Overview

Hawk Host is one of the few reputable web hosting companies that is in the limelight for being an affordable web hosting solution. Not only this, hawkhost.com has a superb rating too from its customers. Online reviews show that this company offers amazing features such as generous discounts that are genuine. The company uses LiteSpeed server technology which is a better alternative compared to Apache which is slower for static content and PHP requests. Although Hawk Host provides LiteSpeed as a premium service, you should notice a big improvement in speed on your site when you get the service.

Do your hosting requirements fall under normal to slightly higher usage and need to cut down on the cost of your current web hosting plan? It’s probably the right time to transfer to more robust servers anyways. This company provides a variety of relatively cheap web hosting services including shared, dedicated, reseller and semi-dedicated plans. It also offers domain registration services and SSL certificates when needed.

The fact that they offer fewer hosting services is the main reason they make quality a priority. The company was founded in 2004 with its original brand name Devoted Host. It’s in 2008 that the founders decided to rebrand the company. As a relatively young company, this hosting providers powers more than 80,000 websites. They have 7 datacenters in the US, Asia and Europe. These data centers include:

-          Dallas, Texas

-          Singapore

-          New York City

-          Amsterdam, Netherlands

-          Los Angeles, California

-          Toronto, Canada

-          Hong Kong

Having numerous data centers means that your website is hosted at close proximity to a company’s data servers. No more losing customers for slow transfer of files between your host (website) and your customers.

This HawkHost review aims to shed more light on what the company offers in terms of plans, features, pros and cons as well as FAQs. Let’s get started.

HawkHost Hosting Plans

Just like any other hosting firm, HawkHost has a selection of hosting plans from which you can select the best fitting package. These packages are based on various product lines such as shared hosting, cloud servers, semi-dedicated hosting, and VPS. In the end, the consumer has much to choose from depending on their business’s hardware needs.

Shared Hosting

HawkHost offers shared architecture on their Linux based servers. The result of this is a pool of resources from which each account gets an allocation. These plans, therefore, tend to be cheaper compared to those that utilize dedicated computing power. Currently, these plans receive 1 CPU processing core, 1 Gb RAM, and up to 5MB/sec I/o. You can run up to 100 processes and up to 20 concurrent connections. There’s also a limit to the number of MYSQL connections which limits them to 25.

Primary Plan

This plan features unlimited bandwidth to ensure that your site serves any incoming traffic throughout the month. You also get unlimited databases and unlimited domains. This plan howeverlimits storage whereby you only get 10GB SSD disk space. The plan is going for $2.99 a month

Professional Plan

HawkHost offers a complete package of unlimited features in this package. These include unlimited SSD disk space, bandwidth, databases, domains and SSL certificates. The plan is retailing for $7.99.

HawkHost Cloud Servers

HawkHost cloud servers provide the ultimate blend of scalability and speed. This is possible by utilizing ultra-fast low-density servers and capacity changing tools on the entire framework. The firm uses redundant hardware, and backup dries to prevent data loss in case of hardware failure. Unlike traditional dedicated hosting whereby a customer had to incur huge upfront costs for the equipment this service is relatively cheap, and farther upgrades don’t require expensive hardware upgrade fees.

On the technical specifications, the company is offering various Linux distributions such as CentOS and Ubuntu. Server usage graphs and power management controls are also available, and you can even use the web-based shell console. The servers are connect through the 40Gbps connection.

1GB DAL

This plan has a 20 Gb SSD storage option, and 1 GB RAM, a single CPU powers the package and full root access are enabled. Regarding traffic, the account allows up to 1 Tb bandwidth. The plan has a $5 price tag per month.

2GB DAL

HawkHost equips these plans with up to 4 Gb SSD disk space and 2 Gb RAM, the CPU allocations still a single core while the bandwidth has a cap on the 2 TB limit. The plan is fetching $10 per month.

4Gb DAL

With $20 you can get this pan that features 60 Gb SSD storage, 4 GB RAM, 2 CPUs, and up to 3 TB full speed bandwidth. The plan also gets full root access.

8 Gb DAL

HawkHost offers this package with 100 Gb SSD storage ad 8 GB RAM. The computing power is set to 4 CPUs while the bandwidth has a limit cap set to 4 TB. The plan is currently going for $40 a month.

