Inside this Article
1. Plans and Pricing
SiteGround wins with its lower prices and value-added freebies
SiteGround’s shared hosting plans (WordPress-optimized) are cheaper than Arvixe’s. Arvixe’s Linux shared starting plan is almost twice the cost of SiteGround’s Linux starting plan though you’ll get to host more websites and enjoy unmetered disk space. But the problem is – to get these prices, you’ll have to make a long-term commitment – biennial for Arvixe and triennial for SiteGround. If not, the monthly price charged by both these hosts is much higher though the starting plans cost almost the same. However, SiteGround offers more value for money by providing freebies like SSL, CDN, and site transfer. SiteGround Web Hosting
Plan NameStorageBandwidthFree SSLNumber of SitesPrice
More detailsA free domain name is included with some hosting plans from SiteGround
Arvixe Web Hosting
Plan NameStorageBandwidthFree SSLNumber of SitesPrice
More detailsA free domain name is included with some hosting plans from Arvixe
2. Features
Multiple freebies plus better features help SiteGround win
SiteGround offers shared hosting (including managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting) and managed cloud hosting plans. Its shared hosting plans come with multiple freebies including SSL certificate, Weebly website builder, website transfer, and WP installation. You’ll also get daily backup, WP-CLI and SSH, a staging environment, and on-demand backup copies (the last three available with the two higher plans). With Arvixe, you’ll get shared (Linux/Windows and WordPress) and reseller hosting along with VPS, cloud hosting, and dedicated server hosting. Its Linux shared plans offer a free domain, Softaculous script installer, 1-click website builder, daily automated R1Soft backups, free website transfer, and shell Access/SFTP. However, there’s no free SSL on offer. You’ll get it only with the business hosting and VPS plans. Though no free CDN is on offer either, Arvixe’s team can help you configure one. To compare SiteGround and Arvixe’s features, you can check this comparison table.SiteGround | Arvixe | |
Hosting Types | Shared hosting (including managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting) and managed cloud hosting | Shared (Linux/Windows and WordPress), reseller hosting, VPS, cloud hosting, and dedicated server hosting |
Free Domain | × | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓(with business hosting and VPS) |
Disk Space | 10GB-40GB | Unmetered |
Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered |
Automatic Backups | Daily | Daily |
Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel, Plesk |
Email accounts | Not mentioned | Unlimited |
Free CDN | ✓ | × |
Free Site Migration | ✓ | ✓ |
Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days | 45 days |
3. Performance
Arvixe does great, SiteGround lags behind
SiteGround offers a 99.9% network uptime SLA. It’ll compensate you with 1 month’s free hosting if its uptime is between 99.9% and 99.00%. For each 1% of uptime lost below 99.00%, it’ll give you an additional month’s hosting for free. Though SiteGround’s uptime was outstanding, its page load times weren’t that great. To know what went wrong, check our expert SiteGround review.
Arvixe offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Before I conducted my tests, I had read some negative Arvixe reviews, which made me skeptical. However, it surprised me with its A+ score. To know how it fared, you can head over to our expert Arvixe review.
SiteGround offers free CDN and dynamic caching while Arvixe uses Raid 10 drives to deliver enhanced performance.
With its better performance, Arvixe is the surprise winner of this round.
4. Security
SiteGround’s comprehensive security wins it
SiteGround gives you a bunch of security tools and features to ensure your website stays secure. A key one is its LXC (Linux containers)-based architecture that keeps your server securely isolated from other users. It also offers a Site Scanner for malware detection, PCI-compliant hosting to securely set up an e-commerce website, and has ModSecurity installed on all shared servers. It also runs Apache in a chroot environment with suEXEC to limit your server’s exposure, constantly monitors for vulnerabilities in popular apps and modules, and develops virtual patches in the form of WAF rules, whenever possible. To keep your site and email protected, Arvixe offers multiple security features including firewall, redundant carriers, DDoS attack response, brute force detection, manual email filtering, SpamAssassin, SpamCop, and Spamhaus checks, and nightly security updates. SiteGround edges past Arvixe with its comprehensive security.5. Support
SiteGround’s lightning-fast support wins the day
SiteGround offers 24/7 support via live chat, phone, and helpdesk tickets. This web host ensures an almost instant response for phone calls and chat inquiries, addressing tickets within an average of 15 minutes. I can confidently affirm that this web host not only commits to its promises but also delivers on them through its remarkably swift support. If you prefer self-support options, you’ll have access to a blog, knowledgebase, e-books, and tutorials. Arvixe’s support channels include 24/7 live chat, email, and support ticket. However, only its live chat gave me quick replies. I couldn’t make the support ticket inside the customer dashboard work and my email queries went unanswered. For self-help, there’s a blog, knowledgebase, and a discussion forum though the forum mainly has server status messages. With its superb support, SiteGround wins this round easily.SiteGround Wins This Competition Hands Down
Though SiteGround needs to work on its page load times, it outperformed Arvixe on pricing, features, security, and support. But before you choose from Arvixe or SiteGround, keep in mind that only SiteGround made our list of top 10 web hosts. You can see how it did in comparison with other best web hosting services.Comparison Table
SiteGround
Arvixe
Plans and Pricing
Shared hosting and managed cloud hosting
Shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS, cloud hosting, and dedicated server hosting
Key Features
Freebies like SSL certificate, Weebly website builder, website transfer, WP installation, daily backup, WP-CLI and SSH, a staging environment, and on-demand backup copies
Free domain, free SSL (with business hosting/VPS), Softaculous script installer, 1-click website builder, daily automated R1Soft backups, free website transfer, and shell Access/SFTP
Performance
Credit-backed 99.9% network uptime SLA; free CDN and dynamic caching
99.9% uptime guarantee; Raid 10 drives
Security
LXC-based architecture, Site Scanner for malware detection, PCI-compliant hosting, ModSecurity, Apache run in a chroot environment with suEXEC, constant monitoring for vulnerabilities, virtual patch development in the form of WAF rules
Firewall, redundant carriers, DDoS attack response, brute force detection, manual email filtering, SpamAssassin, SpamCop and Spamhaus checks, and nightly security updates
Support
24/7 support via live chat, phone, and helpdesk tickets; blog, knowledgebase, e-books, and tutorials for self-help
24/7 live chat, email, and support ticket; blog, knowledgebase, and discussion forum for self-help