Just for the record, I have used both BigScoots as well as SiteGround, extensively. So this BigScoots vs SiteGround comparison is about my experience in using these two web hosts.
Fair enough?
Great! Let’s begin.
When you decide to build your website, choosing the right web host is a crucial factor. You can, of course, change your hosting service later on if it doesn’t work out. But this migration process can be complicated, tiresome, and expensive. So, it is better to choose a reliable web host at the beginning itself. BigScoots and SiteGround are two popular and reputable service providers for web hosting. So, how do they compare?
BigScoots vs SiteGround, which one is better? Here are a few things to keep in mind while comparing BigScoots and SiteGround:
- If your website is brand new, then both SiteGround and BigScoots are great web hosts. But, if you have an established website, then BigScoots is better than SiteGround.
- Pricing-wise, SiteGround is cheaper in the first year, but significantly costlier in subsequent years when the time comes to renew your web hosting plan. BigScoots, on the other hand, has consistent pricing for all the years.
- Although SiteGround’s technical support is fantastic, BigScoots technical support takes it a notch higher.
- And finally, performance-wise, I have found that the sites on BigScoots load faster than the sites on SiteGround.
I guess you have started to see a pattern here. But, there is more to it than what meets the eye. So, let’s take a detailed look at each of these web hosts now.
Main Features Of BigScoots And SiteGround?
SiteGround and BigScoots both offer Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, and Reseller Hosting.
So theoretically, you can keep using the same web host as your website grows.
But, we all want maximum bang for our buck.
So, even if both web hosts look the same on paper, you need to look deep in them to understand which one is better.
And that is what we will do in this comparison.
So let’s begin…
Main Features Of BigScoots
BigScoots has been providing reliable web hosting services for a number of years now. The company offers fully managed shared web hosting, VPS services, and dedicated servers.
But the main selling point of BigScoots is the free migrations that it offers to people who want to migrate their website to BigScoots.
BigScoots offers at least one free site migration on its various plans. As the plans scale up, the number of free migrations also increases.
The other main attractions of BigScoots are its excellent technical support, significant improvement in website speed, and security.
Flexible payment options are another appealing factor. Users have monthly and annual payment options. Longer plans are priced less.
Check out all the features of BigScoots.
Main Features of SiteGround
SiteGround is a highly rated hosting service provider with nearly 1.9 million websites. It is also one of the recommended web hosts of WordPress.org.
It offers good technical support and is optimized for hosting websites.
Security is a high priority on SiteGround, and they constantly monitor websites for vulnerabilities to malware, hacking, and spyware.
It’s also a metered service. They keep close tabs on the traffic. You will receive a warning if your server resource usage increases beyond the designated bandwidth. Unless you upgrade to a higher plan or control usage, they will turn your website off.
Check out all the features of SiteGround.
BigScoots Vs SiteGround – The Real Comparison
Now that you have an overview of the defining features of BigScoots and SiteGround let’s compare both web hosts in terms of speed, pricing, reliability, and customer service.
Website Speed.
Online users do not have much patience for websites that take a long time to load. Speedy, light websites have more traffic due to their easy accessibility and performance.
Although BigScoots and SiteGround have impressive speeds, BigScoots is clearly the winner in terms of speed. This page on the BigScoots’ website displays a comparison of the loading speed for websites hosted on other web hosts vs BigScoots.
It shows a speed improvement of 11% to 93% for websites hosted on SiteGround vs BigScoots.
Customer Support.
Both BigScoots and SiteGround offer good customer support. They have a dedicated team of experts to promptly attend to any customer issue and resolve it quickly.
Nonetheless, BigScoots is more proactive in attending to complaints. Their 24/7 technical support team responds within 5 minutes to all issues. They can help with security issues, site speed, or plugin issues that slow down website performance.
The team, although small, consistently maintains 100% customer satisfaction, which is just amazing!
SiteGround support, although good, isn’t as impressive as BigScoots, especially on lower-end plans.
