To compare the best web hosts, we hosted the same WordPress website on each one and tested performance, customer service, and value for money. Check out the results here.
Moscow-based OnlineSE claims to provide the cheapest and most reliable hosting and other internet solutions. Its range of products covers web hosting, VPS/VDS, domain registration, plus web design and development.
Although this host’s Russian-language website is decent enough, its menus can be overwhelming and a little uninviting.
Features and Ease of Use
OnlineSE sells five web hosting packages (1RUB, Hosting, Own Business, Web Studio, and VIP) that come with the following features:
- Unlimited traffic
- ISPmanager control panel
- 200 MB to 25,000 MB disk space
- 1 to 150 domains
- 1 to 150 hosted websites
- 1 to 150 MySQL databases
- 256 MB to 1,050 MB RAM
As well as the pay-for web hosting plans, OnlineSE offers a free web hosting plan for one year. It comes with 500 MB web space, unlimited traffic, 10 domains, 2 hosted websites, 512 MB RAM, 100 mailboxes, backups, and ISPmanager. It also supports PHP5, MySQL5 and PostgreSQL8 databases, SSH access, spam filters, CGI, SSI, and Ruby on Rails.
For those who want full server control and more scalable options, OnlineSE sells three FreeBSD virtual dedicated servers (VDS): VDS-Byte, VDS-Meg, and VDS-Gig. Disk space varies between packages, starting from 10,000 MB and going up to 40,000 MB. RAM ranges from 512 MB to 3,096 MB. All plans come with unlimited traffic.
OnlineSE has a pretty solid infrastructure. Their servers are located in the DELTA LLC data center in Moscow, which is a class B+ business center equipped with APC Symetra uninterruptible power supply and MGE Galaxy 5000 60 kW backup power system. Additionally, OnlineSE utilizes sturdy Juniper and Cisco equipment to ensure reliable performance.
Pricing and Support
OnlineSE provides cheap web hosting and VDS packages compared with other popular Russian vendors. Even the free hosting plan comes with more features than one would expect. The VDS subscriptions are reasonably priced, though understandably higher than shared web hosting. You can pay via a few different methods, including bank transfer, Yandex.Money, and ROBOKASSA.
Customer support options are limited. Although you can ostensibly contact the customer support team via telephone, email, or Skype, I never received a reply to my exploratory email. Although there are more self-support articles than I would have expected, they are not neatly arranged.
