Hosting Plans
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Are you in
search for a simple and inexpensive hosting solution? Netfirms hosting may be
just what you need. With a simple reasonable pricing for their plans and
friendly user interface, getting your new site up and running is now easier
than ever, with Netfirms.
The company was
founded about two decades ago in Ontario, Canada, by Thomas Savundra. Today, it
offers shared packages customers of all walks of life – small businesses to
advanced webmasters. Netfirms boasts over 1.2 million customers in the world
mainly due to the lower pricing of their services. The company has two data
centers in Toronto and NY with an experienced team that can help expand your
business.
In 2011, the
company was bought by EIG (Endurance International Group) which is a popular global conglomerate that owns various
hosting companies such as HostGator, HostMonster, Blue host and many others.
Netfirms has mainly made customers through
offering ideas online to beginners, making them fully understand how technology
and online business work and how they can achieve their dreams online. Over the
years, it has received many awards for its achievements. They have fewer but feature-packed packages
compared to other web hosts which makes them ideal for small businesses with
low traffic.
Even though
Netfirms is not necessarily the cheapest hosting provider around, its services
are generally worth the money. For instance, you get a multitude of domain
names if you go for the business plan. Other services you enjoy when purchasing
hosting services from this company include domain registration, marketing
services, and e-commerce features.
However, it’s worth noting that Netfirms does not offer advanced services like
cloud hosting, dedicated and reseller hosting. As such, it may not be an ideal
option for high-performance sites or
business-oriented individuals.
Need to launch
your small site without spending a lot? Keep reading our Netfirms hosting
review to learn more about its plans, features, FAQs, strengths, and weaknesses.
Netfirms offers
affordable hosting packages that most customers find valuable. The host specializes on two main hosting services namely;
shared hosting plans for new sites and VPS services for sites that require more
bandwidth and control. Despite offering reliable servers and helpful support, they lack dedicated hosting
and Windows-powered servers.
Netfirms is
determined to offer simple shared hosting to new businesses and sites with low
traffic. This makes these plans ideal for beginners looking for easy set-up procedure, web analytics, automated
backups, and other tools. The host offers
a 30-day money back guarantee on all its
plans in case you need to switch to a higher plan or want to stop their
services if you find them unsatisfactory. Some of the highlights of shared
hosting include unlimited disk space, unlimited sites, 24/7 support, scalable
bandwidth, and e-commerce tools. They are
also generous to their customers offering other loads of free features in their
shared plans, for example, one-click app
installer and ready to go websites. Unfortunately, this host does not provide short term billing.
Netfirms Shared
Plans are as follows:
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The Plus Plan
If you are looking to set up a
site quickly and without having to spend too much on it, then this is the best
plan for you. For only $4.45 a month, you will get to enjoy unlimited storage
and scalable bandwidth. The package comes with all of the necessary tools to
grow your online business such as e-commerce
plugins and CMS tools. However, you will be limited to 5 MySQL databases on
this plan which is quite inadequate for a fast-growing business.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry if you have no coding
experience as this package includes free
professionally built websites to choose from.
You can then customize them to your liking
and equip with the necessary tools to get your business running almost right
away.
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The Advantage Plan
Leveraging your brand online is only possible
if you adopt the right tools and options. This
is precisely what NetFirms includes on
its advantage plan. This package allows up to 200 MySQL databases, in addition
to the standard shared hosting features. Another plus point is the two free domains included here which will help to offset your charges as you expand
your websites. The plan is available for
$8.99 a month.
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The Business Plan
In order to keep up with your
online growth, a much broader hosting package is
required. NetFirms offers the
Business Plan as a solution to such needs. The package
is equipped with five free domains which are a
massive bargain on top of all the
features provided in the company’s standard hosting package. Unlimited MySQL databases further enhances this plan.
The Business Plan is available for $12.99 a month.
Every business
faces its unique set of web hosting needs. Often,
these needs cannot be supplemented by a single hosting plan; they
require tailored solutions. NetFirms VPS plans are designed to do just that.