16 GB DAL

This plan packs 200 Gb SSD disk space, 16 Gb Ram and six cores worth of processing power. The bandwidth limit allows 5 Tb full speed traffic, and you also get full root access. The plan is starting at $80per month.

Semi-dedicated servers

For customers looking for more hosting without purchasing a full dedicated server, this company provides semi-dedicated servers. This package is between VPS and dedicated hosting and comes with fewer sites that they share. There are 2 major plans including:

Nestling

This plan starts at $15.99/mo. and offers 20 GB SSD disk space, SSD powered, unlimited bandwidth, free unlimited SSL certificates, 2GB memory and 2 full CPUs.

Talon

This plan is also SSD powered and priced at $39.99/mo. You also get unlimited bandwidth, free Memcached server, 2 full CPUs, 2GB Memory and free unlimited SSL certificates.

VPS hosting

Do you need more resources and stable environment for your site? HawkHost offers 3 different types of packages. All customers share common CPU on the host servers. Also, you need to pay an extra $10 for cPanel. The VPS packages include:

Basic

This one costs $18/mo. You get 1024 MB RAM, 30 GB space, SSD powered disk space and 1500 GB bandwidth.

Advanced

For this plan, users get 2048 MB memory, 40 GB space, SSD powered disk storage, 2000 GB bandwidth. This plan starts at $36/mo.

Super

This plan starts at $58.50 and comes with 3000 GB bandwidth, 50 GB space, is SSD powered and comes with an equal share of CPU space.

HawkHost Reseller Hosting

HawkHost reseller program offers competitive pricing that allows its resellers to compete with other hosting firms’ services. This is mainly because these reseller plans include hardware allocation similar to that of HawkHost’s shared hosting plans. The company offers what is commonly known as white label hosting which means that the firm provides anonymous domains and name servers. The company also offers white label branding on these plans.

HawkHost reseller plans include either cPanel or WHM access which acts as the dashboard for each account. This allows you to set custom nameservers and view resource usage across your entire package.

Bronze Plan

HawkHost’s standard reseller plan features 15 GB SSD disk space and unlimited bandwidth. The plan offers up to 50 cPanel accounts 0with WHM access as well. HawkHost also includes free Memcached server. The entire package is retailing for $12.99.

Silver Plan

With 30GB SSD disk space and limited bandwidth, this pan is merely a money maker. The package features 100 cPanel accounts, free WHMCS starter license, and free Memcached server. Currently, the plan is available for $25.99 per month.

Platinum Plan

This is the ultimate reseller plan from HawkHost. The package runs on 60 GB SSD disk space and has an unlimited bandwidth cap. Regarding cPanel accounts, each plan has 200 accounts. HawkHost also includes a free WHMCS starter license, a free dedicated IP address, and Memcached Server. The entire package costs $45.99 per month.

HawkHost Features

Performance and Speed

Gone are the days when one could simply trust a hosting company to provide ‘world-class’ performance. Truth is anyone shopping for a hosting service provider is more likely to get lost in the swamp that we have come to know as online marketing. This is because marketers usually rely on certain words and phrases that are bound to draw attention without necessarily uncovering the actual technical specifications for each plan.

HawkHost has for the last 14 years provided consistent performance just as their website claims. However, to get a clear picture of just how vast their innovations are we have to look at the key pointers namely performance and speed. These two are best put in terms of ping and load time, but instead, we will look into the individual features that help to maintain such impressive numbers.

Enterprise Grade SSD Storage

Solid state drive offers better performance and reliability compared to their counterparts HDDs. This is visible when it comes to read and write speeds with SSDs offering as much as a tenfold file transfer speed improvement. HawkHost’s servers run on these enterprise-grade SSD drives providing seamless operations.  The result is improved load time as the server can serve the requested files almost instantly. During peak traffic, your website will still maintain top performance thanks to the SSD caching capability.

Multiple Data Center Location

HawkHost has invested in three data centers; Dallas, New York, and Singapore. This unique placement allows the firm to serve a much broader population. The firm goes an extra step to let their customers choose which location is most ideal for them. You can, therefore, decide to host near your target population to enable maximum performance within the set location.

