How do we stand up against IONOS?
Compare our main features at a glance
| Krystal | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Infrastructure Provider | Katapult by Krystal |
| Ownership | Family Owned |
| Number of hosting brands |
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| Environmental Credentials |
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| Introductory Pricing Structure | No |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.8 |
Switch to Krystal today without losing any of the money you've already paid IONOS
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 IONOS? Switch Credits are also available to clients of 35 other large hosting companies.
IONOS - a quick history
IONOS was originally founded in Germany in 1988 as 1&1 Internet. In 2018, 1&1 merged with ProfitBricks and changed their brand name to 1&1 IONOS.
Now part of United Internet Group (a huge global telecoms company with over £5.6bn revenue - greater than the GDP of some countries), IONOS is currently the largest hosting provider in Europe.
Despite on the surface appearing as one of the more professional providers, a quick read of multiple IONOS customer reviews gives a flavour of their commitment to transparency and fairness..
Why choose Krystal over IONOS?
Features
Certain features that you’d rightly expect to come included in quality hosting are conspicuous by their absence across IONOS’ hosting plans. For example, rather than the unlimited email accounts Krystal provides, you only get one email account included in IONOS’ shared hosting. Even if you opt for its ‘Ultimate’ plan, you still have to pay extra for more email accounts.
Support
Customers complain that IONOS’ support can be unhelpful, unreliable or unfriendly, something that’s confirmed by the experience of hosting reviewers.
Moving over to IONOS comes with a price too, as it doesn’t offer free migration from external providers. (It does offer internal migrations between packages and accounts, although this is still a paid service!). In comparison, Krystal has launched its Switch Credit Initiative (see more below!) to make it as easy as possible for you to escape the clutches of bad hosting.
IONOS also charges to update your PHP version if you don’t do it yourself. At Krystal our support team is here to help you, often going the extra mile to ensure your business is online and your website is working at its best.
Renewal shock and extra fees
Not only are renewal costs expensive (ballooning by an eye-watering 900% in one instance!) there are also some added costs that are worth noting. There is a set up fee for IONOS dedicated hosting plans, and if you want to use the IONOS website builder or email marketing software, you’ll need to sign up to a plan and pay extra per month. A good initial price does not always mean a good company - or good value.
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
IONOS is owned by United Internet Group, a huge investor-owned corporation that owns 16 ‘optimised’ major brands. In contrast, Krystal has no investors, is family run and has never paid a dividend, so we can reinvest profits straight back into creating the very best service.
Krystal Brands
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 IONOS 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.
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.
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
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