner IONOS: Offers more affordable and feature-rich plans for a range of needs including WordPress, shared hosting, and cloud hosting.

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.

Comparing the pricing plans of IONOS and Aplusnet highlights a variety of features and value propositions. IONOS offers low-cost options with comprehensive features such as a free domain for the first year, SSL certificates, daily backups, and email services across most plans. Aplusnet, while having competitive options, tends to charge higher prices with fewer included services. Both providers offer scalable resources and 24/7 customer support, but IONOS adds performance levels and personal consultations, giving it an edge in customization and user assistance.

Enterprise plans

IONOS’ Ultimate Plan, available for $16/month, supports unlimited websites, storage, and databases with enhanced performance and free SSL certificates, making it a cost-effective choice. Aplusnet offers unlimited website support with robust storage and bandwidth in its Professional Plan at $25.92/month, albeit at a higher price. Both plans include free domains and extensive support features, but IONOS provides more comprehensive resources, making it more appealing for enterprise-level needs.

🏆 Winner
IONOS: User-friendly setup with extensive support resources.

IONOS offers a user-friendly admin panel with features like the WP Assistant for easy WordPress setup. It includes Click & Build applications for installing popular CMSs like TYPO3, Joomla, Drupal, and PrestaShop with just a few clicks. The managed WordPress hosting comes with customizable updates and free themes, making it accessible for both technical and non-technical users. IONOS also provides scalable performance adjustments and SiteAnalytics for monitoring site metrics. In contrast, Aplus.net does not specify the type of admin panel, but it does offer immediate account setup and QuickBooks integration. The lack of detailed information on its admin panel capabilities might make it less appealing to those looking for more comprehensive setup and management features.

When comparing migration tools, IONOS seems to have the edge with its Click & Build applications and managed WordPress hosting, facilitating easier migrations. There is no specific mention of migration tools or services from Aplus.net, which could be a drawback for users looking to transfer an existing website without much hassle. The absence of information about Aplus.net’s migration services implies that users may need to undertake migrations manually, potentially making the process more challenging and time-consuming.

In terms of help center resources, IONOS excels with a comprehensive help center, 24/7 customer support via multiple channels, and access to a personal consultant for tailored advice. This extensive support network ensures that users can quickly resolve any issues they encounter. Conversely, there is no information provided about Aplus.net’s help center or support resources, which may limit the assistance available to its users.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. IONOS offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support.

🏆 Winner IONOS: offers a robust and efficient user management system with flexible role and permission settings for optimal control.

When comparing the user management capabilities of IONOS and Aplus.net, IONOS stands out clearly due to its detailed role and permission settings. IONOS allows for the creation, customization, and assignment of roles with specific permissions. Users can be assigned multiple roles, and each role can be tailored to allow access to different areas and actions within the Cloud Panel. This flexibility is not assessed for Aplus.net as there is no provided information on its user management features. The efficient structure at IONOS ensures granular control over user activities and accessibility levels.

The user interface at IONOS is well-structured, providing an intuitive Management > Roles section where administrators can create, clone, and delete roles. The Permissions page further allows in-depth customization by showing detailed information for each role, including assigned users, descriptions, and creation dates. This straightforward access to role management tools simplifies user administration significantly. Without user management details for Aplus.net, one cannot compare its interface capabilities effectively.

The access control measures put in place by IONOS demonstrate an effective strategy for managing numerous users. Assigning default read access when roles are created ensures baseline security, with the option to grant additional permissions as needed. The quick selection feature for permission groups makes it possible to efficiently assign necessary access rights across sections of the Cloud Panel. Without insight into Aplus.net’s access control capabilities, IONOS appears singularly adaptable and equipped to handle varying user loads.

IONOS user roles table:

🏆 Winner IONOS: has superior customer service options and availability, making it the preferred choice.

IONOS offers 24/7 customer support through phone, chat, and email, complemented by a personal consultant available during business hours. Its Help Center, community forums, and a 30-day money-back guarantee enhance its support package. Aplus.net also provides 24/7 support via chat, phone, email, and ticket systems. It features extensive online technical support and a user-friendly control panel. Despite these advantages, some customer reviews mention occasional delays in response times.

Both providers offer extensive customer support, but IONOS stands out with its award-winning service and the addition of a personal consultant. The direct line to tailored support available during business hours adds an extra layer of assistance. In contrast, Aplus.net has positive reviews but also some criticism about response times, and lacks the personalized consultant service that IONOS offers.

Ionos vs Aplus.net: User feedback

User feedback for this hosting provider is quite mixed. Positive aspects include affordable pricing, easy setup, and a comprehensive range of hosting features and tools. However, many users express dissatisfaction with poor customer support, outdated user interfaces, and frequent upselling. Some reviewers also report critical issues such as unreliable service, deceptive business practices, and poor handling of domain and payment matters. Overall, the provider seems to appeal to budget-conscious users but falls short in reliability and support.

Aplus.net offers a comprehensive range of services that cater to various business needs, from web hosting and domain registration to marketing and security. Users appreciate its reliability, uptime guarantees, and the ease of accessing multiple services through a single platform. However, some users find the customer support slow and occasionally unhelpful, and there are concerns about outdated features and interface complexity. Pricing is deemed reasonable by many, but a few note that it can be higher compared to other providers.

Ionos vs Aplus.net: FAQ