InterServer vs ScalaHosting: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
ScalaHosting
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Performance, Best for WordPress, Best for Developers
- 4.3/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
InterServer
$2.50/mo vs $2.95/mo
Best Value
InterServer
Lower renewal markup (0% vs 136%)
Best Performance
ScalaHosting
99.9% uptime, 4.3/5 rating
Best Support
Tie
Similar support options
Best for WordPress
ScalaHosting
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce, LiteSpeed
Best for Developers
ScalaHosting
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Tie
Similar beginner-friendliness
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.50/mo | $2.95/mo |
| Renewal Price | $2.50 | $6.95 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 136% |
| Overall Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.9/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 2,304 | 2,137 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $30.00 | $35.40 |
| Second Year Cost | $30.00 | $83.40 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | Unlimited | 50 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unmetered GB |
| Max Websites | Unlimited | 1 |
| Max Databases | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 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 | DDoS protection included on all plans | Advanced DDoS protection on all plans |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Weekly | Daily (7-day retention on shared; 30-day on VPS) |
| Backup Retention | — | 7 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Email, Knowledge Base | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN (free integration) | Free CDN included |
| Server Locations | Secaucus, NJ (US-East), Los Angeles, CA (US-West) | 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 | 2 | 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 | cPanel/DirectAdmin | SPanel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | SitePad | SiteBuilder |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | Unlimited |
| Migration Turnaround | 3 days | 2 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | Free |
| Migration Quality | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | — | SOC 2 (via AWS) |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unlimited within fair use; excessive use reviewed | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade |
| Storage Overage | Unlimited within fair use | Must upgrade plan |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 1999 | 2007 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Independent (privately held; employee-owned; founded by Mike Lavrik and John Quaglieri) | 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 States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Bulgaria |
| Local Currencies | USD | USD, EUR, GBP |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.6/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR (Not Accredited) | NR (A+ claimed on third-party sites) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | 250,000 | — |
| Max DB Size | Unlimited GB | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | 12 months |
| Money Back Exclusions | 30-day money-back guarantee on shared hosting; Dedicated servers may have different terms | 30-day full refund; Domain fees non-refundable; VPS/cloud services eligible for prorated refund |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Cryptocurrency, Check | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | ||
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | $3/mo |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | — | Memcached/OPcache |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Recurring | Per sale (tiered) |
| Commission Amount | $100 per sale or recurring commission; 120-day cookie | $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 | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse | 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-conscious users who hate renewal price increases; Long-term hosting customers wanting price stability; Users needing unlimited websites on shared hosting; Small businesses wanting cPanel at low cost; Users who value price-lock guarantee | 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 multiple global data center locations; Want managed WordPress features; Need staging environments; Prefer modern control panel UI; Require PCI/HIPAA compliance | Need dedicated server hosting; Prefer traditional cPanel interface; Need HIPAA/PCI compliance; Want largest provider brand recognition; Need extensive data center choices |
| Known Issues | Only 2 data center locations; Support outsourcing reported; No staging environment; No managed WordPress; Limited advanced features compared to competitors; Interface feels dated to some users | 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 | Price-lock guarantee with $2.50/month forever - no renewal price increases | Free SPanel control panel eliminating cPanel licensing costs plus SShield AI security |
| Ideal Customer | Budget-conscious user who wants predictable long-term hosting costs without renewal surprises | User wanting managed VPS performance without cPanel licensing costs and strong security |
| Best Alternative To | Hostinger | SiteGround |
| Primary Competitors | Hostinger, Namecheap, DreamHost | 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 InterServer if you...
- Want to save money ($2.50/mo vs $2.95/mo)
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
Choose ScalaHosting if you...
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.3/5)
- Want LiteSpeed caching for WordPress
- Need staging environments
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (16 available)