Fatcow Hosting Reviews: July 2010

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fatcow vs Just Host - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side hosting comparison. This is FatCow Review and Just Host Review.

Background

Just Host is a fairly new web hosting provider who joined the industry in 2007. They get mostly good reviews from customers and industry professionals.

FatCow has been in business since 1998, and hosts over 30,000 sites. It has consistently received high ratings and has won several industry awards. They are an eco-friendly company, and are proud that their offices and datacenters are 100% powered by wind energy.

Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

Just Host offers a basic plan that includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, and emails. They also offer a premium plan with additional features.

FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, emails, domains, and bandwidth. They also have a MiniMoo plan for domain parking.

General Features

JustHost’s plan includes free site builder and free domain for life, in addition to its unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains and email. It also has unlimited MySQL databases. The plan also has some e-commerce features such as Shopping Cart and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.

FatCow’s plan includes many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including Shopping Carts, Shared SSL, E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.

Cost

Just Host regular cost for their plan is $6.95 per month/$83.40 per year. They are currently running a special,$3.45 per month.

FatCow is a great value at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for domain parking.

Reliability

Datacenter Facilities

JustHost’s datacenter is based in Chicago, IL and uses over 2000 servers. The datacenter uses load balancing technology to ensure site availability if one server goes down. They also use fast backbone connections.

FatCow is considered a high quality data center. It combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider.

Servers

Just Host uses Linux web servers

FatCow also uses Linux web servers

Uptime Guarantees

Just Host has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%

FatCow also has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

Just Host has 24/7 support through toll-free numbers, email, and live chat. They also have tutorials and FAQ section.

FatCow has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free, email and live chat. They also have an FAQ library, knowledge base, and tutorials.

General Aspects

Just Host and FatCow have many similarities in plan features, customer support, and the systems technology. Online reviews by users also noted similarities, with the most difference referring to the site builder tools. Their prices are comparable, when the special offer pricing is used. However, FatCow is more affordable when the special pricing is not used. The JustHost website was not always easy to navigate or to verify all of its plan’s offers. FatCow’s website was easier to navigate and find information.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow vs iPage - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side hosting comparison. This is FatCow Review and Ipage Review.

Background
iPage has been in the web hosting business for over ten years and has hosted over one million sites. It gets generally good reviews.
FatCow has been in business since 1998, and hosts over 30,000 sites. It has consistently received high ratings and has won several industry awards.
Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

iPage’s basic plan offers unlimited disk space, domains, and bandwidth

FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, domains, emails, and bandwidth. They also have a MiniMoo plan for domain parking.

General Features

iPage’s basic plan includes tools for site building and also install wizards to easily add blogs and photos. They have features for e-commerce including Shopping Cart, catalogs, and PayPal. They also offer free Google and Yahoo! credits. It uses an H-Sphere control panel interface.

FatCow included many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.

Cost

iPage is offering the plan at $3.50 a month/$42 per year.

FatCow is one of the best values at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for domain parking.

Datacenter Facilities

iPage’s datacenter uses a pooled server environment so that any server on their network has the ability to access website files when requested. They use AT&T and Global Crossing IP backbones.

FatCow is considered a high quality datacenter that combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider. Their datacenters are high quality and have 24/ 7 facility monitoring.

Servers

iPage uses Dell servers to provide fast speeds and has regular backups.

FatCow uses Linix servers and has daily backups, and a load-balanced platform.

Uptime Guarantees

iPage has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%

FatCow has a great uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

iPage has 24/7 toll-free support, live chat, and email. They also have tutorials, FAQ sections, and support tickets.

FatCow also has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free, email and live chat. They also have a FAQ library, knowledge base section, and tutorials.

General Aspects

iPage’s basic plan costs slightly less than FatCow, and they seem to have many similarities. However, we were unable to determine if the low monthly price on iPage requires a long commitment or not. The iPage website was not as easy to navigate as the FatCow website, so it was hard to verify some parts of the iPage offer.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow vs Host Monster - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side hosting comparison. This is FatCow Review and HostMonster Review.

