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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I cannot recall how long I've been using Hostwinds, my best guess is about ten years. I am self taught because, back in the 1990's I realized that writing software would be useful for my business... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The worst servers, hosting, and customer support I have ever experienced. Several times a year their hosting breaks down, and then they claim they are not responsible for its performance if you haven’... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

PLEASE whatever you do don't use this company! They are fraudulent, unscrupulous and a complete rip off. They terminated my hosting and then deleted all my expensive website info. I have NOTHING now... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Finally just had them delete my account. Auto renewals, service fees that are unclear, terrible customer service. With how competetive the hosting market is, they could do better and so can you.

Company details

  1. Web Hosting Company
  2. Business to Business Service

Written by the company

Hostwinds specializes in web hosting and cloud services. Since 2010, our commitment has provided great hosting options at an affordable price around the globe. Additionally unmatched by our fantastic 24/7 support team and 99.9999% uptime guarantee. We consider our customer's family and provide them with all the excellent hosting services they deserve.


Contact info

2.3

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

721 reviews

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Replied to 75% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I do not recommend them at all.

I was working with their affiliate marketing program, promoting their products. Each time a sale was made, I received a notification that I had earned $65 as a commission for the sale, which was in a pending status until it was approved so I could withdraw it. However, the approval never happened; it remained in the pending status for a month or two, then disappeared. The same thing happened repeatedly over two years, during which I brought them over 10 sales but couldn't withdraw any of the commissions. Strangely, even if they didn't approve it for some reason, it should not disappear from the account without any explanation. when I asked for the reason, I didn't get an answer. In summary, this fraudulent company stole my time, effort, and money. I do not recommend them at all.

July 11, 2024
Unprompted review
Hostwinds logo

Reply from Hostwinds

Thank you for sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear about your frustration with our affiliate program. We strive to ensure transparency and reliability in all our partnerships, including our affiliate program.

While we can't verify the specifics of your case here, we encourage all affiliates to review our affiliate terms of service and frequently asked questions regarding payouts and commission structures. We understand your concerns and would appreciate the opportunity to investigate further.

Affiliate Terms of Service: https://affiliates.hostwinds.com/terms.php
Affiliate FAQ: https://affiliates.hostwinds.com/faq.php

Please reach out to us through your Hostwinds account so we can address this issue directly and work towards a resolution.

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This is a very bad platform

This is a very bad platform. After I ran the server for a few days, it was deactivated without any notification. Then I was asked to submit verification documents, which failed even after I submitted them.

May 26, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Hostwinds

Thank you for your feedback, Milner.

We’re sorry to hear about your experience. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a record that matches the details you've described using the name provided on Trustpilot.

To confirm the legitimacy of the review and to understand what went wrong, we use Trustpilot's Find Reviewer feature to gather more information. Could you please provide any identifying information, such as a ticket or client ID number, to help us locate your account in our system? This will ensure that we are looking at the correct situation and have accurate data regarding your feedback.

Once we have this information, we will be better equipped to investigate your concerns further.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I would never recommend using…

I would never recommend using Hostwinds. They spout absolute rubbish.
I purchase a VPS and change the hostname, set up nothing on the VPS but after 1 day I am added to an Abuse List, they cant tell me why! I know why, I was assigned an IP by them that was already on 6 blacklist monitors. They accuse me of spamming, I have never spammed anyone in my life.
They then ask me for a picture of my ID and Credit card, not sure the storage of these images is legal, in this context, but it is so they can charge you $250 per hour at their own discretion.
There whole system and attitude is as though I have done something wrong, they break their own T&C's treating customers like criminals.
An absolute joke - use Racknerds or Contabo, at least they treat you with respect!!!!

April 12, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Hostwinds

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We're genuinely sorry to hear that our service didn't meet your expectations.

Regarding the issue with the IP and abuse list, we want to clarify that our system strictly prohibits spam, and when an abuse concern arises for an IP, we take immediate measures to prevent spam until the matter is resolved. Unfortunately, this process can sometimes involve recycled IPs with prior histories that may not have been clean during a holding period. Our support team took proactive steps by requesting a delist to ensure your IP space was clean before you made the decision to cancel the service.

Additionally, we've noticed that our billing team issued a full refund after you canceled the service. However, if the service had remained active, we would have been more than willing to work out a solution, such as crediting the service until the IP was confirmed delisted.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

very professional

Been using Hostwinds hosting for nearly two years and no issues. They have a very great customer service and tech team.

November 1, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

AWFUL VPS FOR MT4, REFUSE TO REFUND WHEN BROKEN

I upgraded to 12GB 4 core VPS charging £111 per month and it wouldn't even run 5 instances of MT4. The techs gaslit me telling me everything was fine and its not their problem if MT4 doesnt work. I couldn't click on any of them or update anything. I restarted, rebooted and did everything asked then asked for refund within 3 days notice. Their billing REFUSED to refund me despite my consumer rights! This is a truly terrible company that gaslights you when you have an issue then refuses to refund you even when you ask for a partial refund. Stay away if using for Forex! 100% not worth it and their techs admit it themselves they have no clue about MT4 and claim that even buying more memory and processors with them, doesnt mean it should work. I have everything in writing to prove their ridiculous claims and refusal to refund. Forget these guys!

