Netfirms vs Pagely: guide for 2024

Netfirms vs Pagely: Final verdict

Comparing Netfirms and Pagely, both hosting providers offer distinct features tailored to different user needs and budgets.

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  Pagely (Overall grade: 8.1)
  
  is designed for high-performance and reliability, powered by AWS. It excels in managed WordPress hosting with advanced security measures, developer-friendly tools, and comprehensive support that includes a tierless model with direct access to engineering expertise. With features like automatic scaling, global CDN, and superior uptime of 99.99%, Pagely is an ideal solution for high-traffic sites, agencies, and enterprises that require robust, scalable hosting environments. However, its premium pricing starting at $375/mo may be a consideration for budget-conscious users.
• 
  Netfirms (Overall grade: 7.3)
  
  offers a more budget-friendly option suitable for smaller businesses and users seeking scalable bandwidth and simplified hosting solutions. Its plans include free domains for the first year, SSL certificates, and unlimited storage, making it particularly user-friendly for setting up multiple websites or eCommerce solutions. While Netfirms supports essential security measures and good customer support, it lacks the high-end performance features of Pagely, such as advanced caching, comprehensive SFTP/SSH access, and automatic scalability. Its 99.9% uptime and simpler user management are effective but not as robust for high-demand environments.

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 Pagely: Pagely excels with unparalleled uptime and availability.

When comparing Netfirms and Pagely, both hosting providers showcase impressive uptime and availability records, but Pagely comes out on top. Pagely guarantees 99.99% uptime, features multi-region redundancy, and operates 14 global data centers, ensuring maximum reliability. Netfirms, with its 99.9% uptime promise and two data centers, delivers dependable performance but doesn’t offer the same level of assurance as Pagely.

Pagely’s advanced architecture provides high availability, load balancing, and disaster recovery features, making it suitable for demanding environments. Netfirms offers solid 24/7 customer support and professional services, yet Pagely’s comprehensive solutions like managed DevOps and flexible configurations set it apart. Overall, Pagely leads in delivering superior uptime and availability features.

🏆 Winner Pagely: Enterprise-grade performance for high-traffic sites

When comparing general performance, Pagely shines with high-end features. Its hosting plans come with 2 to 4 vCPUs and 4 to 8 GB of RAM, ensuring quick load times. The SSD storage is capped at 50 GB but promises speedy read/write operations. Pagely employs Amazon AWS, providing advanced caching and CDN for optimal website speed, covering multiple data centers across various locations for global reach. On the other hand, Netfirms offers a more budget-friendly option with scalable bandwidth. It includes free SSL certificates and WHOIS domain privacy protection. Pagely’s advanced network security and managed WordPress upgrades make it the better choice for businesses requiring high reliability and speed.

Website Speed

Pagely boasts superior website speed capabilities. With no cap on PHP workers, and decoupled database resources, its hosting plans handle high traffic with ease. The use of advanced caching and CDN technologies enhances site performance significantly. Netfirms, while efficient, doesn’t match Pagely’s rapid load times. Its SSD quality and 99.9% uptime are commendable, yet Pagely’s infrastructure provides a more robust environment for faster page speeds.

Scalability

Pagely offers elastic scaling tailored to business needs, and scaling happens automatically, unlike the more static options from Netfirms. They provide dedicated servers with customizable vCPU and RAM in their Scale plan. Prices for Pagely’s high-end service start at $2,500/mo. Netfirms does offer dedicated hosting but requires manual upgrades to match higher demands. This means growing businesses might find the automatic scalability of Pagely more convenient despite the higher costs.

🏆 Winner Pagely: offers a high level of security and compliance for WordPress sites.

Technical security measures:

Both Netfirms and Pagely provide various technical security measures but cater to different needs. Netfirms offers a range of SSL certificate types, including free Let’s Encrypt SSL, and has a detailed SiteLock security plan that includes features like DDoS protection, malware scanning, and blacklist monitoring. Pagely also supports Let’s Encrypt and custom SSL certificates and provides advanced protection like AWS Shield for DDoS mitigation, a proprietary web application firewall, and 2FA. Additionally, Pagely ensures all web applications and servers undergo routine malware scans and vulnerability patching.

