Monday, July 5, 2010

Lunarpages Hosting Review

LunarPages Web Hosting launched in 1998 in order to provide affordable and reliable hosting for personal websites, small business, ecommerce shops, Fortune 100 corporations, dedicated customers, and more. Lunarpages hosts the biggest and the best in the industry, utilizing the knowledge that has made us the largest web host in the world. Since 1998, Lunarpages has tailored each web hosting solution to fit the unique needs of our clientele, ensuring that every level webmaster can build, design, and launch their businesses and projects with our help every step of the way.

With three datacenters (Riverside and San Diego, CA, as well as one in Las Vegas, Nevada), an optimized call center in Anaheim, California, and several satellite technicians in various parts of the United States, Lunarpages is the premier web host in the world, hosting over 150,000 satisfied customers with more than 100 staff members worldwide. We truly love what we do and have never compromised our security, management, pricing, or services, while constantly remaining competitive to the industry's ever-changing atmosphere.

Lunarpages Hosting Review


Reliable Hosting Server

For more than 3 years, my brother and I runs several websites on Lunarpages and we have NEVER face any substantial server outage. Lunarpages server uptime is simply respectable and this is the main reason why I still recommend them to my friends.

Host unlimited domain

Lunarpages offer unlimited disk storage, bandwidth, addon domain names, unlimited MySQL database, Email and FTP accounts! Know what that means? That means you can almost host unlimited websites in just one Lunarpages hosting account.

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Potential drawback in Lunarpages

I’ve been using Lunarpages for about two years (for my brother’s blog and a few charity projects) and I’m extermely happy with them.

Lack of 24/7 Customer Supports

Ready for this? Read this carefully – Lunarpages does not provide live chat support. You can call them at 1-877-586-2772 but I don’t think that’s a 24/7 help line as well.

No Awstats for Lunarpages

Lunarpages does not offer ‘Awstats’ in their web analytic features. While Astats are not used by many webmasters, the web analytic software remains popular in certain industry. However, this problem can be solved easily by using Google Analytics instead. Google Analytics is capable for more accurate and detail webstats, more user friendly, and best of all it’s free.

Changed Pricing Structure

Lunarpages is a very well-known brand in the past and their hosting plan used to be one of the cheapest in the market. There were a lot of quiet changes inside Lunarpages for the past 6 months and their price tag is not as attractive as it used to be nowadays. At this time of writing, their $4.95/mo hosting deal is only available for shoppers who are willing to signup 5 years in advance – which sounds ridiculous to me.

The free bonus offer with worth $775 worth software and web applications is still available but the current price tag just make Lunarpages looks ugly.

Lunarpages Customer Reviews

Lunarpages has plenty of positive reviews and here are a few of them quoted else where from the Internet.

Efficient customer supports!

"When I first sign up the service 3 years back, the first impressions I get is friendly. This was because I had some questions that time and was communicating with them through email. They are friendly and helpful. I did experience 2 or 3 down time with Lunarpages. But generally they are still reliable to me as they took the least time in recovering the server. They are cheapest in the market now. Just google and you will see. I would recommend Lunarpages to whoever is looking for a reliable and cheap hosting. They do have quality service and aggressive in doing their business."

– Daren @ Review Lunarpages.

No problems with LunarPages for me!

"I have had sites with LunarPages since 2002 and have never had any issues. When I was desperate for tech support, they were extremely helpful. I am a computer professional, but occasionally make mistakes. I certainly wouldn’t blame LunarPages for my mistakes and my lack of knowledge. There is a ton of knowledge on their forums and the tutorials can help the newbie with most tasks. I think too many people just like to complain instead of looking for a solution and want their hand held. One of my sites is a non-profit organization and we count on our website for about 1/2 of our income. Our customers have never complained that their purchases couldn’t be processed, and believe me I would hear about it. This past month they moved my servers and consistently gave me updates so I knew what to expect."

– Pat from Charleston SC USA @ Oct 4, 2008.

Conclusion: Is Lunarpages recommended?

I used to love Lunarpages but not now anymore. The web host is a classic example of good host turn bad and I don’t recommend them anymore. If you are looking for a web host that provides wide hosting options (shared, VPS, dedicated, reseller plans), I would suggest you to go with HostGator or Fatcow instead. Read more about Fatcow in my Fatcow Hosting Review.

Lunarpages vs Bluehost - Web Hosting Reviews & Comparison

If you are considering both BlueHost and Lunarpages for a website hosting plan you should know about the hosting plan differences between the the two web hosting companies.

