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Scala Hosting is a web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting services, including specialized WordPress hosting. This review aims to provide an unbiased look at their WordPress hosting offerings, features, pricing, support, and customer satisfaction.

Features and Benefits

Scala Hosting’s WordPress hosting comes with several notable features:

1. SPanel Control Panel: A proprietary control panel that offers an alternative to cPanel. SPanel is designed to be user-friendly and includes features like one-click WordPress installation, backups, and security tools.
2. SWordPress Manager: A custom-built tool for managing multiple WordPress installations. SWordPress Manager allows for easy updates, plugin management, and security monitoring across all WordPress sites.
3. SShield Security: SShield Security is a security suite that includes real-time malware scanning, web application firewall, and brute force attack prevention.
4. Ultrafast SSD Storage: All plans come with SSD storage for improved performance and faster load times.
5. Free Domain: All plans except WP Mini include a free domain name for the first year.
6. Daily Backups: Automated daily backups are included to ensure data protection.
7. Staging Environment: Allows users to test changes before pushing them live.

The benefits of these features include enhanced security, improved performance, and easier management of WordPress sites, especially for users managing multiple installations.

The SPanel control panel is a lot like the WHM tool that many web and hosting professionals are used to. However, it will be quite overwhelming and difficult for novices. There is extensive documentation that can help with the learning curve.

Let’s go a little deeper into SPanel, SWordPress Manager, and SShield Security.

SPanel

Scala Hosting’s SPanel is a custom-built control panel designed to provide users with a powerful, user-friendly alternative to traditional options like cPanel. This innovative solution is a key feature of Scala Hosting’s service offerings, aiming to simplify website and server management for users of all skill levels.

Key Features of SPanel

1. Intuitive Interface: SPanel boasts a clean, modern design that’s easy to navigate, even for beginners.
2. One-Click Installers: Users can easily install popular applications like WordPress, Joomla, and Magento with a single click.
3. Email Management: The panel includes tools for creating and managing email accounts, forwarders, and autoresponders.
4. File Management: SPanel offers an in-browser file manager for easy uploading, downloading, and editing of website files.
5. Database Management: Users can create and manage MySQL databases directly from the control panel.
6. DNS Management: The panel includes tools for managing domain DNS settings.
7. SSL Certificate Management: SPanel simplifies the process of obtaining and installing SSL certificates.
8. Backup Management: Users can easily create and restore backups of their websites and databases.
9. Resource Monitoring: The panel provides real-time statistics on resource usage, helping users optimize their hosting.

SWordPress Manager

Scala Hosting’s SWordPress Manager is a powerful, custom-built tool designed to simplify and streamline the management of multiple WordPress installations. This innovative solution is part of Scala Hosting’s commitment to providing user-friendly, efficient hosting services for WordPress users.

Key Features of SWordPress Manager

Backup Management: The tool facilitates easy creation and management of backups for all WordPress installations.

Centralized Management: The tool allows users to manage multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard, saving time and reducing complexity.

One-Click Updates: Users can update WordPress core, themes, and plugins across all their sites with just one click.

Bulk Actions: Perform actions like activating or deactivating plugins across multiple sites simultaneously.

Security Monitoring: The system continuously scans for vulnerabilities and provides notifications about potential security issues.

Performance Optimization: SWordPress Manager includes tools to optimize WordPress performance, such as caching and database optimization.

Staging Environment: Users can create staging copies of their live sites to test changes safely before pushing them to production.

SShield Security

Scala Hosting’s SShield is a proprietary security suite designed to protect websites and servers from various online threats. This advanced security system is a key feature of Scala Hosting’s offerings, aimed at providing peace of mind to website owners and administrators.

Key Features of SShield

Real-time Malware Scanning: SShield continuously scans websites for malware, ensuring quick detection and prevention of potential threats.

Proactive Protection: The system uses artificial intelligence to identify and block suspicious activities before they can cause harm.

Web Application Firewall (WAF): SShield includes a robust WAF that filters out malicious traffic, protecting against common web attacks like SQL injections and cross-site scripting.

Brute Force Attack Prevention: The system automatically blocks IP addresses that attempt multiple failed login attempts, safeguarding against unauthorized access.

DDoS Protection: SShield offers protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks, helping to maintain website availability.

SSL/TLS Management: The system simplifies the process of obtaining and managing SSL/TLS certificates, ensuring encrypted connections for website visitors.

Regular Updates: SShield is continuously updated to protect against the latest security threats and vulnerabilities.

Pricing

Scala Hosting offers three main WordPress hosting plans:

1. WP Mini: $2.95/month (when paid annually)
2. WP Start: $5.95/month (when paid annually)
3. WP Advanced: $9.95/month (when paid annually)

A fourth plan, Entry Cloud, is also for WordPress and costs $19.95/month (when paid annually). It offers the highest speed and security of all the WordPress plans and the most features.

These prices are competitive within the industry, especially considering the features included. However, it’s worth noting that prices will increase upon renewal by the discount percentages indicated with the introductory pricing listed for each plan.

Support

Scala Hosting provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, ticket system, and phone. They claim to have an average response time of under 5 minutes for live chat and 15 minutes for tickets.

Scala will move your sites from other hosts to Scala for free. Just set up a support ticket in the client area, provide the login information for your current host, and they’ll take care of the rest.

Guarantees and Warranties

Scala Hosting offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on their hosting plans. They also provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee with credit back on a sliding scale for any downtime experienced. Although, the specific percentage is not mentioned prominently on their main website. You have to open the comparison “widget” or search the Terms of Service page to view this level of detail.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer reviews on Trustpilot are overwhelmingly positive, with Scala Hosting receiving an average rating of 5.0 out of 5 stars based on over 1,800 reviews. Many customers praise the quality of customer support and the reliability of the hosting service.

Positive feedback often mentions:

• Responsive and helpful customer support
• Good value for money
• Reliable uptime
• Easy-to-use control panel

However, some negative reviews point out:

• Occasional technical issues
• Difficulties with billing changes, but those were either misunderstandings or quickly dealt with to the customer’s satisfaction
• Some users find the control panel less intuitive than the cPanel

PCMag’s review of Scala Hosting gives it a 4 out of 5-star rating, praising its strong uptime, good customer support, and feature-rich VPS plans. However, they note that the shared hosting plans lack Windows servers and month-to-month payment options.

Conclusion

Scala Hosting’s WordPress hosting offers a competitive package with unique features like SPanel and SWordPress Manager. The pricing is attractive, especially for users looking for managed WordPress solutions. The majority of customers seem satisfied with the service, particularly praising the support quality and reliability. However, as with any hosting provider, there are some areas for improvement, such as the learning curve associated with their proprietary control panel for users accustomed to cPanel.

Potential customers should weigh the benefits of Scala Hosting’s unique features against their specific needs and consider the generally positive but mixed user reviews when making a decision.