DreamHost vs. FatCow

If you're not too technical, don't want to spend time managing a server and want something quality while sticking to a budget, DreamHost is the best it can get. We may be able to save money by switching to something like AWS, but for our usage it doesn't totally make sense even with potential cost-savings and improved speeds. The support and ease of use cannot be overstated here.

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FatCow is excellent if you are looking for a web hosting service with an unlimited amount of space for all your website needs. Their servers are environmentally friendly so if you are conscious about that type of thing, they are a better choice than some others. The yearly fees are really reasonable, especially compared to other services. I wish they had a bit more tech support but that's really my only complaint.

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• Dreamhost has very good hosting plans that can be matched for different levels of hosting needs and expected web traffic bandwidth.
• The hosting service is very friendly for coders and those needing to tinker "under the hood" with their sites.
• Great uptime service with limited technical issues.

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• Flexibility of how you want to use it (WordPress, HTML coding, Wix, etc)
• Unlimited storage for all your website needs
• Reasonable rates as compared to other hosting services

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• There was one instance where DreamHost support caused unnecessary downtime because they misread my request. Unfortunately I don't have access to that account anymore (it was an old employer) so I don't remember the details. To avoid this, make it very clear whether you're just asking a question or want support to handle it (they can be quite eager to fix the problem even when you've just asked a question), and be VERY clear what you need when doing the wrong thing may cause serious problems.

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• I was very disappointed with my initial renewal. I understood that the price I had paid was an introductory price, but the renewal rate was much higher than I anticipated. They could be more transparent with their renewals.

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We have every intention of staying with Dreamhost, but we are a tad concerned with the company's recent involvement in high profile litigation and controversial topics. While we don't take a position one way or another on what type of content they should host, one concern we have is that repeated attacks on their infrastructure have caused significant downtime during business hours for us, and that's something we'll have to take into consideration going forward.

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Whether we're calling in on the phone, live chatting or emailing, we get immediate high-quality, native English-speaking support. This cannot be overstated when it comes to hosting, because support tickets are usually time sensitive and high stress. I've always had great experiences with the limited times we've needed to use DreamHost support. We've dealt with support for many other providers and no one comes close to DreamHost.

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We've tried a few other WordPress-specific hosts, as well as other shared hosting providers (Rackspace, WPEngine, and others). We have found that DreamHost gives the best balance of cost, performance, and features, for our needs. All vendors have their own pitfalls and shortcomings, and DreamHost isn't without its own, but it works for us.

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I previously used GoDaddy, and I was very unimpressed with their various pricing tiers. I wanted something with a simpler pricing model. GoDaddy was particularly annoying when luring you in with low prices but bombarding you with add-ons during the checkout process. To be fair, I haven't used GoDaddy in several years, so I do not know if this is still a business practice. But, it was enough to turn me off, and the simplicity of FatCow has kept me as a customer ever since.

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• It's a great product for a relatively cheap price
• We can offer a simple hosting solution for our clients
• Even the VPS (virtual private servers) are very affordable and you can manage it as you wish (SSH access)

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• Integration of Google Analytics made it simple to see where traffic comes from.
• Ease of use frees me up to focus on communicating ideas rather than fighting with software to make it work.
• Stability makes it perfect to showcase my work.

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