ScalaHosting Review 2025: Simplicity, Support and Speed in One Package

ScalaHosting is a reliable web hosting service with affordable pricing and excellent 24/7 customer support. We think it’s a good choice for business beginners because ScalaHosting offers a custom SPanel. This CPanel alternative is intuitive, easy to use, and newbie-friendly.

Another helpful feature is the third-party AI builder, which lets you quickly build a professional site without coding. Although the AI builder isn’t powered in-house, it’s deeply integrated into ScalaHosting’s WordPress ecosystem.

We found that ScalaHosting excels at WordPress-based hosting, offering a feature-rich WordPress Manager with one-click installs, staging environments, and cloning. It can also help you manage multiple sites.

But ScalaHosting isn’t without its downsides. It doesn’t provide two-factor authentication (for shared plans) or DDoS protection (on all plans). And while we like a good AI web builder, we found the lack of guided tutorials could pose challenges for new users.

Dive into our ScalaHosting review to learn more about our in-house testing experience and whether this is the best web hosting service for your business.

ScalaHosting review at a glance

Price	$2.95-$34.95/mo
Money-back guarantee	Yes, up to 30 days
Uptime guarantee	99.99%
Monthly visits	90K - 300K visitors per month
Number of websites	1 - unlimited
Storage	10 - 100 GB
Free SSL certificate	On all plans
Free domain for a year	Beginning with Start plan
Backup frequency	Daily with 7-day period
Migration assistance	On all plans
24/7 support	On all plans
Learn more	Get ScalaHosting

Score summary

Here's how our star rating is calculated:

Decision factor	Weight	ScalaHosting Verdict
Our experience	10%	4.8/5
Prices and capacity	18%	4.6/5
Performance	20%	5/5
Features	25%	5/5
Security	20%	5/5
Support and reputation	7%	5/5

We last tested ScalaHosting on October 8th, 2025.

Our experience

Getting started with ScalaHosting is easy. Once you log in, you’re greeted by a clean, modern dashboard called the Client Area Home. For new users, there’s an option for a brief tour to help familiarize you with the dashboard.

Navigating the dashboard is straightforward and provides access to key features, like support tickets and domain searching. You’ll also find all of your services listed here.

Under the Manage option (within My Services), you’ll find:

• Usage statistics
• Web management tools
• Vital service information, such as IP address, your renewal date, and add-ons & extras
• The option to log in to SPanel

We found the SPanel control panel simple and beginner-friendly. Each category is well defined and can be rearranged to your preferred view.

As for WordPress installation, ScalaHosting gives you two options:

1. WordPress Manager. This is a custom, dedicated tool that offers a third-party AI builder, powered by Spectra. It also supports custom WordPress installations with no AI use.
2. Softaculous. This is a well-known auto-installer that supports other CMS options beyond WordPress.

Of these options, we recommend WordPress Manager. It’s intuitive, deeply integrated, and gives you access to the AI builder.

If you opt for WordPress Manager, you’ll get two more options to choose from:

1. Custom, which helps you install raw WordPress.
2. WordPress + Spectra Website Builder, which lets you use the AI builder to create a professional site.

The custom install is best suited for those with prior WordPress web building experience.

The AI builder, on the other hand, helps build a professional website with AI prompts. It’s easy to use, but we found it lacks some necessary tool tips. This can lead to confusion, especially for new users. In our speed tests, we found that using the AI builder can also affect site load speed (see speed test results).

Let’s go through both the custom and AI builder options to help you determine which option best suits your needs.

Custom WordPress install

ScalaHosting’s in-house WordPress Manager lets you install and manage your WordPress site with ease. It provides one-click install, an AI builder, and automatic updates. For advanced users, it offers one-click cloning and staging options.

To create a custom site, go to SPanel and choose WordPress Manager (under Software).

Next, choose the custom option. Then, simply fill in each field and choose the WordPress plugin to install (optional). The installer automatically populates the folder name.

Make sure to delete the folder name so that WordPress installs on the main domain, and not the folder itself.

