A2 Hosting is now Hosting.com. World Host Group acquired A2 in 2025, and the A2 name was retired during the move to Hosting.com. That makes this page different from a normal annual update: our original A2 test is still useful historical evidence, but it is not proof of how a new Hosting.com account performs in 2026.
We have therefore kept the established /a2-hosting-review/ URL for readers and search engines, removed outdated plan recommendations, checked the current product pages and preserved the owner's December 2023 test screenshots with their original context. No current numeric score is published until Hosting.com completes our controlled retest.
A2 Hosting / Hosting.com quick verdict
Hosting.com deserves consideration if you want conventional cPanel hosting with LiteSpeed, NVMe storage, email, daily backups and room to grow. The current shared range is clearer than the old A2 lineup: Starter, Plus, Pro and Max support 1, 2, 10 and 100 websites respectively.
The unresolved question is continuity. The company, ownership, control panel and product catalog changed after our A2 test. Current promotions also vary by landing page and campaign. We would shortlist Hosting.com, but we would not call it an A2-tested top pick or transfer the old performance result into a new score.
Our position: promising current specifications, useful historical speed evidence, but a fresh purchase, uptime run, load test and support check are required before a scored recommendation.
Pros
- LiteSpeed Web Server, LiteSpeed Cache and NVMe storage are listed across the current shared range.
- Current plans use familiar cPanel tooling and support PHP, Node.js, Python and databases.
- Free migration, SSL, malware protection and daily off-server backups are advertised.
- The shared range scales from one to 100 websites without changing product family.
- Our historical A2 test reached an excellent result after the stack was configured correctly.
Cons
- The A2 brand no longer exists as the product originally tested.
- Our saved results predate the acquisition, rebrand and current platform.
- Promotional pricing differs between official landing pages; checkout is the final source of truth.
- The regular renewal price is higher than the introductory offer.
- A fast cached Lighthouse run does not prove uptime, uncached response time or load capacity.
What happened to A2 Hosting?
A2 Hosting announced the Hosting.com identity on April 28, 2025. The current company describes A2 as part of World Host Group, and its acquisition page records the 2025 purchase. Independent coverage from TechRadar reported the rebrand on April 29, 2025.
This is more than a logo swap. Hosting.com introduced a new website and panel, renamed plans and expanded the wider platform. Existing A2 customers may still encounter legacy products or account flows, so they should compare their actual invoice and included resources with the new public plans before changing anything.
| Old A2 shared plan | Current Hosting.com equivalent |
|---|---|
| Startup | Starter |
| Drive | Plus |
| Turbo Boost | Pro |
| Turbo Max | Max |
The mapping above comes from Hosting.com's own A2 comparison page. It helps explain the catalog, but does not guarantee that every legacy account has already moved to identical infrastructure, limits or billing.
What our original A2 test found
The owner used an A2-hosted WordPress test fixture called MoveAroundSite in December 2023. The first preserved desktop Lighthouse run scored 81 for performance, with 1.6-second First Contentful Paint, 1.8-second Largest Contentful Paint, 0 ms Total Blocking Time and 0.075 Cumulative Layout Shift.
After activating the A2 optimization plugin, the second saved run reached 83. That was only a small change: FCP was 1.5 seconds, LCP 1.7 seconds, TBT 0 ms and CLS remained 0.075.
The owner then found that the expected LiteSpeed path needed to be enabled and configured LiteSpeed Cache with its Advanced preset. The best saved run scored 99, with 0.5-second FCP, 0.6-second LCP, 0 ms TBT, 1.2-second Speed Index and zero CLS.
The useful finding is not simply “99.” The sequence shows how much the software stack and cache configuration can influence a synthetic result. A future retest must record defaults before optimization, repeat every run, separate cached and uncached requests, preserve server location and test load behavior as well as Lighthouse.
Current shared-hosting plans
| Plan | Websites | NVMe storage | Memory limit | Virtual CPUs | Good starting point for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 | 15GB | 2GB | 2 | One small site |
| Plus | 2 | 30GB | 3GB | 2 | Two modest sites |
| Pro | 10 | 50GB | 6GB | 4 | A portfolio or small business |
| Max | 100 | 100GB | 8GB | 4 | Many small sites with shared resources |
Every current shared plan lists LiteSpeed, LiteSpeed Cache, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3/QUIC, cPanel, unlimited MariaDB databases, free SSL and malware protection. Daily backups are stored off-server with restoration points from the previous 30 days according to the product page.
