Liquid Web vs Hostwinds: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over Liquid Web vs. Hostwinds, both hosting providers offer strong performance but serve different needs.

• 
  Liquid Web (Overall grade: 8.4)
  
  
  is well-known for its superior uptime and availability, making it an ideal choice for high-traffic websites and businesses that need robust security and compliance. Their environment is optimized for ecommerce with specialized WooCommerce hosting, backed by 100% uptime guarantees and advanced load balancing. The downside is the higher cost, and lack of shared and WordPress hosting options. Despite this, Liquid Web’s commitment to reliability, proactive 24/7 monitoring, and high-performance infrastructure offer substantial value for enterprises and large businesses needing dedicated or VPS hosting.
  
• 
  Hostwinds (Overall grade: 7.1)
  
  
  presents a more budget-friendly and versatile option. It excels in shared and WordPress hosting plans, making it accessible for small businesses and beginners. Their services include free SSL certificates, easy-to-use cPanel, and the Weebly site builder. With respectable uptime and solid customer support, Hostwinds ensures reliability without the higher costs associated with premium features of Liquid Web. However, inconsistencies in response times and international loading speeds are noted weaknesses. Overall, Hostwinds stands out for its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly approach, making it a viable option for those seeking comprehensive features within a budget.
  

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 Liquid Web: Best for unmatched uptime and availability.

Liquid Web offers a superior hosting environment committed to exceptional uptime and availability. They guarantee 100% power and network uptime, supported by a comprehensive SLA offering up to 10 times the credit for any downtime. Key features such as multi-server environments and proactive 24/7 monitoring ensure continuous service. Their hardware replacement pledge within 30 minutes and immediate response guarantees add to reliability, making Liquid Web a preferred choice for businesses needing unwavering uptime.

Hostwinds delivers a respectable uptime average of 99.89% and claims a 99.99% uptime guarantee. Their services include 24/7 cloud server monitoring and a system to automatically generate support tickets. Hostwinds has three data centers and ensures infrastructure redundancy. Despite these measures, their response times and international loading speeds show inconsistencies. Hostwinds presents a solid but slightly less reliable option for hosting compared to Liquid Web.

🏆 Winner
Hostwinds: Reliable and Cost-Effective Hosting

Both Liquid Web and Hostwinds offer impressive speed and uptime, but differ in some key areas. Liquid Web guarantees 100% uptime and employs top-tier processors like AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon. They use NVMe or SSD storage in their offerings, ensuring fast data retrieval. Liquid Web also includes autoscaling in their plans. On the other hand, Hostwinds offers solid-state drives (SSD) and partners with Cloudflare for CDN, optimizing speed and load times. Hostwinds uses Litespeed Web Server for quicker content delivery. Liquid Web provides a 10 Gbps network, whereas Hostwinds focuses on route-optimized networking to ensure swift path selection. Both offer multiple data centers, but specific locations are not disclosed.

Website Speed

Website speed is crucial, and both providers perform well. Liquid Web supports fast redundant 10 Gbps networking, enhancing speed. Their AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon processors, combined with NVMe or SSD storage, offer substantial improvements in load times and website performance. Hostwinds leverages Litespeed Web Server and Cloudflare’s CDN, cutting down the distance between servers and visitors, thus ensuring quicker load times. Liquid Web includes Object Cache Pro for WooCommerce plans, further optimizing the speed.

Scalability

Liquid Web and Hostwinds both offer scalability, but with distinct approaches. Liquid Web allows easy scalability with minimal downtime and includes autoscaling for free. They also offer dedicated servers with Intel Xeon processors, though the cost to scale isn’t specified. Hostwinds provides instant scalability and uses cloud-based solutions that can be upgraded quickly. They also offer dedicated servers, but pricing details for scaling aren’t specified.

Both hosting providers offer excellent services, but Hostwinds comes out as the winner for its reliability, cost-effectiveness, and superior score.

🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: With top-tier security features and an impressive compliance portfolio, Liquid Web is a strong choice for hosting.

Both Liquid Web and Hostwinds, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Liquid Web offers advanced security measures, including firewalls, VPNs, DDoS attack protection, and hardened server configurations. Hostwinds provides SSL certificates, Litespeed Web Server, Cloudflare CDN, and optimized networking. While both offer SSL certificates, Liquid Web goes further with its web application firewall and F5 AIP Intrusion Detection System, offering more comprehensive security controls.

