Getting started with Fasthosts
Signing up with Fasthosts is straightforward, though it’s more traditional than flashy. You pick a plan, register or transfer a domain, choose your billing term, and you’re in. There’s no lengthy onboarding wizard — just a clean control panel waiting for you to either install an application or upload your own files.
The control panel
Fasthosts uses its own custom control panel rather than cPanel, and it’s one of the tidiest in the business. Everything you need — domains, DNS, email, databases, SSL, backups and one-click installs — is laid out in a single, searchable dashboard. It feels less cluttered than cPanel without stripping away the power users want.
For WordPress users, there’s a one-click installer that sets up a fresh site in under a minute, complete with automatic SSL provisioning and a starter admin account. It’s not as guided as some competitors‘ onboarding flows, but it’s faster for anyone who’s done this before.
Migration support
If you’re moving from another host, Fasthosts offers a free migration service on most plans. You fill out a form with your existing hosting credentials, and the migration team handles the transfer, including database and file migration. Turnaround is typically one to three business days.
Performance and reliability
Fasthosts runs its own UK data centres, which is a genuine advantage for UK and European site visitors — round-trip times are measurably lower than hosts with only U.S. infrastructure. In our monitoring over the past 12 months, uptime averaged 99.99%, comfortably above the 99.99% SLA on business plans.
Page load times from a basic WordPress install were in the 0.8–1.4 second range from UK test locations, 1.2–2.0 seconds from continental Europe, and 2.5–3.5 seconds from North America. If your audience is primarily UK or European, this is excellent performance. For a global audience, you’ll want to layer a CDN on top — Fasthosts integrates with Cloudflare on every plan to help with that.
All shared hosting plans now use SSD storage, and the managed VPS and dedicated server plans offer NVMe options. Higher-tier plans include built-in caching layers that measurably improve response times for traffic-heavy sites.
Key features
One-click app installer
Fasthosts includes a Softaculous-style installer for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, PrestaShop and dozens of other applications. Installs complete in under a minute and automatically configure SSL, databases and admin credentials. It’s a workhorse feature, done well.
Free domain and SSL
Every annual hosting plan includes a free domain for the first year (selected TLDs) and a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for the lifetime of the hosting. Renewal domain pricing is reasonable and clearly displayed at checkout, which is more transparent than many competitors.
Business email
Fasthosts includes business email on most hosting plans, with custom addresses on your domain. The webmail interface is modern and responsive, with mobile apps available for iOS and Android. If you prefer Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Fasthosts resells both at competitive prices through the same dashboard.
VPS and dedicated servers
Fasthosts‘ VPS and dedicated server offerings are genuinely strong. You can scale resources on demand, choose between managed and self-managed options, and add load balancers, firewalls or private networking as needed. For small agencies or developers, the combination of UK hosting and clear resource-based pricing makes it a viable alternative to hyperscale cloud providers.
Security
Free SSL, DDoS protection at the network edge, two-factor authentication on accounts, and automatic daily backups are standard on most plans. Business and higher-tier plans add SiteLock malware scanning and advanced firewall rules. You can also opt into off-site backup retention for an additional fee, which is recommended for production sites.
Pricing: how much does Fasthosts cost?
Fasthosts‘ pricing is competitive with the UK hosting market and notably more transparent than many U.S. competitors — the renewal rate is shown clearly at checkout rather than buried in fine print. Prices below reflect the introductory annual rate.
| Plan | Intro price | Best for | Key features |
|---|
| Starter | £1/mo | Personal sites and blogs | 1 website, 50 GB SSD, free SSL, daily backups |
| Standard | £4/mo | Small business sites | Unlimited sites, 100 GB SSD, free domain (year 1), business email |
| Power | £9/mo | Traffic-heavy sites | 250 GB SSD, SiteLock scanning, daily backups, priority support |
| VPS Plans | From £14/mo | Developers and agencies | Dedicated resources, full root access, NVMe storage, scalable CPU/RAM |
Prices and promotions change often — see Fasthosts’s current pricing and offers.
Ease of use
Fasthosts is a good fit for users who already have some hosting experience and want a clean, well-organised dashboard. Complete beginners will find it straightforward but with less hand-holding than all-in-one builders like Wix or guided hosts like Bluehost. The documentation is thorough, and the search inside the control panel is genuinely useful for finding obscure settings.
For developers, the experience is excellent: SSH access on higher-tier plans, clear DNS management, a transparent Git-based deployment option on VPS plans, and minimal nagging upsells once you’re inside the dashboard.
Not sure it’s the right fit? Every plan is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee — try it before you commit.
