20i vs IONOS (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, IONOS grades higher than 20i: 1.8 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 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.
IONOS
Shared and WordPress hosting with a domain, wildcard SSL and email
Which one is for you
Pick 20i if
- Fits if you want a UK host with a monthly plan and no contract
- Makes sense if you resell or run many sites and want plans that scale
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a trial or free tier, as there is none
- Tight if you host more than one site, since Startup and Plan 1 allow one
- Pricey as you grow, because plans jump from £10 to £300 a month
- Watch out: prices are in pounds, and the page does not state refund terms for the £1 month
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
| 1.6GPA20iWeak | 1.8GPAIONOSWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStartup is £10 a month at renewal, around $13, between the $11 middle and the $19 dearer-quarter line for web hosts. The first month is £1. | 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 £1 first month is a discount, not a trial. | FNothing free: there's no free plan and no trial on record, so you pay from day one. |
| Features | CAutoscaling, a CDN, backups, malware scanning and free migration. The entry plan hosts one site and 50 GB of bandwidth. | 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. A hosting control panel, DNS and site migration are on you. | 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 only, with WordPress, WooCommerce and Magento support. | 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-priced web hosting that scales on its own | 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: 20i and IONOS. How we grade
Price against what you get
20i starts at about $13.40 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 IONOS starts $9.40 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 23 score higher than 20i for less, and 8 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
At a glance
| 20i | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | £10 per month at renewal (Startup), after a first month for £1 | $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 | 20i | IONOS Inc. |
| Price read from | 20i.com | ionos.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
20i
- Prices are in pounds sterling. The £1 first month applies to the first month only; after that the plan renews at its monthly price.
- Startup and Plan 1 host a single website; the Startup plan has 50 GB of bandwidth.
- Each step up the price ladder is large, from £10 a month to £300 a month at Plan 5.
- The page does not say how a plan is refunded or whether the £1 month can be cancelled before it renews.
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
20i
- Autoscaling resources
- The platform allocates resources across its whole network instead of one server, and sets PHP workers automatically. The page says there are no inode limits.
- Free CDN and edge pre-cache
- Every plan includes a CDN with global edge pre-caching and no bandwidth throttling on the CDN, according to the plan page.
- Security and backups
- Plans include free SSL certificates, a web application firewall with malware scanning and automatic daily backups.
- Free migrations
- Sites can be migrated on demand, with the vendor stating no downtime. Migrations are listed as free and unlimited.
- Data centres in three regions
- Plans can be placed in UK, US or Asia data centres. 20i's own 24/7 support team answers by ticket or live chat.
- Twentie AI assistant
- An AI assistant is listed among the features of every web hosting plan.
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
20i
Startup£10
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
1 website, 10 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth and 10 mailboxes. The first month costs £1; no contract.
Plan 1£20
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
1 website, 10 GB storage, 100 GB bandwidth, 20 mailboxes and 5 GB of MySQL storage.
Plan 2£40
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
3 websites, 20 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth, 50 mailboxes and 15 GB of MySQL storage.
Plan 3£80
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
10 websites, 40 GB storage, 300 GB bandwidth, 100 mailboxes and 50 GB of MySQL storage.
Plan 4£150
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
25 websites, 50 GB storage, 500 GB bandwidth, 250 mailboxes and 125 GB of MySQL storage.
Plan 5£300
per month at renewal, after a first month for £1
50 websites, 100 GB storage, 1 TB bandwidth, 500 mailboxes and 250 GB of MySQL storage.
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
20i
- Other savings
First month of web hosting for £1
Each web hosting plan is £1 for its first month, then returns to the listed monthly price. The page shows no end date.
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, 20i or IONOS?
As of Nov 12, 2026, IONOS is cheaper to start with: $4 a month, against about $13.40 a month for 20i. 20i starts at £10 per month at renewal (Startup), after a first month for £1, and IONOS starts at $8 per month at renewal (Essential), after a first year at $4 a month.
Which has a free plan, 20i or IONOS?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither 20i 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.