Liquid Web vs Justhost: guide for 2024

Liquid Web vs Justhost: Final verdict

Looking over Liquid Web vs. Just Host, 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.

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  Liquid Web (Overall grade: 8.4)
  
  
  offers superior managed hosting solutions, making it highly suitable for businesses that require advanced, reliable, and secure hosting environments. Key strengths include unparalleled uptime guarantees, proactive monitoring, and robust technical and operational security measures. It also provides excellent customer support with swift response times and comprehensive management services. However, Liquid Web’s higher price points might not appeal to budget-conscious users or those looking for basic hosting solutions.
  
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  Just Host (Overall grade: 7.4)
  
  
  focuses on providing user-friendly, budget-oriented hosting solutions, making it ideal for personal and small business websites. It stands out with features like a free domain for the first year, free website builder, and unmetered disk space and bandwidth for multimedia sites. While it does provide reliable performance and simple setup, its support services and uptime guarantees fall short in comparison to Liquid Web. Additionally, advanced features and high-performance options are often reserved for premium plans, potentially limiting value for cost-sensitive users.
  

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

Section 1

🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Unmatched uptime and comprehensive support.

Section 2

Liquid Web offers 100% network and power uptime SLAs with significant credits for downtime, ensuring maximum availability. Their proactive Sonar™ Monitoring team provides around-the-clock oversight, guaranteeing swift response and resolution times. Liquid Web’s High Availability Hosting and managed file replication options add redundancy, further securing uptime.

Section 3

JustHost provides a reliable 99.95% uptime, meeting industry standards but falling short of Liquid Web’s guarantees. While it offers 24/7 support, only dedicated hosting customers have access to 24/7 phone support. Additionally, automatic backups are exclusive to premium plans, and response speeds are slower than recommended. JustHost lacks compensation for downtime, unlike Liquid Web’s 10x credit policy.

🏆 Winner: Liquid Web: High-performing hosting with excellent support and uptime.

Liquid Web and Just Host have differences in their general performance metrics. Liquid Web offers 100% power and network uptime guarantees, using a 10 Gbps network that supports fast redundant systems. It employs AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon processors, paired with NVMe or SSD storage to ensure speedy performance. Just Host also emphasizes reliability with its high-performance quad processor servers and UPS power backup. However, it only provides high performance in its Pro Plan, while its other plans offer standard performance. Additionally, both hosts provide good security and support options, but Liquid Web’s support is noted for rapid initial responses and proactive monitoring.

Website speed

Liquid Web leverages next-gen processors and NVMe or SSD storage to deliver quick load times and high performance. The 10 Gbps network ensures fast data transfers, and NVMe storage enhances read/write speeds, important for maintaining website efficiency. On the other hand, Just Host’s performance varies with the plan; the Pro Plan offers high performance due to enhanced caching and RAID 1 for data protection, but standard performance plans may not match Liquid Web’s speed. Overall, Liquid Web has an edge due to its focus on speed and reliability across all plans.

Scalability

Liquid Web excels in scalability with easy upgrades or downgrades for managed VPS solutions with minimal downtime. Autoscaling is also available at no additional cost, ensuring that server resources can adapt to user demands. Both VPS and dedicated servers are offered, providing flexibility in scaling for growing businesses. Just Host allows instant provisioning for VPS and dedicated servers, offering high performance through its KVM hypervisor and the ability to add SAN storage. However, the specifics of the scaling costs for Just Host are unclear. Liquid Web’s approach to autoscaling gives it a clear advantage in adaptability and ease of use.

🏆 Winner Liquid Web: Liquid Web offers extensive security features and compliance options that surpass Just Host.

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

Technical security measures:

Liquid Web provides a comprehensive suite of technical security measures. It includes SSL certificates, robust firewalls, DDoS attack protection, and a web application firewall. Just Host, on the other hand, focuses its security framework through SiteLock, featuring daily vulnerability scanning, malware removal, and a web application firewall. While both offer SSL certificates and web application firewalls, Liquid Web distinguishes itself with features like hardened server configurations, VPNs, and an F5 AIP Intrusion Detection System.

