Kinsta vs HostArmada: guide for 2024

Kinsta vs HostArmada: Final verdict

Given the strengths and weaknesses of both Kinsta and HostArmada, Kinsta emerges as the superior choice.

• 
  Kinsta (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  distinguishes itself through an impressive mix of performance, security, and usability, ideal for users ranging from individual bloggers to large enterprises. Its infrastructure built on the Google Cloud Platform with Cloudflare integration ensures top-notch uptime, speed, and security. The MyKinsta dashboard offers an intuitive interface, making management simple and efficient, while advanced tools and features like automatic daily backups, proactive site monitoring, and a dedicated focus on WordPress streamlines operations for agencies and high-traffic websites. However, the absence of email hosting, higher pricing tiers, and lack of native domain registration might require additional consideration for some users.
• 
  HostArmada (Overall grade: 7.2)
  
  shines with comprehensive support, competitive pricing, and a broad feature set suitable for diverse hosting needs. It provides multiple hosting types, including shared and VPS hosting, free domain registration, and email hosting. The cPanel interface supports ease of use and a variety of functions valuable to both novices and seasoned professionals. Features like daily backups, excellent customer service, and extensive knowledge base add to its appeal. Despite these strengths, HostArmada’s slightly lower performance scores, higher renewal rates, and a potentially steeper learning curve may limit its attractiveness compared to the more streamlined and high-performing offerings from Kinsta.

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 Kinsta: Kinsta boasts superior uptime and availability supported by their industry-leading infrastructure.

Kinsta stands out with its impressive uptime performance. With a 99.9% uptime guarantee, Kinsta has proven their reliability by consistently achieving 100% uptime in various independent tests. What sets Kinsta apart is their infrastructure built on Google Cloud Platform and Cloudflare integration, ensuring both high performance and enhanced security.

HostArmada also offers commendable uptime with a 99.9% guarantee and 100% network uptime. Their global data centers and cloud SSD platform ensure strong performance and speed. Customers can rely on their 24/7 technical support and proactive monitoring. However, Kinsta’s track record and infrastructure give it an edge, making it the preferred choice for high uptime and reliability.

🏆 Winner: Kinsta: Google Cloud powerhouse with superb performance and security.

Kinsta excels in general performance, offering superior infrastructure with the power of Google Cloud Platform’s premium network. Its use of fastest C2 and C3D virtual machines ensures quick load times. Integrated with Cloudflare for security and speed, Kinsta has 35 global data centers to choose from. Image optimization, code minification, and PHP monitoring enhance website speed, while caching options like Edge Caching improve load times. HostArmada, on the other hand, supports CloudFlare®, offers Speed Reaper features for faster loading, dynamic caching, and runs on cost-effective SSD storage. It boasts multiple data centers globally, but does not provide as many optimization tools as Kinsta.

Website speed

Kinsta’s Edge Caching significantly cuts Time to First Byte (TTFB) by up to 50%, while continuous MySQL optimization and Early Hints serve pages up to 30% faster. With automatic image conversion to WebP and code minification, web pages load efficiently and quickly. HostArmada includes Speed Reaper features and dynamic caching, which are useful but may not match Kinsta’s tailored database and file optimizations. Both provide solid speed performance, but Kinsta’s additional optimization measures give it the edge.

Scalability

Kinsta offers elastic scaling with transparent overage pricing, eliminating hidden fees. Plans are easy to upgrade, and options to increase PHP memory limit or disk space are available. Dedicated servers are not mentioned, but Kinsta supports various add-ons for enhanced performance. HostArmada does not specify if it has dedicated servers, but it provides tiered plans that must be upgraded for additional resources. Scaling can be done, but the automatic nature and cost-efficiency seen with Kinsta are missing.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Kinsta offers a robust suite of security features tailored for WordPress environments.

Technical security measures:

Kinsta integrates a fully managed WAF with DDoS protection, backed by Cloudflare’s enterprise-level defenses and Google Cloud firewall. HostArmada employs multiple firewalls, including a network firewall, WAF, and advanced firewalls with herd immunity. Both providers offer malware protection: Kinsta with free removal services and HostArmada through virus/malware scanning. Kinsta supports secure remote access via SSH or SFTP, while HostArmada employs cloud Linux for account isolation. Kinsta also offers image optimization and code minification, enhancing overall performance.

Operational security measures:

Kinsta’s proactive site monitoring checks uptime every 3 minutes, while HostArmada provides live server monitoring 24/7/365. Kinsta supplies multiple backup options, including hourly automatic backups, and HostArmada offers daily backups varying by plan. Kinsta’s security vulnerability alerts and remediation steps are notable, compared to HostArmada’s proactive zero-day attack detection and IDS/IPS systems. Kinsta allows users to force HTTPS from its MyKinsta dashboard easily, and HostArmada secures SSL through various providers, including Sectigo and Cloudflare.

Compliance and certifications:

Kinsta is SOC 2, GDPR, and PCI compliant, ensuring comprehensive regulatory adherence. HostArmada, while featuring extensive security measures, does not explicitly mention GDPR or PCI compliance in the provided information. This could be a critical factor for businesses needing to meet specific industry regulations.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: A managed WordPress hosting provider known for high performance and ease of use.

Kinsta and HostArmada both bring a range of hosting features to the table, catering to different user needs. Kinsta excels in managed WordPress hosting, offering a seamless and user-friendly experience with its custom MyKinsta dashboard. Kinsta’s emphasis on performance and security stands out with features like dedicated security measures and automatic daily backups. Its SSH and SFTP access is straightforward, providing easy management through individual site info tabs in the MyKinsta panel. On the downside, Kinsta’s lack of native domain registration services might inconvenience some users, and additional costs could arise for specific needs like multiple site setups or higher traffic levels.

HostArmada, while having a slightly lower score, offers a broad spectrum of features aimed at general web hosting needs. With support for multiple open-source applications and plugins, unlimited email hosting, and comprehensive security measures, it appeals to users with diverse requirements. HostArmada provides a free website migration service and a 45-day money-back guarantee, positioning itself as a cost-effective option, particularly with its low promotional prices. The cPanel interface included with HostArmada is robust, supporting FTP accounts, Git version control, and multiple PHP versions. Although extensive, its supportive environment for different scripting languages and development tools can make it feel more complex for those who seek a more streamlined, straightforward experience like Kinsta’s.

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 Kinsta and HostArmada 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:

Kinsta does not include email hosting services, which means users will need to rely on third-party providers such as G Suite or Outlook for their email needs. HostArmada offers unlimited email accounts along with virus scanning and outbound email filtering capabilities, providing a more comprehensive email solution right out of the box. HostArmada’s support for email marketing services and integration with GSuite further enhances its appeal for users needing robust email functionalities.

🏆 Winner Kinsta: Offers extensive WordPress hosting and specialized plans for various applications, ensuring a wide range of options.

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 hosting providers, Kinsta offers a more comprehensive suite of services that include Managed WordPress, application, database, and static site hosting plans. Kinsta’s WordPress hosting starts at $35 per month, while HostArmada’s shared hosting begins at a more budget-friendly $2.49 per month. Kinsta provides higher-end storage and bandwidth across their plans, including free CDN and premium migrations, while HostArmada primarily offers cost-effective and feature-rich shared hosting options. Both providers provide various options suitable for different business needs, but Kinsta edges out with its specialized plans and enterprise-level services.