IONOS vs HostMonster
A detailed comparison to help you choose between IONOS and HostMonster.
Quick Verdict
3.7/5
IONOS
0 reviews
2.5/5
HostMonster
0 reviews
IONOS is rated higher (3.7 vs 2.5). 31 data centers per IONOS's VPS pages (10 primary cloud sites in EU/US) HostMonster no longer sells hosting; hostmonster.com is a transition page into Bluehost. Existing accounts keep their servers and terms but log in at Bluehost. Founded 1996 in Provo, Utah.
IONOS German VPS with DDoS protection included | HostMonster Legacy brand merged into Bluehost — no longer sold independently | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.7 (0 reviews)✓ | 2.5 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | From $2/mo | Free tier available |
| Best for | European businesses and developers wanting production-ready VPS with EU data-residency, a listed German provider, and a clean path into cloud and GPU compute later | Existing HostMonster account holders deciding whether to stay through the Bluehost transition; not a viable choice for new signups |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 1 vCPU | — |
| RAM | 2 GB | — |
| Storage | 60 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.99% | — |
| Data-center count | 31 | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | €2.00 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €1.00 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | Frankfurt x2, Berlin (DE), Paris (FR), London, Worcester (UK), Logrono (ES), Las Vegas (NV), Newark (NJ), Lenexa (KS) (US) | Provo, Utah, US |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | hourly billingipv6ddos protectionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacentergdpr compliantwindows available | us datacenter |
| Visit IONOS → | Visit HostMonster → | |
IONOS
Pros
- + NVMe VPS with root from $2/mo intro ($6/mo steady) — unlimited traffic, no setup fees
- + Full resilience toolkit included: snapshots (server images), DDoS scrubbing, firewall, IPS/IDS, wildcard SSL
- + 1 IPv4 plus an entire IPv6/80 network on every plan; Windows Server 2022/2025 available
- + EU/US footprint with German data-residency story and ISO 27001 certification
- + Upgrade path to IONOS Cloud (per-minute billing, H200 GPU VMs, S3-compatible object storage) without changing providers
Cons
- - Promo pricing steps up at renewal ($2 -> $6/mo; $20 -> $68/mo on the top tier)
- - Cloud Panel tooling is less scriptable than developer-first rivals; no Terraform/API on the VPS+ product itself
- - Plesk costs $6/mo, extra IPv4s $5/mo each, and Cloud Backup is metered at $0.065/GB/month
- - Deployable VPS footprint is 10 EU/US sites — nothing in APAC, South America, or Africa
- - Broad rather than deep support; opinionated platform choices (2 email addresses, IONOS-shaped app catalog)
HostMonster
Pros
- + Existing accounts are untouched: same servers, renewal dates, and billing cycles through the Bluehost transition
- + Long track record — the brand dates to 1996 in Provo, Utah
- + Classic budget feature set for legacy plans: cPanel, one-click WordPress, free domain and SSL
- + Backed by Newfold/Bluehost infrastructure and 24/7 support apparatus
Cons
- - No longer purchasable — hostmonster.com is a transition page into Bluehost
- - Consolidation risk: support, roadmap, and pricing decisions move to a portfolio owner
- - Legacy criticisms stand: renewal pricing above intro rates and bounded 'unlimited' claims
- - No published HostMonster SLA or spec sheets to verify claims today
- - New development and AI tooling land on Bluehost's product, not this brand
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