February 21, 2024
Unprompted review
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Reply from Hostwinds


Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. Your insights are valuable as we strive to improve our services continuously.

We apologize for not meeting your expectations and any inconvenience this may have caused. Our support team investigated your MT4 trading issue, but unfortunately, we did not receive further communication from you to address the matter. Although we don't specialize in third-party applications like MT4, our team found no underlying issues with the server or its upgrade. However, we provided subjective insights into why your trader may have experienced issues, even though such support is not explicitly outlined in our Tiers of Support documentation. We regret that we couldn't investigate further due to the cancellation of the service.

Regarding your refund request, our billing team did their best to accommodate you within our policies. We offered a credit to compensate for the issue, considering your previous success with MT4 on a different VPS setup. However, we cannot downgrade a larger VPS due to system limitations, such as fitting a larger box into a smaller one. As promised, we provided your account with the agreed credit once the original service was cancelled.

We remain committed to delivering exceptional service and are here to address any further questions or concerns you may have. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us through your Hostwinds account.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

SUBSCRIPTION FRAUD !!!!

SUBSCRIPTION FRAUD !!!!

DESPITE CANCELLING MY SUBSCRPTION ABOUT 4-5 MONTHS AGO, THEY KEPT CHARGING ME CONSTANTLY MONTHS AFTER MONTHS

THOUGH I DELETED THE INSTANCE 4-5 MONTHS AGO AND AS MUCH AS I CAN REMEBER I WAS HAVING ISSUES SOMEWHERE. HENCE I OPENED SUPPORT TICKET AND ASKED TO DELETE EVERYTHING. AND BEING A ONE MAN PERSON IN MY BUSINESS I TEMPORARILY MOVED ON TO OTHER THINGS WHILE HOPING THAT TEAM WILL TAKE CARE OF IT PROVIDED THAT I'VE BEEN GIVING THEM MY EXCLUSIVE CONSENT.

THE NEXT MONTH I SEE A REMINDER DIRECTLY ON MY BANK STATEMENT AS A FINAL CHARGE. NO EMAIL REMINDERS, NO NOTIFICATIONS OF THE COMING SUBSCRIPTION, DIRECTLY A CHARGE. SO I WROTE AN EMAIL BACK TO TEAM TO KINDLY TAKE ACTION AND STOP THESE CHARGES, TO WHICH THEY CREATED TICKET AND STILL DIDN'T DELETED WHOLE THING( DESPITE ME ASKING THIS WHOLE TIME ON LIVE CHAT AS WLL AS TICKETS) BUT RATHER LEFT A FEW MICRO SERVICES LIKE SNAPSHOTS ETC TO BE DELETED MANUALLY BY MYSELF (WHICH IS WHERE I WAS HAVING ISSUES).AND FOR THE LEFT OF THE MONTHS I'VE BEEN ASKING TO DO IT FOR ME.

AFTER 3-4 MONTHS AND MORE CHARGES ACCUMULATED, SOMEONE FINALLY CREATED SUPPORT TICKET AND ASSURED ME OF MY REFUND FOR ALL THESE SHADY CHARGES. I REPLIED TO THE TICKET AND MOVED ON TO WORK BEING BUSY. MEANWHILE SOMEONE ELSE FROM BILLING REPLIED IN THE TICKET ASKING FOR CONSENT AGAIN( TO WHICH I MISSED REPLYING SINCE I ALREADY REPLIED) SURPRISINGLY THEY CLOSED TICKET WITHOUT REFUND.

AND TILL YESTERDAY I HAD STOPPED A FEW GHOST SERVICES AGAIN AND ASKED FOR REFUND. THEY REFUNDING NOW ONLY ONE MONTH CHARGE AND ENFORCING THEIR POLICY.

I'VE EVIDENCE OF ME ASKING THEM TO DELETE/STOP EVERYTHING ON EVERY INTERACTION.. RATHER THAN TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING ON ONE SINGLE TICKET THEY KEPT ME THROWING HERE AND THERE YET THEY KEPT ME IN LOOP FOR THIS LONG AND KEPT CHARGING ME NOT REFUNDING AND ENFORCING THEIR POLICY IS A TYPICAL "SUBSCRIPTION FRAUD" RUNNING ALONGSIDE LEGIT BUSINESS TO YEILD THE CHERRY ON TOP.

HOSTWIND IS SUBSCRIPTION FRAUD.

==============================================================

Edit : what makes you a SUBSCRIPTION FRAUD IS THAT SINCE SEPTEMBER I'VE BEEN OPENING TICKETS, WRITING ON CHATS, WRITING EMAILS TO CANCEL EVERYTHING AND STOP THESE STUPID CHARGES. YET YOU'VE BEEN IGNORANT ENFORCING YOUR POLICY SO YOU CAN YEILD EXTRA PROFIT.