Memcached Server

Memcached relies on caching data and objects on database driven websites. The result is a drastic drop in external data source requests. Your site is thus able to serve requested data instantly. This reduction in load time not only reflects on the ping but also customer satisfaction rate. It is important to remember that Memcached is a free and open source software so bug fixes and patches are often, HawkHost continuously updates the software on their server side, but if you are having issues with the tool, you can disable it through the control panel.

Unlimited Bandwidth

Your website is bound to generate more traffic over time or at least that’s the expectation. In such a scenario it makes no sense why you would want to throttle your incoming traffic, and that’s why HawkHost is offering unlimited bandwidth on their hosting plans.

Intel Xeon Processors

HawkHost servers run on enterprise-grade Intel Xeon server processors that support virtualization and offer increased performance compared to their desktop counterparts. These servers are therefore more than capable of data crunch even through heavy traffic. Having a fast processor also ensures that database reliant services run on optimum speeds to prevent lagging.

99.9% uptime guarantee

As part of the company’s guarantee to its customers to offer industry-leading services, HawkHost is offering a 99.9% uptime guarantee.  Thanks to their substantial investment in networking infrastructure as well as software optimization customers can expect uninterrupted web hosting and at no additional cost. In case of downtime, its encouraged to request for credit. However, it’s important to remember that the guarantee is subject to their SLA.

Security

HawkHost boasts an experienced staff who monitor their servers all round the clock to ensure servers are safe. Additionally, the company uses diesel generators and UPS battery backups to ensure power redundancy in its data center. SSH access and custom cronjob support are also available in case you require secure yet easier management of your site.

Below are the main security features of HawkHost hosting provider:

SpamExperts Protection

HawkHost provides Spam protection which is crucial for sites with many email messages. This tool ensures that nearly 99% of all spam messages will not reach you so long as you are using your email as your domain name. The Spam protection tool uses an advanced approach that involves algorithms to differentiate real messages from click bait and spam.

External Application Firewall

As mentioned earlier, this company uses LiteSpeed Web servers which ensure higher performance and scalability. Another advantage is that these servers helps to prevent attacks that can be conducted by flooding the servers to consume space. LiteSpeed helps forward requests to external applications immediately after such attacks which may help alert the client before the whole system is severely degraded.

SSL Certificates

HawkHost is one of the few web hosts that provide a free SSL upon registration thanks to their partnership with Let’s Encrypt. This company has collaborated with many web hosts to provide free digitally signed SSL certificates. This is a huge benefit to users who do not want to spend on one. The good thing is the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate renews automatically. This web host also offers high quality paid SSL certificates. Since 2015, Google makes it compulsory to have an SSL certificate for website citing that it keeps customers info safe. Additionally, having a quality certificate can help boost your site’s ranking.

CloudFlare Integration

Besides boosting your website’s performance, Cloudflare delivers unmatched security. The cloudflare protection platform features a myriad of security features such as web application firewall and DDoS attack mitigation. What’s more, it takes 2 clicks to enable this service on any subdomain or domain name.

Other security features include:

-          Sitelock protection for scanning and removing malware

-          Automatic software upgrades

-          ID protection which hides your personal information to prevent spammers from locating your email address and spamming your inbox.

Backups

Backups are vital to restore your website after an attack or when you need to undo changes you made on site.  HawkHost utilizes R1Soft backup software to back up your site, with weekly backups of everything from emails to entire backups.  This host also carries out automatic backups each night and makes them retrievable on their servers via the cPanel. It is recommended that you keep a copy of your files to use them in case of data loss or issues with upgrades.

HawkHost control Panel

Your control panel acts as a guide through which you can configure just about anything on your account as well as hosted websites. As a result, this web-based GUI is expected to provide easy navigation and quick access to standard tools and other technical configurations. HawkHost relies on third-party control panel programs to manage their various hosting options. If you are on the shared plans, you automatically get the famous cPanel while VPS plans run on WHM. These choices offer almost similar capabilities and are best suited for their plans.