Operational security measures:

Liquid Web’s operational security includes 24/7/365 on-site support, real-time monitoring for DDoS protection, and compliance scans. Hostwinds also offers 24/7/365 support, business website monitoring, and nightly backups. Liquid Web emphasizes its proactive approach with features such as intrusion detection and remediation, making it better suited for enterprises with stringent security needs.

Compliance and certifications:

Both hosting providers comply with GDPR but neither is HIPAA compliant, which may be a critical factor for businesses in healthcare. Liquid Web offers PCI compliance but restricts this to dedicated and VPS hosting plans, whereas Hostwinds does not provide PCI compliance across any plans.

🏆 Winner
Hostwinds: A versatile and user-friendly hosting provider with comprehensive features.

Both Liquid Web and Hostwinds offer a range of hosting features appealing to different user needs. Liquid Web excels in providing fully managed hosting services with proactive management and a strong focus on security and compliance, suitable for businesses requiring enterprise-grade solutions. High availability hosting, managed VPS hosting, and customizable Windows hosting are among its strengths. Hostwinds, on the other hand, shines with its user-friendly web hosting plans that include free SSL certificates, the latest cPanel, and a Weebly Site Builder. The inclusion of unlimited FTP accounts and instant setup makes it a go-to choice for beginners and small businesses.

Hostwinds provides a broad range of free services, such as free website migrations and nightly backups, that can be particularly advantageous for users looking to cut costs. Liquid Web’s unique selling points lie in its managed WooCommerce hosting and enterprise solutions, making it ideal for those intending to grow or maintain large, complex sites. Hostwinds offers flexibility with tools like the Softaculous Auto Install and features like unlimited subdomains, databases, and email accounts. Liquid Web focuses more on infrastructure management, with features like VMware Private Cloud and compliant solutions, appealing to those in need of high-performance and secure environments.

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 Example hosting one and Example hosting two 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 providers offer email hosting services, ensuring users can set up their own email accounts through their hosting plans. Hostwinds includes unlimited email accounts across their web, business, and reseller hosting plans, making it easier for businesses to manage their communications. Liquid Web provides email solutions as part of their managed hosting, but the lack of specific details on free email services could imply additional costs. Neither provider explicitly mentions support for transactional emails or the reselling of third-party email services like Google Workspace.

🏆 Winner Hostwinds: Offers comprehensive hosting solutions at competitive prices, making it an excellent choice for diverse 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 the pricing plans of Liquid Web and Hostwinds, several distinctions emerge. Liquid Web offers a variety of managed hosting solutions, with Managed WooCommerce Hosting starting at $21/month and escalating significantly for high-tier plans capable of handling numerous stores. Hostwinds, on the other hand, provides more budget-friendly options, particularly in shared and business web hosting, starting at $5.24/month with unlimited bandwidth and disk space. For cloud hosting, Liquid Web’s offerings include advanced security features and proactive monitoring, while Hostwinds focuses on scalability and instant setup. Liquid Web’s plans also encompass extensive dedicated server options and managed VPS hosting, which are tailored for higher performance needs. However, with a higher value-for-price score, Hostwinds edges out as the winner for most budget-conscious users seeking a balance between affordability and comprehensive hosting features.

Enterprise plans

For enterprise-level hosting, Liquid Web offers advanced Cloud Dedicated Servers and Managed VPS Hosting solutions, starting from $159/month. These plans include high-performance specifications and extensive security measures. Hostwinds, with its Dedicated Server Hosting starting at $122/month, provides fully customizable servers and additional management services. Liquid Web’s proactive monitoring and 100% uptime guarantee should attract businesses focusing on reliability, while Hostwinds stands out for its adaptable configurations and slightly lower cost for comparable resources.

🏆 Winner Hostwinds: Offers an easy-to-manage cPanel and extensive support resources.

Both Liquid Web and Hostwinds provide easy-to-use admin panels, but their approaches are different. Hostwinds offers cPanel access across its different hosting plans, including shared, business, and reseller hosting. This control panel is widely recognized for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible for both technical and non-technical users. In addition to cPanel, Hostwinds integrates the Weebly drag-and-drop website builder, which simplifies the process of building a website for beginners.