The installation is fast, taking only a couple of minutes to get WordPress ready. From there, you can customize the site based on your needs.

AI builder

With ScalaHosting, you can also use the AI builder to create a professional-looking site. Before choosing this route, be aware that the AI builder isn’t ScalaHosting’s proprietary tool. This feature is made available via the Spectra Website builder.

With the WordPress + Spectra Website Builder, you can build:

• An online store. Create a branded online store that’s powered by WordPress, WooCommerce, and Spectra.
• A business. This option lets you create a professionally designed online business website.
• A blog. Access aesthetic themes that showcase your style for your personal blog.

For this demo, we chose the Business option. Once selected, WordPress Manager will install WordPress on the selected domain.

Next, you must log in to the WordPress site that you just created. It’ll showcase the following page (see Getting Started).

The three steps include:

1. Choosing a starter theme or template from Astra (where you use the AI builder)
2. Customizing the website with the Astra Theme editor
3. Adding and modifying pages/posts

Once you click Choose template, it’ll ask you to select between Block Editor (the default WordPress editor) or Elementor page builder (a powerful third-party, drag-and-drop page builder).

And only then will you be able to select the AI builder.

That’s a lot of steps just to get to the AI builder. It can be confusing for new users, especially when there aren’t sufficient tool tips throughout the process. Advanced users might not feel confused, as they know that Spectra is a popular no-code web builder, but it’s ScalaHosting’s responsibility to convey what the Spectra builder can do.

As for the AI builder itself, it’s straightforward and asks you to complete the following steps:

1. Let’s start: Enter your website name, type, and choose a language.
2. Describe: In a few words, describe what your site is about.
3. Contact: Provide a personal or business email, phone number and address. (optional)
4. Images: Select images for your site. (optional)
5. Design: Choose a template for your site.

The last step is selecting the features you want to install.

Overall, the AI web builder experience is top-notch. However, the process lacks tool tips, which can slow down or confuse complete newbies. To overcome this learning curve, beginners can take advantage of ScalaHosting’s in-depth knowledge base and 24/7 customer support.

Despite its shortcomings, I would recommend ScalaHosting for both beginners and experienced web masters. It offers all the tools other popular web hosting services like Hostinger provide to create a stunning website from scratch.

ScalaHosting prices and plans

ScalaHosting shared WordPress plans cost between $2.95 to $20.95 per month, depending on whether you take their monthly or annual plan.

You have the option to choose between SPanel- and cPanel-powered plans. Below are the key differences:

• SPanel plans are $1 per month cheaper compared to cPanel-powered plans.
• The SPanel plans give access to AI WP Sitebuilder, CDN integration, WordPress performance reports, and real-time malware protection, which cPanel-powered plans lack.

This makes SPanel the obvious choice. However, cPanel is available to those who are comfortable using it.

For a more detailed comparison, the table below shows how the three shared WordPress plans stack up against each other.

Features	Mini (Monthly)	Start (Monthly)	Advanced (Monthly)
Price	$11.95/mo	$14.95/mo	$19.95/mo
Uptime guarantee	99.99%	99.99%	99.99%
Monthly visits	90K per month	195K per month	300K
Number of websites	1	Unlimited	Unlimited
Storage	10 GB	50 GB	100 GB
Bandwidth	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered
Free domain for a year
Backup frequency	Daily, for 7-day period	Daily, for 7-day period	Daily, for 7-day period
Learn more	View plan	View plan	View plan

It’s clear that ScalaHosting's shared WordPress prices are competitive, especially its cheapest plan.

By comparison, other hosting providers, such as Hostinger, have competitively priced plans, but they renew at a higher price. If you’re looking for a long-term web host with minimal renewal price hikes, ScalaHosting is a strong option.

We recommend getting the Start WordPress shared plan as it includes a free domain name and lets you host multiple sites. Furthermore, it offers 50 GB storage compared to only 10 GB storage on the Mini plan. We recommend getting a 3-year plan as it provides the best price value. If you need more help deciding, check out our web hosting cost guide.

