Nexcess vs Rocket.net: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Nexcess
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Support, Best for Developers
- 4.0/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Nexcess
$21.00/mo vs $30.00/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Rocket.net
99.99% uptime, 4.3/5 rating
Best Support
Nexcess
Live chat, Phone
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Nexcess
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Rocket.net
Higher ease of use score (8.5/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Managed WordPress | Managed WordPress |
| Monthly Price | $21.00/mo | $30.00/mo |
| Renewal Price | $21.00 | $30.00 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 100% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.9/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 2,635 | 234 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $252.00 | $360.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $252.00 | $360.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 15 GB | 10 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | 2000 GB | 50 GB |
| Max Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| 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 | Enterprise DDoS protection included | Enterprise DDoS protection via Cloudflare |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily | Daily |
| Backup Retention | 30 days | 14 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base | Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7/365 | — |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | 1 min | 2 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Nexcess CDN (22 global edge locations) | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN (275+ edge locations; ~$200+/mo value included free) |
| Server Locations | US-Central (Phoenix), US-West (Los Angeles), EU-Central (Amsterdam) | North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Africa |
| Server Location Count | 3 | 275 |
| 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 | Nexcess Portal | Rocket.net Dashboard |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 1 days | 1 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | Free | Free |
| Migration Quality | — | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA | SOC 2 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 5.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 5.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 2.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | No overage fees, traffic caps, or metered pageviews - unlimited bandwidth included | Bandwidth overage $0.08/GB; Disk overage $2/GB |
| Storage Overage | No overage fees - storage included in plan | Disk space overage $2/GB |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2000 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Liquid Web (acquired 2019; merging as one brand) | Hosting.com (acquired) |
| Green Hosting | ||
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | no-caps | visits |
| Monthly Visit Limit | Unlimited | 250,000 |
| Visit Overage Cost | $0.00 | $1.00 |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | ||
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany | United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany |
| Local Currencies | USD | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2 | GDPR, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.5/5 |
| BBB Rating | A+ | NR |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | ||
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Full refund within 30 days | Full refund within 30 days; $1 first month trial available |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewing) | Cloudflare SSL |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | — |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | Redis | Redis + Object Cache Pro + Relay |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Per sale |
| Commission Amount | Up to $200 per sale | Varies by plan |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.00 | $0.08 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment | Violation of ToS; non-payment |
| 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 | WooCommerce stores needing managed hosting; Magento e-commerce sites; WordPress sites requiring auto-scaling; Businesses needing PCI/HIPAA compliance; Users wanting 100% uptime guarantee | WordPress sites needing blazing fast performance; Sites needing Cloudflare Enterprise CDN; Users wanting sub-100ms TTFB globally; WooCommerce stores; Speed-focused businesses |
| Avoid If | Budget-conscious; Need many data center locations; Prefer cPanel; Need email hosting included; Concerned about post-acquisition support quality | Need phone support; Running non-WordPress sites; Concerned about acquisition; Need email hosting included; Budget-conscious |
| Known Issues | Support quality declined after Liquid Web acquisition (outsourced); Hidden fees reported (unexpected charges); Premium pricing may be high for some; No email hosting; Limited to 3 data center regions; Magento hosting specialty but complex | Acquired by Hosting.com (concerns about changes); No phone support; WordPress-only; No email hosting; Some SSL cert issues reported; Bandwidth/disk overages can add up |
| Unique Selling Point | E-commerce expertise with managed WooCommerce and Magento hosting, 100% uptime SLA, and PCI/HIPAA compliance | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN (~$6,000 value) included free with sub-100ms global TTFB |
| Ideal Customer | E-commerce business needing managed WooCommerce or Magento hosting with auto-scaling and enterprise compliance | WordPress site owner prioritizing speed and global performance with Cloudflare Enterprise benefits |
| Best Alternative To | WP Engine | Kinsta |
| Primary Competitors | Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways, Liquid Web | Kinsta, WP Engine, Flywheel |
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 Nexcess if you...
- Want to save money ($21.00/mo vs $30.00/mo)
- Need phone support
- Want to run Node.js applications
Choose Rocket.net if you...
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.3/5)
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (275 available)