Easyspace Introduction

If you’re looking for a hosting company in the UK, Easyspace could fit the bill. Founded in 1997, the company is part of iomart PLC and hosts its customers websites in six UK data centres. Other iomart brands include RapidSwitch, Melbourne Hosting and iomart Cloud, and the group boasts 100 per cent uptime across all of its companies.

Easyspace offers web hosting and domain registration, and its shared hosting services are its most prominent product. The company also provides email hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated server plans.

Easyspace Hosting Plans

Easyspace offers a good range of hosting, from affordable shared hosting through to dedicated servers. All of its servers are located in the UK; the company has a stake in six data centres across the country.

● Shared hosting is split into four plans: Pic ’n’ Mix, StarterPlus, Business and Site Builder. Pic ’n’ Mix is a customisable plan, and StarterPlus is a pre-defined, fairly typical shared hosting solution. Business is an upgraded version of StarterPlus, whereas Site Builder (also referred to by its cumbersome name ‘EasySiteLive Pro’) is a very basic type of hosting for non-technical users.

● Ecommerce hosting is essentially shared hosting paired with payment gateways and ecommerce tools built-in. There are three plans: Starter, Business and Pro; the top-end package includes up to 10,000 products, HSBC and WorldPay payment processing, product ratings, eBay integration and RSS feeds.

● Cloud hosting is offered across three plans: Bronze, Silver and Gold. All are based on the VMWare platform and priced monthly. Users can select one of six Linux operating systems or three versions of Windows.

● VPS hosting can be purchased with either Windows or Linux; each is split into three plans. All include 24/7 support and a control panel, Plesk. There’s also an option to customise the VPS plans on offer, or purchase a MetaTrader VPS.

● There are four pre-defined packages for dedicated servers, if you include the Budget package. Again, users can customise these if they wish. Users can choose a SSD hard drive and select Windows or Linux for their operating system.

● Easyspace offers goMobi, a mobile website package, as a separate hosting solution. The gMobi software is essentially a site builder tool.

With such a huge range of services, it’s hard to say what the priority is, but shared hosting is given centre stage on the site. Having said that, I don’t think anyone would feel that there was a lack of choice.

Easyspace Uptime/Downtime

It’s refreshing to see a UK hosting offering a 100% uptime guarantee, since few seem to be able to do this. However, Easyspace does - and it applies that guarantee across all of its services, from the cheapest shared hosting plan right through to its top-end dedicated server. The company also has a system status page, but this doesn’t show any historical data, and it hadn’t been updated for more than three weeks when I visited.

Easyspace is clearly very proud of its six UK data centres (located in Glasgow, Manchester, Maidenhead, Nottingham, Leicester and London) and promotes them across its website. All of the facilities are owned and operated by the company, which is very impressive. There’s a page in the dedicated servers section that lists the facilities of each data centre in great detail: each one has full security with Smart Card access, N+1 HVAC coverage and fire suppression, two independent power feeds plus UPS and diesel backups, plus on-site technical engineers who are all Easyspace employees.

Customers on shared hosting plans can opt to include backup provision if they wish - this includes a rolling 8-week backup of the entire account, including any databases. Presumably this is not free and must be paid for. Backup services on other plans, including dedicated servers, are an optional extra. Easyspace doesn’t offer any backups at all unless the customer pays for them, and it won’t guarantee that backups are valid, even if you do pay.

Easyspace Support

As you’d expect, all of Easyspace’s support personnel are located in the UK. Email and ticket support is provided 24/7.

To get in touch over the phone, customers have to dial an 0370 number. 0370 numbers are charged at geographic rates, similar to 0870 numbers, and are unfortunately not free. I couldn’t find any information about the extent of the opening hours for telephone support, but it would appear that it’s not offered 24/7.

The rest of Easyspace’s support information is hidden away and only visible to paying customers, so it wasn’t possible to evaluate the quality of the support material provided.

Easyspace in the News

I didn’t find any high-profile news stories about Easyspace, so we must assume its hosting has been been relatively reliable and stable.

Easyspace Control Panel

As mentioned earlier in the review, Plesk is offered on VPS hosting plans. Dedicated server customers can choose Plesk (Linux/Windows) or cPanel (Linux only), but this is billed as an upgrade.

Shared hosting customers must use Easyspace’s custom control panel. Because its support information is locked away out of view, it’s impossible to ascertain what the control panel is like.

Easyspace Extras

Shared hosting customers get £75 of Google Adwords credit, but they must deposit £25 in order to claim this. Customers also get credits for MailingManager, an email marketing program, and a free trial of an ecommerce package. One-click installers include 50 packages: WordPress, Joomla, Mambo, osCommerce and more.

As you might expect, customers on other hosting plans (including cloud and VPS hosting) don’t receive any bonuses to sweeten the deal.

Easyspace Money Back Guarantee / Cancellation Policy

Easyspace’s money-back guarantee period is very short - just 7 days. Cancellation requests must be raised via the host’s control panel using the ticketing system.

Many Easyspace hosting packages are provided over long terms of several years. It’s important to study Easyspace’s Terms and Conditions in detail to ensure you know your rights if you want to cancel. Basically, all monies paid are non-refundable and all packages will auto-renew unless cancelled. Should your payment method fail, you can be charged £15 per letter sent to you. If you choose to renew manually, you’ll be charged £3 extra.

Easyspace Summary

Easyspace obviously invests in quality and its hosting plans are comprehensive and well-priced. The company’s UK data centres will appeal to clients in Europe, and the fact that it runs its own facilities definitely works in its favour. It’s nice to see a hosting company openly discuss its facilities and promote them on its website.

Unfortunately, there is some devil in the detail when it comes to Easyspace’s hosting packages. Telephone support appears to be limited, and it’s provided via free phone numbers. The issue of a custom control panel will be a major drawback for more experienced hosting users on shared hosting plans. Even the VPS plans don’t come with the option of cPanel, which is a real shame, since it’s one thing many customers look for.

Despite this, Easyspace is obviously a company that cares about its customers and has put time and effort into designing comprehensive hosting plans. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re willing to trade a short money-back guarantee for a ‘true’ UK hosting company.