ScalaHosting features

ScalaHosting is a feature-rich hosting provider that offers:

• Different types of hosting. The types of web hosting services include shared, managed, and self-managed VPS/cloud, cluster, and Windows.
• Web building features. Users can choose WordPress Manager and AI Builder, powered by Spectra.
• WordPress integration. Enjoy one-click staging, one-click cloning, 7-day daily backups, and more.
• Web migration. Free web migration on managed plans

Types of web hosting available

ScalaHosting allows businesses to host websites across diverse platforms:

• Shared hosting. You can host multiple sites on a single server.
• Managed and self-managed VPS/Cloud hosting. Access virtualized servers to host apps/sites while taking advantage of cloud capabilities.
• Cluster hosting. This is best for an app or site hosted across multiple servers.
• Windows hosting. Host a site or app that’s compatible with the Windows operating system.

Choose the option that fits your needs, but before deciding, you’ll need to know about the two core types of ScalaHosting plans:

• Managed. The provider handles infrastructure, migration, and updates. Learn more about Managed WordPress hosting.
• Unmanaged. You’re responsible for managing everything, including migration and updates.

We tested the ScalaHosting WordPress Mini plan. It has all the features a good WordPress hosting provider should, like standard security and no bandwidth limits. However, it lacks a free one-year domain and multi-site support.

Web building features

ScalaHosting excels at web-building features. We found its in-house WordPress Manager is easy to use and offers a one-click install option. Additionally, you can clone and stage your site through it.

The installation requires a few steps. You need to choose:

• Installation URL
• Username
• Password
• Optional plugins to install

The AI builder’s accessibility was not optimal, as there’s no mention of it being an AI builder. It’s just described as a WordPress + Spectra Website Builder. This can be confusing for users who are unfamiliar with Spectra.

Despite this issue, creating a site using the Spectra website builder is easy. Just follow a few simple steps (if you opt for the AI builder option), including an explanation of what you want the AI builder to create (see Our experience).

Once a site is created, you can edit it with ZipWP, yet another plugin that you must install to edit your site.

WordPress integration

ScalaHosting comes preloaded with WordPress-focused tools and services.

These include one-click WordPress installation, one-click staging, one-click cloning, and daily backups.

WordPress Manager also lets you manage sites directly without logging in to each site.

Web migration

ScalaHosting offers web migration on all managed plans, including Shared WordPress plans. They provide it via manual action, rather than a tool (which Hostinger offers). To migrate your site, you need to contact them to raise a migration request.

ScalaHosting performance

Good performance is vital for any website's success. To test ScalaHosting performance, we leveraged multiple professional tools. ScalaHosting passed our tests with flying colors, showcasing that it can handle peak traffic situations without any hiccups.

Speed test

The speed test shows how quickly your site loads under normal conditions. It’s best to aim for a load time of under 2 seconds so visitors don’t click away.

For the speed test, we used the Dotcom tool and tested three locations. Below are two important metrics that reflect real-world scenarios:

• First Contentful Paint (FCP) tests the time it takes for the browser to load the first content on the site.
• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) tests the time taken by the largest content to load.

Here are the results for the site created using WordPress and Elementor:

Product	Performance score	FCP	LCP
SalaHosting average	99.33	0.46 s	0.66 s

For the site built using WordPress and Spectra Website builder:

Product	Performance score	FCP	LCP
SalaHosting average	98.33	0.73 s	0.86 s

In both cases, the site loaded quickly and provided a seamless visitor experience, as confirmed by our manual testing.

However, we found that the non-AI site had better FCP and LCP values, even with a page size of 2.5 MB, whereas the AI site had worse FCP and LCP values with a 1.4 MB page size.

This means that it’s best to opt for traditional website building (without using an AI builder) if you want a site that performs quickly out of the box.

Uptime and response

ScalaHosting has a 99.99% uptime guarantee. To check their claims, we set up a UptimeRobot that regularly pings the site to see if it's still up. Our test ran for 7 days and found that ScalaHosting exceeded its uptime guarantee with 100% uptime.

That’s right: Zero incidents and zero downtime.

