When choosing a web hosting provider it is useful to do a side by side comparison. This is a review of FatCow and JustHost.
Background
JustHost is a fairly new web hosting provider who joined the industry in 2007. They get mostly good reviews from customers and industry professionals.
FatCow has been in business since 1998, and hosts over 30,000 sites. It has consistently received high ratings and has won several industry awards. They are an eco-friendly company, and are proud that their offices and datacenters are 100% powered by wind energy.
Plan Features and Pricing
Hosting Plan
JustHost offers a basic plan that includes unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, and emails. They also offer a premium plan with additional features.
FatCow offers one main plan with unlimited disk space, emails, domains, and bandwidth. They also have a MiniMoo plan for domain parking.
General Features
JustHost’s plan includes free site builder and free domain for life, in addition to its unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains and email. It also has unlimited MySQL databases. The plan also has some e-commerce features such as Shopping Cart and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.
FatCow’s plan includes many tools to help build the website, in addition to the unlimited disk space and bandwidth. They have wizards to add open source applications and easy to install forums and blogs. There are great features for e-commerce sites including Shopping Carts, Shared SSL, E-Store Builder and free Google and Yahoo! Credits.
Cost
JustHost regular cost for their plan is $6.95 per month/$83.40 per year. They are currently running a special,$3.45 per month.
FatCow is a great value at $66 per year for the main plan and $5 per year for domain parking.
Reliability
Datacenter Facilities
JustHost’s datacenter is based in Chicago, IL and uses over 2000 servers. The datacenter uses load balancing technology to ensure site availability if one server goes down. They also use fast backbone connections.
FatCow is considered a high quality data center. It combines many state of the art features to make their datacenters the best. Dual routers support the FatCow hosting platform for greater redundancy. It has a top line Cisco PIX firewall for excellent security. They have NetApp storage clusters for improved reliability. FatCow also has a new gigabit network connection to enhance performance. Together these features make FatCow an extremely secure and reliable web hosting provider.
Servers
JustHost uses Linux web servers
FatCow also uses Linux web servers
Uptime Guarantees
JustHost has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%
FatCow also has an uptime guarantee of 99.9%.
Support
JustHost has 24/7 support through toll-free numbers, email, and live chat. They also have tutorials and FAQ section.
FatCow has several ways for customers to contact them, including 24/7 toll free, email and live chat. They also have an FAQ library, knowledge base, and tutorials.
General Aspects
JustHost and FatCow have many similarities in plan features, customer support, and the systems technology. Online reviews by users also noted similarities, with the most difference referring to the site builder tools. Their prices are comparable, when the special offer pricing is used. However, FatCow is more affordable when the special pricing is not used. The JustHost website was not always easy to navigate or to verify all of its plan’s offers. FatCow’s website was easier to navigate and find information.
Fatcow Website: http://www.fatcow.com
