This UltaHost review is inspired by a little story that, unfortunately, threatened to ruin my Christmas and had me scratching my head when I should have been thoroughly enjoying the season and all it represents.
Here’s how it panned out…
Just before Christmas last year, I woke up to an email from my hosting company then, SiteGround, asking me to remove some content I had published about five years prior.
I was in celebration mood and around friends and family; I had shut down operations for the year and just wanted to talk, eat, drink, and catch up. I was in no mood for any webmaster-related tasks.
However, knowing the importance of responding to such an issue in a timely manner (they termed it ‘violation’ of their TOS), I replied the mail, asking for details and presenting the facts of the matter as best as the season would let me; hoping that logic (at least, from my perspective) would prevail at the end and the matter would be rested.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be: the identity of the person who reported my work, I never got to know and to cut an already long story very short, SiteGround held its ground (no pun intended) and I needed to hide the content they deemed ‘offensive’ away from the public.
I believed the matter then to be rested…unfortunately, it was only just the beginning.
Table of Contents
The Worst Was Still Warming Up…
After the Christmas break, I moved the ‘offending’ site to another hosting company, pending a more permanent fix I intended to come up with later.
However, I was on a budget and the cost of running two hosting accounts soon proved prohibitive; I had to bring back the ‘offending’ website, with its previously unpublished posts, now live, back.
Honestly, I had forgotten all about the ‘offending posts’ when I brought the website back to SiteGround.
As if the folk who first reported me were monitoring my actions online, SiteGround again reached out to me, this time, as a ‘repeat offender’ and asked me to delete the content within twenty-four hours. They also included another new, ‘offending’ post.
Further, they added a caveat this time around: they’ll restrict access to the pages themselves if I didn’t comply within twenty-four (24) hours!
I was off-grid when this happened and when eventually I got to read the mail, it was about four days after and the posts were already restricted and not available to the public.
I was livid!
However, in my anger, I knew (unlike the first time) that there was no point arguing: I simply apologized (for what I knew I did no wrong) and unpublished the posts again.
It was also at that point that I made up my mind to switch hosting companies. This time, I wanted an option that wouldn’t interrupt my Christmas because of some killjoy who doesn’t understand the core of free speech.
…And, the Search for an Offshore Hosting Company Began…
Before this time, I had meticulously compiled a short list of the best DMCA ignored Hosting options for the money.
However, for one reason or another, these options did not suit me or the project I was interested in running:
- I wanted a hosting provider that provides a chat option (some issues are better handled in real-time, not with tickets).
- I wanted an offshore, DMCA Ignored option (I didn’t want my hosting company reaching out to me again to take down content).
- I wanted a VPS with root access (not shared hosting again). And I wanted it with a fair price.
- Finally, I wanted an option that was fairly priced, offered free SSL, had cPanel standard (or as an option) and importantly, offered monthly payment options.
The search started and sooner than later, I landed at the doors of UltaHost.
The First Impression
When I landed on UltaHost’s homepage, something deep down my core whispered to me closely that this was the hosting provider that I was looking for.
I’m a man of logic though, not emotions. I suppressed this emotion and instead made sure that I looked carefully and asked the questions that I needed to make sure that it was a choice I’ll be okay with, going forward.
However, the clean layout and ease of use was difficult to ignore – so I initiated a chat, just to see how fast (or slow) their response would be. The time and day of the week?
It was midnight, on a Sunday.
Almost instantly, the chat was answered and someone came on board: I was positively impressed at this point (and in a logical manner, too).
Now, if you’re into the business of hosting websites, that’s something that is exceptionally rare: almost all the hosting companies that offer support via chat make sure that you wait for at least five minutes before attending to you.
UltaHost saw to it that I was attended to; right on time – and I immediately started firing the questions I had.
“Do you offer cPanel?” The operator told me for a fee, it could be got. If I did not want that, there were plenty other free options I could go with.
“Free SSL?” ‘Yes’, came the answer.
