123 Reg vs IONOS (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, IONOS grades higher than 123 Reg: 1.8 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
IONOS grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
123 Reg
UK domain registrar with shared cPanel web hosting plans
IONOS
Shared and WordPress hosting with a domain, wildcard SSL and email
Which one is for you
Pick 123 Reg if
- Fits if you want a UK host with domain and email bundled for the first year
- Works for small sites that fit within 25GB to 100GB on shared hosting
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you stay past the term: £71.64 for 3 years of Economy becomes £251.64 on renewal
- Watch out: all prices exclude VAT
- Watch out: the free domain and free email apply to the first year only
- Tight if your site gets busy: 512MB to 2GB of shared RAM and 1 to 2 CPUs
- Watch out: phone and some other support are open only in UK office hours
Pick IONOS if
- Fits if you run several small sites and want them on one plan
- Works for SSH, git and WP-CLI on hosting that's $4 a month in year one
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need several mailboxes, as Essential has 1 and Ultimate 5, each with 2 GB
- Pricey if you pick Plus for the $1 year, since it renews at $14 a month
- Skip it if you want malware removed for you on a low plan, as that's Ultimate or WordPress Boost only
- Watch out: Essential goes from $4 to $8 a month after year one, and monthly no-minimum hosting shows no price
- Not for you if you want to try first, as there's no free plan or trial on record
How we grade them
| 1.6GPA123 RegWeak | 1.8GPAIONOSWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEconomy is £1.99 a month for the first 3 years, then £6.99 at renewal, roughly $9 and above the $5 where the cheaper quarter of hosting starts. Higher plans reach £15.99. | BEssential is $4 a month for the first year, then $8, so two years cost $144, about $6 a month, inside the cheaper quarter of hosts and just over the A line. Plus looks cheaper at $1, but it renews at $14, so two years come to $180. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial. The 14-day money-back guarantee isn't a trial. | FNothing free: there's no free plan and no trial on record, so you pay from day one. |
| Features | CcPanel, NVMe storage, one-click apps, backups, DDoS protection and a CDN. Shared RAM runs 512MB to 2GB, so busy sites may need Premium or VPS. | CUnlimited websites, NVMe storage, a domain, wildcard SSL, daily backups and malware scanning on every plan. The gaps the listing names: Essential has 1 mailbox, and malware removal waits for Ultimate. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. cPanel and app installers mean accounts and settings to work through. | CNo app store rating to go on. There's a personal consultant and 24/7 phone support, but there's still a site and email to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb control panel. WordPress, Magento, Joomla and Microsoft 365 are listed, with no apps or API. | CA web dashboard only. Its integrations are the apps it installs, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Jetpack, plus SSH and git, with no API on record. |
| Best for | UK shared hosting bundled with a domain | several small sites on one plan |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: 123 Reg and IONOS. How we grade
Price against what you get
123 Reg starts at about $2.67 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. IONOS starts at $4 a month and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and 123 Reg starts $1.33 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 7 score higher than 123 Reg for less, and 10 score higher than IONOS for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- 123 Reg also covers page speed.
- IONOS also covers malware protection.
At a glance
| 123 Reg | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | £6.99 per month at renewal (excluding VAT), after a first 3-year term at £1.99 per month | $8 per month at renewal (Essential), after a first year at $4 a month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | 123 Reg | IONOS Inc. |
| Price read from | 123-reg.co.uk | ionos.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
123 Reg
- The headline monthly price is a 3-year-term price that renews at roughly three times as much; the renewal figures are £6.99 to £15.99 a month.
- All prices exclude VAT, and the free domain and free email apply to the first year only.
- Shared plans have 512MB to 2GB of shared RAM and 1 to 2 CPUs, so busy sites may need Premium or VPS hosting.
- Phone and some other support channels are only open during UK office hours; the plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee.
IONOS
- Intro prices last the first year of a 1-year term: Plus goes from $1 to $14 a month and Essential from $4 to $8.
- Mailboxes are few: Essential includes 1 and Ultimate 5, each with 2 GB of storage.
- Automatic malware removal and unlimited SSL certificates need Ultimate on web hosting, or Boost ($17 a month after a first year at $12) on WordPress.
- IONOS also offers hosting with no minimum term, billed monthly with one month's notice, but the plan tables do not show its price.
Key features
123 Reg
- cPanel control panel
- The shared plans are managed through cPanel, with email accounts, subdomains, file uploads, SSL and resource usage in one dashboard.
- NVMe storage
- Plans range from 25GB to 100GB of NVMe storage, with bandwidth described as unmetered under the acceptable use policy.
- One-click app installs
- The page says more than 80 apps, including WordPress, Magento and Joomla, can be installed in one click, with site cloning and automatic updates.
