A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Hosting Comparison

After 3 years of testing, let’s compare A2 Hosting vs SiteGround and find out how they’ve performed so far…

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround – Testing Method

  • Prior to testing, I have setup identical content on all 8 Live Test Sites
  • Each week over 80,000 speed & uptime tests are run using independent tools, GTmetrix & Pingdom
  • GTmetrix Logo 50Pingdom Logo 50
  • Test results below are from 04 Apr 2016 to 22 Dec 2018

Test #1: Speed

The GTmetrix Speed Test checks how long it takes for a website to fully load using a desktop internet browser. This test is then repeated every hour throughout the week (1,340 times).

  • A2 Hosting’s speed was impressive in 2016, and they typically found themselves in the top 2 of our 8 hosts. Unfortunately, their extremely poor uptime performance led to their removal on 28th Jan 2017. Read below for more details.
  • SiteGround’s speed was typically in the bottom half of our hosts during 2016. How things have turned around in 2017 & 2018, with a dramatic improvement to 2nd during the 1st half of 2017. SiteGround have then taken it a step further to be our fastest host in H2 2017, H1 2018 and H2 2018.
  • SiteGround is currently 1st, while A2 is 9th in our Speed Rankings.
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

H2 2018 Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Chart - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018

H1 2018 Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Chart - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018

H2 2017 Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Chart - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017

H1 2017 Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Chart - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017

2016 Results

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Chart - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016

Test #2: Uptime

The Pingdom Uptime Test confirms that the website is actually accessible to visitors. This test is then repeated every minute throughout the week (80,640 times).

  • A2 Hosting performed extremely poorly when it came to Uptime. This was especially evident in Q4 2016, where downtime was a whopping 575 minutes, which is almost 10 hours. This continued into 2017, with a further 939 minutes downtime in just 3 weeks. This unbelievably bad performance resulted in A2 Hosting being replaced by Namecheap for future testing.
  • SiteGround have performed brilliantly when it comes to Uptime, showing rare consistency for the 3 years we’ve been testing. Their performance in H1 2018 has been their best so far, with just 12 minutes of downtime, while H2 2018 was also impressive with just 23 minutes of downtime.
  • SiteGround is currently in 2nd, while A2 is 10th in our Uptime Rankings.
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Uptime Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

A2 Hosting vs SiteGround – Overall Test Results

The Overall Ranking accumulates the results from the speed & uptime tests to determine the #1 Host.

  • Even though A2 Hosting were able to perform impressively when it came to loading times in 2016, their weakness was always poor uptime. This became a serious problem in Q4 2016 and continued into 2017. Unfortunately, this led to A2 being unable to compete with our other hosts, and ultimately requiring them to be replaced.
  • SiteGround’s performance was solid throughout 2016, but has really stepped up across 2017 & 2018. Their uptime consistency has been very impressive plus they have been our fastest host over the past 18 months. These results have led to SiteGround achieving for the first time the coveted #1 Overall Ranking – Congratulations!!
  • SiteGround is currently the owners of the #1 spot and A2 is 10th in our Overall Rankings.
A2 Hosting vs SiteGround Overall Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

Disclosure:

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

How do A2 Hosting & SiteGround compare to our 8 other Hosts?