Liquid Web, on the other hand, focuses on more complex hosting solutions with proactive management. They don’t explicitly mention cPanel but provide a full management service ensuring that all server and OS updates are handled. This could be advantageous for users running complex hosting environments who might prefer a hands-off experience. Their focus on server and security management makes it a suitable choice for users who need a heavily managed hosting solution.

When it comes to site migration, both Hostwinds and Liquid Web provide free migration services. Hostwinds offers free website migration with the help of their support experts, whether for shared, business, reseller hosting, or cloud servers. Liquid Web also offers assistance migrating your site, store, or application at no extra cost. Both services take the hassle out of moving your existing website to a new host, ensuring a smooth transition.

Liquid Web and Hostwinds have comprehensive help centers stocked with articles and tutorials. Liquid Web boasts an industry-leading knowledge base with featured articles on topics ranging from AI to security best practices, which can be accessed here. Hostwinds also has detailed product documentation, step-by-step tutorials, and a community for additional support. Their help center can be found here.

By focusing on usability and support, Hostwinds offers a more accessible solution for users of all technical levels. Liquid Web excels in providing managed services for complex environments, making it ideal for users seeking comprehensive support and management. Both platforms aim to provide seamless migration and extensive help resources, catering to a broad range of hosting needs.

🏆 Winner Liquid Web: Superior user management and user roles functionality in Plesk.

Liquid Web’s Plesk control panel offers a highly structured approach to managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility. With the ability to create up to four default user roles (Administrator, Webmaster, Application User, and Accountant), administrators can easily assign specific permissions based on user responsibilities. In contrast, Hostwinds lacks detailed information on user management and roles, highlighting a significant gap in comparison. Liquid Web’s flexibility to create new user roles and alter existing ones provides a tailored experience to meet various user management needs, which Hostwinds’ offerings do not evidently match.

The user interfaces and tools for managing users in Liquid Web’s Plesk are user-friendly and well-defined. In Service Provider View, subscriptions can be easily managed, and user settings are accessible through a straightforward menu. Similarly, Power User View simplifies the administration by listing all user accounts directly from the main menu. Hostwinds does not present detailed tools or interfaces for user management, making Liquid Web’s Plesk a more intuitive and accessible platform for administrators.

Access control measures are robust in Liquid Web’s Plesk, with clear options for creating and removing user accounts, editing roles, and adding additional administrators. The structured approach allows administrators to manage a growing number of users effectively by providing defined roles and permissions. Hostwinds’ lack of detailed information about its user management features raises questions about its capability to scale and manage user access as efficiently as Liquid Web.

Liquid Web User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Liquid Web excels with excellent 24/7/365 human support and highly praised customer satisfaction.

Liquid Web and Hostwinds both offer various customer support options, but Liquid Web demonstrates several notable advantages. Liquid Web guarantees response times of 59 seconds for phone and chat, and 59 minutes for helpdesk tickets, in addition to their SLA promises. They also provide comprehensive, 24/7/365 support, including dedicated advisors and customer success managers for enterprise clients, reflecting their commitment to personalized assistance.

Hostwinds supports customers through multiple channels such as phone, live chat, and email, with strong response guarantees of 30 seconds for live chat and phone, and five minutes for email tickets. They offer additional services like website monitoring and nightly backups. Despite these features, customer reviews are mixed. Liquid Web’s superior customer satisfaction, support guarantees, and specialized services make it the better choice for hosting needs.

User feedback

Customer feedback for this hosting provider is mixed, with significant polarization in user experiences. While some have praised the company for its reliable uptime, exceptional support, and proactive monitoring, others have experienced severe dissatisfaction due to frequent downtimes, unresponsive customer service, and unethical billing practices. Long-term customers, in particular, have noted a sharp decline in service quality and support efficiency, attributing it to recent management changes. Despite positive reviews highlighting excellent technical support and overall reliability, a growing number of users advise against using this provider due to these negative aspects.

Hostwinds hosting provider receives high praise for its exceptional customer service, prompt support, and reliable performance, with many users reporting significant improvements in site speed and uptime. Customers especially value the knowledgeable and responsive support team, finding them instrumental in resolving issues quickly. The user-friendly control panel and fair pricing further enhance their experience, though some note that the service can be pricier compared to competitors. However, a couple of reviews highlight issues with site migration and technical support, advising caution for WordPress users. Overall, the positive feedback significantly outweighs the negative, making Hostwinds a highly recommended choice for web hosting.

FAQ