Operational security measures:

Liquid Web ensures operational security with 24/7/365 on-site support, quarterly PCI scans, and real-time monitoring that identifies and addresses security issues promptly. It also provides extensive administrative and physical safeguards at its core data centers. Just Host includes features such as Spam Assassin Protection, hotlink protection, and continuous expert services for security threats. Liquid Web’s operational security advantage is drawn from its broader range of proactive measures and continuous monitoring systems.

Compliance and certifications:

Liquid Web complies with major regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, and holds several security certifications like SSAE-22 and Safe Harbor Compliant. Just Host offers GDPR compliance options but does not explicitly mention HIPAA compliance. PCI compliance is met through essential security components like SSL and SiteLock. Liquid Web’s compliance initiatives, especially in HIPAA and PCI areas, make it a more robust option for customers needing stringent regulatory adherence.

🏆 Winner
Just Host: Just Host offers a comprehensive and user-friendly hosting solution with an array of free services and easy installation options.

Both Liquid Web and Just Host provide diverse hosting features tailored to different user needs. Liquid Web excels in complex and managed hosting environments, offering fully managed solutions, high availability, and compliance-friendly infrastructure. Their managed VPS and Windows hosting options make them a reliable choice for businesses requiring robust and scalable hosting with high security standards. Liquid Web’s proactive management and enterprise hosting solutions cater to customers needing dependable and high-performance hosting for critical applications. On the other hand, Just Host, powered by Bluehost, is known for its simplicity and user-centric approach, particularly appealing to personal and small business users. Just Host’s free domain registration for one year and a free website builder make it an attractive choice for beginners and those wanting to set up a website quickly without additional costs.

When considering the availability of a website builder, Liquid Web does not explicitly mention this feature, focusing more on specialized hosting plans and advanced management services. In contrast, Just Host includes a free drag-and-drop website builder, making it simpler for users with little technical expertise to build and customize their sites. This easy setup, combined with unlimited email accounts and various ecommerce features, makes Just Host highly accessible to non-technical users or small business owners looking for a hassle-free setup. Meanwhile, Liquid Web’s strength lies in its managed hosting services and enterprise-grade solutions, which are better suited for organizations needing guaranteed uptime and compliance with specific regulatory requirements.

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 Liquid Web and Just Host 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:

Just Host offers unlimited email hosting with POP3/IMAP support, allowing users to set up their email campaigns seamlessly. It includes a free professional email address, which can be particularly appealing for personal and business users. Liquid Web, while not explicitly mentioning email hosting services, focuses on managed hosting environments, implying the use of business-specific email configurations. For transactional emails related to site actions or forms, both providers support these capabilities, but Liquid Web’s focus on enterprise solutions may better serve more complex and higher-volume transactional email requirements.

🏆 Winner
Just Host: Just Host offers a wide range of combined features at competitive pricing.

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.

Liquid Web’s primary focus is on managed hosting solutions with a wide range of options including WooCommerce, WordPress, VPS, and cloud dedicated servers. Just Host, on the other hand, has a more straightforward set of shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans, offering varying degrees of performance and storage. Liquid Web’s plans are higher in cost but come with more extensive features like dedicated PHP workers and additional security measures. Just Host’s plans are more affordable and include essential features like a free domain name and unmetered bandwidth in most plans.

Enterprise plans

For enterprise-level solutions, Liquid Web offers the Enterprise plan in both Managed WooCommerce and Managed WordPress hosting categories. These plans include extensive features such as 800GB storage, 10TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, free SSL, and multiple PHP workers with autoscale. Just Host provides the Premium Plan in dedicated hosting, featuring 16GB RAM, 15TB bandwidth, Intel Xeon processor, and free domain name, along with a promotional price of $119.99/month. Each option caters to high-demand enterprise-level requirements, but Liquid Web focuses more on scalable e-commerce solutions, while Just Host focuses on robust dedicated hosting features.

🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Offering unparalleled customer support and comprehensive management services.

