FastComet Hosting Review
What is FastComet?
FastComet is a premium hosting provider with packages at affordable prices. They have server locations in several countries around the world offering possibilities to have hosting nearer your visitors. Continue reading my FastComet hosting review to find out why I recommend them for WordPress hosting.
Who is FastComet for?
FastComet is for users who require a premium shared webhost at fantastic prices. As with most webhosts, they highlight their WordPress optimisations but also Joomla and shopping carts including Zen Cart and OpenCart. For Magento2, the second package, ScaleRight is recommended as Magento2 requires more resources to run smoothly.
What features do FastComet offer?
FastComet offer a few different and additional features compared to other similar webhost providers. Obviously, the more you pay the better the package specification. Saying that, the basic package StartSmart is not at all basic! It has features rivalling other mid-range packages – the highlight being 2GB RAM.
Lets have a look at the main features of each package.
Package features compared in more detail
For this FastComet hosting review, I personally have the StartSmart package for a medium blog. The site performs well and I have not noticed any speed or performance issues. If I was running WooCommerce or a similar cart, I would consider the ScaleRight package. The SpeedUp package looks tasty but is overkill for my sites at the moment. From reading other reviews, it is highly recommended for resource hungry and busy sites.
I tested the same wodpress site with my current host and FastComet. The site was a small WordPress blog with several plugins I use on my blogs. For the FastComet test, I had WP Fastest Cache installed, for the 20i test, I used their custom cache plugin.
Straight away, you can see the difference in the scores. Both scored A and C but there are some differences. Most notably, the page load time was only 2.o seconds whereas with 20i it was 7.3 seconds. Don’t forget, this is on the StartSmart package with no additional boosts or addons.
In general everyday use, I noticed that FastComet was a lot more efficient to use for the usual, mundane tasks such as installing plugins, editing posts. I had no issues with the resource usage limits, a frequent occurrence with 20i. You can ready my 20i hosting review here.
Where are the FastComet data centres located?
FastComet has the option of several data centre locations, more than most webhosts. This is advantageous if you have website visitors in far-flung locations and you don’t know which local webhost to consider. You get the same great customer service from FastComet with a data centre where you need it.
USA Data Centres:
- Chicago
- Dallas
Europe Data Centres:
- London, UK
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
Asia:
- Singapore
- Tokyo
Not many webhosts can cater for a majority of the world in this way, so in that regard, FastComet is quite unique. Granted, the average user will not need this option, but it’s good to know the option is there.
Other features available at FastComet
FastComet use a custom client portal with some quicklinks to cpanel, security and various account functions.
This area is also shows support ticket notifications, invoices and order information. Unfortunately, there is also a large banner area along the top promoting a higher package upgrade.
FastComet use Cpanel as standard, this is important as if you were to change hosts in future for any reason, they should be able to transfer all of your data quickly and easily via Cpanel.
Cpanel as standard has MultiPHP manager. FastComet, a little out of the ordinary, offer PHP packages from 4.4 all the way to the current 7.1. I have never seen a host offer PHP 4.4 for many years. They offer every version in between, if you have a particular application that doesn’t work with PHP7, you can switch quite easily.
Fastcomet also offer free CloudFlare installation to deliver content worldwide more efficiently. This is setup via Cpanel. As is the Google PageSpeed app – I have not seen this offered with many other hosts. This optimises static content such as CSS files, javascript files and images. They claim that an improvement can be expected.
FastComet payment options
FastComet display headline prices on their pricelist, whilst not inaccurate, they are longterm prices with a large upfront payment. I don’t like this method of displaying prices, I like for them to be upfront on the package page rather than having to go the the cart to find out.
FastComet pricing plans are as follows:
StartSmart pricing:
- 1 Month – $5.95 + $19.95* setup – Recurring $5.95
- 12 Months – $5.95/mo – Recurring $71.40
- 24 Months – $4.95/mo – Recurring $118.80
- 36 Months – $3.95/mo – Recurring $142.20
ScaleRight pricing:
- 1 Month – $8.95 + $19.95* setup – Recurring $8.95
- 12 Months – $8.95/mo – Recurring $107.40
- 24 Months – $7.95/mo – Recurring $190.80
- 36 Months – $6.95/mo – Recurring $250.20
SpeedUp pricing:
- 1 Month – $12.95 + $19.95* setup – Recurring $12.95
- 12 Months – $12.95/mo – Recurring $155.40
- 24 Months – $11.95/mo – Recurring $286.80
- 36 Months – $10.95/mo – Recurring $394.20
The headline pricing is the 36 months price paid in full upfront and recurring every 36 months. The pricing at 36 months is good value for each package, if you are unsure, FastComet have a fantastic 45 day refund policy which is more generous than most.
If you opt for the monthly payment with the $19.95 setup fee, this is *non refundable, only the monthly fee is refundable.
Conclusion - Is FastComet worth it?
FastComet is a fantastic webhosting provider for users at all levels. As I have previously said, I have the SmartStart package and it works fine for my needs. If my blog suddenly had a spike in interest and I needed more power, the ScaleRight and SpeedUp packages offer 2 or 3 times the power and then some.
FastComet have excellent support via livechat, support ticket, telephone and a knowledgebase.
A couple of things I was disappointed with, in the comparison with other hosts graphic posted earlier, FastComet have the advanced features featured but the price is for the base package. I raised this with sales and was told that the graphics would be updated.
Also, the knowledge base is good but I was looking for the nameserver details so I could start working on my site straight away. There was no mention of them at all, I had to wait for the welcome e-mail. To be fair, it arrived a few minutes later. I suppose this could be to avoid confusion with the different data centres.
Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend FastComet to anyone, especially WordPress bloggers, features galore, fast servers, data centres around the world, 24/7 support – do it!
