SiteGround vs 123 Reg – Hard to Choose, but I Did [2024]

123 Reg is an award-winning web host from the U.K., but that didn’t help it take down a powerful host like SiteGround.

To make a fair comparison, I evaluated both SiteGround and 123 Reg across five different categories – SiteGround came out on top in all five. Even though 123 Reg appears to offer slightly cheaper renewal rates, you get your money’s worth with SiteGround.

Keep reading to find out what makes SiteGround the winner of this comparison.

1. Plans and Pricing

123 Reg Offers Cheaper WordPress Hosting, but SiteGround Is Better Value for Money

SiteGround provides shared, reseller, cloud, WordPress, WooCommerce hosting, and dedicated servers. On the other hand, 123 Reg only has shared, VPS, WordPress, and email hosting.

When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, SiteGround has three plans, but all of 123 Reg’s WordPress plans are unmanaged.

With SiteGround, you can choose to be billed monthly, annually, biennially, or triennially. 123 Reg’s billing cycle is either monthly or annually.

Although SiteGround offers lower discounted prices with its WordPress hosting plans, 123 Reg has less expensive renewal rates. Nevertheless, you’ll get more valuable features and resources with SiteGround (see the features section).

A positive with 123 Reg is that it provides one or two free domain names with its WordPress hosting plans. SiteGround doesn’t offer a free domain with any packages.

In contrast, SiteGround gives you free WordPress migration and a 30-day money-back guarantee. While 123 Reg only provides a 14-day money-back guarantee and no website migration.

The winner here is SiteGround. Even though 123 Reg has cheaper renewal rates, SiteGround provides more plans, a generous money-back guarantee, and better value for money.

2. Features

SiteGround Has More Features for WordPress Hosting – 123 Reg Has Limitations

One big difference between SiteGround and 123 Reg is that SiteGround’s WordPress hosting packages are fully managed, whereas 123 Reg’s are unmanaged.

With SiteGround, you get SSD storage from 10 GB to 40 GB, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, unlimited MySQL databases, and from 1 to unlimited websites. Freebies include free Cloudflare CDN, SSL certificate, daily backups, WP-CLI, and SSH.

SiteGround’s higher-value plans (GrowBig and GoGeek) also include speed-boosting caching, a staging environment, and the ability to add collaborators to your site. The GoGeek plan comes with access to more resources, White-label clients, and priority support.

On the other hand, 123 Reg provides 100 GB regular storage with both plans, 5 to unlimited MySQL databases, unmetered bandwidth, automated backups, and from 5 to unlimited websites.

Unlike SiteGround, 123 Reg doesn’t offer a CDN and only provides a free SSL certificate with the Premium plan.

Discover more differences between SiteGround and 123 Reg in the following comparison table:

The winner? SiteGround. Not only does SiteGround offer managed WordPress hosting plans, but also way more value-added features than 123 Reg.

3. Performance

SiteGround Has Better Actual Uptime and More Performance Features

SiteGround delivers its services via server locations in the U.S.A., the U.K., the Netherlands, and Singapore. 123 Reg only has one data center in the U.K.

All of SiteGround’s plans use SSD storage, while 123 Reg uses regular HDD and RAID storage. SSD performs much faster in website data processing, reflecting on your website’s stability, loading speed, and overall performance.

You’ll get a free CDN with all of SiteGround’s plans, but not with 123 Reg. A CDN, or Content Delivery Network, boosts your website’s loading speed from different locations worldwide by placing it on a network of cloud servers.

SiteGround promises a 99.9% uptime guarantee, while 123 Reg promises 99.99%. We tested both hosts over a month, and SiteGround showed no downtimes, resulting in a perfect actual uptime. 123 Reg had several downtimes throughout the month, returning a result less than promised.

When we tested SiteGround’s page loading speeds, using Sucuri, it showed good load times in North America, South America, and some European locations. However, the speeds near Asia and Australia weren’t as good, resulting in a global score of B. Here’s a detailed review of SiteGround’s results.

We performed the same test on 123 Reg, and even though it had the same global score, the locations that showed good load times were mostly in Europe and only a few in the U.S.A. Other server locations in the U.S.A. and near Asia, Australia, and South America showed slower speeds. Check this 123 Reg review to see the results.

SiteGround has much better uptime and provides more performance features, making it the clear winner of this round.

4. Security

SiteGround Provides More Security Features

By default, SiteGround secures all its servers and accounts with a standard set of features; including Web Application Firewall (WAF), an artificial intelligence (AI) anti-bot system (protecting against malicious attacks such as DDoS and Brute-Force), 24/7 server monitoring, and access to the Sucuri-developed SG Scanner (antimalware).

On the other hand, 123 Reg limits its security features to 24/7 server monitoring and DDoS protection.

123 Reg uses CloudLinux OS with all its Linux-based shared hosting plans, and SiteGround uses a similar system called Unique Account Isolation. The purpose of both these systems is to securely isolate your account from other accounts on the same server, protecting it against threats targeting others. It also ensures the fair allocation of server resources.

SiteGround also has free SSL certificates with all plans, while 123 Reg only includes SSL’s with specific plans.

Both hosts provide free automatic regular backups.

SiteGround has a more comprehensive range of security features, which is why it wins this round.

5. Support

SiteGround’s Support is More Responsive

123 Reg has a blog and a few limited FAQ sections for each service, rather than a knowledgebase. On the other hand, SiteGround has an extensive knowledgebase with numerous articles and tutorials.

SiteGround’s support is available 24/7 via phone and live chat. With the live chat, I instantly connected to an agent who answered all my questions promptly and was very helpful.

Despite 123 Reg’s assertion of 24/7 support availability, my experience did not align with this claim. The available communication channels consist of support ticket submission and phone contact. Upon submitting a ticket containing all my inquiries, I encountered a delay of several days before receiving a response.

SiteGround’s informative knowledgebase and responsive customer support make it the more reliable host among the two.

It’s a Sweeping Victory for SiteGround

As you can see, this SiteGround vs 123 Reg was a one-horse race. Despite its good efforts, 123 Reg couldn’t keep up with one of the top 10 web hosting services and lost in every category.

In this battle, SiteGround showed that its slightly high prices actually save you money that you’d end up spending on extra add-ons. It also delivers better performance, top-quality features, and more helpful customer support.

FAQ

Is SiteGround better than 123 Reg?

Yes. SiteGround offers more feature-packed hosting plans, better infrastructure, and delivers faster and more stable performance. SiteGround is also featured in our exhaustive list of the best web hosting services.

Does SiteGround use SSD?

SiteGround uses SSD storage with all its hosting packages by default. The smallest storage amount gives you 10 GB of SSD. SiteGround is also listed as one of the best cheap and fast SSD hosting services.

Does 123 Reg offer a free domain?

Yes. 123 Reg provides up to two free domain names for new customers and with selected hosting packages (for the first year). Can’t decide which domain name is right for you? Don’t miss our ultimate guide to choosing and buying a domain name.

Does SiteGround use cPanel?

Not anymore. SiteGround has developed its own in-house custom control panel, called Site Tools, which is more efficient and easier to use than cPanel. Want more options? Take a look at other cPanel alternatives.