Both Liquid Web and Just Host utilize user-friendly admin panels to cater to a wide range of users. Liquid Web does not specify a particular admin panel name but provides a streamlined interface that assists users with full management services, ranging from network security to server updates. The interface is designed to be accessible for both technical and non-technical users, offering proactive management and 24/7/365 human support.

Just Host, on the other hand, employs the well-known cPanel control panel, which is intuitively designed and easy to navigate. This makes setting up, optimizing, and managing various functions like email accounts, domain management, and website statistics simple for all user levels. Additionally, Just Host integrates its control panel with other features such as application installs and template designs, ensuring ease of access and usability for newcomers and experienced users alike.

Liquid Web provides assistance in migrating your site, store, or application at no additional cost. Their dedicated team ensures a seamless transition, making migrating to their platform an easy process. Just Host also facilitates site migration but primarily through automated SimpleScripts, focusing on popular applications. However, they do not specify whether these migration services entail any additional costs.

Liquid Web boasts an extensive, regularly updated knowledge base featuring articles, video tutorials, and practical resources, covering a wide range of topics from beginner guides to technical support. The help center is comprehensive, ensuring users have all the information they need at their fingertips. Just Host also offers a thorough knowledge base and various support channels, including phone, email, and chat support. Their help center features popular articles, tutorials, and implementation guides, although it is not as expansive as Liquid Web’s.

🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Liquid Web surpasses with superior user management capabilities and customizable roles presented in the Plesk control panel.

Liquid Web, via the Plesk control panel, allows fine-tuned control over user roles and permissions, offering four default roles: Administrator, Webmaster, Application User, and Accountant. This setup enables precise delegation of access and responsibilities, tailored to each user’s needs. On the contrary, JustHost, utilizing the cPanel interface, centralizes account management for ease of access but doesn’t offer the same depth in user role differentiation. Liquid Web’s flexibility in creating and customizing user roles outshines JustHost’s more generalized approach.

The user interfaces for managing accounts in both hosting providers are designed with accessibility in mind. Liquid Web’s Plesk provides a straightforward path to user management through Service Provider and Power User views, catering to varying levels of technical expertise. The JustHost cPanel interface stands out for its user-friendliness, allowing users to efficiently manage e-mail accounts, domains, and other hosting activities. However, Liquid Web’s interface offers more granular controls, appealing to users who need detailed management options.

In terms of access control, Liquid Web provides robust measures facilitated by Plesk’s user role definitions, thereby ensuring a clear division of permissions. This helps in efficiently managing a growing number of users without sacrificing control or security. JustHost extends full root access for VPS hosting, which offers complete server control, yet it lacks detailed user role management capabilities seen in Liquid Web. Thus, Liquid Web is more efficient in administrating a scalable user base.

Liquid Web user roles table:

🏆 Winner Liquid Web: Offers extensive and diverse customer support options round the clock with industry-leading initial response guarantees.

Liquid Web and JustHost both provide a range of customer support options, but they do differ significantly in specifics and response times. Liquid Web offers phone, live chat, and helpdesk support available 24/7/365 with impressive initial response guarantees of 59 seconds for phone and chat, and 59 minutes for helpdesk tickets. This hosting provider takes support further with its Heroic Support® team, managed hosting advisors, and dedicated teams for Windows and Linux. Their proactive monitoring and extensive knowledge base underscore their comprehensive support structure.

On the other hand, JustHost delivers reliable support through phone, live chat, and email, also available around the clock. JustHost requires validation information such as account username, domain name, and admin email for support, which adds a layer of security. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee and a free domain registration for the first year, making them an economical choice. While JustHost excels in uptime and affordability, it lacks some advanced support features seen in Liquid Web, such as dedicated enterprise support and proactive monitoring.

Liquid Web vs Justhost: 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.

JustHost is praised for its simplicity and ease of use, making it a great option for beginners wanting to learn more about hosting and cPanel. Users appreciate its intuitive interface and reliable performance with minimal outages. The introductory pricing is highly attractive, offering significant savings for long-term commitments. However, some users feel that the regular pricing after the initial period can be steep, though still competitive.

Liquid Web vs Justhost: FAQ