Hostinger vs ScalaHosting: Complete 2026 Comparison
Hostinger and ScalaHosting are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, ScalaHosting comes out ahead, winning 4 of them — including Price, Performance and Support.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
ScalaHosting
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Performance, Best Support
- 4.3/5 overall rating
Hostinger vs ScalaHosting: Overview
On entry pricing, ScalaHosting is the cheaper option at $2.95/mo versus $2.99/mo for Hostinger. Renewal tells the real story: Hostinger marks prices up about 268% at renewal versus roughly 305% for ScalaHosting, making it the better long-term value.
Hostinger's standout is cheapest premium hosting with LiteSpeed, 11 data centers, and AI website builder — a natural fit for budget beginner wanting modern performance features without technical complexity. ScalaHosting, by contrast, leans on free SPanel control panel eliminating cPanel licensing costs plus SShield AI security, ideal for user wanting managed VPS performance without cPanel licensing costs and strong security.
Category Winners
Best Price
ScalaHosting
$2.95/mo vs $2.99/mo
Best Value
Hostinger
Lower renewal markup (268% vs 305%)
Best Performance
ScalaHosting
99.9% uptime, 4.3/5 rating
Best Support
ScalaHosting
Live chat, Phone
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
ScalaHosting
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Hostinger
Higher ease of use score (9.5/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.99/mo | $2.95/mo |
| Renewal Price | $10.99 | $11.95 |
| Renewal Markup | 268% | 305% |
| Overall Rating | 3.8/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.9/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 68,378 | 2,137 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $40.87 | $35.40 |
| Second Year Cost | $131.88 | $143.40 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | $4.99 | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | — | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 20 GB | 10 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | NVME SSD |
| Bandwidth | 100 GB | Unmetered GB |
| Max Websites | 3 | 1 |
| Max Databases | 2 | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | ||
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | — | |
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Advanced | Advanced DDoS protection on all plans |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Weekly (basic), Daily (premium/business) | Daily (7-day retention on shared; 30-day on VPS) |
| Backup Retention | 7 days | 7 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Live Chat, Email, Knowledge Base, Tutorials | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | — | 24/7/365 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Lithuanian | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 2 | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | 1 GB | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Hostinger CDN + Cloudflare (Website Builder) | Free CDN included |
| Server Locations | Dallas, TX (US), Boston, MA (US), Sao Paulo (Brazil), London (UK), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Frankfurt (Germany), Vilnius (Lithuania), Singapore, Mumbai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), France | Dallas, TX (US), New York, NY (US), Sofia (Bulgaria), Bangalore (India), London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), Toronto (Canada), Sao Paulo (Brazil) |
| Server Location Count | 11 | 16 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | — | |
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | hPanel | SPanel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | Hostinger Website Builder (AI-powered) | SiteBuilder |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | — | Unlimited |
| Migration Turnaround | 2 days | 2 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | Free |
| Migration Quality | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | Tier-3 | SOC 2 (via AWS) |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 2.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Throttling or upgrade required | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan | Must upgrade plan |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2004 | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Lithuania | United States |
| Parent Company | Employee-owned (ConHostinger acquired 31% stake in 2021) | Independent (privately held; founded in Bulgaria, HQ moved to Dallas, TX) |
| Green Hosting | — | — |
| Instant Activation | — | |
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Germany, France, Lithuania, Singapore | United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Bulgaria |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, BRL, IDR, INR | USD, EUR, GBP |
| Support Languages | English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Lithuanian | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.8/5 |
| BBB Rating | N/A (Not in BBB service area) | NR (A+ claimed on third-party sites) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | 200,000 | — |
| Max DB Size | 3 GB | — |
| Max Upload Size | 1024 MB | — |
| Database Type | — | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | 12 months | 12 months |
| Money Back Exclusions | Domains non-refundable; Setup fees non-refundable; Redemption fees non-refundable; Third-party services non-refundable | 30-day full refund; Domain fees non-refundable; VPS/cloud services eligible for prorated refund |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Cryptocurrency | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-configured) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | $3/mo |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | — | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | ObjectCache | Memcached/OPcache |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Percentage (tiered) | Per sale (tiered) |
| Commission Amount | 40-60% commission; 30-day cookie; $100 min payout (PayPal), $500 (bank); no commission on 1-month plans or renewals | $50-$500 per sale based on performance; 60-day cookie; Monthly PayPal payments |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Abuse detection leads to immediate suspension; phishing/malware results in account termination | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Budget beginners; WordPress sites needing LiteSpeed; Users wanting free unlimited migrations; International users (11 data center locations); AI website builder users; Adult content sites (within legal limits) | Users wanting cPanel alternative without license fees; Managed VPS hosting at affordable prices; WordPress users needing staging and optimization; Small businesses wanting reliable support; Users who value security features (SShield) |
| Avoid If | Need phone support; Need Node.js on shared hosting; Enterprise compliance (no SOC2/HIPAA); Budget-conscious at renewal time; Need many email accounts; Prefer cPanel over proprietary panels | Need dedicated server hosting; Prefer traditional cPanel interface; Need HIPAA/PCI compliance; Want largest provider brand recognition; Need extensive data center choices |
| Known Issues | Renewal prices 5-6x higher than promo ($1.99 → $10.99); No phone support; SSH only on Premium+ plans; No Node.js on shared hosting; Email accounts reduced to 2 free (Dec 2025); Sitejabber rating only 2.7/5; Some suspension/abuse department complaints; TTFB can spike to 1.3s during peak hours | Smaller company compared to major hosts; SPanel learning curve for cPanel users; No dedicated servers offered; Some advanced features only on higher tiers; Limited phone support availability reported by some users |
| Unique Selling Point | Cheapest premium hosting with LiteSpeed, 11 data centers, and AI website builder | Free SPanel control panel eliminating cPanel licensing costs plus SShield AI security |
| Ideal Customer | Budget beginner wanting modern performance features without technical complexity | User wanting managed VPS performance without cPanel licensing costs and strong security |
| Best Alternative To | Bluehost | SiteGround |
| Primary Competitors | Namecheap, Bluehost, SiteGround | SiteGround, A2 Hosting, InMotion Hosting |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Hostinger if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Are new to web hosting
Choose ScalaHosting if you...
- Want to save money ($2.95/mo vs $2.99/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.3/5)
- Need phone support
- Need SSH access
- Want to run Node.js applications
Hostinger vs ScalaHosting: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hostinger cheaper than ScalaHosting?
Yes — ScalaHosting is cheaper, starting at $2.95/mo compared with $2.99/mo for Hostinger. Factor in renewals too: ScalaHosting marks up about 305% after the first term.
Does Hostinger or ScalaHosting have better uptime?
ScalaHosting edges out Hostinger on performance with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 4.3/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Hostinger or ScalaHosting?
ScalaHosting has the edge on support offering live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Is Hostinger or ScalaHosting better for beginners?
Hostinger is friendlier for beginners, scoring higher on ease of use in our assessment. New users will generally find it quicker to get started.
Should I choose Hostinger or ScalaHosting?
For most users, ScalaHosting is the better overall choice, winning 4 of our 7 categories (notably Price, Performance and Support). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.