Background

Host Monster started in 1996, and they have hosted over 450,000 sites. They provide hosting service for businesses and personal use. HostMonster is the sister company of BlueHost and they have the same support team and share some server facilities.

Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

Host Monster’s basic plan includes unlimited space, bandwidth, emails and domains.

FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, and email. They also have a MiniMoo plan which is mainly used for domain parking.

General Features

Host Monster has unlimited space, bandwidth, emails and domains. It also has a free site builder with templates and is compatible with FrontPage extensions. It has over fifty scripts, and offers free domain or domain transfer.

FatCow included many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including Shopping Cart, E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.

Cost

Host Monster’s basic plan is $83.40 per year. They claim that customers can cancel contracts at anytime. There are no set up fees.

FatCow is a better value at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for domain parking. They also have no set up fees and offer a 30 day money back guarantee

Reliability

Datacenter Facilities

Host Monster datacenter is located in Utah. It uses rack-mounted Intel Xeon quad processing server technologies. It has UPS back up power supply and 24/7 system monitoring. HostMonster is connected to BlueHost and their servers may share facilities.

FatCow combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider.

Servers

HostMonster uses quad processor Xeon servers. They are fast and considered to be at the

latest technology. They are based on the Apache OS. Some plans charge extra for the Apache OS.

FatCow uses LINUX servers. It has daily backup on all its servers for extra security.

Uptime Guarantees

Host Monster has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

FatCow also has a great uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

Host Monster has 24/7 toll free numbers, email and live chat. They also have FAQs and tutorials.

FatCow has 24/7 toll free numbers, email and live chat. They also have knowledge base, an FAQ library, and tutorials.

General Aspects

Host Monster has received some criticism for its billing practices, which some former customers have called bait and switch. Some complained of big increases after introductory offer ends. This is a problem that also plaques its sister company BlueHost. FatCow offers a really good plan at a low price, and gets good reviews from industry professionals and customers.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow vs HostGator - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side comparison. This is FatCow Review and HostGator Review.

Background

HostGator was started in 2002 by a college student who eventually dropped out to work fulltime on the business. They have hosted over 150,000 sites and advertise that they are currently hosting over two million domains. HostGator generally get good reviews online.

Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

HostGator offers a basic plan that includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and domains. They also have a business plan and a hatching plan.

FatCow keeps it simple by offering one main plan with unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth. They also have a MiniMoo plan which is a great option for people just starting a business or to have a placeholder for several domains.

General Features

HostGator’s basic plan includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, emails, and domains. It also includes a site builder with Site Studio and templates. The plan includes free scripts that can be instantly installed, and a Google Adwords credit.

FatCow included many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including Shopping Car, Shared SSL, E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits. They also have unlimited MySQL databases.

Cost

HostGator’s basic plan costs $119.40 per year.

FatCow is one of the best values at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for domain parking.

Reliability

Datacenter Facilities

HostGator is based out of one center, The Planet datacenter in Texas where they are the largest customer. They work to ensure their data center provides 24/7/365 server monitoring.

Servers

HostGator has weekly server backups

FatCow has daily server backups

Uptime Guarantees

HostGator has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%

FatCow has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

HostGator has 24/7 customer support including toll free numbers, live chat, and an email ticket system.

FatCow has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free numbers, email and live chat. They also have an FAQ library, knowledge base, and tutorials.

General Aspects

FatCow has several advantages over HostGator. FatCow does daily server backups, while HostGator does weekly. FatCow is also considerably more affordable and the better option for web site hosting.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow vs. GreenGeeks - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side comparison. This is FatCow Review and GreenGeeks Review.

Background

GreenGeeks considers itself the #1 green energy web hosting service provider and uses wind energy. There business offices are based in California.

FatCow has been in business since 1998, and hosts over 30,000 sites. They are an eco-friendly company, and are proud that their offices and datacenters are 100% powered by wind energy.

Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

GreenGeeks has one plan that offers unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, and email.

FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, domains, and email. They also have a MiniMoo plan for domain parking.