“DMCA Ignored?” ‘Yes – but you need to run a VPS (or above) and then, choose the Finland server option’, was the response.
The back and forth lasted about ten more minutes. In this time, I could tell the enthusiasm and sincerity of the operator. I knew, at that point, that my heart had not betrayed me: this was where my files would need to be, going forward.
An Overview of UltaHost: The Offshore VPS Option You Never Knew Existed
UltaHost, in the VPS game (especially as relates to DMCA-ignored hosting), is a relatively new entrant. Founded in 2018 (and privately held since then), the company hasn’t yet become a household name like A2 Hosting or HostGator.
This, for customers, is a blessing. A reasonable number of customers ensures the best service, by the way.
Unlike SiteGround where I was coming from, instead of just ‘web hosting’ (shared, essentially), cloud hosting, and reseller hosting, the following options are available:
- Shared Hosting.
- WordPress Hosting.
- Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting.
- Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) Hosting.
- Dedicated Server Hosting.
- Windows Hosting.
- Macintosh Hosting and
- Game Hosting.
And, each of these options actually means business; it offers exactly what it says it will, while also making sure that what is given out remains clearly specified.
This wasn’t/isn’t a case of empty promises.
The wild array of choices blew me off my feet – and I was excited to see that, beyond what I had bargained for (DMCA ignored, cPanel availability, real-time chat support etc), I also saw that I could easily also register domains, transfer to the registrar and importantly, run some domain related tasks (like WhoIs) natively.
In the world of offshore hosting, it doesn’t usually get better than this.
The Attraction to UltaHost
The attraction to UltaHost was for me simple and straight to the point and I suspect it’s the same/will be the same for you too: the familiarity of ‘everyday, regular hosting’ coupled with the luxury of offshore (read: DMCA ignored) hosting.
Truth is, I would have considered offshore hosting long ago: the issue was that most of the options were simply too abstract, presenting a steep learning curve that needed to be surmounted before taking on it.
If you share this sentiment, you’ll agree with me, 100% (when you take a peek at UltaHost).
Features & Ease of Use
As indicated above, the major attractions that got me hooked to UltaHost are its features and ease of use; specifically, the reality that offshore hosting came in a package that was and still is, essentially, the everyday hosting that we all know.
But, what are the details?
Features of UltaHost
- Free website migration from your current hosting provider (if you’re coming from another hosting option). Remember, this is a service that many other hosting providers charge top dollar for.
- Solid State Drives, across board. They are the fastest (and most reliable) in the industry now, by an appreciable margin.
- An impressive, near-perfect uptime reality. Since coming on board, I don’t remember having a painful downtime.
- Guaranteed, dedicated resources which ensures that even shared options aren’t oversold or throttled simply because of some crazy ‘server neighbors’.
- An impressive option for DMCA-ignored hosting. Just by choosing offshore servers, you have this option which effectively gives you an American company that you know, love, and trust paired with a hosting option that gives you the power and invincibility of offshore hosting.
Ease of Use of UltaHost
I’ve already stated, very clearly, that UltaHost was/remains easy to use and navigate. Just like the traditional hosting options available today, there’s literally no learning curve. It’s just easy, straight-to-the-point hosting, as known and already fully understood.
It’s also important to point out that even for a beginner who has no known experience with hosting (and thus will be challenged by even the simple, traditional hosting options), the support offered by UltaHost is truly exceptional, and will seamlessly make up for such a lack.
This leads directly to the next, logical point: SUPPORT.
Support
Support for UltaHost is offered primarily by two means: chat and the support ticket option. For non-customers, the default support means is chat while for customers, both options are open but the support ticket route is preferred for queries that are complex or will take time.
Chat
Chats are prominently featured on the homepage and are generally encouraged (I needed to dig in each time for SiteGround, even as an experienced user!)
With some chatbot-looking setting, I believed that I was going to be attended to by one of the silly preprogrammed chatbots that exist only to make your day worse.
