EmailBest Reviewed
Web Hosting
- Best web hosting service WebstrikeSolutions.com *Est. $30
- Budget web hosting service PolurNET.com *Est. $5
- Best blog hosting service WordPress.com *Est. $0
- Free web hosting 50Webs.com *Est. $0
- Budget e-commerce hosting service Netfirms.com *Est. $10
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Budget e-commerce hosting service
- Price
- 24/7 support
- 99.995% uptime
- Multiple servers
- Windows extensions
- Inventory databases
- WordPress blog
- OSCommerce shopping cart
- Phone support not toll-free
- Some reports of slowdowns
- Technical support gets mixed reviews
Of the half-dozen services recommended in credible professional reviews, Netfirms is the only one that isn't disparaged in a high percentage of user reviews. Founded in 1998, the company's track record and low prices are praised by expert reviewers and customers alike. The base business plan includes 250 GB of disk space and a monthly transfer of up to 2,000 GB of data, 500 e-mail accounts, two domain names, an excellent shopping cart, and a WordPress business blog. Although Netfirms offers 24/7 support, telephone support is not toll-free -- one small drawback. If you just want to publish a small personal site, however, reviews recommend the less expensive PolurNET.com (*est. $5 per month).
We found the most credible review of Netfirms at Business Week, where the focus is on web hosts for small business website novices. The review of Netfirms at E-commerce Guide emphasizes the shopping cart. VistaInter reports on average site uptime at Netfirms, also publishing over 85 ratings from users – which bring up some problems. Reviews at Top Ten Reviews and Hosting Review are also useful.
Our Sources
After researching web hosts suitable for business owners without a lot of website experience, Catherine Holahan recommends Netfirms as "one of the best values on the Web for small businesses." The review notes that Netfirms is designed for ease of use, and provides generous disk space and bandwidth for a relatively low price.
Review: Big Help for Small Businesses, Catherine Holahan, Sept. 5, 2006
This review praises Netfirms for including the popular and well-reviewed OSCommerce shopping cart. Netfirms also earns kudos here for generous space and bandwidth.
Review: Review: Netfirm's Commerce Pro, Sean Michael Kerner, Jan. 2006
Site monitoring rates Netfirms as providing 99.995% uptime, but users have posted 50 positive ratings of Netfirms vs. 37 negative - not the best ratio for web hosts reviewed here. Quite a few of the most recent comments are full of complaints about downtime, slow sites and unsatisfactory technical support.
Review: Netfirms.com, Contributors to VistaInter.com
Netfirms is ranked in the middle of the pack here, ranked tenth in a list of 20 web hosts reviewed - but the review praises the control panel, 30-day money back guarantee, overall track record and the use of multiple servers to speed up sites and avoid downtime. Higher-ranked web hosts provide more convenient customer service.
Review: Netfirms Review, Editors of TopTenReviews.com
Netfirms doesn't seem to earn a place on any of the "top ten" lists at this big web-hosting review site, but does earn fairly high ratings (8 on a 10-point scale) for reliability, performance, value and customer support. The control panel isn't judged quite as good, and ratings based on customer feedback are also a bit lower - but there's no obvious explanation of how the ratings are established.
Review: Netfirms Hosting Review, Editors of Hosting-Review.com