YOU DID MENTIONED IN YOUR REPLY THAT YOU SEE A TICKET RAISED FOR CANCELLATION IN SEPTEMBER... WELL, SINCE THEN I'VE BEEN ASKING YOU TO CANCEL EVERYTHING. EVERYWHERE... BUT YOU SCAMMERS HAVE ONLY CONTINUOUSLY CHARGING ME EVER SINCE THEN.

HOW CAN I MAKE MY INTENTIONS MORE CLEAR TO CANCEL THESE USELESSS CRAPPY SERVICES THAN WHAT I JUST ALREADY DID,,, COMPOSED TICKETS, EMAILS, CHAT SUPPORT. I'VE BEEN WRITING YOU ON EVERY AVAILABLE CHANNEL WHEREVER,WHENEVER POSSIBLE TO CANCEL EVERYTHING AND STOP CHARGES.

I'VE WORKED WITH VERY LESS TO NOT KNOWN COMPANIES( ie snel.com, OVH.com) AS WELL AS SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR ONES. IE IONOS,GODADDY,NAMECHEAP, HOSTINGER.COM,VULTR and several others IN MY ENTIRE 13 YEARS OF IT EXPERIENCE)

HOSTWINDS IS HANDS DOWN THE WORST HOSTING AND WEB SERVICE PROVIDER AMONG EVERYTHING I EVER CAME ACROSS.
REGRETS.

September 28, 2023
Unprompted review
Hostwinds logo

Reply from Hostwinds

Hello, and thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We truly value your input and take your experience seriously.

Upon careful examination, we noted that the hosting service was correctly canceled in September. However, additional invoicing was generated for object storage services like volumes, backups, and snapshots. These services operate hourly and are separate from the hosting application, requiring individual cancellation alongside the hosting service. We also observed that a ticket was opened in November regarding a refund for these charges, but unfortunately, we did not receive any further communication from you.

It's important to understand that backups, volumes, and snapshots are not automatically removed upon canceling a related service as we're not always aware of our users' intentions. For instance, someone might want to cancel a service but keep the backups for potential reinstallation elsewhere. Therefore, we ask for a separate cancellation to be initiated by the customer, which is pointed out during the cancellation process. In the absence of communication, we assume the intent is to retain these services, which are billed based on usage and billed on the 1st of each month.

We genuinely appreciate your feedback, and we're glad to inform you that our billing team has confirmed the proper cancellation and issued a refund for the most recent associated charges.

Cancellation Process and Expectations: https://www.hostwinds.com/product-docs/billing/service-cancellation
Refund Policy: https://www.hostwinds.com/product-docs/billing/refunds
Object Storage: https://www.hostwinds.com/cloud/object-storage

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Read this before buying

In order to use the latest php version you'll have to upgrade to one of their VPS plans instead. Also, if you choose the Basic plan and want a full backup on your data from their server, then you'll have to open up a support ticket, 'cos they have removed the Backup option in cPanel, so you can't do it yourself.

This is not OK for me so I'll change web host instead. Problem solved.

December 19, 2023
Unprompted review
Hostwinds logo

Reply from Hostwinds

We value your business and feedback. If you're interested, our shared and business hosting services support PHP up to version 8.2, which you can learn more about from the following links:

Shared Hosting Overview: https://www.hostwinds.com/tutorials/shared-hosting-overview
Business Hosting Overview: https://www.hostwinds.com/tutorials/business-hosting-overview

Regarding the cPanel backup feature, while we recognize your concern, we want to highlight that our support team promptly assisted with your backup request. We acknowledge your feedback on this matter and will consider discussing this feature's availability with our development team. However, please note that certain limitations are inherent in shared hosting environments, common across various hosting providers. For a more unrestricted experience, you might find our VPS hosting options more suitable as they offer full administrative access for personalized setups.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

HostWinds Customer Support Excellent

HostWinds customer support is excellent. I never imagined I would care about customer support for a website but when I'm trying to keep my website up without working on it, it's so nice to be able to tell them to complete the technical part and the site gets going little or no time input on my part. Also, their techs are available all the time, so I don't waste time getting through AI to get to a human being.

December 4, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Best hosting company I ever had

Best hosting company I ever had. They are hiperfast in answering and solving any problem. Even now that I unsuscribed they helped me quickly so if I will ever open another website I will use this service, the servers are also very speedy. Great Job and super assistence

November 22, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Thank you.

I absolutely love the support through the chat. I feel like there is always someone there and ready to help. This is the 6th similar server that I have setup with Hostwinds.

The only complaint that I have is that I cannot have one account with multiple billing types. For instance, I'd like each server to be billed and paid by my customer. But in order to do that now, I have to use different accounts / email addresses.

November 9, 2023
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Their support is spectacular

Their support is spectacular - even when you're on a unmanaged server. If you write them on the chat, a real human will respond right away and those few times I've neede help, they've always been able to help and resolve the problem. 5 stars!

October 25, 2023
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

General Manager

The support team is the reason we switched from Inmotion after they lost 2 TB of our data. Hostwinds earned our business from the start of the onboard process. Highly recommend.

October 26, 2023
Unprompted review

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