IONOS vs SiteGround Comparison
Compare IONOS vs SiteGround features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
IONOS
6.7/10
German hosting and cloud provider offering shared web hosting, VPS, dedicated servers and public cloud services for small businesses through to enterprises.
SiteGround
6.3/10
Bulgarian web host running on Google Cloud. It offers shared, managed WordPress, WooCommerce and cloud hosting for small businesses, freelancers and agencies.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.7/10 | 6.3/10 |
| Analytics | 5/10 | 5/10 |
| Cost | 8/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Integration | 6/10 | 4/10 |
| Reliability | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Scalability | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Security | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | No | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | €80/mo Cloud Jump Start |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Contact for pricing | €80/mo Cloud Jump Start |
| Features | ||
| Automatic Backups | ||
| Cloud Compute | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| Free SSL Certificates | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Shared Hosting | ||
| API and CLI | Not listed | |
| Dedicated Servers | Not listed | |
| Git Deployments | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Managed Kubernetes | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Uptime SLA | Not listed | |
| VPS Hosting | Not listed | |
IONOS vs SiteGround cost by team size
| Team size | IONOS | SiteGround |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | Contact for pricing | €80/moCloud Jump Start |
| 5 users | Contact for pricing | €80/moCloud Jump Start |
| 10 users | Contact for pricing | €80/moCloud Jump Start |
| 25 users | Contact for pricing | €80/moCloud Jump Start |
| 50 users | Contact for pricing | €80/moCloud Jump Start |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose IONOS
- Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 4/10)
- Higher Customization score (7/10 vs 5/10)
- Better fit for developers (7/10 vs 5/10)
Why choose SiteGround
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Support score (8/10 vs 6/10)
Pros & Cons
IONOS
Pros
- Shared hosting renews at a modest $8 to $18 a month and includes daily backups, unlimited traffic and a wildcard SSL certificate
- VPS+ plans include root access, DDoS protection, a firewall and unlimited traffic from $2 a month as an introductory price
- The IONOS Cloud platform covers managed Kubernetes, S3-compatible object storage and managed databases, with a Terraform provider
- Data centers in the US, UK, Germany, Spain and France, plus GDPR and data-sovereignty commitments, suit EU buyers
- Some users say 24/7 support responds quickly and is technically knowledgeable
Cons
- The introductory price can rise sharply at renewal (the Plus plan goes from $1 to $14 a month)
- Reviews and complaints repeatedly mention aggressive auto-renewal and cancellations that are hard to complete
- The control panel is described as dated
- The lowest shared hosting plan has no CDN and only one email account
- Ratings are mixed, with a G2 average of about 3.5 out of 5
SiteGround
Pros
- Every shared plan includes a custom WAF, AI anti-bot protection, malware scanning and daily off-site backups kept for 30 days.
- It runs on Google Cloud, with data centers in the US, Europe, Singapore and Sydney.
- GoGeek and the cloud plans include white-label client access and staging with Git, which helps agencies manage client sites.
- Reviewers on G2 and review sites regularly praise its support and uptime.
- Free site migrations and managed WordPress updates are included on all plans.
Cons
- Promotional first-year prices renew at roughly six to eight times the intro rate.
- The intro shared-hosting prices require paying 12 months upfront.
- The entry StartUp plan allows one site and 10 GB of storage, which a growing site can quickly outgrow.
- There is no documented public infrastructure API for developer teams.
- Some G2 users find the dashboard structure confusing.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
IONOS scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 6.7/10 against 6.3/10 for SiteGround. The largest gap is in Cost: 8/10 for IONOS and 4/10 for SiteGround.
No, neither IONOS nor SiteGround lists a free plan.
IONOS is the better fit for developers: we rate it 7/10 for them, against 5/10 for SiteGround.
