A2 Hosting vs SiteGround (March 2024) – “Here’s My Experience …”

A2 Hosting Review Rating
SiteGround Review Rating

Comparing A2 Hosting and SiteGround is an extremely close call. They both provide many unique features that provide outstanding web hosting performance. I use both A2 Hosting and SiteGround. In addition to excellent speed and uptime, I’ve also enjoyed great customer support from both of these web hosting companies.

Although SiteGround and A2 Hosting are capable of hosting any kind of website, they are both particularly well suited for those using a CMS (content management system)—especially WordPress. With A2 Hosting, you get their optimized WordPress environment for increased speed and improved security. And, you can have WordPress pre-installed when you sign up. Meanwhile, SiteGround has established themselves as one of the most cost effective options for managed WordPress hosting. SiteGround’s hosting plans include their SuperCacher technology for faster websites, as well as their optional HackAlert monitoring system to guard against malware attacks.

Both A2 Hosting and SiteGround give you cPanel as your hosting interface which is another plus. The hosting plans at each company are also similarly structured—with three levels including start up, advanced, and premium packages. Both A2 Hosting and SiteGround provide a lot of value with their hosting plans—with each including some very impressive features. A2’s hosting plans cost less at each level—which I like. On the other hand, although SiteGround does cost more, you do get managed hosting features.

As a customer of both A2 Hosting and SiteGround, I can definitely say that both of these web hosts are great choices.

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Ratings

A2 Hosting SiteGround
Features: 100% Features: 95%
Speed and Performance: 98% Speed and Performance: 96%
Customer Support: 98% Customer Support: 98%
Value: 99% Value: 90%
TOTAL: 98.8% TOTAL: 94.8%

Get 75% Discount on A2 Hosting

Get 86% Discount on SiteGround

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Website Speed

In our testing and in my personal experience as a customer of both A2 Hosting and SiteGround, A2 Hosting produces noticeably faster website speed. While SiteGround is impressive, A2 Hosting is the winner in this category with their optimized WordPress environment together with their Swift and Turbo Servers.

Below are some sample test results from GTmetrix:

A2 Hosting Speed Results

SiteGround Speed Test Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Customer Support

a2-hosting siteground
Ticket Support Feature Included Feature Included
Email Support Feature Included Feature Included
Phone Support Feature Included Feature Included
Live Chat Feature Included Feature Included
Free Website Migration Feature Included Feature Included
Priority Support Available Feature Included Feature Included

Customer support is one of the strengths of both A2 Hosting and SiteGround. A2 Hosting has their Guru Crew and SiteGround has one of the most intensive training programs for their customer support team members. SiteGround has consistently provided some of the fastest support response times, and their support agents have always provided quick resolutions to any questions or issues I may have. So, while I would rate both of these web hosts high on the support meter, SiteGround is the winner here.

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: WordPress

As I mentioned above, A2 Hosting and SiteGround are definitely two of the best choices for WordPress hosting. Both of these web hosts are great for all types of WordPress users—newbies all the way up to seasoned experienced WordPress site owners. A2 Hosting will preinstall WordPress for you, while SiteGround now has their WordPress Starter functionality that simplifies the process of creating your website. On the other end, they both included premium WordPress features that are normally found in more expensive managed hosting plans. In this category, because of other factors (customer support, etc.), I would give SiteGround a slight edge. SiteGround is also recommended by WordPress.org.

WordPress Feature Comparison
Included with Hosting Plan

a2-hosting siteground
Preinstallation Feature Included  
Auto Updates Feature Included Feature Included
Auto Data Backups Feature Included Feature Included
On Demand Backup and Restore Feature Included Feature Included
Website Staging Feature Included Feature Included
Optimized Caching Feature Included Feature Included
WordPress Security Feature Included Feature Included
Managed WordPress Available? Feature Included Feature Included

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Security

a2-hosting siteground
Free SSL Feature Included Feature Included
DDoS Protection Feature Included Feature Included
Brute Force Defense Feature Included Feature Included
Virus Scanning Feature Included Feature Included
Hack Protection Feature Included Feature Included
24/7 Security Monitoring Feature Included Feature Included
Web Hosting Firewall Feature Included Feature Included
Patchman Security Tool Feature Included  
Two-Factor Authentication Feature Included Feature Included
Hosting Account Isolation Feature Included  
SPAM Protection Feature Included Feature Included

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Development

a2-hosting siteground
PHP Support 8.2 8.2
Unlimited Databases Feature Included Feature Included
PostgreSQL Databases Feature Included Feature Included
Node.js Feature Included  
SSH Access Feature Included Feature Included
Git Feature Included Feature Included
Python Feature Included Feature Included
FTP/SFTP Feature Included Feature Included
WP-CLI Feature Included Feature Included

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Differences

Advantages of A2 Hosting over SiteGround:

