HostClear Review – Web Hosting Services

HostClear is a low-budget shared web hosting service that has good reviews. With HostClear, you can build your own website from scratch, use one of their thousands of templates, or install WordPress. Host Clear is great for new websites, or ones being transferred from another hosting service. How can you know if it’s right for you?

Looking for a new host is stressful and hard. Luckily, we’ve got you covered with this HostClear review. We’ll explain all the details of their hosting service, and give you some great suggestions so you can make an informed decision.

The company stands out from the ever increasing number of competitors in the niche of shared web hosting by including an array of useful feature and an easy-to-use interface. Their clients also praise their 99% uptime guarantee included with all hosting plans, regardless of their price.

HostClear Overview

Host Clear has a few great features you should consider. First, they give every new customer one free domain registration when they sign-up with a new domain. They also offer unlimited domains, resources, email accounts, and SQL databases.

When your site is ready to promote, Host Clear gives their customers a $100 Google AdWords bonus and $100 in Yahoo/Bing ad credits. Online marketing guides provide by Host Clear will help teach you how to put those credits to good use.

If you are transferring your domain to Host Clear from another host, Host Clear will transfer your domain for free. Finally, Host Clear gives you 1GB of Clear storage from JustClear. You can use this storage for website related files, or personal data.

With the HostClear unlimited plan, you get unlimited domains, unlimited databases and email addresses and unmetered disk and bandwidth space. A great feature that users love is the easy-to-access Hostclear control panel built on cPanel, the most popular option in the world. Its ease of use and access is among the best features offered by the Host Clear hosting plan which has managed to set them apart from the competition.

Pricing Information

Offering unlimited domains, resources, and more, HostClear gives a great introductory price for their services. This price is a whole $2.99/month. After the promotional period rolls off, the price jumps to $5.98/month. Even after the promotion, this is a really good price. HostClear fits into any web hosting budget easily.

Their main hosting plan is highly adaptable, and can cater to the needs of any type of site. For example, if you want to set up an online retail store, you can choose the free application of shopping cart function and PayPal option integration. They also support their users by including Google AdWords plans, as well as a lot of plenty other online marketing solutions.

However, it is important to note that as you are going through the checkout process, there will be tons of add-on promotions to get through. Some of these are beneficial, while others are just ways for the host to make more money off of you. These add-ons are the reason they can offer their hosting for so cheap.

Money Back Guarantee

There are two types of guarantees if you sign up with HostClear. The 99% uptime guarantee is included for all accounts, so if they fail to deliver, you are eligible for a one month credit for the respective period.

HostClear also operates a 45-day money guarantee for every new account. This means that if you want to cancel your contract during this period, you will receive a complete refund without the cost of the domain registration. For cancellation that occurs after 45 days, you may also receive a partial refund, but not if you pay via check, money order or wire transfer.

Security & Risk

What would you like to see in your host’s security options? We would like to see a little more from HostClear, to be honest. Virus checking and customizable spam filters are standard. They leave it up to the merchant software to be PCI compliant. 24/7 network monitoring is also provided, which reduces downtime due to attacks or server problems. That’s about it for security, though. They do offer some add-on services to help with this, but those can get expensive quickly.

HostClear backup policies are based on weekly backups performed on all the servers they use to ensure security. However, this is considered a courtesy on the part of the provider and they are not guaranteed. Since their backup information is stored for only one week, users are advised to perform their own backup to avoid any issues.

Usability & User Friendliness

Unlike security, Host Clear has you covered in Usability. A brand new beginner can create their own site with their templates or drag-and-drop website builder. The builder claims to be the #1 online website builder and also offers both a blog setup wizard and a photo gallery setup wizard.

eCommerce is also easy to set up with Host Clear through the cPanel. You can pick which shopping cart software to use and PayPal is already integrated as a payment method. Using the in-built cPanel option, users also benefit from free access to the webmail, autoresponders and customized spam settings and filters.

Hosting cPanel is the most widely used interface as it is highly customizable and easy-to-use. HostClear also invests in protecting the privacy and safety of their user’s information, periodically performing virus checks. They invest in protecting your website, and that is the reason why every HostClear user benefits from free spam and virus checks to make sure no damaging activity can take place.

Customer Support & Additional Info

Host Clear provides 24/7 customer support. The support team can be contacted via chat, telephone, and email. Their team is highly-trained and English-speaking. If you want extra support with WordPress, DreamWeaver, or any other extra service, you will need to pay extra. Unfortunately, most customer reviews of their service are not good. Either the wait was long or the issues were never resolved properly.

A standard 30-day money back guarantee is also offered. If you wish to cancel your service within the first 30 days, you may do so for a full refund of what you have already paid Host Clear.

Here are the useful links you can use when you are in need of assistance via phone, e-mail or online live chat.

• Website: HostClear.
• Customer Support.
• Phone Number: 866-585-7989.
• Email: [email protected].
• Live Chat.

HostClear Overall Rating

What we like: 

• Clearly User-Friendly – Site builders, cPanel and auto-responders are all included.
• Free Advertising Credits – $200 is a big advertising budget for a website first starting out.

What we don’t like: 

• Weak Security Options – Free security options are just not what we would expect.
• Bad Customer Reviews – Not many reviews are kind to their support staff.

Rating:
Web Hosting Plans & Prices: 5/5
Security and Risk: 2/5
Usability & User Friendliness: 5/5
Pricing: 5/5
Customer Support: 2/5

HostClear Top Alternatives

Here are some competitors for Host Clear, should you wish to check out the competition.

• Bluehost – Bluehost’s promotional price is just the same as Host Clear, but they jump to $14.95 after the promotion ends. They do offer an enhanced cPanel that is easier to use, automatic backups, and better security than HostClear.
• IX Web Hosting – If you really want security, check out IX Web Hosting. They offer SiteLock for a very small fee per month and give a free dedicated IP address. They also have a dedicated malware team that everyone has access to, and free HackerShield for eCommerce sites.
• TMDHosting – TMDHosting is the fastest host around. At page load times of 8.5ms, they beat Host Clear and everyone else on this list by at least half a second or more.
• Liquid Web – We would like to add one solid, robust hosting alternative to this list. They focus on agencies and large businesses and their fees start at $50/month. They offer Clear, VPS, and dedicated server hosting. The security options they offer with their plans are the best around.

Our Verdict

For cheap hosting, HostClear is a pretty standard hosting provider. There’s nothing really spectacular about them. They have a lot of options that make building your website an easy task, but their security is more than lacking. Straightforward, user-friendly and easy to use, the HostClear services are accessible to all website owners who have to stay on budget

Have questions about our Host Clear review? Please ask below in the comments. We would love to hear from you!