Every VPS account comes with unrestricted root access so that you can run your own configuration as you see it fit.
NetFirms VPS is
Linux based and is offered on the OpenVZ
platform. The company properly maintains
its systems to keep everything up to date and with the necessary security
patches. Currently, the company has three
VPS plans:
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512 Plan
Just as the name
suggests, this VPS plan comes equipped
with 512 megabytes of RAM – while this might not sound like much, it will be
more than capable of running a few crucial programs
smoothly. The bandwidth is capped
at 1000 gigabytes. The single storage option also includes 20GB hard drive
storage. The plan is available for a monthly subscription of $33.
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1024 Plan
This plan
includes all the standard VPS features and a boost on hardware allocation from
the previous plan. You will get 1024MB
RAM which is more than sufficient for multitasking and 40GB for your data
storage needs. In terms of bandwidth, the plan
is capped at 1500GB. The 1024 plan costs $66 per month.
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2048 Plan
For $100,
NetFirms offers you 2048MBs of RAM with 60GBs of storage. This plan has its
bandwidth cap set at 2000GB which will be more than enough for your data
transfer needs.
Plan Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Currency | Admin panel | OS | Websites | Scripting | Email-Transport | Database | SSH | Databackups | Free Domain | 1-Click Installer | Websites Builder | Location | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Business | - | - | USD | Admin panel | ![]() |
Unlimited | Perl,Python,PHP | IMAP, POP3, SMTP | MySQL | ![]() |
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$ 10.99 |
Plus | - | - | USD | Admin panel | ![]() |
Unlimited | Perl,Python,PHP | IMAP, POP3, SMTP | MySQL | ![]() |
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$ 3.49 |
Advantage | - | - | USD | Admin panel | ![]() |
Unlimited | Perl,Python,PHP | IMAP, POP3, SMTP | MySQL | ![]() |
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$ 7.99 |
Plan Name | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Admin panel | OS | Cores | RAM | Core Speed | CPU | Backups | Managed | Location | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2048 | 60GB | 2000GB | WHM,cPanel | ![]() |
2 | 2GB | - | 2 Cores | ![]() |
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$ 100.00 |
1024 | 40GB | 1500GB | WHM,cPanel | ![]() |
1 | 1GB | - | 1 Core | ![]() |
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$ 66.00 |
512 | 20GB | 1000GB | WHM,cPanel | ![]() |
1 | 0.5GB | - | 1 Core | ![]() |
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$ 33.00 |
According to
Google’s latest stats on how we interact with the web, a visitor is more likely
to convert depending on how fast/responsive your site is. With this in mind,
hosting firms have been on an investment spree; millions spent in data center
infrastructure as well as content delivery networks. One such company is
NetFirms.
This web host
has invested a great deal in providing fast data transfer to and from their
servers, making them not only instantly available to any visitor but also
cutting down on bandwidth wastage.
We take a closer look at some of the features that the company
has added to boost the performance and speed of its hosting services.
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Clustered Hosting
At its core, this type of web hosting relies on
spreading the hosting load across multiple physical nodes. This feature allows
the hosting firm to set dedicated nodes to deal with specific loads, e.g.
email and MySQL. The end result of this
separation can be seen in the drastic
increase in uptime.
Another benefit
comes in the form of faster processing which includes increased computing
availability as the load is split across the nodes. This means data is processed at a much faster rate. The other
benefit is the decreased probability of the services interfering with each
other especially when running multiple loads. The load balancing service is
used to ensure that no single node gets overwhelmed while the rest are idle.
This is key in speeding up the hosting service while improving your website’s
performance and reliability.
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Unlimited Disk Space
Websites require
new content in order to remain relevant
and also increase the site’s ranking. These numerous updates obviously call for
more storage space as time goes by.
