2025 test and review of IONOS: Europe’s top hosting leader?

If you own your own business, you’re probably used to doing a little bit of everything: Preparing sales pitches. Doing inventory. Managing budgets. And developing your online presence.

You might relate to Jean, the main character in an ad for hosting provider IONOS.

Jean is not only a chef running a restaurant in France, but he grows the vegetables he cooks, weaves the napkins his customers use, and even forges his own cooking knives. You get the picture: he’s a jack-of-all-trades.

He also fits right in with the web hosting platform’s core target group: small and medium-sized businesses looking to develop their online business.

Your name isn’t Jean, and you’re not in the business of preparing delicious meals for your customers? No problem! As a WordPress user, you inevitably need a good host for your showcase or WooCommerce site.

After reading our 2025 review of IONOS, you’ll know in particular whether it’s a reliable, efficient, and high-performance provider.

At the end of this article, you’ll have a clear picture of the following features: services offered, administration interface, performance, security, rates, customer service, etc.

So, are you ready to join Jean (or not) among the millions of customers of this prominent host?

Transparency: This page is sponsored. Some links to IONOS are affiliate links. If you purchase hosting from them, WPMarmite will receive a commission.
Thanks to affiliation, WPMarmite is able to remunerate the research and writing work of the blog’s writers. But we remain impartial. If a product isn’t worth it, we’ll say so (or we don’t talk about it).

What is IONOS hosting?

A leader in European hosting with over 35 years’ experience

IONOS is a German hosting company offering a wide range of diversified products: domain names and SSL certificates; shared, virtual, e-commerce, and WordPress hosting; emailing; cloud storage and backup; cloud and dedicated servers; and AI-powered website creation, as well as cloud computing solutions.

Founded in 1988 as 1&1, the brand has changed its name several times. It was first renamed 1&1 IONOS in 2018, when it “combined its web hosting, applications and server product lines with ProfitBricks’ Cloud infrastructure solutions.”

A new evolution came in 2020: This time, the brand became known as simply IONOS. It retains its core products and services, while giving users access to “first-class web hosting, fully scalable cloud solutions and individualized support.”

A long-standing player in the web hosting market, over the past 35 years IONOS has established itself as “Europe’s hosting leader” (or so it describes itself, anyway).

A solid group in constant evolution, IONOS Group SE has even been listed on the stock exchange since February 2023.

A partner for small and medium-sized businesses, adopted by over 6 million customers

Since its launch by Ralph Dommermuth in the late 1980s, IONOS has been driven by one mission:

Make high-tech solutions accessible to all and provide the best of the Internet and the Cloud.

Its prime target? Small and medium-sized businesses. IONOS describes itself as their “partner of choice.”

The German hosting provider’s product range is designed to enable “companies to start up and develop their business on the Internet.”

This is a service offering that’s winning over a huge number of customers. At the time of writing, for example, IONOS boasts:

• 6.2 million customers
• 22 million domain names hosted
• An excellent score of 4.6/5 on the Trustpilot verified reviews platform

IONOS: A hosting provider at the forefront of AI and committed to the environment

At the forefront of digitalization and sustainable technological solutions, IONOS stands out for its regular innovations.

The hosting company, for example, is pulling out all the stops in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

For example, its MyWebsite Now service lets you create a professional website (including pages, images, and text) in just a few clicks using AI.

IONOS also offers a platform for deploying the most important open source generative AI models, at the level of its sovereign cloud infrastructure.

With this platform, any company can integrate text and image generation templates into its applications via a standard API.

Finally, even though this trait doesn’t feature prominently in its marketing and service offering, IONOS remains committed to the environment.

The company is committed to sourcing sustainable energy and reducing its energy consumption through various actions, including:

• 100% of the electricity used in North American and European data centers comes from renewable sources
• All end-of-life servers are reused, recycled, and disposed of responsibly
• The company’s IT structure is optimized through virtualization and the use of containers

By 2030, IONOS even aims to reduce carbon emissions from its data centers by 55% compared with 2019 levels.

What services does IONOS offer?

Domains and hosting

The main category of products and services offered by IONOS concerns domain names and hosting.