I have also seen people complaining that SiteGround only allows a specific number of Support Tickets to be logged per year. Though I haven’t faced this issue myself, this does not sound good.
The whole idea of hosting a website with such web hosts is to get support when you need it.
Web Hosting Pricing.
BigScoots plans start at $5.95 per month for its shared hosting plans. Their billing plans are transparent and flexible. You can try the service for a few months before signing up for a long-term plan. Short-term plans are more expensive. However, you can use it to test the service before committing to a long-term plan.
Similar features are available for all plans, and you can scale up or down as per your needs.
The big plus point is that BigScoots doesn’t increase prices when the time comes to renew your hosting plan.
SiteGround, on the other hand, has attractive pricing offers for new customers. These prices usually beat those of BigScoots. However, they work out in your benefit only if you opt for the longest possible term.
SiteGround charges hefty fees upon renewal. With the price increasing, almost thrice the original price when renewal time comes around, you will end up paying higher hosting fees in the long run.
When you closely compare the benefits of each pricing scheme, you will notice that BigScoots offers better pricing than SiteGround.
Related Further Reading: Why Is Web Hosting So Expensive? – 6 Main Factors
Resource Usage.
Although SiteGround has amazing features, it has limited shared hosting options when compared to BigScoots. SiteGround account holders share resources among themselves. So, the company closely monitors website activity to limit the amount of usage by an account holder. For any increase in usage, customers are instructed to either limit their usage or upgrade their plan. If they don’t follow this instruction, SiteGround turns off the website.
BigScoots uses isolated container technology on its Managed WordPress hosting plans. This means that you are entitled to the resources you pay for. Occasional overages are overlooked. However, if this is because your website is growing, you can discuss your options with the team and upgrade to a higher resource plan.
So again, BigScoots turns out to be a better option.
Which One Will I Pick And Why?
If I was to pick one of these, it is a no-brainer that I will pick BigScoots for one reason only.
That reason is…
The cost of hosting will not go up when the time comes to renew the hosting.
As an existing customer, it feels terrible that you have to pay more while new customers get the same hosting for a lot cheaper price.
Hey, what happened to Customer Loyalty?
As an existing customer of any service, I expect to get more benefits than new customers.
I feel cheated when I, as an existing customer, am treated as an after-thought.
But SiteGround is the recommended host by WordPress.org!
Yeah, right!
So is Bluehost.
So that recommendation is worthless.
Currently, BigScoots is better than SiteGround, that is the bottom-line.
Okay…
Are There Any Coupon Codes Available For BigScoots?
Yes, there are a couple of coupon codes that you can use.
But you can get 75% off Coupon Code for the first month of hosting on this BigScoots and SiteGround comparison page if you are migrating your site from SiteGround.
Else, you can use Coupon Code 4NJY49N1ZIMQ and get 50% off the first month of your hosting with BigScoots.
And if that BigScoots Coupon Code does not work for some reason, then let me know, and I will get a new one for you.
Are There Any Coupon Codes Available For SiteGround?
You don’t need one.
The pricing for all hosting plans on SiteGround is always discounted for new customers.
So, just select a hosting plan on SiteGround and buy it.
So To Conclude…
When it comes to the long-term cost, speed, support quality, and resource availability, BigScoots seems to be better than SiteGround. This company goes out of its way to fix customer issues and ensure 100% satisfaction. Users also experience higher site speed after migrating to Bigscoots from other hosts.
Another benefit of Bigscoots is that it offers flexible pricing plans that allow you to test the waters. You do not have to commit to a long-term plan until you are fully convinced.
SiteGround is a good choice for budget-shoppers. Their promotional plans are far more attractive than those from BigScoots or any other website host. However, there is a catch! The hosting charges are guaranteed to drastically increase when the time comes to renew your hosting plan.
SiteGround offers good technical support and impressive loading speeds. However, they are very strict about resource usage. Unless you upgrade or limit usage, your website will most likely be turned off.
Great post!
You’re spot on; I have been with Siteground for years now and their prices have hiked drastically. For this reason, and for more speed, I’m moving over to BigScoots.