Luckily for you,
NetFirms offers unlimited storage with all its shared hosting plans. You can,
therefore, generate and upload quality multimedia content and add more features
to your website without fretting about running out of space. However, the
company insists that the function is
subject to their fair usage policy. This means it can, at its discretion,
request you to remove some of your files if your usage starts to affect other
sites hosted on the same server as yours.
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Applications on Demand
Netfirms is
committed to supporting you along the way
as your site grows. For this reason, the
company offers you a collection of some of the best applications on demand.
These include CMS packages such as WordPress and Joomla, bulletin board
packages, phpBB, and Commerce Pro. The hosting platform is also optimized to run these applications resulting in improved
performance smoothly. It also maintains a collection of optimization
scripts that will see your site record improved loading speeds.
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Multi-Website Hosting
NetFirms
supports multi-website hosting by providing all the tools you need to create
multiple websites in a single account. The company hopes that new and upcoming
entrepreneurs will take this opportunity to develop
several sites, each with its unique
content in order to build up traffic as
well as add new revenue streams.
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Sitelock Security
Netfirms ensures
that your site is free of malware and harmful codes through its Sitelock
protection feature. In case the tool finds any threat, you are alerted via
email or cpanel. The great news for
WordPress users is that the Sitelock firewall helps to scan any vulnerabilities
to prevent hackers that may be trying to bring down your site. What’s more,
you’ll enjoy increased conversions once you display the Sitelock Seal on your
site – to most customers, this is a symbol of protection.
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SSL Certificates
SSL certificates
offer a powerful and secure way to hide key organizations details. When installed on
the web server, the small data files (SSL) activate the https protocol (through
port 443) and the padlock to ensure secure connections from the server to browser.
As a result, customers feel more secure
on sites with SSL certificates (HTTPs). Nowadays, search engines have put more
value on SSL certificates and uses them
when ranking sites. Besides, browsers like Google Chrome now put
the “Not Secure” warning on sites without SSL certificates to discourage
customers from transacting on them.
Netfirms offers
various SSL certificates for their customers at reasonable
pricing. Acquire oneyou’re your business to increases
customer confidence and help drive more sales. All the SSL certificates
provided by this web host come with a warranty to ensure that the end user does
not incur losses in case they’re not satisfied with a particular service.
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Automatic Backups
For a site
undergoing continuous changes, back up is crucial in case you need to restore
some of the earlier files. Having a ready backup at any time gives you the
peace of mind as you know that your most important files are safe. The last
thing you want to wake up to is to find all your data lost due to hacks or
other attacks.
Netfirms offers
a solution for secure backup called Site Backup and Restore. This service comes
with a nicely organized interface for easy management of information. Most
importantly, you can rest assured that
all your crucial information is safe with them.
This hosting
company conducts backups every day for all sites and can support database
formats such as MySQL, MS SQL, and Oracle
among other ODBC –based engines. There are several plans for backup services
based on number of website protected, backups per day, and number of protected
databases.
Communication is
always crucial when transacting online. I can even count the many times I’ve
had to contact different support teams for issues related to my site and
client’s website over the years. This helps underline the importance of working
with a company that takes customer support very seriously.
Netfirms has a
24/7 support team that comprises friendly representatives to solve any queries
from users. Here, you can use various options to contact them including a live
chat, telephone support, and email
ticketing. Like most service providers, there are mixed reactions from users as
to whether the support is impressive or not. However, a majority say that you
may have to wait for quite some time before
getting a response from them. Nonetheless, a big section of reviewers say that
the company resolves almost every issue in the end which is a fairly good
thing.
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Knowledgebase
This is one area
that Netfirms shines - its knowledgebase is
packed with a comprehensive database and tutorials for clients to browse
through. This section offers helpful information on building websites, email,
domains, marketing, scripting, online security, WordPress and Content
Management Systems. Should you face common issues, you can find quick answers
here which may save you lots of time and even money.
The
troubleshooter helps you find the keywords to search for. Apart from the guides and articles availed in this area, you
can also get video tutorials which are even more resourceful. However, major
technical issues may require help from Netfirms customer support.