Operational security measures:

Operational security measures differ slightly between these two providers. Netfirms focuses heavily on comprehensive SSL warranties and SiteLock security plans that vary in robustness depending on the package. Additionally, it provides domain privacy and protection to avoid identity theft and unauthorized access. Pagely emphasizes resource isolation by dedicating specific server resources like memory and CPU to each client. It also provides real-time threat detection and automatic core WordPress, plugin, and theme patching. Both offer around-the-clock support for addressing security incidents.

Compliance and certifications:

Netfirms is GDPR-compliant and has been since 2018, ensuring EU residents’ data rights are protected. They are also PCI-compliant with verification support from SiteLock. Pagely is both SOC 2 Type I & II certified and PCI-DSS compliant, meeting high standards for security and data protection. Pagely also hosts servers in Europe to ensure GDPR compliance. HIPAA compliance was not specified for either provider.

🏆 Winner Pagely: A premium hosting experience utilizing AWS for unmatched reliability and performance.

Netfirms and Pagely offer a variety of features tailored to different user needs. Netfirms provides robust plans that include a free domain for the first year, SSL certificates, and scalable bandwidth. It’s particularly user-friendly for those looking to set up multiple websites or create subdomains, thanks to unlimited storage and a straightforward approach. The availability of eCommerce solutions and marketing tools makes it ideal for small to medium-sized business owners who may need additional assistance without a steep learning curve. However, Netfirms lacks the clarity on SFTP and SSH access, which advanced users might require.

Pagely, on the other hand, is designed for high-performance hosting, powered by AWS to ensure high availability and reliability. It offers dedicated WordPress management, complete with advanced security measures and daily backups stored on Amazon S3. Pagely excels with developer-friendly tools like SSH, GIT, and WP-CLI, making it an excellent choice for developers and larger enterprises. With features like advanced caching, CDN technology, and support for complex staging environments, it caters to users who demand superior performance and robust security. However, it comes at a premium price starting at $375/mo, which might be a consideration for budget-conscious users.

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 Netfirms and Pagely 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:

Netfirms does not offer dedicated email hosting services. Pagely, similarly, doesn’t have built-in email hosting solutions but focuses on transactional email capabilities without limitations on PHP workers. Neither provider resells third-party email services, so users looking for integrated email campaigning or specialized email solutions may need to explore external providers like Google Workspace or Outlook.

🏆 Winner Netfirms: Offers versatile hosting solutions with competitive pricing and a wide range of features.

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. Although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

Netfirms and Pagely offer diverse hosting plans with varying features and pricing structures. Netfirms’ shared hosting is budget-friendly, starting at $3.95/mo for 1 website with unlimited storage, while Pagely’s plans cater to businesses looking for managed WordPress hosting, beginning at $199/mo with robust features like managed DevOps support and flexible configuration. Netfirms’ higher-tier Business Plan at $10.95/mo has unlimited websites and databases. Pagely’s entry-level developer plan features 2 vCPU and 30 GB SSD storage, priced at $199/mo. While Netfirms scores higher on value for smaller-scale needs, Pagely addresses high-demand enterprises with its scalable, customized solutions.

Enterprise plans

Netfirms provides a comprehensive business plan for $14.95/mo offering unlimited websites and databases with 24/7 support. Pagely’s enterprise plans start at $2500/mo, which include multi-region redundancy, personalized technical account management, and enhanced SLAs. They offer superior scalability and high availability configurations, ideal for large enterprises requiring robust resources and support.

🏆 Winner Pagely: offers a comprehensive managed WordPress hosting solution with advanced performance and security features.

Netfirms utilizes an integrated control panel that is well-suited for both technical and non-technical users. This panel simplifies domain management and web hosting setup in one place, which can be a significant advantage for those looking to streamline their workflow. The onboarding assistance provided by Netfirms, along with 24/7 technical support, ensures that users can quickly set up and manage their websites effectively. The inclusion of Google Workspace integration makes it particularly accessible for businesses already familiar with Google’s suite of tools, reducing the learning curve.

Pagely, on the other hand, focuses on managed WordPress hosting and offers a customized admin panel optimized for WordPress management. The setup process, though slightly longer, is offset by their detailed onboarding guides and practical support channels via ticket and chat. This customized panel is particularly beneficial for users who require advanced WordPress features and tools. Pagely’s admin panel is designed to cater to both novice and experienced users, facilitating easy navigation and management of WordPress sites through features like PressCACHE and PressCDN.