“100 websites” should not be read as unlimited capacity. All sites on a plan share its CPU, memory, processes and I/O. A few busy WooCommerce stores can need more resources than dozens of light brochure sites.
Current price: why we show a range
When checked on July 22, 2026, Hosting.com's main page displayed fast shared hosting at $2.99 per month against a regular $11.99 per month. A separate official affiliate-offer page displayed shared hosting “starting at $3.99.” Hosting.com's own A2 comparison page also referenced $3.99 on a one-year term.
Those differences are a reason to avoid presenting one campaign price as universal. Region, referral, plan, term and promotion can change the checkout. Before paying, record:
- the exact plan and billing period;
- the total due today, not only the monthly equivalent;
- the regular renewal amount and renewal date;
- domain, email, backup or security add-ons;
- tax and the selected data-center location.
Promotional prices apply to the introductory term and the service renews at the regular rate. We will replace the range with a plan-by-plan checkout capture during the controlled retest.
Shared hosting or managed WordPress?
Hosting.com now separates general shared hosting from a newer managed WordPress platform. Shared hosting is the flexible cPanel option and supports software beyond WordPress. Its lower entry price makes sense for small sites when you are comfortable managing WordPress updates, cache behavior and routine troubleshooting.
The managed WordPress product is a different service, promoted with Cloudflare Enterprise, full-page caching, WordPress-specific security, WP Rocket, Object Cache Pro, isolated containers, automatic handling and free migrations. Hosting.com says the platform was built in partnership with Rocket.net. It should therefore be assessed as a current Hosting.com product, not as the old A2 managed WordPress plan tested in 2023.
Refund, uptime and support
The current 30-day money-back guarantee covers new purchases of shared hosting, WordPress hosting and reseller hosting bought directly from Hosting.com. Domain registration and renewal, VPS, dedicated servers, SSL and third-party products are excluded, and renewal fees are not covered. Contact support within 30 days if you want to use the guarantee.
The shared-hosting page advertises a 99.9% uptime SLA and 24/7/365 support through live chat, email and phone. These are provider commitments, not results from our lab. Our next test will separately measure uptime and response time and will preserve timed support conversations.
Who should consider Hosting.com?
| Good fit | Look elsewhere or test carefully |
|---|---|
| You want cPanel, email and LiteSpeed in one shared plan. | You expect the old A2 product and support experience to be unchanged. |
| You can judge value using the renewal price. | The purchase only makes sense at a short promotional price. |
| You prefer a plan family that can grow from one to many sites. | You need guaranteed dedicated resources for busy applications. |
| You will test cache settings instead of assuming defaults are optimal. | You want a current, independently verified score before migrating. |
For alternatives, compare our ChemiCloud review for conventional shared hosting, ScalaHosting review for dedicated Entry Cloud resources and Rocket.net review for managed WordPress. Our 2026 web-hosting guide explains which category fits each use case.
Final verdict
Hosting.com has a credible technical foundation, but this is no longer the exact A2 Hosting product we tested. The current use of LiteSpeed, NVMe, daily backups and clear resource tiers is encouraging. Our historical sequence also shows that an A2 account could produce an excellent cached WordPress result after correct configuration.
We are withholding a numeric score because ownership, plans and platform changed materially. Hosting.com belongs on a shortlist for buyers who verify the checkout and renewal price, but a current account must pass our complete protocol before it can regain the old article's strong recommendation.
View current Hosting.com plans — direct official link, not an affiliate link as of this update.
Sources and update policy
Current facts were checked against Hosting.com's official rebrand announcement, A2 comparison, shared-hosting page, managed WordPress page and refund page. TechRadar's rebrand report was used as independent confirmation, not as a substitute for our own testing.
Facts and prices were checked July 22, 2026. The next scheduled review is October 22, 2026, or sooner after a material plan, price, policy or ownership change.
