Written by: Jordan Sprogis
Edited by: Lillian Castro
Reviewed by: Cristian Lopez
TL; DR: Finding a hosting provider is no longer a walk in the park; instead, it’s a jungle out there. Now there are several hosting solutions, various site builders, domain purchases, and learning how to configure your site — which is especially daunting for the less tech-savvy folk or SMBs that need to get their name and product out there, stat. Introducing ThisHosting.Rocks: Andrey Niskilov, Chief Content Officer, told us about how ThisHosting.Rocks aims to simplify the web hosting experience for newcomers, from in-depth reviews to coupons and a knowledge base of industry-specific terms.
When our ancestors first discovered fire, they used it as a resource for heat and protection. It wasn’t until another 1.2 million years before humans started using fire to cook. From the Paleolithic to Neolithic eras, our hominid cousins evolved with fire, placing raw meat directly into the fire for a quick meal to building massive smokehouses that could serve an entire village.
It’s hard to believe that it took millions of years for our human ancestors to use fire this way, but it only took 66 years from our first flight to successfully landing the first man on the moon. Experts estimate the speed of technology and its capabilities are doubling approximately every two years. Some believe these advancements go hand in hand, suggesting that as we adapt, technology progresses, which in turn enhances our ingenuity.
Modern civilization seems to be racing to the top, to NVMe drives, generative AI, and the new-age gold that is microchips, and the web hosting industry is keeping pace. Now, with countless providers from around the world, each offering various packages and features, hosting a website requires many more steps.
That’s where ThisHosting.Rocks comes in. Similar to what we do here at HostingAdvice, ThisHosting.Rocks aims to simplify the web hosting experience by providing easy-to-understand guides and honest reviews, emphasizing unbiased information.
“You can’t really find a good fit for a hosting provider with a 5-minute search, sadly. Even if all the recommended hosting providers you find are good, their plans and offers might still not be a good fit for you,” Andrey Niskilov, Chief Content Officer, said. “We recommend you should always read up on reviews, read the history of the hosting provider, and check the features they offer and the limitations they have, if any.”
The Key to Finding the Right Provider
I’ll be the first to admit that price plays a huge role in almost every product I buy.
But even amid the shrinkflation we’re all facing, I know there’s truth to the saying, “You get what you pay for.” That free hosting plan may be tempting, but it won’t offer the customization, ad-free experience, or speed you need. And when you’re running a small business, cutting corners isn’t an option — because your customers will notice.
Andrey recommends sticking with hosting providers that are staying agile within the tech space. This includes offering NVMes over traditional HDDs and reliable, newer-generation CPUs for dedicated and cloud servers.
“I would consider this essential based on today’s standards, especially for cloud hosting,” Andrey said. “Cloud hosting providers quickly adapt to new technologies, which is a win for everyone.”
Believe it or not, back in the day, you’d have to wait a few business days or even weeks for your site to go live. Site deployment was much slower some decades ago due to unsophisticated architectures, so it’s not that hosting providers were cutting corners — we just weren’t there technologically yet.
That said, scalability is another crucial feature that should be the default.
“Other technologies that providers have started using more frequently are containerization like Docker and orchestration like Kubernetes. This allows both hosting providers and clients to easily manage their plans, scale, and deploy in seconds,” said Andrey.
Based on ThisHosting.Rocks’ research, Andrey recommends tried-and-true providers, such as Linode, Vultr, and DigitalOcean. (Feel free to check out its full list of detailed reviews for hosting providers and apps if you’re interested in exploring other reliable hosts.)
Becoming familiar with the core features each type of provider should offer is imperative, Andrey said. Managed hosting, for example, is perfect for newcomers to web hosting because the hosting provider handles all backend and technical configurations.
And yet, Andrey warns that managed hosting is more difficult because customer support plays a significant role. So before jumping in, see what kind of customer service managed hosting providers offer. Are they available seven days a week? Do they speak your language? Are you speaking with chatbots or actual humans?
“You should really do more research and digging when choosing a hosting provider,” Andrey continued. “Check review websites like ThisHosting.Rocks and HostingAdvice; check reviews on social media and forums; and be careful of fake reviews and sponsored ‘top 10’ lists.”
Hosting Isn’t What It Once Was (That’s a Good Thing)
ThisHosting.Rocks may be one of the best examples we’ve ever seen of leveraging its unique TLD, but it’s also a sight for sore eyes for those who just want a simple explanation as they enter the web hosting world.
Andrey said ThisHosting.Rocks’ mission stems from the ever-changing landscape of technology, especially as AI has begun to infiltrate the web hosting market.
“I’m really excited for the future of the hosting industry,” Andrey said. “I think we’ll get some really creative and useful — and sometimes bad — services and apps with the power of AI.”
Moreover, ThisHosting.Rocks stays agile by following the trends of some of the industry’s biggest names and using Tiny RSSes (an open-source web-based news feed reader and aggregator) across hundreds of industry blogs.
“The most trendy new technology that hosting providers are using today is AI live support. Most of them use it for live chat, but some use it for the ticketing support system,” Andrey said. “Live chat support is essential today, so some providers see an easy ‘way out’ by using AI chat assistants.”
Andrey noted that this is helpful for some customer issues, but chatbots shouldn’t be the default for customer service. Real humans should be available, a fact that some providers have lost sight of. In fact, 19% of surveyed businesses regularly use chatbots for customer support.
“I think we’re already familiar with all hosting providers that exist today, so we’re generally aware of their basic reputations,” Andrey said. “If they have a positive reputation, then we’ll look into them in more detail and review them.”
ThisHosting.Rocks can’t be bought, though. It’s committed to being an impartial and ethical source for hosting reviews, so it refrains from reviewing providers with negative feedback or low ratings. Or, as Andrey put it: They’re not worth promoting in any shape or form.
The Future Is Bright
Despite being less than a decade old, ThisHosting.Rocks provides extensive guides and reviews covering various topics, from Linux to web hosting practices, cybersecurity, and open-source developments.
Andrey also revealed the company is gearing up to introduce a new service to maximize value and provide consumers with valuable insights.
“It will follow the hosting provider’s official website to detect changes in their offers, reviews about them, downtime, and other important information,” Andrey explained. “It will make it easier for both us and our readers to research a hosting provider.”
This service is still in its early stages, so a release date isn’t finalized, but it’s something the dev team is actively working on to launch soon.
As a final note, Andrey wanted to offer some advice to curious customers within the web hosting space (and it’s something that we at HostingAdvice couldn’t agree with more).
“Don’t just go straight for the provider recommendations. You’d also need to do some research on what exactly you’d need, what to look out for, how to research, and more,” said Andrey. “We try to make it as easy as possible with our content and reviews, but some extra research is always recommended.”
Whether you’re in the market for a new hosting provider or it’s your first time building a website, ThisHosting.Rocks offers a plethora of reviews, coupons and discounts, and a knowledge base for everything hosting-related.