The cPanel option currently being offered by HawkHost includes the latest updates and a host of features such as:

Email Management

HawkHost offers unlimited email accounts with each plan which come in handy when setting up reliable communication paths with your customers and during collaborative work. The tool can create unlimited forwards, as well as accommodate unlimited incoming emails. You also get a free copy of SpamExperts. The service is accessible anywhere on Webmail secured login.

One Click Software Installations

HawkHost offers a centralized solution through which you can add farther functionality to a website by either installing third-party add-ons or custom scripts. This is made possible by the one-click software installation process that ’s not only hustle free but also requires any technical programming skills. The store hosts a sizeable collection of such apps listed and ranked according to the community’s feedback.

MySQL/ MariaDB Databases Management

HawkHost virtualization technology is specifically tuned to run MySQL and MariaDB database frameworks. The company, therefore, gives special attention to the database panel making it possible to manage all of your databases from this single tab.

Python, PHP, and Ruby Version Selector

HawkHost supports numerous programming languages such as Python, Ruby, and PHP. Depending on your API you might want to choose the different version for each rather than the default options which might be incompatible with your web apps.

Cron Jobs and SSH Access

You can use the Cron jobs tab to automate some of the recurring procedures in web management. On the other hand, the SSH access which is a UNIX-based interface grants remote access to your hosting account via remote computers.

Customer support

Often, you come across issues with your web host. Such issues include when you need backups, when server goes down, slow loading speeds and much more. That is why you need a fast, courteous and knowledgeable support with replies. Typically, Hawk Host uses a unique server system setup to let users know when there’s maintenance, or downtime. The hosting provider says that all customers are treated equally hence everyone receives equal level of support, regardless of technical background.

Surprisingly, this company does not offer phone support nor live chat. Instead, they provide a help desk (https://support.hawkhost.com) where they respond in minutes. Hawk Host also offers 24/7 customer support through an extensive ticket system but this is for sales and technical support. They keep updating your ticket until your query is completely solved. This company has active social media accounts on Facebook, Google+ and twitter where they handle simple questions and give updates. They also offer helpful information on their occasionally-updated blog regarding website building trends, news, tips and tools. You can also try out their forum which has over 6700 posts and has 15k members. Although the forum is nearly dormant, it still gets a few conversations.

Ecommerce features

Hawk host is yet to offer a complete package for ecommerce but has numerous features that make them ideal for online business. First, this host accepts a variety of payment methods including credit card payments and PayPal. The good news is you can use Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash on Hawkhost. The servers is compatible with almost every open-sourced e-commerce apps available. In case you have an ecommerce site that needs greater management, you can purchase an SSL certificate from this host. Hawkhost offers premium SSL certificates such as 256 bit AlphaSSL which starts at $14.99 per year. Other SSL certificates you get at HawkHost include domain SSL for $84/yr., Organizational SSL ($89.99/yr.) and Extended SSL which starts at $399.99/yr. Having as SSL certificate badge on your site is a sign that you value clients’ personal information. Finally, you can also access the Cube Cart, OS Commerce Software and Zen Cart where you can build an online shop at an affordable cost.

30-day Money Back Guarantee

Not every customer will be satisfied with the service offered here probably due to slow loading speeds or choosing the wrong plan. This is why a refund policy is important to prevent loss. The company promises to refund all subscription fees in case you request for a refund in the first 30 days. Remember to check their terms of service because they exclude refunds for add-ons, domain registration and SSL certificates.

HawkHost Extras

Free Migration Support

HawkHost’s free migration team is always ready to move your site from the previous host to their platform, and the service is available 24/7.

CloudFlare Optimization

HawkHost has an ongoing partnership with CloudFlare that provides the CDN’s Cloudflare optimization technology to their data centers. These countless performance improvements affect all websites hosted on the platform.

Multiple CMS Support

HawkHost offers various content management system packages from WordPress to Magento. You can also go with the Joomla option that offers model-view web building capability.

Free Unlimited SSL Certificates

HawkHost provides free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates which are easy to configure through the cPanel security option. These provide web encrypting on all of your website’s traffic.

Unlimited Hosting

HawkHost provides unlimited addon domains capabilities and unlimited parked domains. The sub-domains option is also unlimited, and you also get a domain redirect option.