  • A2 Optimized Environment for Faster Website Speeds
  • Proactive Perpetual Security
  • Choice of 4 Data Centers
  • Turbo Server Option for up to 20x Faster Speeds
  • A2 Optimized Environment for WordPress
  • Server Rewind Backups
  • Quadruple Redundant Network
  • Preinstallation of Optimized WordPress
  • Anytime Money Back Guarantee

Advantages of SiteGround over A2 Hosting:

  • WordPress.org Recommended
  • Includes Managed Hosting Features
  • SuperCacher Technology for Faster Speed
  • Includes WordPress Starter for Faster Site Creation
  • Automated Daily Backups
  • Consistently Fast and Responsive Customer Support
  • Artificial Intelligence Anti-Bot to Stop Brute Force Attacks
  • Choice of Data Centers on 3 Continents

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Details

The Winner

Category A2 HostingA2 Hosting SiteGroundSiteGround Comments
Data Centers   Winner SiteGround has 5 data centers on 3 different continents.
Server Hardware Winner   A2 Turbo Servers can provide up to 20x faster loading. Both Turbo and Swift Servers include solid state drives (SSDs).
Network Winner   A2 Hosting provides a quadruple redundant network.
Account Sign Up/Provision   Winner Includes WordPress Starter function.
Control Panel Winner Winner Tie. Both offer easy access to cPanel and your account management settings.
Speed and Performance Winner    
Security Winner   A2 Hosting includes Patchman and Hosting Account Isolation.
Data Backup   Winner SiteGround provides automatic backups and you can restore data from the past 30 days. They also now provide on demand backups.
Developer Tools Winner Winner Tie. Both are currently supporting PHP 8.0
WordPress   Winner SiteGround provides managed hosting features including automatic updates, data backup, and SuperCacher for added speed.
Website Applications Winner Winner Tie. Both provide 400+ applications via cPanel
Advertising Credits Winner   Free Bing/Yahoo Credits
Customer Support Response Time   Winner Usually about 15 sec. or Less
Customer Support Issue Resolution   Winner  
Money Back Guarantee Winner   Anytime Money Back Guarantee
Price/Value Winner   $3.92 – $9.31 mo.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting

Started Business: 2003
BBB Rating: A+
Data Center Location: Michigan, USA; Arizona, USA; Amsterdam, EUR; Singapore, Asia

Price: $2.99 mo. – $12.99 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: Yes
Unlimited Storage: Yes
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes

Hosting Interface: cPanel
Server Uptime: 99.9%
Refund Period: Anytime
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes

Free Extras:
Attracta SEO and Marketing Tools
Free HackScan and Security Tools
Free Solid State Drives (SSDs)
Free Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificates
Patchman Enhanced Security Tool
Integrated ManageWP Account

Advantages of Choosing A2 Hosting:

  • A2 Optimized Environment for WordPress
  • Optional Turbo Server available for Faster Page Loading
  • Choose Linux or Window Hosting
  • Perpetual Security
  • Environment Friendly FutureServe Green Hosting
  • Quadruple Redundant Network
  • Free Server Rewind Backups
  • Website Staging for WordPress and Joomla
  • QUIC Protocol Support (Turbo Servers)
  • Free website transfer.
  • cPanel and Softaculous interfaces.
  • They offer phone, email, and chat support.
  • Fast and responsive live chat support.

Choose A2 Hosting if:

  • You want a faster performing website.
  • You want more value with your hosting plan.
  • You’re an experienced WordPress user.
  • You want a cPanel hosting plan.

> Choose A2 Hosting

SiteGround
SiteGround

Started Business: 2004
BBB Rating: A+
Data Center Location: Chicago IL, Amsterdam NL, Singapore SG, London UK

Price: $2.99 mo. – $7.99 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: Yes
Unlimited Storage: No (10GB – 30 GB)
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (except StartUp plan)

Hosting Interface: SiteGround Client Portal
Server Uptime: 99.9%
Refund Period: 30 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes

Free Extras:
CloudFlare CDN
Free backup and restore (except with StartUp plan)
Free private SSL certificate for one year (except with StartUp)

Advantages of Choosing SiteGround:

  • Free website transfer.
  • Servers on three continents.
  • Content delivery network included.
  • Managed WordPress and Joomla services available.
  • In-House SuperCacher service included.
  • Automatic WordPress Plugin Updates
  • Automated and On-Demand Data Backups
  • cPanel and Softaculous interfaces.
  • They offer phone, email, and chat support.
  • Fast and responsive live chat support.

Choose SiteGround if:

  • You want better customer support.
  • You’re new to WordPress.
  • You want a custom user dashboard.

> Choose SiteGround

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Recommendation

This comparison is an extremely close call. We would give SiteGround a slight edge in most cases. See our SiteGround review ratings below:

A2 Hosting Review Ratings

Features - 100%
Speed and Performance - 98%
Customer Support - 98%
Value - 99%

99%

Excellent !

A2 Hosting

User Rating: 5 ( 1 votes)

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