LiquidWeb is my current web hosting company, after being with 5+ other web hosts over the years, I've settled with this company. At least for as long as they continue to perform and being very helpful via their live chat support, I see no reason to change web host at the moment.
My Hosting Story
I started out with web development in 2007 as a way to try and make money online with affiliate programs. Knowing nothing about the subject, other than being a PC enthusiast, I've tried and failed a lot. This includes trying lots of hosts.
Hosts I've Tried
- ANHosting
- Hostgator
- Hostwinds
- Bluehost
- Namecheap
- Cloudways
- LiquidWeb
I rememember starting out with an unknown host called ANHosting which probably was just a whitelabel hosting company on someone else's servers. Then moving on to the popular Hostgator host for a while which I had mixed experiences with. First of all their plans start cheap the first year or so, but after the initial discounted billing the monthly price 5x'ed or so. This is common practice amongst the biggest web hosts. They probably know that people won't change hosts once their all set up even at higher prices. Don't get me wrong I do appreciate the initial discount, I just want you to be aware of this so you can plan accordingly.
The last few years I've just been hosting with Cloudways and LiquidWeb. This is because I now host like 10 websites and need something stronger than one of the cheapest web hosts. I also have a cheap hosting account with Namecheap for a personal website.
Pricing
I am very happy with the LiquidWeb pricing and find it decently affordable, transparent, and good value for the size of the servers compared with other web hosts.
The Support
LiquidWeb offers both live chat support and ticket support for more complicated issues. I've found that the live chat support is very technically skilled and can help out almost always. If they can't, which has happened to me once or twice, they'll post a ticket to higher level technicians.
The live chat support replies in like 10 seconds. They are hands-on and don't mind fixing the issues on your servers, instead of just pointing you to a help guide like Cloudways support usually does.
Pros
- The best web hosting support I've encountered
- Great pricing
- Powerful servers
- Long duration discounts
Cons
- No entry-level cheap plans
Control Panels
I have always used WHM & cPanel with LiquidWeb. They also offer a lower cost alternative called Interworx but I can't recommend it as I have not tried it and I think it does lack some features that you get with the WHM & cPanel combo.
Conclusion
All in all I give LiquidWeb the best rating with 5 out of 5 stars. If you can afford a $20/mo host with 24 month pre pay, this is the host to choose!
On the other hand, if you're just starting out and do not require the best web host, going with a cheap host like Bluehost or Namecheap is more reasonable. Just keep LiquidWeb in the back of your mind, in case you want to upgrade after your initial cheap billing at another host is up for renewal at a higher price.