TL;DR: ~$10 to $25+ a month after new customer promo rate. Flip switches to change settings (easy). Works out of the box. Very fast. Custom control panel which looks sweet. SSH access keys generator. No GUI/console. But, I wouldn’t use it even if they did. I love Termius. More expensive plan gives you things like daily back ups and staging sites.
I’ve been with many shared hosting providers since about 2003. They all have positives and negatives.
This is the second time I’ve been with Siteground. I went back to them after reading fresh reviews. And, they switched to their own control panel. I’ve been back with them now for a year. And, it’s been… thankfully unremarkable. Meaning, everything just works. I no longer think about my web host. Because it’s that good.
Yes to SSH (no GUI/console, but I use and love Termius) and everything needed to run Flarum. Including access to the folder below the public folder. Which is important for security. Everything works great and it’s fast. I’ve gotten A- speed ratings.
Plus, they are very popular which I actually like. They’ve been around many, many years. I feel confident that they know what they’re doing and will continue to improve.
They make things easy. Almost by default their set up works with Flarum. But you have to do a couple things. For example, flip a switch to force https. Flip a switch and do a couple clicks for a SSL certificate. And after a few clicks and you are integrated with Cloudflare.
So, that’s what you’re paying for. For things to just work, and work easily by simply flipping switches! While others are asking why their Flarum doesn’t work, I’m laid back and happy because Siteground has it all taken care of (for the most part).
I’m on the GrowBig plan which after the new customer cheap introductory rate is $25 per month for 12 months, or down to $17 per month for 36 months. This technically gives you unlimited websites, emails, and other bells and whistles like daily back ups and staging sites.
They have a cheaper plan but I don’t recall the cost (after the intro. promo price). Probably down to around $10/mo.
I’ve been with less expensive shared hosts, and it could just be my luck, but eventually I had issues with the cheaper hosts. Slower site, or lack of features.
Prior to this I was with A2 Hosting. They also have everything needed. But, they were actually a little more expensive (at least the plan I had). Hence why I switched. Plus, cost aside, I like Siteground’s interface better. I know it doesn’t mean much. But I like things to look good. Even my host’s Interface. And I’m usually juggling a fast paced job and two little ones and so the fact that they make certain aspects so easy (flip of a switch) is appreciated.