I was (and still am) impressed when I hit the box and an ACTUAL HELPFUL human responded to me in mere seconds.
I was wowed! I still am.
Support Ticket
General questions are easily tackled via the chat system which is lightning-fast, as already noted.
However, complex issues aren’t treated via the chat system; instead, they’re referred to the ticket system, where they are handled by dedicated experts who sit and wait for your query to land in.
When I was first referred to the ticket system, I felt bad (SiteGround actually answers most issues via chat, on the spot, if you’re lucky to be linked to an agent when you reach out) and believed it was a recipe for wasting my time.
However, I reluctantly opened a ticket and in less than five minutes, the ticket was answered, the issue was sorted and the ticket was closed!
That was the fastest hosting-related ticket that has been closed on my behalf before (after sorting out the issue, of course).
UltaHost Pricing (Relative to Competitors)
Pricing doesn’t exist in isolation: it’s usually a relative construct. However, in this case, a photo (or rather, photos) is worth a thousand billion words:
Are any more words necessary at this point?
That said, now is a great time to check out a comparison article I did: UltaHost vs. SiteGround: Which is a Better Bet?
Let’s now turn our attention to the good, bad, and ugly that UltaHost presents: after all, this ISN’T an ad for them. So, what gives?
UltaHost: The Good
Starting with the good…
1. Excellent, Unrivalled Support
I’ve been hosting websites for pretty much of my adult life and I’m no longer a young man. Having tried dozens of options (and only recently coming from SiteGround), I say without any fear of contradiction that the support I’m getting at UltaHost is UNPARALLELED in the industry.
Real-time (human) chats that don’t waste your time? Never seen it, across board at over the dozen options I’ve had cause to use through the years.
Support tickets that get answered to and closed, satisfactorily in less than five (5) minutes? Never have I seen that anywhere, too.
Support staff that made it their life’s aim to leave you satisfied and won’t stop till your issue is completely fixed?
You bet. You’ll love this part, especially, if you’ve dealt with companies where the support staff appear to be doing you a favor (you have not asked for).
2. (True) DMCA Ignored Hosting
DMCA-ignored hosting is largely in theory with most hosting companies; these companies tout the term simply for the financial benefits that they’ll get in terms of hawking it around.
However, when the silly (take down) folks come knocking on the door (as was the case with SiteGround), they simply throw you under the bus and begin to tell you many stories that simply don’t make any sense.
The stories are either to the effect that a term is beached or something else that doesn’t make sense in the real world.
From my experience so far with UltaHost, this isn’t the case. It isn’t the case because I know firsthand that the folks who (literally) chased me away from SiteGround have not stopped their shenanigans; however, that I have not gotten a mail from UltaHost (yet) to the effect means they have been RIGHTFULLY ignored (as they should).
What feeling is sweeter than this, for someone who has suffered in the hands of regular hosting?
3. Tickets Are Closed as Soon as They Are Answered!
In the traditional world of hosting, support tickets are left open for at least three (3) days before being closed. During this time, the tickets can be updated, back and forth before their final closure, usually, three (3) days after their last update.
This is standard procedure. And, an update via email is sent when this happens.
For some, this may not be an issue. However, for me (and many more like me), it adds to emails, and a reminder of an issue that has, at that time, been closed up is pulling up work for me (and taxing my eyes!)
Not very ideal, in my opinion.
With UltaHost, things are different: once a ticket is answered, an update via email is sent and the ticket is closed. If the issue isn’t resolved to satisfaction, an answer to it reopens the whole thing and the loop continues.
This way, things are kept tidy on both ends and no one has any apprehension of things that ought not to cause any apprehension.
UltaHost: The Bad
Now, the bad…
1. cPanel Is Premium
cPanel has come to be the gold standard when it comes to hosting websites online and this UltaHost review won’t be complete without expressly mentioning this fact.
Although, some hosting companies now have their own proprietary options (like SiteGround), the truth remains that cPanel is still the most popular option and, in my opinion, preferred. It also takes out the steep learning curve when moving hosts (which a proprietary running option like SiteGround) doesn’t afford you the option to.