In terms of migration tools, Netfirms offers support for migrating websites but primarily through manual processes, supported by their 24/7 technical assistance. The knowledge base provides some guidance on this but may require more hands-on work from the user. Pagely provides more advanced options, including WordPress-specific migration services. These services are designed to be efficient and user-friendly, with detailed guides available to assist users through the entire migration process. This can be a more straightforward solution for those looking to migrate complex WordPress sites.

Both providers offer extensive help centers. Netfirms’ knowledge base includes a wide range of articles on topics such as website backup, domain privacy protection, and online security, making it a resource-rich platform for learning and troubleshooting. Pagely’s support and knowledge base are equally comprehensive, covering everything from WordPress basics to advanced caching and file management. This extensive support structure ensures that users have access to the necessary resources and guidance.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Netfirms offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. Pagely also boasts a detailed help center with an intuitive search function and around-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and ticketing, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner Pagely: offers comprehensive user management capabilities and versatile access control features.

When comparing Netfirms and Pagely’s abilities in managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility, significant differences emerge. Netfirms provides defined roles such as Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber for WordPress sites. These roles focus primarily on content management, with each role having clear-cut permissions aligned with typical WordPress user needs. In contrast, Pagely introduces a more refined structure with seven distinct roles: Account Owner, Super-Admin, Sub-Admin, Tech, Billing, App-Only, and App-Only-Minimal. Pagely’s roles encompass a broader range of account and site management responsibilities, offering flexibility that can cater to more complex administrative requirements and various levels of technical control. This detailed segmentation in Pagely is particularly beneficial for businesses that need intricate user access controls beyond basic content management.

Pagely and Netfirms offer distinct user interfaces and tools for managing users. Netfirms operates within the familiar WordPress dashboard, making user management intuitive for those accustomed to WordPress. The process to add a new user is straightforward, designed to accommodate varying user engagement levels in content creation and site interaction. On the flip side, Pagely provides an advanced user management interface with capabilities to manage various system-level and site-level operations. Pagely’s interface aims to streamline more sophisticated administrative tasks, allowing for thorough user role assignment and management tied to both site maintenance and technical operations, thereby catering to administrators requiring robust account governance tools.

Assessing the effectiveness of access control measures, Pagely stands out with its comprehensive approach, supporting extensive user management features and granular access controls, including SSH/SFTP key management and 2-factor authentication enforcement. This makes it highly suitable for environments expecting heavy user activity and stringent security requirements. Netfirms, while effective for WordPress-centric tasks, offers more basic access control tailored for content-centric roles which are less complex. Both platforms manage growing user bases efficiently, yet Pagely’s scalability and additional administrative features make it better equipped for handling larger, more diverse groups of users and technical administrators.

Pagely user roles table:

🏆 Winner Pagely: offers tierless support with engineers solving issues directly and boasts a 97% customer satisfaction rating.

Netfirms and Pagely both provide comprehensive support options, available 24/7 through various mediums. Netfirms offers phone, web chat, email, and a ticket system, ensuring continuous accessibility for customers. Netfirms highlights include swift response times and knowledgeable representatives, although some users report issues with billing and cancellation processes.

Pagely employs a unique tierless support model, where every support team member is a competent engineer. This ensures quicker issue resolution without escalation. Pagely’s support is accessible through tickets and live chat, with additional Slack support for enterprise customers. Customers can enjoy high satisfaction rates and an efficient onboarding process, contributing to its high rating.

Netfirms vs Pagely: User feedback

User feedback on this hosting provider is mixed, with significant criticism and some praise. Many users appreciate the good uptime, active customer support, and affordability of domain registration. However, frequent complaints include slow server speeds, poor usability, and unsatisfactory load times, which hinder site performance and development. Additionally, some users have faced issues with server reliability and confusing setup processes.

Users highly appreciate this hosting provider for its exceptional reliability and top-notch customer support, often comparing it to having an on-call DevOps team. The platform is praised for its speed, security, and a suite of features designed specifically for WordPress hosting. Many find the management tools intuitive and effective, though some express a desire for improvements in specific areas like the Atomic dashboard and multi-user access. The main criticism revolves around the high cost, which is noted as a barrier for smaller operations, but many users agree the premium price is justified by the service’s quality and reliability.

Netfirms vs Pagely: FAQ