Siteground vs Hivelocity: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over SiteGround and Hivelocity, both hosting providers offer unique strengths, but SiteGround overall edges out with a more user-friendly and comprehensive service offering.

• 
  SiteGround (Overall grade: 8.8)
  
  
  provides a wide range of hosting options including shared, cloud, WordPress, and ecommerce hosting, making it versatile for various types of users. Their strong website performance through Google Cloud infrastructure, advanced caching mechanisms, and extensive CDN support translates to impressively fast load times and reliability. User management features are robust, and additional tools such as the free WordPress migrator plugin and automated setups are particularly suitable for users without deep technical skills. It’s also backed by high-quality customer service available through multiple channels. However, some users do note higher renewal prices and occasional navigation hurdles in the support tools.
  
• 
  Hivelocity (Overall grade: 7.7)
  
  
  stands out with its dedicated and VPS hosting, making it ideal for high-traffic websites and multimedia needs. Known for nearly perfect uptime since 2011, Hivelocity offers extensive security features, including advanced SSL options and thorough compliance with industry standards like HIPAA and PCI. With a solid range of managed services and server configurations, it caters well to users with specific and often more advanced technical requirements. Support is considered responsive and highly reliable, but the lack of a free site builder and automated migration tools might make it less convenient for newcomers or those seeking an easy setup. Prices can be a concern for some due to their higher initial costs, despite offering excellent value for dedicated solutions.
  

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 Hivelocity: Incredibly reliable with a perfect uptime track record.

Section-2: SiteGround boasts a solid 99.9% uptime guarantee and has shown excellent performance in real-world tests with an impressive 99.99% actual uptime. They offer generous compensation if uptime falls below their guarantee and have a very responsive customer service team. Their server locations across multiple continents and quick response times further enhance their appeal.

Section-3: Hivelocity, with its almost perfect uptime guarantee and spotless performance record since 2011, stands out as the more reliable choice. Their data centers are well-equipped and certified, ensuring high availability across various locations. This makes Hivelocity an excellent option for users requiring consistent and dependable hosting services.

🏆 Winner
SiteGround: Offers superior hosting performance with advanced speed and security features.

When it comes to general performance, SiteGround and Hivelocity each bring their strengths. SiteGround leverages the premium Google Cloud infrastructure, custom PHP/MySQL setups, and NGINX-based dynamic caching, which significantly enhance site speed and reliability. The built-in Speed Optimizer plugin also stands out. Additionally, SiteGround offers a free, extensive CDN with over 170 edge locations, supporting faster content delivery. As for data centers, SiteGround’s servers are strategically placed in top locations worldwide, ensuring robust global coverage. Hivelocity, by contrast, offers 100% power uptime with diesel power redundancy, advanced cooling systems, and a blend of Tier-1 carriers handling high data transfer capacity. They have data centers on six continents and deploy servers almost instantly.

Website Speed

SiteGround edges out Hivelocity in website speed due to its high-performance Google Cloud infrastructure and custom server setup. Its PHP configuration effectively reduces the TTFB and speeds up page load times by approximately 30%. Integrated caching solutions like NGINX Direct Delivery, SuperCacher, and Memcached further accelerate website performance. Hivelocity, though robust with its high-end hardware options and fast deployment, does not match the built-in optimizations and caching mechanisms provided by SiteGround.

Scalability

SiteGround offers automatic scaling features on its Cloud plans, though with limited details on elastic scaling. For scalable solutions, upgrading to higher-tier plans like GrowBig or GoGeek can accommodate growing traffic needs. Hivelocity provides dedicated server options and competitive pricing, but specific details on automatic scaling are not available. Scaling costs for Hivelocity are customized and depend on individual server solutions.

🏆 Winner
Hivelocity Hosting: A feature-rich hosting service with comprehensive security measures and robust compliance standards.

Both SiteGround and Hivelocity, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

SiteGround offers a range of technical security measures including a custom Web Application Firewall (WAF), an AI anti-bot system, and multi-layered security managed by Google Cloud. Hivelocity, on the other hand, provides SSL certificates of varying levels (Basic, Business, Premium) and advanced encryption technologies. Both offer robust firewall security and daily backups, although SiteGround specifies daily backups with 30 copies. Hivelocity adds DDoS protection, proactive malware scanning, and advanced monitoring features like load balancing and RAID monitoring. While both are excellent, Hivelocity offers a broader range of SSL options and additional security features like brute force detection.