Cryptocurrency Support

HawkHost accepts bitcoin and bitcoin cash for any payment on the platform.

Hawk Host Pros and Cons

HawkHost provides excellent features such as unlimited domains, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited database. On the flipside, this host lacks a live chat support. We will take you through their pros and cons to help you decide.

Pros

Responsive Support

Need a hosting provider that offers replies to queries fast? Hawk Host might be your kind of host. Their customer care is available 24/7/364 but they lack the phone and live chat. Nevertheless, customers who contact the company via email get response within a short time. For complex issues that require some steps and discussions, your ticket is renewed until you get a solution. You will be impressed by how courteous and knowledgeable their support is and how fast they work on your issues. Another direct way to contact HawkHost is through their help desk although this is mainly used by the sales team. The host has an extensive forum that boasts 15,000 users and over 6500 posts. You can also explore the knowledgebase for solutions to minor issues. This company also updates its blog occasionally to educate users.

Reliable

Regardless of your budget and the company you choose, you need to ensure that you will be placed on a reliable server that doesn’t frustrate your customers. It is therefore recommended that you request for an uptime report. This will give you an idea of how reliable the web host is. That said, HawkHost does give a guarantee of 99.9% for shared hosting. This company uses an advanced web server solution “Litespeed” which performs faster than Apache, the world most popular web server software. Litespeed also boasts a variety of security features such as DDoS protection and free MOD security.

A majority of customers do not report outages and therefore this platform is stable. In case of any expected outages, the host communicates to its clients through their website or/and social media in advance. They have data centers in the US, Amsterdam and Singapore. The 6 centers have been connected by a strong network and a complete backup to prevent outages. If you experience downtime due to issues with the server or data center, the host gives discounts in your next monthly bill.

Value

Despite offering affordable hosting, HawkHost adds value to their hosting plans. For instance, the host offers a total of 4 shared hosting plans starting at 3.29/mo for the entry level plan. This is one of the cheapest hosting service for people who need to spend less. One unbeatable feature with hawkhost is you are not forced to purchase yearly plans. Instead, they offer monthly, and quarterly which is extremely useful if you are on budget and need to try them out. The platform also offers a free SSL certificate so if you plan to start an online shop, HawkHost could be the best bet. Users also get a free domain name which may mean a lot to beginners. The best thing is you can access SSH for free with any shared hosting plan. Mid-level users will be impressed with the semi-dedicated hosting which offers greater resources. They offer numerous discounts which makes them even cheaper. As if that is not enough, you can still make more discounts at Hawkhost through coupons. HawkHost provides a 30 day money back guarantee so you are free to switch within the first 30 days.

Reputable host

Most users with Hawkhost hosting service express satisfaction with lots of positive comments. What sets the host from the crowd is their excellent features, fast web server and affordable packages for small businesses. They have in business for the last 14 years and seems to have understood the market already. The company emphasizes on offering honest and reliable service to any size of business. It’s worth a try if you require affordable and reliable option.

Cons

No Live chat

As much as their customer support is far much ahead of most web hosts, they lack a live chat. Though considered traditional, live chatting is arguably the quickest method to reach the customer care in case of urgent queries. While this is a disappointment, you will be happy to learn that the support is available on multiple platforms such as social media accounts like twitter.

Pricing

If you’re paying on a yearly basis, then it is a fair deal. However, paying on a monthly basis might be a bit higher. Besides, you need to pay large upfront payments before signing up for their package. If you compare it to other web host, the high-end prices are a real deal breaker. Another notable addition is the cPanel which comes at an extra fee.

HawkHost FAQs
Below is a few questions that users ask about HawkHost.

Can I get HawkHost phone support?

No. HawkHost ensures 24/7 support via email, help desk or you could consult the knowledgebase. The host communicates to its customers via a server status page and sometimes use the social media.

Do they set up accounts on weekends?

The host sets up accounts on a 24/7 basis. All orders are manually verified by HawkHost staff to prevent fraud. The host says that account set up takes 1-2 hours to set up for shared and reseller accounts. If you need a VPS account, it may take up to 24 hours but that depends with the configuration you order.

Can I get the Zend Framework on Hawk Host?