Product	Uptime	Average response time	Minimum response time	Maximum response time
ScalaHosting average	100%	665 ms	645 ms	685 ms

Stress tests

Stress tests reveal how well a site performs under load. To test ScalaHosting's stress capabilities, we used Loader.io. It sent 250 virtual users over 1 minute. ScalaHosting did well, with an average response time of 799 ms and no errors as well.

ScalaHosting security features

Web hosting security is crucial to protect your users’ data. If not done right, it can lead to legal battles or worse, and impact your brand’s image forever.

ScalaHosting offers the following security features:

• CSF firewall: An advanced firewall that protects against network threats
• Mod_security: Protects the site from common vulnerabilities such as SQL injections
• SShield: Automated cutting-edge malware protection tool

ScalaHosting does a great job protecting your site(s) with its SShield security guard. It’s an automated tool that protects you against malicious and suspicious behavior. For advanced users, it offers detailed security reports to pinpoint issues and fix them before anything bad happens. In fact, it’ll notify you if it feels something is off.

And, even if someone hacks your site, you can use one of the daily backups to revert to the working site. In our test, we found it was easy to restore backups or create manual backups if needed.

However, we found that ScalaHosting shared plans don’t have any form of two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is available only for VPS or above plans. ScalaHosting also lacks DDoS protection on all plans. To overcome this, use a third-party DDoS protection service, such as Cloudflare.

ScalaHosting customer support and reputation

Support type	ScalaHosting Help Center
Email or live chat	Offers 24/7 live chat and email support via support@scalahosting.com
Phone
Online guides or forums

ScalaHosting offers solid 24/7 customer support. I contacted them via their on-site live chat support and got a response within 1 minute. They resolved my issues quickly and answered all my questions professionally.

They also offer a solid knowledge base where you can access easy-to-follow tutorials on everything related to them, including resource guides on getting started, SPanel, different hosting types, and billing.

ScalaHosting user reviews

• Trustpilot rating: 4.9 out of 5

ScalaHosting has a strong Trustpilot rating, with most reviews raving about its outstanding support.[1] Users praise their onboarding experience and performance, with only a few reviews (<1%) talking about their inability to provide support.[2] Reddit forums on ScalaHosting are also positive.

Top ScalaHosting alternatives

Not all businesses will find ScalaHosting the right fit for their hosting needs. That’s fine, considering that the market is full of options. Here are top alternatives we’ve tested and can recommend based on price, perks, and performance.

Bluehost

Bluehost is a leading web hosting provider, especially given that it is WordPress.org’s recommended host. Beginners will find Bluehost user-friendly, as it comes with an AI builder.

It mirrors ScalaHosting in terms of pricing, but its advantage lies in its cheapest plan, which offers a 1-year free domain and the ability to host multiple sites.

Learn more in our Bluehost review.

Hostinger

Having personally used Hostinger for a few years, I would recommend it to small- to medium-scale businesses. Its automated migration tool is fantastic and gets you started as quickly as possible.

Hostinger is also comparatively cheaper and offers higher base storage and a free domain on all plans. However, their renewal rates are slightly higher.

Learn more in our Hostinger review.

IONOS

IONOS is a reliable hosting provider offering a wide range of services, including WordPress, Joomla, Compute Engine, and more.

It’s more affordable than ScalaHosting and offers a free domain for 1-year plans. Its renewal rates are also lower than ScalaHosting's.

Bottom line: Is ScalaHosting good?

Yes, ScalaHosting is a solid choice for beginners who want feature-rich, affordable hosting with excellent customer support. Its custom solutions, such as WordPress Manager and SPanel, make site management easier and more intuitive. You also get access to SShield, an automated malware protection tool that keeps your site protected from malicious actors 24/7.

As good as it is, ScalaHosting has some drawbacks. These include a lack of tooltips, especially when using its AI builder; the absence of DDoS protection (on all plans); and no option to enable 2FA on shared plans.

Despite these downsides, I would recommend ScalaHosting to businesses that want robust, secure, and high-performance web hosting.

FAQs