Operational security measures:

SiteGround focuses on automated solutions like automatic WordPress & WooCommerce updates, 24/7 system administration, and on-demand backups. Hivelocity provides robust operational support including 24/7 monitoring, regular security audits, and real-time problem resolution. Both companies ensure their data centers are secure, but Hivelocity adds physical security measures such as hardware diagnostics and replacement. Hivelocity’s operational security is enhanced by proactive malware scanning and virus/spam protection, which are not specified for SiteGround.

Compliance and certifications:

SiteGround manages security diligently but does not offer PCI compliant servers and lacks specific compliance certifications in its description. Hivelocity, however, excels in compliance, having completed SSAE-16, HIPAA, and PCI audits. This makes Hivelocity a better choice for enterprises that must adhere to rigorous regulatory standards in various industries.

🏆 Winner SiteGround: SiteGround shines with its fully managed WordPress hosting, enhanced security measures, and a plethora of free services like daily backups, SSL certificates, CDN service, and email accounts.

SiteGround and Hivelocity both provide a variety of features that cater to diverse user needs. SiteGround shines with its fully managed WordPress hosting, enhanced security measures, and a plethora of free services like daily backups, SSL certificates, CDN service, and email accounts. It allows FTP/SFTP and SSH access, making it easy for users to manage files and server tasks. SiteGround’s staging environment and seamless WordPress migration options are perfect for users who want an easy setup and ongoing management of their WordPress sites. It also offers robust cloud hosting solutions with customizable resources and dedicated IPs, ensuring scalability and performance.

Hivelocity, on the other hand, focuses more on managed services with complete hardware and network support. Important features include 24/7 phone, chat, and ticket support, network intrusion monitoring, proactive malware scanning, and setup of various control panels like cPanel, Plesk, and others. Hivelocity offers a comprehensive range of operating systems and advanced server management tools like RAID monitoring and configuration of firewalls. They also provide additional enhancement features such as load balancing and DDoS mitigation. However, Hivelocity lacks a free site builder and staging environment, which might make it less convenient for users focused on website creation and management.

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 SiteGround and Hivelocity 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:

SiteGround provides free email hosting, making it simple to manage your own email accounts directly from your domain. This is ideal for maintaining a consistent brand identity. Hivelocity also offers email hosting services but doesn’t include a free email feature. Both hosting providers support transactional emails, ensuring reliable communication for automated tasks such as form submissions and notifications. Neither platform resells third-party services like Google Workspace or Zoho directly, leading users to set those up separately if desired.

🏆 Winner
Hivelocity: Delivers a wide range of hosting solutions with highly competitive pricing and extensive support 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. Although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

In comparing SiteGround and Hivelocity, it becomes clear that while SiteGround offers low introductory prices for diverse web hosting plans, Hivelocity provides more varied options, especially in dedicated and game server solutions. SiteGround’s Web Hosting and WordPress plans range from $17.99/mo.* to $44.99/mo.*, offering features like free SSL, daily backups, and 30-Days Money-Back guarantees. Hivelocity stands out with dedicated game server solutions and instant servers, including higher memory and bandwidth at discounted monthly rates. Hivelocity’s entry-level game server at $49/mo and dedicated server plans starting at $75/mo accentuate its value and strength in dedicated hosting solutions.

Enterprise plans

SiteGround’s enterprise solution includes Cloud Hosting plans up to $400.00/mo., offering up to 16 CPU cores, 20GB memory, and 160GB SSD space. Hivelocity provides more tailored custom-built bare metal servers and a complimentary consultation to design private clouds, server clusters, and virtual environments, starting at $75/mo. With 24/7 on-premises support and extensive data center locations, Hivelocity’s plans seem more flexible and competitive for large enterprises.

🏆 Winner
SiteGround: Known for its ease of setup and extensive support resources, SiteGround makes site management straightforward for users.

SiteGround offers an automated site setup wizard that simplifies the initial configuration, enabling users to select from over 20 applications, including WordPress and Magento. The WordPress Starter Plugin helps quickly add professional themes and essential plugins, making the platform accessible even for those without technical skills. On the other hand, Hivelocity provides multiple control panels like cPanel, DirectAdmin, and Plesk, catering to users familiar with these traditional admin tools. While SiteGround’s approach with automated tools focuses on ease of use, Hivelocity’s offering gives more options but may seem complex to non-technical users.

