A2 Hosting has built its identity around a single promise: speed. While other hosts talk about features, support, or low prices, A2 puts performance front and center. The “20x faster” claim shows up on almost every page of their marketing.
The question is if A2 actually delivers on the speed promise, and if the rest of the hosting experience holds up around it. This review covers what A2 offers, what it costs, where it earns its reputation, and where it falls short.
The Company at a Glance
A2 Hosting was founded in 2001 in Ann Arbor, Michigan (the “A2” in the name refers to Ann Arbor’s nickname). The company has stayed independent and privately held, which is unusual in a hosting industry dominated by big holding companies.
A2 hosts hundreds of thousands of sites and has a particularly strong reputation among developers and technical users. The company emphasizes performance, eco-friendliness, and developer-friendly features.
The independence matters. A2 has not been through the kind of acquisition that hurt the reputations of HostGator and Bluehost. The team and the priorities have stayed consistent over the years.
What A2 Offers
The product catalog covers most of the standard hosting bases.
Shared Hosting
Four plans ranging from around $3 per month for Startup to around $15 per month for Turbo Max. The Turbo plans are the speed-focused tier and include access to A2’s faster servers and software stack.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Plans start around $12 per month. WordPress-specific features, including A2 Optimized for WordPress (their custom optimization plugin), staging, and automatic backups.
Reseller Hosting
Strong reseller program with plans starting around $20 per month. White-label support, cPanel and WHM included, generous resource allocations.
VPS Hosting
Both managed and unmanaged VPS plans. Managed plans start around $40 per month. Unmanaged plans start lower for users who want to handle their own server setup.
Dedicated Server Hosting
Plans start around $130 per month. Real hardware, fully managed, optimized for performance.
Specialty Hosting
A2 offers specialized hosting for specific applications: Joomla, Drupal, Magento, OpenCart, and others. These are typically the same underlying hosting with application-specific tuning.
What A2 Hosting Does Well
The strengths come up consistently in benchmarks and reviews.
Real Speed
A2’s speed claims are not just marketing. The Turbo plans use NVMe SSD storage, LiteSpeed web server (faster than the standard Apache), and aggressive caching. Independent benchmarks consistently rank A2 Turbo plans among the fastest shared hosts on the market.
The performance shows up in real-world tests. Page load times, server response times, and time-to-first-byte all benchmark well on Turbo plans.
LiteSpeed Web Server
A2 uses LiteSpeed instead of Apache on Turbo plans. LiteSpeed is faster and more efficient at handling traffic, especially for WordPress sites. The LSCache plugin (LiteSpeed Cache) is one of the most effective caching solutions available for WordPress, and it is included free on A2 Turbo plans.
Server Locations
A2 has data centers in the United States, Europe, and Asia. You pick a location during signup based on where your audience is. For non-US audiences, this is a real advantage over hosts that only run US data centers.
Honest Pricing
A2 pricing is more honest than at many competitors. The promotional rates have renewal increases, but the increases are smaller than at hosts like Bluehost and HostGator. The pricing model has fewer surprises.
Anytime Money-Back Guarantee
A2 offers a 30-day full money-back guarantee, plus a pro-rated refund after that for the rest of your contract. This is much better than the typical 30-day guarantee at most hosts. If you cancel a year into a multi-year plan, you get a partial refund for the unused months.
Developer-Friendly Features
A2 includes developer tools that many hosts charge extra for. SSH access on shared plans. Free SSL. Free site migrations. Multiple PHP versions. Cron jobs. Git access on Turbo plans. These features make A2 popular with developers and technical users.
Strong Uptime
A2 backs up its uptime with a 99.9 percent uptime commitment and credits for any failures. The actual uptime numbers from independent monitoring tend to hit or exceed that commitment.
Green Hosting
A2 has been carbon-neutral since 2007. The company purchases renewable energy credits to offset all of its energy use. For users who care about environmental impact, A2 is one of the longer-standing options in the green hosting space.
Strong Customer Support
A2’s “Guru Crew” support is generally responsive and knowledgeable. Live chat and ticket support are 24/7. Phone support is available. The independence of the company shows up in the support quality, which has stayed consistent over the years.
Where A2 Hosting Falls Short
No host is right for everyone. A2 has trade-offs to know about.
The Basic Plans Are Average
The cheapest A2 shared plans use the standard Apache stack without the Turbo features. Performance on these plans is average, not exceptional. If you sign up for the entry-level plan expecting Turbo speeds, you will be disappointed.