- Domain and email included
- Annual plans include a domain for the first year and professional mailboxes of 1GB each. The Economy plan includes a one-year SSL certificate and the higher plans unlimited SSL.
- Backups and security
- Daily automated backups, DDoS protection and monitoring are listed on every plan, along with a CDN for faster delivery.
- Other hosting types
- Managed WordPress hosting, Premium Hosting, VPS (including Windows VPS with Plesk) and a website builder are sold alongside the shared plans.
IONOS
- Unlimited websites and NVMe storage
- Web hosting plans host any number of sites with unlimited traffic, on 100 GB to 500 GB of NVMe storage with more CPU priority on each tier.
- Domain, wildcard SSL and email
- Every plan includes a domain free for the first year, a wildcard DV certificate and 2 GB email accounts, from 1 on Essential to 5 on Ultimate.
- Backups and malware scanning
- Plans run daily backups, malware scanning and DDoS protection on geo-redundant servers. Ultimate adds advanced scanning with automatic removal.
- Developer access
- SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI, git version control, cron jobs and a choice of PHP 8.2 to 8.4 are included, with one-click installs for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.
- AI tools for WordPress
- Every WordPress plan includes an AI Website Builder, and Grow and Boost add an AI assistant that writes text, images, pages and blog posts.
- Personal consultant
- Customers get a personal consultant to guide them, alongside 24/7 support by phone, chat and email.
Plans
123 Reg
Economy£6.99
per month at renewal; first 3 years £1.99 a month, ex VAT
1 website, 25GB NVMe storage, 1 CPU, 512MB shared RAM and 1 mailbox. A 3-year term is £71.64 up front, then £251.64 on renewal.
Deluxe£8.99
per month at renewal; first 3 years £2.99 a month, ex VAT
Up to 10 websites, 50GB NVMe storage, 1 CPU, 1GB shared RAM and 2 mailboxes. A 3-year term is £107.64 up front, then £323.64 on renewal.
Ultimate£11.99
per month at renewal; first 3 years £4.99 a month, ex VAT
Up to 25 websites, 75GB NVMe storage, 2 CPUs, 1.5GB shared RAM and 3 mailboxes. A 3-year term is £179.64 up front, then £431.64 on renewal.
Maximum£15.99
per month at renewal; first 3 years £5.99 a month, ex VAT
Up to 50 websites, 100GB NVMe storage, 2 CPUs, 2GB shared RAM and 5 mailboxes. A 3-year term is £215.64 up front, then £575.64 on renewal.
IONOS
Essential$8
per month at renewal, after a first year at $4 a month
Web hosting with unlimited websites, 100 GB NVMe and 1 mailbox. $4 a month for the first year of a 1-year term, shown against a crossed-out $10.
Starter$10
per month at renewal, after a first year at $6 a month
200 GB NVMe, 3x server resources, 2 mailboxes and a CDN. $6 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $12.
Plus$14
per month at renewal, after a first year at $1 a month
350 GB NVMe, 5x server resources and 4 mailboxes. $1 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $16.
Ultimate$18
per month at renewal, after a first year at $10 a month
500 GB NVMe, 10x resources, 5 mailboxes, unlimited wildcard SSL and automatic malware removal. $10 a month for the first year.
WordPress Start$8
per month at renewal, after a first year at $5 a month
One managed WordPress site, 25 GB, automatic backups and the AI Website Builder. $5 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $9.
WordPress Grow$12
per month at renewal, after a first year at $1 a month
50 GB, 5 mailboxes, a year of Jetpack Vault and the AI Assistant for text, images and posts. $1 a month for the first year.
Ways to pay less
123 Reg
- Other savings
3-year term pricing
Locking in a 3-year Web Hosting plan is advertised as saving up to 57%; Economy costs £1.99 a month for the first term against £6.99 at renewal.
IONOS
- Other savings
First year of web hosting Plus at $1 a month
On a 1-year term the first year costs $1 a month for Plus, $4 for Essential, $6 for Starter and $10 for Ultimate, before $14, $8, $10 and $18 a month.
- Other savings
First year of WordPress Grow at $1 a month
On a 1-year term the first year costs $1 a month for Grow, $5 for Start and $12 for Boost, before $12, $8 and $17 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, 123 Reg or IONOS?
As of Nov 13, 2026, 123 Reg is cheaper to start with: about $2.67 a month, against $4 a month for IONOS. 123 Reg starts at £6.99 per month at renewal (excluding VAT), after a first 3-year term at £1.99 per month, and IONOS starts at $8 per month at renewal (Essential), after a first year at $4 a month.
Which has a free plan, 123 Reg or IONOS?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither 123 Reg nor IONOS has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.