Try Fasthosts risk-freeCustomer support
Fasthosts provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone and email, all staffed from the UK. In our testing, live chat response times were under two minutes during business hours and under eight minutes outside them. Representatives were knowledgeable and, importantly, empowered to escalate technical issues quickly rather than bouncing you through tiers of script-reading agents.
The documentation library is one of the better ones we’ve seen, with clear, up-to-date articles covering common issues and advanced configuration. Video tutorials cover the main product lines, though some are starting to look a little dated.
Our scoring breakdown
The bottom line
Fasthosts earns its reputation by doing the fundamentals of hosting genuinely well: fast UK infrastructure, transparent pricing, a clean control panel, and real 24/7 support backed by knowledgeable UK staff. It’s less flashy than some competitors, but that’s part of the appeal — you get a serious hosting platform without the upsell-heavy experience that plagues much of the industry.
If you’re hosting a site for a UK or European audience, running a small agency that needs reliable VPS infrastructure, or simply want a host that treats you like a professional, Fasthosts deserves a serious look.
Fasthosts vs the competition
How it stacks up against the other brands we rate most highly. Scores are each brand’s overall rating from our own review of that platform.
Builder
Score
From
Best for
Score
9.3
Best forUK-based hosting with transparent renewal pricing and real human support
Score
8.9
From£1/mointro, then from £16/mo
Best forCheapest bundled extras — domain, email and a personal consultant included
Score
9.8
From£9/moLight, annual ex VAT
Best forDesign freedom and a built-in website builder
Score
9.5
From£2.99/mo48-mo term, renews £10.99
Best forLowest long-term cost on a multi-year term
Who should use Fasthosts?
UK and European businesses
You want fast local performance and UK data residency without paying hyperscale cloud prices.
We’d start on Standard — £4/mo
Developers and small agencies
You need scalable VPS or dedicated resources with clear, resource-based pricing rather than opaque cloud billing.
We’d start on VPS Plans — from £14/mo
Budget-conscious personal sites and blogs
A simple, reliable UK host at the lowest possible entry price, with room to upgrade later.
We’d start on Starter — £1/mo
Anyone who wants human, UK-based support
24/7 phone and chat support staffed locally matters more to you than the cheapest possible headline price.
We’d start on Power — £9/mo
If you want a built-in website builder rather than pure hosting, need the best performance for a North American or Asian audience without managing your own CDN, or you’re committed to a classic cPanel workflow, weigh Fasthosts against the other builders and hosts in the comparison table above — each scores higher on one of those points.
Ready to host your site with Fasthosts?
Get reliable UK-based hosting with 24/7 expert support, free SSL and a 30-day money-back guarantee — all with transparent renewal pricing.
Visit FasthostsFrequently asked questions
Is Fasthosts UK-based?
Yes. Fasthosts is headquartered in Gloucester, England, and operates its own data centres in the UK. All customer support is also UK-based. This is a meaningful advantage for anyone who needs UK data residency for compliance reasons or wants low-latency hosting for a UK audience.
Does Fasthosts include a free domain?
Annual plans from Standard and above include a free domain for the first year on selected TLDs (.co.uk, .uk, .com, .net and a handful of others). The domain renews at Fasthosts’s standard rates after the first year, which are clearly shown at checkout.
Is Fasthosts owned by IONOS?
Fasthosts and IONOS are both part of the same parent company and share some underlying infrastructure, but they operate as distinct brands with their own product lines, pricing and customer support teams. If you’re comparing the two, look at the specific plan features and data centre locations rather than assuming they’re identical.
Can I migrate my existing site to Fasthosts?
Yes. Fasthosts offers a free managed migration service on most hosting plans. You provide your existing hosting credentials, and the migration team handles the transfer of files, databases and email. Turnaround is typically one to three business days. DIY migration via FTP and database export is also straightforward for anyone comfortable with those tools.
Does Fasthosts offer a money-back guarantee?
Yes. All Fasthosts hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you cancel within 30 days of signup, you receive a full refund on the hosting portion. Domain registrations and optional add-ons are typically non-refundable, so factor those in if you’re trialling the service.
How does Fasthosts compare to Wix or Hostinger?
Fasthosts has the edge for UK and European performance thanks to its UK data centres, and its pricing transparency is a notable plus. Wix bundles a website builder directly into hosting, which suits anyone who wants to design a site rather than just host one. Hostinger is cheaper on paper on long multi-year terms but hosts sites globally without guaranteed UK data residency. For a UK audience that wants pure hosting, Fasthosts is often the best all-rounder.
