123 Reg vs Strato (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, 123 Reg and Strato share a 1.6 GPA, neither has a free plan, and 123 Reg starts cheaper, at about $2.67 a month against about $5.36 a month.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
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 Strato if
- Fits if you want a domain and mailbox bundled with hosting
- Works for UK or European sites that run WordPress or Joomla
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you have several domains, as each package includes one and more cost extra
- Watch out: prices exclude VAT
- Watch out: the page says both a 6-month contract period and a 12-month minimum term
- Skip it if you want to try before paying, as there is no trial, only a money-back guarantee
- Watch out: DynDNS is not available on Basic Web
How we grade them
| 1.6GPA123 RegWeak | 1.6GPAStratoWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBasic Web is £4 a month excluding VAT, around the category's cheapest-quarter line once VAT and currency are counted. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan or trial. The 14-day money-back guarantee isn't a trial. | FNo free plan or trial; the 30-day money-back guarantee is not a trial. |
| 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. | CDomain and mailboxes, CMS installs, backups, malware scans and unlimited traffic, but one domain per package and no DynDNS on Basic. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. cPanel and app installers mean accounts and settings to work through. | CNo store rating on record, and you set up the site and CMS yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb control panel. WordPress, Magento, Joomla and Microsoft 365 are listed, with no apps or API. | CWeb only, with WordPress, Joomla, Typo3 and Drupal installs. |
| Best for | UK shared hosting bundled with a domain | hosting with a domain and mailbox included |
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 Strato. 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. Strato starts at about $5.36 a month and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and 123 Reg starts $2.69 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 7 score higher than 123 Reg for less, and 19 score higher than Strato 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 managed WordPress and page speed.
- Strato also covers databases and malware protection.
At a glance
| 123 Reg | Strato | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | £6.99 per month at renewal (excluding VAT), after a first 3-year term at £1.99 per month | £4 per month, ex. VAT (Basic Web) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | 123 Reg | STRATO GmbH |
| Price read from | 123-reg.co.uk | strato-hosting.co.uk |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
Strato
- Each package includes only one domain; more domains are optional extras.
- Prices exclude VAT, and the page says both a 6-month contract period and a 12-month minimum term.
- Strato runs separate country sites (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, UK); the .com site only redirects visitors.
- DynDNS is not available on the Basic Web package.
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.
Strato
- Domain and mailboxes included
- Each package includes one domain and mailboxes with webmail, spam filtering and virus protection.
- One-click CMS installs
- WordPress, Joomla, Typo3 and Drupal can be installed from the customer login, with git, Ruby, Python and Matomo also listed.
- Backups and malware scanning
- Backup Control makes website backups several times a day, and SiteGuard and a SiteLock scan check for malware.
- No traffic limit
- All four packages list unlimited traffic, SSD storage, SSL certificates and DDoS protection.
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- The UK site promises a refund for almost all products within the first 30 days, requested from the logged-in account.
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.
Strato
Basic Web£4.00
per month, ex. VAT
1 domain, 1 mailbox, 50 GB web space and 2 SSD databases.
Power Web£6.00
per month, ex. VAT
100 GB web space, 2 mailboxes, 25 SSD databases and Python and Ruby support.
Advanced Web£10.00
per month, ex. VAT
150 GB web space, 2 mailboxes, 50 SSD databases and 50 SFTP accounts.
Enterprise Web£15.00
per month, ex. VAT
200 GB web space, 5 mailboxes, 75 SSD databases and 80 SFTP accounts.
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.
Strato
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, 123 Reg or Strato?
As of Nov 13, 2026, 123 Reg is cheaper to start with: about $2.67 a month, against about $5.36 a month for Strato. 123 Reg starts at £6.99 per month at renewal (excluding VAT), after a first 3-year term at £1.99 per month, and Strato starts at £4 per month, ex. VAT (Basic Web).
Which has a free plan, 123 Reg or Strato?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither 123 Reg nor Strato 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.