The speed claims really apply to the Turbo and Turbo Max plans. The Startup plan is more of a standard budget host.
Renewal Pricing
Like most hosts, A2 raises prices at renewal. The promotional rate of $3 per month for the Startup plan renews at around $11. The mid-tier Turbo Boost plan that starts at $7 renews at around $19. The increases are real but not as aggressive as at some EIG-owned hosts.
Limited Storage on Lower Plans
The Startup plan caps storage at 100 GB. Most users do not hit that limit, but media-heavy sites can.
cPanel Pricing Pass-Through
A2 uses cPanel, which raised its licensing prices significantly a few years ago. Those costs have flowed through to A2 customers in the form of higher renewal rates. This is not A2’s fault, but it has made A2 hosting more expensive than it used to be.
Backups Are Limited on Lower Plans
The cheapest A2 plans do not include automatic backups. Higher plans include daily or hourly backups. If you sign up for the Startup plan, you handle backups yourself.
Email Hosting on Same Servers
A2 hosts email on the same servers as websites. This is standard practice for shared hosting, but it means email deliverability can sometimes suffer if the IP gets flagged by spam filters. For business-critical email, use a dedicated email service like Google Workspace.
Migration Process
Migration from another host is offered free, but the process can be slow during high-volume periods. Some users report waiting days for migrations to complete.
What A2 Hosting Pricing Looks Like
The pricing structure differs by plan tier.
Startup Plan
Promotional rate: around $3 per month with a multi-year commitment. Renewal: around $11 per month. One website, 100 GB storage, free SSL. Standard performance tier, not Turbo.
Drive Plan
Promotional rate: around $7 per month. Renewal: around $17 per month. Unlimited websites and storage. Still standard performance tier.
Turbo Boost Plan
Promotional rate: around $7 per month. Renewal: around $19 per month. This is where the Turbo features start. LiteSpeed server, NVMe storage, 20x faster performance.
Turbo Max Plan
Promotional rate: around $15 per month. Renewal: around $26 per month. The top shared tier. More resources, AMD EPYC servers, the strongest performance.
For sites where speed matters, Turbo Boost or Turbo Max are the plans worth paying for. The lower plans are decent but not what the marketing is selling.
Who A2 Hosting Fits
The platform works for specific kinds of users.
Good Fit
WordPress users who want real performance on a shared budget. Developers and technical users who want SSH, Git, and multiple PHP versions. Users who care about green hosting and renewable energy. Reseller hosts who want strong infrastructure for client sites. International users who need non-US data centers.
Less Good Fit
Users on the tightest budgets who pick the cheapest plan and expect Turbo performance. Sites that need free daily backups included on entry plans. Users who specifically want cPanel-free hosting.
A2 Hosting vs the Competition
Comparing A2 to the alternatives shows where it sits.
A2 vs SiteGround
Both target the speed-focused side of WordPress hosting. SiteGround moved to Google Cloud and is fast. A2 Turbo plans match or beat SiteGround in many benchmarks. SiteGround has slightly better support reputation. A2 has more honest pricing and better long-term value.
For pure performance, A2 Turbo is competitive. For all-around polish, SiteGround is strong.
A2 vs Bluehost
A2 is the stronger choice for users who care about speed and honest pricing. Bluehost has the WordPress.org recommendation and is friendlier for absolute beginners. For users with any technical experience, A2 wins.
A2 vs HostGator
A2 is faster, more honest on pricing, and run by an independent company. HostGator is part of the EIG portfolio with the issues that come with it. For most users, A2 is the better choice between the two.
A2 vs Kinsta or WP Engine
A2 is much cheaper. For premium managed WordPress, Kinsta and WP Engine are stronger. For users who do not need the premium features and want fast shared hosting at a lower price, A2 is a real alternative.
Closing Thoughts
A2 Hosting delivers on the speed promise when you sign up for the right plan. The Turbo and Turbo Max plans are among the fastest shared hosts on the market. The standard plans are average, so the marketing claims really apply to the upper tiers.
The company has stayed independent and run consistently for years. The pricing is more honest than at many budget hosts. The support is solid. The features include developer tools that many competitors charge extra for.
For users who want fast shared hosting without paying premium managed WordPress prices, A2 Turbo plans are one of the best values on the market. For developers and technical users, the included features (SSH, Git, multiple PHP versions, LiteSpeed) make A2 a strong fit.
The anytime money-back guarantee removes risk from signing up. If A2 does not work out, you can get a refund for the unused portion of your term. That alone makes A2 worth trying when you are looking for a host that takes speed seriously.