It covers different types of services:

• Free .com domain names for 1 year, and SSL certificates included for the duration of your hosting contract. As IONOS is an accredited registrar for domain name management, you can choose from hundreds of extensions (.ai, .eu, .online, .info, .io, etc.)
• Showcase and e-commerce website creation thanks to artificial intelligence
• Email marketing and digital marketing, in particular with the rankingCoach service (to increase your online visibility thanks to AI)
• Shared hosting (web, ASP.net) and virtual hosting (VPS)
• Classic and managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting
• Creation of professional email addresses (with IONOS webmail)
• In-house office suite (Collabora Online)
• Cloud storage and backup, including a secure online storage and file-sharing service called HiDrive
• Virtual servers (VPS Linux and Windows) and dedicated servers (AMD, Intel, GPU etc.)
• Backups in the cloud

Cloud computing

Alongside this, IONOS also offers a high-availability sovereign cloud infrastructure that guarantees the sovereignty of your data.

It is aimed above all at companies with evolving, customized needs. To meet these needs, IONOS offers a range of solutions:

• Setting up your own virtual data center
• Database configuration and management
• Managed Kubernetes for creating containerized applications
• Configuration and management of managed databases
• Data storage in the cloud protected by confidentiality policies (ISO 27001 certification)
• Compute Engine

A free personal advisor, exclusively at IONOS

Finally, let’s highlight a strong competitive advantage within the IONOS list of services: the availability of a single personal advisor for all your requests.

This is an advantage that is rare, if not nonexistent, with other web hosting providers. In fact, IONOS claims to be the only web hosting provider in the world to put a dedicated contact person at your disposal.

In our experience, this is a feature we’ve never seen from other serious hosting providers like Bluehost, Kinsta, or Hostinger, to name but a few.

This personal advisor can be reached Monday to Friday by phone on his or her direct line, by email, or by chat.

Your contact can help you set up your domain names, create your email addresses, or manage your website.

So much for this general introduction to IONOS and its flagship services.

Let’s move on to a key aspect to consider when choosing your web host: performance.

WordPress host performance (speed + availability) and security

IONOS: a fast, optimized hosting provider for WordPress

In order to offer your visitors an optimal user experience, while meeting the loading speed expectations of search engines like Google (Core Web Vitals metrics), it’s essential that your WordPress site loads quickly.

The infrastructure and technologies offered by your hosting provider play a crucial role here, which is why it’s so important to choose a service provider that guarantees optimum performance.

In this respect, IONOS gets the job done. First and foremost, it has full control over its network infrastructure. The German company has built and owns its own data centers on the European and North American continents.

In the US, IONOS has servers in Las Vegas (NV), Lenexa (KS), and Newark (NJ).

Server location is very important. The closer it is to the majority of your visitors or customers, the faster your site will be displayed. With servers spaced across the United States, you’re all set!

In total, the company operates 31 data centers, with over 100,000 servers in operation across the globe. So there’s no shortage.

One of IONOS’s other performance assets is its dedicated WordPress hosting offering.

Whether you choose a traditional or managed WordPress package (IONOS takes care of technical and server administration with the latter), you benefit from servers specifically optimized for WordPress.

The German hosting provider also claims an uptime of 99.98% for its WordPress hosting offers. In technical terms, this corresponds to a Tier 3 data center.

This ensures a very high level of availability, with a maximum cumulative downtime of 1.6 hours per year.

In detail, the dedicated WordPress hosting offer combines multiple advantages in terms of loading speed:

• Hosting in an isolated environment
• Caching your WordPress site
• 100% SSD storage
• Unlimited traffic and bandwidth

A high-performance web host is a good thing. So is following good webperf practices! Check out our complete guide to optimizing WordPress without breaking the bank.

Security and data protection

Total control of its network infrastructure also enables IONOS to offer its users maximum security.

For example, all their data centers are ISO 27001 certified.This is an international standard that guarantees the secure processing of customer data, and ensures that “an organization or business has put in place a system to manage risks related to the security of data owned or handled by the company.”