Yes, it’s available on shared and reseller servers. You can install it by using the cPanel so that you can access Softaculous. Softaculous makes it quick and easy to install Zend via a one-click installer. In case you face issues during the installation, you can submit a ticket to get help.

Does HawkHost accept any cryptocurrencies?

Yes, the host accepts Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

Do they offer any refund policy?

Yes, this web host offers a 30 day money back guarantee on all hosting plans. This means that you can choose plans within the first month. In case you’re satisfied, you can submit a request to cancel the plan. No questions asked. Note that the refund does not include any add-ons, domain registration and SSL certificate.

Does HawkHost offer SSL certificates?

Yes, Hawk Host does provide SSL certificates. Apart from a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, you can purchase one on the platform. You can choose from a variety of SSL certificates including domain validated, company, extended, wildcard as well as multi-domain SSL certificates.

Does Hawk Host support PHP?
Yes, hawkhost supports all versions of PHP starting from 5.2 to 7.2. You can easily create and develop PHP sites using hawk host web hosting.

Which servers does HawkHost use?

This platform uses the most powerful LiteSpeed which has excellent performance and powerful security.  The server is lightweight and is compatible with most software applications. LiteSpeed web server offers accelerated speed and can support a majority of con current users.

Does Hawk Host offer uptime guarantee?

Yes, they give an uptime guarantee of 99%. HawkHost has created a good name for ensuring no or less downtime. They feature a decent performance and boasts a good like most other top web hosts. In case of downtimes that occur as a result of server issues or data centers, HawkHost promises to refund by discounting your next monthly bill.

How many data centers do they have?

Hawk Host has 7 centers at various parts of the world. The data centers include Dallas, New York City, Singapore, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Toronto. Your site is hosted to the nearest server to ensure faster transfer of files to your visitors. Precisely, the closer the server to you, the faster the loading speeds.

Does HawkHost provide a cPanel?

Yes, this company provides a control panel to simplify the management process. They provide users with a multi-lingual cPanel to choose the language they want. The cPanel is extremely easy to use and you do not need to have any experience to operate the tool. All reseller plans come with a cPanel –WHM. Those with VPS also receive a customized control panel. However, they have other better channels for these category users.

Which content management system does Hawk host support?

As with other hosting providers, Hawkhost offers various CMSs. The common software include Joomla, Magento, WordPress and Drupal. On top of that, you get a myriad off system-specific tools which can be installed via one-click installation.

Is there Cloudflare integration?
Each hawk host plan is ready to use Cloudflare. Having this Content Delivery Network (CDN), means that you won’t experience issues with configuration. Additionally, it helps boosts the loading speeds because you are connected to the closest server. Another perk of having a CDN is improved security thanks to the firewall. Just activate the CDN in the HawkHost cPanel to experience a boost of speed on our website.

Do they offer free migration?

Yes, you can move to Hawk Host platform for free from another company. The company offers free expert support to help transfer WordPress accounts. They servers are so optimized that the transfer of a WordPress site becomes easy and may not take your site down for long. All hosting plans come with free migration support. So, if you want to experience affordable plans, unmatched loading speed and responsive support, you can transfer to hawk host at no cost.

Can I get a site builder?

Yes, the company offers Weebly site builder for all their plans. This builder is reputable among top web hosts due to the numerous plugins and themes you get. With Weebly site builder, you can access the recent e-commerce supported software and so you can create an online store with ease.

Does HawkHost offer WordPress hosting?

Yes, you can enjoy WordPress services at HawkHost. It takes a couple of minutes to install a WordPress website. The servers have been optimized for WordPress so that users can have a much better experience.

Do they perform automatic backups?

Yes, HawkHost offers daily R1 soft backups to keep you at peace just in case your site goes down or due to data loss. The good news is you can schedule the latest data through the cPanel for free.

Is it a secure platform?

Yes, HawkHost ensures that all servers are safe through 24/7 server monitoring. Additionally, they use application firewalls that prevent attacks and notifies the users of any threats. Additionally, this host provides a free SSL certificate for each account which ensures data security between the browser and the server. Other security features you get include Sitelock protection, regular software updates and Cloudflare.