Flashcloud vs IONOS
Flashcloud and IONOS compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Flashcloud scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
8.7 out of 10
FlashcloudWins overall
Shared and WordPress hosting with a free domain for life, 30-day backups and an anytime prorated refund
7.1 out of 10
The former 1&1: unlimited sites and traffic from $8 a month at renewal, with a free domain and wildcard SSL
Flashcloud wins 6 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (8.7 vs 7.1).
How do the scores compare?
Flashcloud leads on 6 sub-scores, IONOS on 0. Higher is better.
| Flashcloud | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.5 (better) | 6.5 |
| Uptime | 9.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Support | 8.5 (better) | 6.5 |
| Features | 9.2 (better) | 7.5 |
| Value | 9.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Ease of use | 8.0 (better) | 7.0 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| Flashcloud | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 8.7 (better) | 7.1 |
| Uptime (published)HostScore 30 d vs Cybernews 14 d; methods differ | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Response time (published)HostScore vs Cybernews; methods differ | 142 ms (better) | 1749 ms |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, Flashcloud is cheaper ($9.99/mo vs $14.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| Flashcloud | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Start | Plus |
| Intro price | $2.79/mo | $1.00/mo (better) |
| Renewal price | $9.99/mo (better) | $14.00/mo |
| Required term | 12 months | 12 months |
| Websites | 1 | unlimited |
| Storage | 25 GB | 350 GB |
| Money back | 30 days, then prorated at any time (better) | 30 days |
What does each include?
| Flashcloud | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | For life: registered free and renewed free while the plan is active, eligible extensions only | One domain free for the first year on every plan: .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz or .online |
| Free domain privacy | Yes | Not stated |
| Free SSL | Issued and renewed automatically | One DV wildcard certificate on Essential, Starter and Plus; unlimited wildcard certificates on Ultimate |
| Daily backups | 30-day retention, stored on separate infrastructure, restore files, a database, email or everything from the portal | Not stated |
| Free migration | Done by staff, usually within 24 hours; up to 6 unused months at the old host credited on annual and 3-year plans | No |
| Free handcrafted website | Up to five pages with navigation, one free revision, usually ready in one to two working days | Not stated |
| Staging | Included with WordPress hosting | No |
| Email hosting | Unlimited mailboxes, webmail, forwarding, autoresponders | Not stated |
| SSH and WP-CLI | Yes | Not stated |
| FTP, SFTP and shell users | Unlimited | Not stated |
| Cloudflare CDN and DNS | Yes | Not stated |
| Server caching | LiteSpeed with LSCache and Redis object cache | Not stated |
| Malware scanning and removal | Daily, ImunifyAV | Not stated |
| Web application firewall | ModSecurity rules on every request | Not stated |
| Choice of data center | US East, US West, Frankfurt or Singapore at order time | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per calendar month, service credits start at 10% below that | 99.99% in the general terms, with a credit for the month proportional to the downtime, on request and at IONOS's discretion |
| Phone support | No | 24/7, with a personal consultant |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Backups | Not stated | Daily backup of storage and databases with data recovery, every plan |
| Free CDN | Not stated | Starter, Plus and Ultimate; not on Essential |
| Caching | Not stated | Server compression and HTTP/2 listed; no caching layer named on the plan page |
| SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI and Git | Not stated | Every plan, with 200 SFTP accounts, Perl and Python |
| PHP versions | Not stated | 8.4, 8.3 and 8.2, with paid extended support for 5.6 and later |
| Resource limits | Not stated | CPU priority 1x, 3x, 5x and 10x by plan; 262,144 inodes on every plan; cron jobs 10, 25, 50 and 100 |
| Websites and traffic | Not stated | Unlimited websites and unlimited traffic on every plan; 5,000 subdomains |
| Not stated | 1, 2, 4 or 5 accounts of 2 GB by plan, with forwarding, webmail and anti-spam | |
| Data center choice | Not stated | No |
| Security | Not stated | Daily malware scanning (basic, or advanced with automatic removal on Ultimate), DDoS protection, geo-redundancy |
Company facts
| Flashcloud | IONOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | cPanel, plus the Flashcloud portal for backups, staging, cron and support | IONOS's own control panel (no cPanel) |
| Data centers | 4 (better) | 2 |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, email, knowledge-base | chat, phone, email, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2026 | 2018 |