Methodology

Performance data alone does not tell the whole story. That is why we aggregate customer reviews and ratings from four independent, trusted platforms:

• Google Reviews — the largest review database, reflecting experiences of a broad user base
• Trustpilot — a leading review platform with strong presence in Europe and globally
• G2 — focused on business and technology users, providing in-depth software reviews
• Capterra — a platform used by professionals comparing business software and services

How we calculate the overall rating

For each hosting provider, we collect the average rating and the number of reviews from each platform. The overall rating displayed on Prehost.com is a weighted average — each platform's score is weighted by its number of reviews. This means that platforms with more reviews have a proportionally greater influence on the final score, reflecting the breadth of real user feedback.

Why multiple sources matter

No single review platform gives a complete picture. Google has the broadest reach but reviews can be brief. Trustpilot has robust verification processes. G2 and Capterra attract technical and business users who evaluate hosting from a professional perspective. By combining all four, we minimize the bias inherent in any single source and provide a well-rounded view of customer satisfaction.

Transparency on each provider page

On every hosting provider page, you can see the aggregated rating as well as a breakdown by platform — including the individual score and review count from each source. We also display historical trends so you can observe how customer sentiment changes over time.

In addition to aggregated data, our team personally tests and evaluates every hosting provider in our database. Each provider undergoes a thorough expert review that is published on its dedicated page on Prehost.com.

What we test

• Sign-up & onboarding — how easy it is to create an account, choose a plan, and set up hosting for the first time
• Control panel & usability — the intuitiveness and functionality of the hosting management interface (cPanel, Plesk, custom panel, or other)
• Features in practice — whether advertised features like free SSL, site migration, automated backups, and one-click installs work as promised
• Customer support — we contact support teams through available channels (live chat, tickets, phone, email) and evaluate response time, knowledge, and helpfulness
• Real-world performance — we verify server uptime, response speed, and whether the provider delivers on its performance promises
• Value for money — we assess whether the price aligns with the actual quality of service and features provided

Independence of expert reviews

Our expert review is conducted independently from both the CrUX performance data and the customer review aggregation. It represents our own, documented assessment based on direct experience with each hosting service. This three-pronged approach — data-driven performance metrics, aggregated customer feedback, and expert hands-on evaluation — ensures that our assessments are comprehensive and reliable.

We maintain a detailed catalogue of over 1291 hosting plans from 42+ providers worldwide. Each plan is analyzed, catalogued, and regularly verified to ensure the data you see on Prehost.com is accurate and up to date.

Our only source: official provider websites

We exclusively use the official website of each hosting provider as our data source. We never rely on third-party comparison sites, affiliate blogs, or marketing materials. If the information is not clearly stated on the official website, we do not guess or assume.

What we catalogue for each plan

• Pricing — promotional and regular monthly price in the provider's native currency
• Infrastructure — disk space, disk type (HDD/SSD/NVMe), bandwidth, CPU, RAM
• Management — control panel type, operating system, web server software
• Features — SSL, free domain, site migration, money-back guarantee, SSH access, WP-CLI
• Performance — HTTP/2, HTTP/3, Redis, CDN, network speed
• Security — DDoS protection, anti-spam, antivirus
• Email — mailboxes, aliases, webmail, autoresponders, calendar
• Support — available channels (email, chat, phone) and SLA guarantees
• Server locations — geographic locations of available data centers

Direct verification with providers

When specific plan parameters are not publicly available on the provider's website — such as exact server hardware specifications, backup frequency, or network speed — we contact the hosting provider directly through their support channels to obtain accurate information. We do not leave data fields empty based on assumptions; instead, we make the effort to verify every detail.

Regular updates

Hosting providers frequently change their plans, prices, and features. We monitor these changes and update our database regularly to reflect the current state of each provider's offering. When a provider launches new plans or discontinues existing ones, we update our catalogue accordingly.

Our hosting rankings combine all the data sources described above into a unified evaluation framework. Each ranking on Prehost.com is built using a defined set of criteria:

• Performance score — based on TTFB P75 data from Google CrUX, weighted by the number of analyzed websites
• Customer satisfaction — the aggregated rating from Google, Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra
• Plan features & value — what the provider offers in terms of features, resources, and pricing relative to the competition
• Expert assessment — our hands-on evaluation of the service quality, usability, and support

Rankings are filtered by hosting type (shared, VPS, cloud, dedicated, WordPress, reseller, email) and may apply additional criteria relevant to the specific category. The ranking positions are recalculated monthly as new data becomes available.

Transparency and editorial independence

While Prehost.com participates in affiliate programs with some hosting providers, this has absolutely no influence on our rankings, ratings, or reviews. Affiliate relationships are disclosed, and our editorial process is completely independent from commercial partnerships. A provider with an affiliate program receives the same objective evaluation as one without.

All data on Prehost.com is updated on a monthly cycle:

• TTFB & performance data — refreshed monthly from the latest Google CrUX dataset release
• Customer reviews & ratings — re-collected monthly from Google, Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra
• Hosting plan details — verified regularly against official provider websites; major changes reflected promptly
• Rankings — recalculated monthly based on the latest available data

Historical trends are preserved on each hosting provider page, allowing you to see how performance and customer satisfaction evolve over time. New hosting providers are added to our database on an ongoing basis as we expand our coverage.