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Krystal

Krystal vs Hostinger

The astro-turfing marketing company with a side in hosting. See why more and more clients are choosing Krystal over Hostinger.

4.8 out of 5 based on 1,748 reviews

How do we stand up against Hostinger?

Compare our main features at a glance

Krystal
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Infrastructure ProviderKatapult by Krystal
OwnershipFamily Owned
Number of hosting brands
  1. Krystal
  2. Katapult
Environmental Credentials
  1. 100% renewably powered
  2. B Corp Certified
  3. 1% for the Planet
Introductory Pricing StructureNo
Trustpilot Rating4.8

Switch to Krystal today without losing any of the money you've already paid Hostinger

With our free Switch Credits, we will credit the remaining value of your existing plan and term, so you’re no longer locked in. Not with Hostinger? Switch Credits are also available to clients of 35 other large hosting companies.

Hostinger - a quick history

Originally founded in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2004 as Hosting Media, Hostinger is the parent company of 000webhost, Hosting24, Zyro, and Niagahoster and has over 1,000 employees across 54 countries.

Over the years Hostinger has experienced massive growth, becoming one of the largest hosting providers. In 2019 it suffered a major data breach resulting in the theft of around 13 million customers’ information.

In April 2021, a German private equity company named ConHostinger bought out a large proportion of Hostinger with the intention of further accelerating its growth.

Why choose Krystal over Hostinger?

Ethics

We have many issues with the way Hostinger operates but our two top picks would be:

  • “Dark patterns” - this is a term psychologists use for "Tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to” or potentially wouldn’t if you had all the facts to hand. We believe this behaviour isn’t fair to consumers and we’d like to see Hostinger stop the practice. Learn more about dark patterns and then try using Hostinger’s website to see how many you can spot!
  • “Astroturfing” - or the swamping of review sites and forums with fake positive reviews by reviewers who are actually 'brand ambassadors' paid by Hostinger to manipulate communities. In 2018, the independent review site Review Signal felt compelled to write a scathing review of Hostinger, decrying its complete lack of ethics regarding ‘astroturfing’, or the posting of fake reviews, as well as the behaviour of its CEO.

Hostinger also uses what some might call underhand pricing to lock people in - they advertise very low prices, but to get the best deals you have to sign up for four years of hosting, and pay for it all upfront. Which might not seem bad if the performance and support was solid gold. But, as it turns out, a quick dig through reviews (excluding those done by Hostinger’s own ‘brand ambassadors’) shows that’s not always the case.

Performance

There have also been reports of not-so-great uptime on Shared and WordPress Hosting - reviewers have found Hostinger plans haven’t performed too well compared to other hosts, with downtime in the region of one to two hours per month (or a full day per year of your website being unavailable to visitors!).

Features

Who was it that said ‘it’s good to talk’? Rather bizarrely, it seems that Hostinger likes to keep a modicum of personal distance between itself and its clients, as it refuses to provide a contact telephone number.

It also offers no dedicated server hosting and only one email account on its single shared hosting plan. (as opposed to Krystal’s unlimited email addresses as standard).

Transparency over trickery

We’ll never use low introductory pricing that might go up as much as 256% on renewal (here’s looking at you GoDaddy). Avoid a painful renewal with our Switch Credits initiative.

Brands

As mentioned above, a large proportion of Hostinger was bought out by a German private equity firm with the sole intention of maximising growth and profits (which may explain the underhand sales tactics and fake reviews!).

In contrast, Krystal has no investors, is family run and has never paid a dividend, so we reinvest profits into the service.

Krystal Brands

United Internet Group

+ more than 10 others

Taken from the United Internet Group

Information correct as of

02 Oct 2023

Looking for more reasons to pick Krystal?

Check out 3 Good Reasons or our Reviews page, and if you're currently with Hostinger and would like to leave our Switch Credits will compensate you for any unused time so you're not out of pocket. We'll even help you move over.

Choose the right plan for you

They all include award-winning UK support, flexibility to upgrade or downgrade, and our 60-day, no-quibble money-back guarantee.