First, a comparison of BlueHost and Lunarpages shows that both hosting companies have significant differences in terms of what is included with their hosting accounts. When you look at the pricing for BlueHost and Lunarpages, you can sometimes find a difference in your review depending upon whether any new BlueHost Lunarpages promos are running.

Lunarpages often has web hosting sales which can reduce the cost of the hosting whereas BlueHost does not. However, absent a promo, the pricing for BlueHost vs. Lunarpages is the generally the same, $6.95 per month. BlueHost vs. Lunarpages reviews will show some differences in terms of platform availability.

With Lunarpages you can buy Windows hosting and VPS services. When you compare the product breadth at Lunarages to that which is offered by BlueHost, your review will show that BlueHost only offers a standard Linux-based hosting plan. However, for most average websites, Linux is the way to go.

On balance, we believe that when you look at the differences between BlueHost and Lunarpages, that BlueHost is a better web host than Lunarpages. As the web host that is better than Lunarpages, BlueHost simply offers more features for the average hosting consumer at the same level of pricing. Both website hosting plan providers are good although BlueHost limits your MySQL databases to 100 (Lunarpages is unlimited).

In general, BlueHost is a better web hosting company than Lunarpages. To be fair, Lunarpages is a better web host than BlueHost if you are looking for free software. However, if you already have a website designed or need a new domain name, BlueHost is a great recommendation over Lunarpages. In addition, there are other Lunarpages BlueHost facts to consider.

While both web hosts generally receive good reviews by our users, and both companies are listed in our Top 10 hosting companies ranking, BlueHost receives better customer feedback when it comes to server uptime and reliability. Uptime is better for BlueHost versus Lunarpages. In addition, www.bluehost.com is also the larger web hosting provider with more domains hosted than Lunarpages. This suggests that their infrastructure is better built up since they have a larger customer base when compared to Lunarpages Hosting against which to amortize their data center infrastructure.

When reviewing BlueHost vs. Lunarpages, you will also discover that BlueHost has won more hosting awards, from third party hosting evaluation directories than HostGator. Now some of those directories have dubious reputations, but nonetheless when reviewing the online reputation of BlueHost versus Lunarpages, BlueHost emerges the winner.

BlueHost opinions by its customers are very favorable, and we receive far more positive opinions on BlueHost than we receive negative BlueHost opinions. With Lunarpages opinion poll, we generally also receive more position Lunarpages opinions that we do negative opinions of Lunarpages. However, BlueHost receives a net larger number of customer feedback versus Lunarpages, likely reflecting its bigger client base.

Specific BlueHost vs. Lunarpages Questions

As we get specific questions about comparing Lunarpages vs. BlueHost, we will post the BlueHost Lunarpages review answers here. When comparing BlueHost and Lunarpages, here are the questions people have asked so far.

What are the contract differences between Lunarpages vs. BlueHost?

Lunarpages prices their web hosting plan on a two year basis whereas the best price for BlueHost is on a two year plan. In general though, you will experience the best pricing for both Lunarpages and BlueHost is you can contract to a 2-year term. Keep in mind that the money back guarantee between BlueHost versus Lunarpages is the same; 30-days. If you want contract-free hosting, neither BlueHost nor Lunarpages offers this; try HostGator. instead.

Where are Lunarpages and BlueHost Inc. based?

Lunarpages is located in California. BlueHost is based in Utah.

Who is an older web host, Lunarpages or Bluehost?

Lunarpages is a younger company than BlueHost having been founded in 2000. BlueHost began offering hosting services in 1996.

Who is a larger hosting company - BlueHost or Lunarpages?

BlueHost is a larger hosting company vs. Lunarpages with approx 350,000 hosted domains. In contrast, Lunarpages has about 150,000 domains hosted through their service and that of their parent corporation, Add2Net, Inc.

Is Lunarpages a good web host?

In general, most of our readers have found Lunarpages to be a good web host.

Is BlueHost a good web host?

In general, most of our readers have found BlueHost to be a good web host. BlueHost is growing by more domains than Lunarpages so it is possible that their technical support may not match their growth rate.

Which would you choose for Windows hosting - BlueHost or Lunarpages?

Lunarpages is the only web host to offer Windows and Dedicated Servers. BlueHost offers one all-inclusive plan but unlike Lunarpages offers no other hosting products. Both companies can help you get merchant accounts and launch eCommerce stores.

Get Lunarpages Web Hosting Now

Get lunarpages web hosting Now