Now, for many shared hosting solutions, (almost) across board, cPanel is standard; you don’t need to ask for it.
However, with UltaHost, you only get Hestia and CyberPanel. If you’re interested in either Plesk or cPanel, you’ll need to cough out appreciable sums of money for the monthly license.
For someone like me who isn’t used to paying for something like this (shared hosting rocks, in its own respect), this is certainly a ‘bad’ in my book.
If you’re like me, you’ll also agree, completely.
2. Outgoing Mail Limitation
The attraction of hosting your own website directly is the ability to also have and use custom domain emails, the sort of emails that flow in this fashion: youremail@yourdomain.com.
Cool, isn’t it?
With a VPS plan on UltaHost (what I run with the company), this isn’t possible as port 25 is permanently blocked.
What this means is that, while you can set up emails and receive same, you CAN’T send out emails or reply to the ones that land in your inbox.
This isn’t a very pretty situation – and the only way ahead is to commit to either a yearly plan (if you’re on VPS Business) or at least a quarterly payment plan (if you’re considering the professional or enterprise VPS plans).
If you’re a monthly fellow like I always tend to be at the beginning of using a service, you’re out of luck: you’ll need to run some sort of commitment or else, consider hosting your mail somewhere else.
3. No Phone Support
Very few people love phone calls – but for business, I frequently come across situations where it makes perfect sense to place a call.
However, in all my years of hosting websites, I’ve never bothered with a phone call to a hosting company: all my issues are either sorted by chat or a simple support ticket.
However, there are some persons (clearly in a tiny minority) that may prefer this mode of support.
If this is you, you’re out of luck and will be badly disappointed with UltaHost as chat and support tickets are all the options available.
4. Tickets Can’t Be Updated via Email
I once had business with ViceTemple and was pleased beyond measure with one simple reality that the company deploys: tickets are updated via email and can be responded to from there.
This is how it works: once a support ticket is raised, an email notification is sent and subsequent updates to the ticket reflect on the email in real time.
To respond to a ticket as a customer, you can achieve that in either of two ways: first, by logging in and replying the traditional way or by simply replying to the email notification.
Either way, the ticket gets updated in real-time and things take a nice, smooth run.
However, with UltaHost (as it was with SiteGround), you’ll need to manually log into your client area if you’re interested in responding to a ticket.
Hello, Vice Temple (keep the temple doors open, I may just decide to look in, again)!
UltaHost: The Ugly
UltaHost is one hell of a hosting company that I personally see no ‘ugly’ sides to it. There’s thus, no ‘ugly’ to publish.
If you’re familiar with hosting and the challenges that come with it in this age and time, this is something rare that ought to be taken very seriously.
UltaHost Alternative(s)
If you’re not sold in on UltaHost, there is only one serious alternative to it and it’s Vice Temple.
Vice Temple is scheduled as the only true alternative to UltaHost because it’s the only option that offers what UltaHost does not, in the best package possible: adult hosting.
However, if you’re not hosting (or considering) adult content, then, it’s safe to conclude that whatever it is that you’re looking for in a host, UltaHost will more than match it – and traditionally, over deliver (beyond your wildest expectation).
UltaHost Review Summary: Should You Consider Them?
After all is said and done, this UltaHost review won’t be complete without an express recommendation to either host with the company or consider a close competitor.
As you’ve already guessed, UltaHost has only a handful of true competitors, when it comes to all the things that make you choose a hosting company: price, support, server location, security, offerings, cPanel reality, and recently, an offshore offering.
These and all will be brilliantly found with UltaHost, in such a way as NO OTHER hosting company currently offers (save Vice Temple – if you’re thinking adult content).
If you’re looking for the best bang for your bucks, aren’t interested in hosting adult content and will appreciate a company that understands this perfectly, consider your search done.
Simply sign up with UltaHost and end your search/hunt for a web hosting provider.