General Features

GreenGeeks plan includes free point and click site builder and unlimited MySQL databases. They have e-commerce features including Shopping Cart and PayPal and free Yahoo! credits.

FatCow includes many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits. They also have unlimited MySQL databases.

Cost

GreenGeeks plan cost $6.95 per month/$89.40 per year. There are no set up fees.

FatCow is the better value at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for the MiniMoo domain parking plan. There are no set up fees.

Reliability

Datacenter Facilities

GreenGeeks datacenter is located in Chicago, IL. It is designed with raised floors and is climate controlled. There is 24/7 security, fire suppression and water detection systems and UPS and generators for backup support. They use the latest processors from Intel, and they have Cisco and Juniper systems for network switching and routing. They seem to have all the essentials for providing reliable and safe web hosting.

FatCow combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. They also have 24/7 facility security and backup power systems. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider.

Servers

Green Geeks has automated backups on its servers each night.

FatCow also has daily server backups.

Uptime Guarantees

GreenGeeks has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%

FatCow has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

GreenGeeks has 24/7 toll free, email, and live chat support. They also have tutorials and knowledge base guides.

FatCow has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free, email and live chat. They also have FAQ library and tutorials.

General Aspects

GreenGeeks has a nice site that is easy to navigate and move around. They offer one plan so it is easy to understand exactly what you are getting. FatCow also has an easy to navigate site and a plan that is easy to understand.

GreenGeeks and FatCow appear to be comparable, with the main difference being FatCow is more affordable.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow vs. Bluehost - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side hosting comparison. This is FatCow Review and BlueHost Review.

Background

BlueHost has been a web hosting company since 1996 and is well-respected in the industry. They are a sister company to HostMonster.

FatCow has been in business since 1998, and hosts over 30,000 sites. It has consistently received high ratings has won several industry awards. They are an eco-friendly company, and are proud that their offices and datacenters are 100% powered by wind energy.

Plan Features and Pricing

Hosting Plan

BlueHost offers a basic plan that includes unlimited disk space, file transfers, and domains. They also offer plans at higher monthly rates that have more features.

FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, and email. They also have a MiniMoo plan which is a great option for those just starting a business or to have a placeholder for several domains.

General Features

BlueHost’s basic plan includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and domains. It includes 2500 POP/Imap email accounts. There is one free domain that the customer can keep forever. It also comes with a free web site builder.

Cost

BlueHost’s basic plan costs $95.40 per year with no start up fees.

FatCow basic plan costs $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for the MiniMoo domain parking plan. There are no setup fees.

Reliability

Datacenter Facilities

BlueHost has a high quality datacenter in Utah, and they share some of their facilities with their sister company HostMonster. They recently introduce a new bandwidth pipe and are consistent with updating their infrastructure systems as needed.

FatCow also has a high quality datacenter and it combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider.

Servers

BlueHost uses Opteron servers. FatCow uses Linux servers

Uptime Guarantees

BlueHost has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. FatCow has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.

Support

BlueHost has 24/7 toll free support, as well as email, and live chat. They also have a knowledge base page and ticketing system.

FatCow has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free support, email and live chat. They also have a knowledge base, tutorials, and an FAQ library.

General Aspects

In many ways BlueHost and FatCow are very similar. Both web hosting companies were consistently ranked high by industry leaders and in customer reviews. BlueHost does have some pricing methods that are unpopular with some customers, such as a sudden jump in the service rate after the initial special offer ends.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow Web Hosting Reviews & Awards

Fatcow.com is proud of it's blue-ribbon cattle. Throughout the years we have received numerous awards for having the greenest pastures.

2009 Host of the Year

FatCow's combination of affordability, reliable uptime and accessible customer service creates a web hosting package that will make every webmaster happy. With over 10 years of experience in helping users build fantastic websites, it's no wonder that FatCow has become the leader in straightforward website hosting and setup. Consumer-Rankings.com is delighted to name FatCow as Host of the Year 2009 – and we can't wait to see how they continue to enhance their fantastic offerings in 2010.