SiteGround’s one-click staging tool available on its GrowBig and GoGeek plans adds a layer of convenience for users who need to test changes before making them live. Hivelocity’s robust selection of control panels and support for various operating systems offers versatility but might require more expertise to navigate. Therefore, SiteGround’s streamlined experience benefits beginners and those looking for a quick start, whereas Hivelocity caters more to advanced users and IT professionals needing specific configurations.

Both SiteGround and Hivelocity offer migration services for websites, but their approaches and costs differ. SiteGround provides a free WordPress migrator plugin for easy and quick migrations, and offers professional expert migrations at a fee of $30. Hivelocity doesn’t specifically mention automated migration tools; however, given its managed services, it is likely to offer manual support for migrations. For users seeking an uncomplicated, low-cost migration, SiteGround’s tools present a simpler path.

SiteGround’s knowledge base and help center are extensive, featuring articles, how-to guides, and troubleshooting help, along with 24/7 support via live chat, phone, and tickets. Hivelocity also maintains a comprehensive knowledge base with various categories and tagged articles, along with 24/7 chat, phone, and ticket support. SiteGround excels in accessibility and user assistance, as evident from its high user satisfaction rates.

🏆 Winner SiteGround: SiteGround excels in user management features and customization, making it a versatile choice for team collaborations and client management.

SiteGround offers comprehensive user management capabilities, allowing you to add team members as collaborators with individual logins and site access. It also provides flexibility in creating and managing custom roles, enabling you to define specific permissions and access levels for different users. On GoGeek and Cloud plans, SiteGround introduces white-label clients, allowing you to give clients branded access without the SiteGround name. Unfortunately, there is no available information on Hivelocity’s user management and user roles, making it challenging to assess its capabilities.

SiteGround’s user interface for managing users is intuitive, with easy navigation to add collaborators and create roles via the Client Area. Users have separate accounts and logins, which keeps everything organized and secure. Custom roles can be created and managed through a dedicated tab, and detailed steps are provided for assigning and managing these roles. This makes it easier for users to leverage the full suite of tools and permissions offered by SiteGround.

SiteGround’s access control measures are designed for efficiency, supporting a growing number of users with ease. The ability to add collaborators with individual logins and manage roles helps maintain order as teams expand. The white-label client feature is particularly effective in agency settings, ensuring clients can access their sites without confusion. This setup ensures seamless scalability and robust user management, catering to diverse business needs.

SiteGround User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner SiteGround: Offers exceptional customer service with numerous support channels and high customer satisfaction.

SiteGround and Hivelocity both provide comprehensive customer service, including 24/7 support through live chat and phone channels. While both feature an efficient ticketing system for more complex issues, SiteGround stands out with its AI Assistant chatbot and pinned help features integrated across its platform. This positions customers to resolve common problems faster without human intervention.

Additionally, SiteGround enhances customer experience with priority support for its GoGeek plan and celebrates customer success stories, fostering a community-oriented approach. Hivelocity’s unique selling points include its walk-through articles and videos and a strong emphasis on uptime and reliability. However, Hivelocity lacks priority support and a dedicated AI assistant, which are notable advantages of SiteGround’s customer service.

User feedback

SiteGround garners consistently high praise for its exceptional customer support and user-friendly tools, frequently being described as reliable and straightforward to use. Users commend the fast and knowledgeable technical assistance, which is available through various channels like chat and phone, often highlighting the effectiveness and patience of support representatives. Despite these positive aspects, some users find renewal pricing relatively expensive and note that navigating to the support section can be cumbersome. Issues with specific features, such as webmail interface and certain plugins, are also mentioned, but overall, SiteGround is recommended for its strong support and ease of use, especially for beginners and small businesses.

Hivelocity is highly praised for its exceptional customer service, reliable server performance, and knowledgeable technical support. Long-term users, some with over a decade of experience, commend the company for its personalized support and rapid response times, often highlighting near-instant ticket resolutions and a proactive approach to addressing issues. Additionally, the infrastructure and network reliability receive strong accolades, with many users experiencing minimal to no downtime. While a few noted the increasing prices and occasional variability in support quality, the consensus is that Hivelocity offers an outstanding hosting service marked by dependability and top-tier customer support.

FAQ