Finally, IONOS also offers a range of security measures for its WordPress hosting services:

• Free SSL certificates to switch your site to HTTPS
• DDoS protection to guard against denial-of-service attacks
• Automatic anti-malware scans on your site and hosting platform
• Daily vulnerability scans
• Daily backups stored for 7 days. Please note that your data is backed up in two separate datacenters, so that your site is always accessible online, even during maintenance.

Alright, let’s put theory aside and get down to business. Join me as we explore the IONOS customer area and administration interface.

Our opinion of the IONOS administration interface

What does the IONOS customer area look like?

Logging on to the IONOS customer area (called My IONOS) is very simple. Once you’ve subscribed to one of their services, click on the “Sign In” button in the top right-hand corner of your screen:

After entering your customer number (or email address or domain name) and password, you will be taken to this page (the menus may have changed slightly by the time you read this):

Most of your options are accessible from the central part of the screen. You can also find them by clicking on the drop-down menu at the top left of the screen, called… “Menu” at the top left of the screen.

In no particular order, you can:

• Manage your bills, contracts, and account
• Create and manage your email addresses
• Carry out operations on your domain names (management, renewals, redirections, DNS settings, transfers, etc.)
• Create a showcase site or an online store
• Protect your site
• Etc.

Finally, you can access AI options and help from the icons in the top bar on the right of the screen.

What can we learn from this first temperature check? Well, that this customer area is clean, straightforward, and easy to navigate.

How do I manage my account and hosting options?

To access the basic functions of your hosting server, everything is done from the My IONOS home interface.

In the same place, then, as where you can manage your contract, invoices, and access AI functionalities.

If you’re used to working with a web host that uses an administration interface like cPanel (such as Bluehost), you’ll be a little taken aback at first.

Not all your account management options are on the same page. They are scattered left and right. At first, you have to rummage through the various menus in the hope of finding a particular option.

It’s not very intuitive and practical, because you multiply the clicks and risk getting lost. At first, it’s a bit confusing and time-consuming. But once you get the hang of it, it gets easier.

The search engine at the top of your My IONOS customer area is also efficient and a welcome help. Thank goodness it’s there!

Despite this inconvenience at start-up — especially if you’re used to a different control panel — IONOS still gives you access to the classic and essential management options (in addition to those mentioned above).

Most of them can be accessed from the “Websites & Stores” menu, in particular the “Settings” tab:

• Automatic installation of WordPress, with the possibility of creating your site and its content (text, images) using AI
• Database creation and management with phpMyAdmin
• Access to your WP site using the SSH and SFTP protocols
• Change PHP version
• Manage your site files with integrated FTP software
• WP-CLI can be used to simplify site administration (provided you have basic command-line skills)
• Daily backups and restores
• Website statistics using WebStat data
• Features for developers: .htaccess, domain API, Git, SSI, and IPv6

The essentials are there, and that’s more than enough to get you started. IONOS has clearly chosen not to overwhelm its users with too many complex options.

Please note, however, that you won’t have access to the highly technical and advanced options offered by an interface such as cPanel.

Without further ado, let’s find out what WordPress host IONOS has to offer in the way of customer support.

Support and customer service at IONOS

Personal advisor, phone, and live chat

IONOS customer service is one of the hosting provider’s major assets. For a start, remember: the host provides you with a personal advisor who can be reached Monday to Friday by phone on his direct line, by email, or by chat.

This service is not active by default. To take advantage of it, simply activate it by going to the “Help & Contact” menu in your My IONOS interface.

In the “Contact” tab, simply click on the “Activate now for free” link to take advantage of it:

If you feel that you don’t need this single point of contact, don’t panic. Like most of its competitors, IONOS offers you several options for getting in touch with a member of the technical team. And all 24/7:

• By phone on +1 (484) 254-5555
• Live chat with an expert

Once again, you can access these two options via the “Help & Contact” menu in your customer area.

You can even schedule a call back, setting the time slot of your choice (depending on the dates and times available).

In fact, the customer service is highly responsive. Online chat advisors respond almost immediately.

By phone, an advisor has always responded in less than two minutes to our various requests.

