hosting.com vs ChemiCloud
We give hosting.com a 2.0 GPA and ChemiCloud a 2.2, out of 4.0. hosting.com grades higher on platforms. ChemiCloud grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
hosting.com
Shared hosting from the former A2 Hosting, with an API and MCP server
ChemiCloud
Shared cPanel hosting and managed WordPress on LiteSpeed servers
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAhosting.comFair | 2.2GPAChemiCloudFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price on record: plan prices are filled in by the checkout and couldn't be read, so no two-year figure can be worked out. With nothing to compare, it sits at C, the grade for no stated price. First-term prices renew at regular rates. | AStarter's 3-year term is $1.95 a month, $70.20 upfront, so two years cost $70.20, about $2.93 a month, under the $5.97 an A needs. A year at $3.49 then $14.95 a month would be $221.28 instead. It renews at $11.95. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no trial, so you pay before you can try it. | FNo free plan and no trial. Managed WordPress has a $1 first month, which is cheap but not free. |
| Features | BDaily backups with 30 days of restore points you can use yourself, Monarx malware removal, a firewall, a first-year domain and free managed migration on every plan. Staging needs Pro, but nothing in the core job is missing on Starter. | BLiteSpeed, NVMe, a Cloudflare CDN, daily offsite backups kept 10 to 30 days, unlimited email through MailChannels, free migrations and a site builder. One-click restores start on Pro, but the core job is covered. |
| Ease of use | CNo app store rating to go on. The Orbi assistant answers setup and DNS questions and passes you to people when needed, but you're still setting up a site. | CNo app store rating to go on. Migration staff move your site and email, but it's cPanel, so there's still some setting up to do. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web dashboard with no app on record, but shared plans come with an OpenAPI interface and an MCP server, and it works with Claude. Pro adds a Claude skills pack. | CA web panel only. Cloudflare, MailChannels, Softaculous and the apps it installs are named, but no API is on record. |
| Best for | hosting you can run from scripts or an AI agent | cheap cPanel hosting if you'll prepay three years |
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: hosting.com and ChemiCloud. How we grade
Where they differ
- ChemiCloud also covers managed WordPress.
At a glance
| hosting.com | ChemiCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | Not published | $11.95 per month at renewal (Starter), after a first 3 years at $1.95 a month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | hosting.com | CCHosting, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | chemicloud.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
hosting.com
- Existing A2 Hosting customers weighing the renamed plans
- Developers who want to manage hosting through an API or an AI agent
- Small business sites that want backups and malware removal built in
ChemiCloud
- Small business sites that want cPanel hosting with daily backups
- WordPress sites that want managed hosting priced by the site
- Buyers willing to prepay three years for the lowest first-term price
Worth knowing
hosting.com
- Plan prices are filled in by the checkout and could not be read, so they are not listed here; promotional prices cover the first term and plans renew at regular rates.
- Staging sites, preview URLs and Node.js need Pro or higher; priority support, a premium SSL and a service level agreement need Max.
- The free domain is for the first year only and then renews at the standard rate.
- A2 Hosting's old plan names are retired: Startup became Starter, Turbo Boost became Pro and Turbo Max became Max.
ChemiCloud
- First-term prices end after the term: Starter renews at $11.95 a month after 3 years or $14.95 after 1 year, and Turbo at $21.95.
- The free domain comes only with 3-year shared plans or annual managed WordPress plans, and only for the first year.
- The discount banner shows a countdown of under a day, so first-term prices may change; they apply to new customers only.
- Starter hosts one website; unlimited websites start with Pro.
Key features
hosting.com
- LiteSpeed, NVMe and AMD EPYC on every plan
- All shared plans run on LiteSpeed web servers with NVMe storage and AMD EPYC processors, with published RAM, vCPU and IOPS limits for each plan.
- Malware removal and firewall
- Monarx scans continuously and removes malicious code itself. Every plan also has a web application firewall and brute-force protection.
- Daily backups with self-restore
- Backups run every day with 30 days of restore points, and you can restore a single file, database or mailbox without opening a ticket.
- API, MCP server and Claude skills
- Shared plans come with an OpenAPI interface and an MCP server for managing hosting from scripts and AI tools. Pro adds a Claude skills pack.
- Orbi AI assistant
- An AI assistant on every plan answers setup, DNS, WordPress and billing questions, and passes you to the in-house support team when needed.
- Free managed migration
- The support team moves an existing site to hosting.com at no charge.
ChemiCloud
- LiteSpeed, NVMe and Cloudflare
- Sites run on LiteSpeed servers with NVMe storage, server-level caching and a free Cloudflare CDN; Turbo adds Redis and HTTP/3.
- Daily offsite backups
- Backups are taken every day and kept offsite for 10 to 30 days depending on the plan, with one-click restores on Pro and Turbo.
- Managed WordPress service
- Separate managed WordPress plans handle security, updates and backups, with staging, Redis object caching and unlimited PHP workers.
- Malware scanning and firewall
- Managed WordPress includes automatic malware scans with removal, a CDN-level firewall and DDoS protection; Turbo adds advanced malware protection.
- Email through MailChannels
- Shared plans include unlimited email accounts at your domain, with outgoing mail sent through MailChannels to help it reach inboxes.
- Free migrations and site builder
- Migration staff move sites and email free, and a drag-and-drop builder with more than 350 templates is included alongside Softaculous installs.
Plans
hosting.com
Pricing could not be confirmed. See hosting.com.
ChemiCloud
Starter, 1 month$14.95
per month, billed monthly
1 website, 20 GB NVMe, 2 GB memory, unlimited email accounts and 10 daily backups. Monthly billing has no discount.
Starter, 1 year$14.95
per month at renewal, after a first year at $3.49 a month
The same Starter plan at $3.49 a month for the first year, then the regular rate of $14.95 a month.
Starter, 3 years$11.95
per month at renewal, after a first term of 3 years
The same Starter plan at $1.95 a month for the first 3 years, then the regular $11.95. Only 3-year terms include a free domain.
Pro, 3 years$17.95
per month at renewal, after a first term of 3 years
Unlimited websites, 35 GB and 20 daily backups. $2.95 a month for the first 3 years, then $17.95; 1 year is $4.49, then $19.95.
Turbo, 3 years$21.95
per month at renewal, after a first term of 3 years
Unlimited websites, 50 GB, 30 daily backups, Redis and advanced malware protection. $3.95 a month for 3 years, then $21.95.
Managed WordPress Tiny$12.50
per month for 1 site, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)
About 100,000 visits a month, 10 GB and 50 GB of CDN bandwidth. Billed $150 a year; on monthly billing the first month is $1.
Ways to pay less
hosting.com
No public discounts listed.
ChemiCloud
- Other savings
First 3 years of Starter at $1.95 a month
Shared plans on a 3-year term start at $1.95 a month for Starter, $2.95 for Pro and $3.95 for Turbo, renewing at $11.95, $17.95 and $21.95.
- Other savings
First month of managed WordPress for $1
Managed WordPress plans billed monthly cost $1 for the first month through the page's order link, then $15 a month for Tiny.
- Annual discount
Two months free on yearly managed WordPress
Paying yearly for managed WordPress is shown as two months free: Tiny is $150 a year against $15 a month.