Low Cost Host of 2009

FatCow web hosting is a good value when considering the low cost, wide range of features and full complement of 24/7 customer support options. FatCow is also investing in renewable energy to help the environment—another good reason to make this company one of your top web hosting choices.

2009 Host of the Year:

From the courteous and efficient Moo Crew to a beefed-up array of services and features, FatCow hosting has established itself as a leader and innovator in the ever-evolving web hosting market. For dependable service and excellent value, Hosting-Review.com names FatCow the 2009 Host of the Year.

Top Rated Host of 2009

"Udderly Fantastic", are the words to describe web hosting services at our top rated host, FatCow! FatCow was born in New Mexico in 1998 and currently with thousands of customers and growing strong, they offer unique but outstanding web hosting packages. From their "Moo Crew" support, to "udderly fantastic" prices, quotas and features, FatCow maintains a dominating presence in the hosting arena.

2009 Host of the Year:

Fatcow is truly a rising star in the web hosting space, they have become the host of choice for many professional webmasters over the last year. FatCow's simple approach to web hosting brings the customer's needs first, by offering udderly (we couldn't resist) fantastic customer support and everything you need in a hosting plan including; free setup, a free domain for life, unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, and unlimited domains hosted on a single account!

Best Shared Host Award

FatCow is the most respected all around web hosting company for Shared Web Hosting customers. FatCow has an unbelievable feature rich web hosting service that caters to experienced webmasters and web hosting newbie's alike. Their plan offers Unlimited Disk Space and Unlimited Bandwidth where you can host Unlimited Domains on one account with as many emails as you like. You also get Unlimited databases along with a free domain name simple to use website builder and all of the extra bells and whistles not offered by all those "other" hosts. Which is why we have awarded them our "Best Shared Web Host" award!

Best Budget Hosting 2006:

Offering quality service, great pricing and udderly fantastic value, FatCow's budget web hosting is hard to beat. For providing top-notch deals and ever-efficient customer support, Hosting-Review.com proudly presents FatCow with the 2008 award for Best Budget Hosting.

Fatcow - The Best Shared Web Hosting

Fatcow Review - Best Shared Host Award

FatCow was established in year 1998 and has been offering web hosting services for more than 10 years. Today, the hosting company is a well-recognized brand name in shared hosting solutions for small to medium-sized businesses and individuals. Unlike most other web hosts, FatCow offers only one simple hosting plan – the trademarked Original FatCow Plan, where customers get unlimited hosting at a very low price.

Editor’s Review on FatCow Hosting

Just like every other web hosting services, there are both advantages and disadvantages in FatCow hosting services. In overall, we think FatCow hosting is a great web host and strongly recommend FatCow to those who are looking for cheap web hosting solutions. Listed below are the pros and cons of FatCow Hosting.

FatCow is a very special web hosting company – the way they brought up their hosting plans, they way they design their website, the way they offer their hosting features – everything seems different in FatCow. Personally, I define being different and surviving for 10 years as remarkable!

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FatCow Hosting: Fast server + effecient customer supports!

I tested/searched deep (in web hosting websites and forums) on them before constructing this review on them. Amazingly, I found little or no complaints on FatCow’s hosting services and tons of good words on their hosting reliability. From what I read, FatCow ensures a fast internet download/upload to its servers by providing multi-Gigabit connections for maximum speed and provides redundant multi-Gigabit connections for maximum data transfer reliability.

Reliable backup policy

The hosting company maintains daily server backups to ensure that data can be restored in the event that data is lost – which is not often seen in budget hosting. It goes one step further by providing a backup generator system to ensure that data is not lost in the first place. Fatcow maintains a round-the-clock monitoring system to ensure that its servers and infrastructure are running a peak performance and server contents can be reliably accessed 24 hours a day.

FatCow’s pledge: The HeiferCratic Oath

Another plus point on FatCow is their outstanding after-sales service (via 24/7 toll-free telephone, email, and online chat). The customer support department is guided by sets of credo (known as the HeiferCratic Oath), where the company pledge to answer phone calls within 2 minutes, resolve issues on first contact or give a firm deadline for such, and maintain the highest standards of courtesy.