A well-stocked help desk and educational resources

Alongside this human support, IONOS offers various resources to help users resolve any problems they may encounter:

• A Help Center containing some fifteen categories. This is where you’ll find information and tutorials on how to create an email account, activate an SSL certificate, or install a database or WordPress in one click, for example.
• A free online magazine (IONOS Digital Guide) with a wealth of informative articles and tutorials for online success
• Real-time status (24/7), enabling you to find out the status of the services offered by the hosting provider. You can find out if there is a software or hardware malfunction.
• YouTube videos on the host’s official channel, even though commercial videos have been taking precedence over tutorial videos for several months now:

IONOS hosting services and rates

Let’s turn now to IONOS hosting rates. Before going into detail, here are a few important points to bear in mind:

• IONOS offers a wide range of hosting packages from as little as $1/month, excluding VAT. On paper, the value for money is unbeatable, but beware: this is a promotional rate. It will increase significantly after several months.
• The host offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancellation is possible online or by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• A domain name is free for one year (.com, .be, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz, .online).
• You can pay monthly or yearly (which is slightly cheaper).

As IONOS offers a wide range of hosting packages, we’ve chosen here to focus primarily on those dedicated to WordPress (traditional, managed, and WooCommerce). These offers all feature shared hosting servers specifically optimized for WordPress.

WordPress hosting

The first package available to you is called “WordPress hosting.” This is a classic offer: you take care of the technical administration yourself (unlike a managed offer).

It’s ideal for creating a blog or showcase site.

Prices start at $1/month before taxes for a year. After this period, the pack you choose will cost you either $6, $10, or $15.

Three WordPress packages are available (“Start,” “Grow,” and “Boost”). The more a pack costs, the more options and enhanced performance you get:

Here is an overview of the services included in these different plans:

• Hosting for a single website (with the option of creating up to 10,000 sub-domains)
• AI features to create and customize your WordPress site (text and image generator, chatbot help, add-on modules)
• 25 GB, 50 GB, or 75 GB SSD storage
• MariaDB database
• Automatic updates
• Unlimited traffic
• 1 domain name included for the 1st year
• 1 wildcard SSL certificate included (for your main domain and all sub-domains)
• 1, 5, or 10 mailboxes of 2GB each
• Access to a WordPress wizard recommending themes and plugins
• PHP with OPcache to compile PHP code and save it in server memory
• Gzip compression
• 9 GB, 15 GB, or 20 GB shared RAM
• Daily backups kept for up to 7 days
• Anti-malware protection
• DDoS protection
• Vulnerability analysis
• Unlimited SFTP accounts, SSH, WP-CLI, git, .htaccess, Domain API, SSI, and iPv6

Managed WordPress hosting from IONOS

IONOS also offers a turnkey package for beginners: “Managed WordPress Hosting.”
In concrete terms, the prices and technical specifications are the same as the 3 packages presented above.

The main difference lies in the way this offer works. Here, you’re on what’s known as managed hosting. This means that IONOS takes charge of technical and server administration (security, updates, performance, etc.).

In addition to this, the “Managed WordPress Hosting” package offers you the following advantages:

• A step-by-step guide to help you through the installation process
• Pre-installation of the most important plugins
• Numerous free themes with the WordPress wizard
• Click&Build application to install WordPress in just a few clicks

When choosing your WordPress hosting package with IONOS, bear in mind that you can switch from managed to classic hosting, but not vice versa.

WooCommerce hosting

Last but not least, IONOS has also thought of e-merchants with a WooCommerce hosting offer at the single price of $16/month (before tax) for a year (then $20/month ex. tax).

Compared to the two previous (more standard) offers, the WooCommerce dedicated offer features more storage (100 GB), higher file limits, and better performance to cope with high traffic peaks during key periods (Christmas, Black Friday, etc.).