NetFirms offers
various options for its control panel option. On their shared hosting plans,
the company utilizes vDeck control panel. On their Virtual Private Servers
(VPS) plans, you can get a cPanel license for $10 a month. These two options
offer a lot in terms of versatility as
well as third-party software support. They are also equipped with the latest security
patches. Let’s take a look at some of the standard
features that can be accessed through
either of these two control panels:
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Software Installation and Configuration
A one-click applications installer can be located from the
control panel applications tab. The same tab
can be used to configure each individual
application and even uninstall them if a need arises. You can also easily
configure Apache and PHP installations right from your control panel and
without having to use the command line.
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User account management
Netfirms relies
on user-level permissions access. As a result,
you can control who can view or adjust specific
settings in your site. The same also comes in very handy when you want to
configure the FTP, control panel and email access.
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Email Access
You can access
your account’s email from the control panel. With this option, you’re able to create mass mailing orders, mailing lists,
as well as configure custom filters. This line of communication does help a lot
in keeping up to date with your customers to notify them of any ongoing
promotions or sales. Besides, you can rely on it when you want to get customer
feedback to help improve the underperforming areas of your site.
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Security configuration
NetFirms security
options can easily be updated on the
control panel. For example, use this tool to add new SSL certificates to
further guarantee the safety of your visitors.
Netfirms is
confident in the quality of its hosting services – this can be seen in their
offer of a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee which seeks to ensure customer
satisfaction. Like with most other top hosts, they offer a full refund except for domain fees. As a result, you keep
the domain even after you cancel the account. When you need to transfer to
another host, Netfirms also makes the process very easy for you.
Please note that
the money-back guarantee is only available if you paid via credit card.
Netfirms enables website
owners to set up properly looking online shops with all the necessary features like
checkouts and shopping carts. With its
business hosting as well as ShopSite, you have everything you need to set up a
quick and effective online shop.
ShopSite is easy
to set up and comes with numerous tips on how you can use it to run an online
shop. What’s more, you get demo products that give you a stage to test how the
products will appear before you can roll them out on your live site. The software is detailed but easy to use, and you can choose to show both digital and
physical products. For better management, ShopSite provides you with other
valuable services like customer retention tools including gift certificates,
newsletters and much more.
The Business
hosting plan is feature-rich with up to 5 free domain names, and over $100
Google PPC Credits to enable your site to acquire some traffic flow. Together
with ShopSite, you can easily run a robust ecommerce
site for your preferred online business.
Additionally,
Netfirms also offers Weebly with a simple drag-and-drop interface that makes it
ridiculously easy to add products to the store, upload images and much more.
The host accepts payments via PayPal and Google Checkout. As mentioned earlier
regarding security, you get automated daily backups, so you don’t have to worry about files or database loss. Better
yet, Netfirms offers users with SSL certificates at reasonable price to keep
clients’ information safe.
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Free one-click applications
You don’t have
to worry about installing most custom and third-party
applications, all thanks to the one-click
install feature supported by Netfirms. Use this feature to add more
functionality to your sites by installing plugins which have been scanned for security threats.
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Unlimited Email Addresses
NetFirms offers
unlimited email addresses with every hosting plan. Each email address is
limited to 500Mb or at least 10000 emails in
order to prevent storage over usage. The email platform supports
POP/IMAP accounts and can be configured
on any smart device in order to access
your mail on the go.
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Drag and Drop Site Builder
If you are
looking to start afresh with a new website, NetFirms has the right tools for you.
Their drag and drop website builder not only offers intuitive designs but also dramatically simplifies this rather odious
task. The builder has a well-documented
guide to help you customize your site as much as you like. There is also a vast collection of themes to
choose from, most of which are also
mobile friendly.
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MySQL
In order to serve your
customers more efficiently, you will need
to create new databases to save new
content and keep track of all your data. While NetFirms offers MySQL for this
function, it puts some limitations on the number of databases you can create
with each plan.