  • Amethyst

    £7 /month

    Perfect for personal and hobby sites without breaking the bank.

    Buy Amethyst

    Standard performance

    • 1 site hosted

    • 10GB NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Daily backups

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Standard phone support

  • Ruby

    £11 /month

    Suitable for freelancers and professionals with larger resources.

    Buy Ruby

    Enhanced performance

    • 5 sites hosted

    • 25GB NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Daily backups

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    • Standard phone support

  • Emerald

    £19 /month

    The perfect starting point for small businesses and startups.

    Buy Emerald

    High performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    • Standard phone support

    Premium features

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Sapphire

    £37 /month

    Ideal for more complex websites with higher resource needs.

    Buy Sapphire

    Very High performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Diamond

    £67 /month

    Excellent for demanding and popular websites that have a lot traffic.

    Buy Diamond

    Ultra performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Tanzanite

    £97 /month

    The best choice for mission-critical websites with ultra-high traffic.

    Buy Tanzanite

    Extreme performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI-DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

Not sure which plan is right for you?

We’re happy to help you find the perfect hosting plan. Compare our plans or get in touch for honest advice without sales tactics or upsells.

Compare all features

100% green web hosting

Yes, we obsess over our tech. But we also protect our planet.

Green energy

We use Ecotricity for our power, the first company in the UK to offer true 100% renewable energy.

Green data centres

All power consumed at our data centres comes from 100% renewable sources. All centres have achieved a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) rating of at least 1.2.

Green purpose

We work with key partners including Ecologi, veritree and 1t.org to create a path to a cleaner future. We balance profit with purpose and are a Certified B Corp.

Green leadership

We work as a beacon for positive change, so we help our staff go green by offsetting their lifetime carbon footprint, and encourage our industry to adopt a planet-first approach.

Join 36,453 happy clients running on our premium, planet-first B Corp web hosting

  • Nike
  • NHS
  • Cadbury
  • Financial Times
  • Cath Kidston
  • Iceland
  • Independent
  • Daikin

Our clients say we're Excellent

4.8 out of 5 based on 1,748 reviews

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  • By far the best hosting service provider

    Krystal is the best hosting service provider I have come across. My website is always up and running smoothly, and I have received nothing but positive feedback about the speed and performance of my website, which I attribute to Krystal’s top-of-the-line hosting services.

    Patrick O’Neill

    2023-06-09

    Read review
  • Fast and reliable

    It’s so easy to turn to a review site when you have a bad experience with a company. Thankfully, my experience with Krystal has been the opposite. Been a customer for four years, never had a problem. This week, I needed support. They answered promptly and did everything I need to get my site working again quickly.

    Robert J. King

    2023-08-09

    Read review
  • Krystal just do everything well

    Very well. Outstandingly well. Whether it be hosting, tech support, or domain-related, they are responsive and extremely competent. I have no intention of moving any of my domains or sites anywhere else.

    Allister Duncan

    2023-04-27

    Read review
  • One of the best companies I have ever used

    Their customer service is phenomenal. They are always so incredibly helpful and so prompt in their replies.

    Selina Westerman

    2023-05-25

    Read review
  • Well worth the money!

    I’ve been with Krystal since 2015, and have always been very impressed by the quality of their technical support. I’ve just had a problem with my email system, which they tracked down in a few hours, and at no extra charge, to an obscure fault in my Thunderbird email software.

    Kevin King

    2023-08-30

    Read review

Exceptional support

Our award-winning support team are gifted problem solvers. Get in touch for fast, effective and honest responses that genuinely help.

1,358

Tickets

(last 7 days)

  • 7 hours average resolution time
  • 63% solved in first response

159

Calls

(last 7 days)

  • 6 minutes average call duration time
  • < 30 seconds hold time target

323

Live Chats

(last 7 days)

  • 2 minutes average wait time
  • 36 minutes average resolution time

Last updated: Today at 09:29

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