Other types of hosting

In addition to dedicated WordPress hosting, IONOS offers a wide range of different packages to host your site. Without going into too much detail, here’s a non-exhaustive list of what’s available:

• E-commerce hosting: Magento hosting (several offers available on a cloud server), Prestashop hosting (from $1/month for 1 year)
• Traditional web hosting (shared) from $1 excl. tax/month
• Virtual hosting (VPS) based on a Linux server, with 6 packages starting at $2 excl. tax/month (1 vCore CPU, 1GB RAM, 10GB NVMe)
• ASP.net hosting for Windows developers, from $6 excl. tax/month for 1 year
• Cloud hosting with servers billed by the minute (you only pay for what you use). 9 offers are available in two versions (classic or RAM optimized). Prices start at $0.008/hour before tax, with a maximum of $5.76/month.

Does Ionos offer free hosting?

To conclude this section on pricing, let’s answer a question you may be asking yourself.
Although Ionos offers very attractive introductory prices, does the German host offer free hosting in its store?

Although IONOS is planning to offer free web hosting with its MyWebsite package (to create a website using AI), you’ll still need to pay a minimum of $1 excl. tax for 1 year to benefit from it (then a minimum of $18 excl. tax/month after this period).

On the other hand, IONOS offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. This allows you to test their services “free of charge” for a month, and get your money back if you’re not satisfied.

What do the customer reviews for IONOS say?

As you may have noticed, IONOS has an aggressive pricing policy — at least for the first few months of your contract — to attract and retain customers.

What do users think of the service? To get an initial idea of user feedback, head to the famous Trustpilot verified reviews platform.

At the time of writing this IONOS review, almost 9,000 testimonials had been submitted online (a total that can be considered a representative sample!).

Overall, feedback is “excellent” (rating of 4.6/5). This rating is equivalent to that of hosting provider Infomaniak (4.7/5), slightly lower than that of Kinsta (4.8/5), and higher than Bluehost (4.3/5).

IONOS customers particularly appreciate the quality of the customer service, which is often called professional, fast, and efficient.

Our final opinion on IONOS

The end of this IONOS review is nigh! To conclude, here’s a summary of this host’s strengths and weaknesses, followed by our definitive opinion.

Benefits

• A dedicated hosting offering for WordPress (traditional and managed) and WooCommerce
• Attractive starting rates (from $1 excl. VAT/month for 1 year)
• Customer service available 24/7
• A consultant dedicated to your website and your project at no extra cost
• A very solid and experienced host (over 35 years of experience)
• A host of AI features to help you create your site in just a few clicks, without touching the code
• Total control over your server infrastructure
• For the most part, excellent customer feedback
• An administration interface that’s easy to use, once you’ve gotten used to the various options
• A wide range of complementary options in addition to web hosting (domain names, email, cloud storage, backup, virtual servers, etc.)
• Data centers throughout the US

IONOS limits

• A server administration interface with fewer technical features than cPanel, for example
• More expensive hosting rates than the competition after the promotional period (6 months or a year)
• Dedicated WordPress hosting is only available on a shared server
• Some feedback from users, albeit in the minority, indicates that terminating a contract is sometimes difficult

WPMarmite’s opinion of IONOS

IONOS is a very good hosting provider that offers several reassuring “guarantees” for future customers, including:

• A presence in the web hosting landscape for over 35 years, a sign of their solidity and reliability
• Impeccable customer service, with a dedicated advisor dedicated exclusively to your WordPress site, if need be (something its major competitors don’t offer)
• A handy managed WordPress hosting package if you want to leave the technical and server administration to IONOS
• An artificial intelligence-based site creation service that does the work for you (even though you should add your own touch to personalize the whole thing)

These characteristics make IONOS particularly suitable for beginners who don’t want to get their hands dirty and prefer to delegate the majority of technical tasks.

If you want to be taken by the hand from A to Z, IONOS is an appealing host that should suit you.

On the other hand, IONOS won’t be the best value for money in the medium to long term.

We regret, for example, that its prices increase significantly after the promotional period (up to a year).

This puts IONOS in a price range comparable to some of their competitors, but with the added bonus of customer service.

However, the options offered by IONOS in its basic WordPress package will be less extensive than elsewhere, particularly in terms of resources (less RAM memory, less SSD storage, and fewer CPU Threads than at Infomaniak, for example).