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Reliable uptime
The company does
not give any guarantees on uptime, which is unlike
most other hosts. The good part though is that since Endurance International
Group took up the company, it has seen remarkable improvements in uptime. Well,
this is nothing exceptional, but for the
price, it’s pretty solid. The host operates its own
data center and uses clustered hosting technology to minimize downtime.
Netfirms puts technology at its core and boasts some of the most powerful hosting infrastructures in the
market.
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Ease of use
The company puts
a huge deal of effort to ensure easy
navigation and use of their services. They have even created a proprietary
control panel which makes your online experience easy. With it, you control
what features you need included such as
Google Analytics, SSL, Google Webmaster tools, etc. the platform is easy to
navigate even for the customers who are not technological experts. They also
offer all the tools you need to create a website with an easy drag-and-drop
interface from Weebly as well as one-click installation on all open source
applications like Zencart, WordPress, Drupal and more.
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Ready-to-Go Websites
Another hosting
add-on that saves bloggers a lot of time is the ability to get a site up and
running effortlessly. Netfirms’ ready-to-go websites are ideal for beginners
who need a basic site that comes with-pre-populated content. You just need to publish it to get a site up and
running. If you are in a rush and don’t have time to create original content,
you’ll be glad to use these websites as they practically come ready from the start.
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Helpful Customer Service
Very few
companies promise to offer 24/7/365 support for their clients. And most of
those that do fail to live up to the promise. Netfirms says that its staff
undergoes thorough training before joining the support team. The team is
available online 24/7 to solve all your issues. You can reach them via their toll-free number 1 -888-334-3833. Though there
should be improvements in response times, your issue will almost always be
solved in the end.
Apart from phone
support, you can find them through live chat and email tickets. In case you
need quick answers for simple issues, the knowledgebase
is equipped with helpful guides and
tutorials. They also feature a blog which offers important updates and
articles.
You can also reach Netfirms via Facebook and Twitter
where they’re also quick to give feedbacks. Business level customers enjoy premium support.
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Exceptional Value
Netfirms says
that it has the size and leadership to offer affordable pricing to its
packages. Their packages are feature-rich to provide
immense value to clients. For starters, users get unlimited email
accounts with all packages. Some companies entice customer with a single free email account in the first year only to
charge exorbitant renewal fees. Luckily for you, Netfirms gives their customers
access to multiple accounts of emails to
ensure that you have an extra layer of professionalism on your site.
Not only that,
you get the free Google credits with all its plans. New clients receive a
generous $100 Google AdWords credit which Netfirms regards as a token gift for
choosing them over other hosts. On top of that, they provide $50 Facebook Ads
Credit, $25 Yahoo, and you might even receive Bing advertisement free facility.
The company ensures better pricing for its plans and has added a bunch of
helpful apps to make your experience more satisfying.
Additionally,
their shared hosting comes with unlimited websites, scalable bandwidth, unlimited disk space, and 24/7 support via multiple options.
Just like any
other host, Netfirms has its weaknesses.
Based on consumer analysis, we found that some customers are agitated by some
of Netfirms services. From the limited number of packages offered here to
unsatisfactory customer support, here are the things we didn’t like about
Netfirms.
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Shared Hosting Only
You may not
realize it at a glance, but Netfirms
offers very few hosting packages for its shared and VPS plans. This makes it a good fit for small businesses
but not for large and large enterprises that are continuously growing and
increasing demands for resources. Sure, it may work if you’re in the startup
phase of your business or if you do blogging for kicks and giggles. But if your
site can is already recording over 20k visitors a month, you may want to look
elsewhere for your hosting services.
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Terrible Load times
For most
clients, the biggest problem you’re likely to get into with this company is the
subpar loading times of its servers. Today, the speed of your website means
everything if you want to claim decent high-quality
traffic. Remember, more and more customers are bound to leave your site if it
takes more than 2 seconds to load. Unfortunately, Netfirms does not have the
speed to host sites with high traffic.