FatCow is online since year 1998!

All in all, a hosting company that had been operating for more than 10 years and remain strong in the market is a remarkable result and the research around the Internet convince me that they are a remarkable hosting company. Thus, I’m rating them an "A" here – if you ever hosted any websites with them, why not share your experience here?

Unlimited hosting at a very affordable price

FatCow offers unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and addon domain. Okay, so what? Most web host provide unlimited hosting nowadays. But note this, not all unlimited hosting comes in such a low price. FatCow hosting cost only $3.67/mo* for 12 months subscription. The price tag is so low that even industry leaders like Bluehost and JustHost can’t beat them!

If you are looking for a reliable yet affordable web hosting service, then I don’t see why you should look further than FatCow.

What’s bad about FatCow?

Does not provide different level of hosting services – Customers who wish to upgrade to semi-dedicated or dedicated hosting will need to switch to a new host.

Is FatCow Hosting Recommended?

Yes, FatCow hosting is recommended for those who are looking for cheap web hosting. FatCow has a long trackable history (more than a decade!) and we are strongly convinced that they are one of the best budget web hosts around. However, due to constraints of its business nature (limited hosting choices), we do not recommend FatCow for large business website.

FatCow offer only one simple hosting package. You don’t get confused with too many choices and all you get is inside this all-inclusive hosting plan. Cheap, reliable, features riched, and to many, CUTE.

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Customer Reviews of Fatcow Hosting

10 Stars for FatCow!

"One, you make my biz legit. Two, your helpers never quit. Three, your layout is so easy. Four, uploading is so breezy. Five, the puns make me smile. Six, or annoy me (once in a while). Seven, for referrals you reward us. Eight, Slim’s look is simply gorgeous. Nine, my clients can easily find me. Ten, I know you’re right behind me. Thanks!"

– Veronique @ VeroProductions.com

No one beats the Cow!

"I host about 100 client sites with FatCow. Reliability is #1… nothing beats reliability in the web hosting world and no one beats the cow!"

– Louis Brazil @ BrazilConsultingGroup.com

Remarkable customer supports!

“I am writing to tell you guys how satisfied I have been as a customer. Your customer service – especially technical support – is remarkably useful and friendly. Please keep up the good work and I’ll keep spreading the word!”

– Tearsa @ terukoproductions.com.

FatCow = right choice for e-commerce site

"FatCow is e-Commerce friednly! I’m able to sell oodles of products and it didn’t cost me the farm."

– Slim’s cousin.

FatCow is definitely recommended!

"FatCow is unique in the sense that they are the pioneer of the one plan fits all hosting model. FatCow is a hosting company that is completely oriented for the new webmaster. If you are completely clueless when it comes to starting websites, FatCow is definitely on the list of suggested web hosts."

– Dan @ TopWebHostingReviews.net

Definitely one of the most dominant web hosting providers!

"Fat Cow has taken the time to provide you with their standards and what they can offer when it comes to off you web hosting. With a team of experts, great speeds, great uptime, plus the special Fat Cow Coupon, Fat Cow is definitely one of the most dominant web hosting providers in the industry."

– Ian @ WebHostingBreak.com.

Jaw-droppingly easy to use.

Fat Cow's automated installations are jaw- droppingly easy to use. I create and sell CMS/Joomla! websites using Fat Cow's unlimited hosting plan and it has been a very profitable experience with Fat Cow. I do have to note that the overall speed of Fat Cow's hosting plan leaves something to be desired when it comes to load time for scripts - mainly in Joomla! / MySQL installations. Otherwise - Fat Cow is the only hosting choice that makes sense to my business.

- Matherarts.com From: Prince Rupert, BC

Great site, great price..

I really like the idea behind FatCow. Bringing a little humor into something that gets very monotonous for programmers like me. They have a great price, and I can rest assured that every customer I set up with them is well taken care of- 15 sites set up and not one complaint. I've even gotten set up with their affiliate plan now and made a few extra bucks just for passing them on.

Phil Montero@WebHostingGeeks.com From: Edgerton, WI