The company may
need to implement SSD hosting to ensure that their performance is at par with
other high-quality hosts. Luckily for
small business owners, the host may be a good
place to start. You will get the basic
resources to begin before you can think of upgrading to better alternatives.
Also, if you operate in the US, you may enjoy better load times as the host’s
servers are only located here.
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Fuzzy Refund Policy
A common injustice in the web
hosting space is unfulfilled money back guarantees. Most of these policies come
with ambiguous terms of service which has led to loss for ignorant customers. It’s until you request a refund that
you realize shortages or that the guarantee has been
nullified.
Unfortunately,
Netfirms doesn’t seem to do it differently. For example, only users that use
credit cards when purchasing hosting services the first time are eligible for a
money back guarantee. The worst part is that this condition is only indicated
in fine print which makes it difficult to know about it.
Are you
considering making Netfirms your hosting provider? You may need to consider your needs and determine whether the
several plans it offers can meet them. For individuals and small businesses,
this a good place to start but large corporations with massive needs are better
of trying out other alternatives.
We added a few
FAQs about Netfirms, to help you decide whether it’s the right host for you or
not.
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Who is Netfirms?
Netfirms
comprises of a group of professionals who
help users learn how to create their own websites and help maintain their
presence on the web. Since 1998, this company has been offering web hosting
solutions to business people across the globe. In
2011, it was bought by EIG and currently powers over 1.2 million
websites across the world.
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Does Netfirms offer guarantees?
Yes, Netfirms
offers a 30-day money back guarantee although it does not make it easily
visible. This cancellation policy covers all subscription fees minus fees for
the domain name.
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What is Netfirms uptime guarantee?
Netfirms does
not offer any uptime guarantees like many hosts.
However, customers report reliable uptime with relatively
fewer downtimes. The company prides itself in having a robust
infrastructure and servers. However, the hosting provider may not be
recommended for sites with high performance.
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Do they offer VPS hosting?
Netfirms has
partnered with SPRY to make VPS available to its customers. There are three VPS
plans which start at $33 to $100 a month. SPRY hosting allows you to configure
your account however you feel like.
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Can I create a WordPress site with Netfirms?
Whether you need
a small site or large ecommerce site,
there’s WordPress hosting solution from Netfirms which allows the creation of instant sites and blogs. On
purchasing one of their plans, you get access to numerous open-source
applications. The platform offers 1-click installation for most of these apps
with single click to enable you customize your site however you want. If you’d
like to focus more on your business and not on the technical aspect of your
business, consider requesting Netfirms’ managed WordPress hosting.
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Does Netfirms offer a control panel?
Yes, for users
of shared hosting, a vDeck control panel is provided. However, users of VPS may
have to spend $10 for a standard control panel.
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Do they offer a web builder?
Yes, if you need
site building tools for a site, you can find Weebly and WordPress builders. With
easy drag-and-drop interfaces, these builders help you easily design and
customize themes and plugins. You also get a quick start panel that lets you
edit HTML and design pages.
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What is their customer support like?
Netfirms offers
a 24/7 support via three main channels.
You can reach the team on live chat, phone or email tickets. Additionally, you
can look for answers in their knowledgebase which offers easy answers as you
only need to input your question in the search box for direct answers.
This web host
boasts a friendly support team that is
also knowledgeable on common site issues
that you may face. In case the representatives you’re dealing with finds your
questions complex, you’re transferred to other specialists.
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What is Netfirms Google Web hosting?
Netfirms offers
to integrate your domain with the G Suite offered
by Google. This ensures online video
meetings, storage, calendars and more. You also get the ability to access,
share and edit files regardless of your location. This service is ideal for
people who know more about Google tools already.
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What is a domain pointer?
A domain pointer
helps you move single and multiple domains to a single website. To use a domain
pointer, go to Netfirms domains tab where you can set up subdomains in the tab and manage different aspects of the
company.
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What are Netfirms alternatives?