Founded in 2000, Domain.com claims it’s one of the world’s largest providers of domain names and web hosting services. the corporate is predicated in Vancouver, Evergreen State within the USA and has recently become a part of the Endurance International group, a large hosting company that owns more than 30 well-known hosting brands.

Domain.com offers a range of hosting plans, including some niche services, but its primary focus is affordable shared hosting. The plans are split into Linux and Windows variants. They also offer a handful of VPS hosting plans.

Domain.com Hosting Plans

Domain.com offers a number of fairly typical shared hosting plans, plus a few specialised services for specific uses. And it also offers VPS hosting.

• Shared hosting is offered across six plans:three Linux, three Window. All have standard features, such as unlimited disk space and bandwidth on the cheapest plan. FTP logins, databases and email accounts are all limited unless you opt for the most expensive hosting package in the shared hosting range. Some hosts provide scripts and one-click installers for free, but it doesn’t really offer more than the basics; you’ll need to pay extra for full access to the library.
• In addition, Domain.com offers a number of optimised hosting plans for specific needs. For example, there’s a couple of site builder plans and a hosting service for WordPress (plus an optional, free .tv domain). Strangely, eco-friendly hosting is offered as a completely separate product too.
• VPS hosting is provided on Linux only, and all virtual servers run CentOS. The resources offered are as you’d expect. The Standard plan offers 512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk space and 1,000 GB bandwidth. The Premium plan offers 2,048 MB RAM, 60 GB disk space and 2,000 GB bandwidth. The site says cPanel and WHM are ‘available’ but doesn’t specifically say that they’re included in the price.

Domain.com Uptime/Downtime

Domain.com doesn’t publicise an uptime guarantee, and there’s no data about uptime history or performance on its website.

The host does not specify the location of its data centre, but it says that its services are provided from a Tier 1 facility offering full redundancy, diesel and UPS backup, redundant cooling, 24/7 monitoring and backups. This host doesn’t specify when backups are taken or whether the backups are accessible to clients.

Customers on VPS hosting plans can ask for a backup to be restored if their VPS is corrupted due to a botched change to the operating system. However, this service is not guaranteed. There’s no information about backups for shared hosting customers.

Domain.com Support

Domain.com offers support via telephone (US toll-free) or a ticketing system. It recommends that urgent support requests are not logged by ticket, which indicates that telephone support calls are given priority. Overall, users can expect a response within 24 hours and the support department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s no information about the location of the support team.

Live chat is available, but it appears to be used by the sales team – there’s no live chat for support.

The host offers public access to its knowledgebase, a help system that covers all the basics of hosting accounts, access and passwords. Users with more advanced needs will probably find themselves contacting support to get the answers they’re looking for. There’s also a basic User Guide and a range of Tutorials; this content is typical on sites owned by Endurance International Group.

Domain.com in the News

Despite having been in the industry for well over a decade, Domain.com hasn’t attracted any notable press – good or bad.

Domain.com Control Panel

At Domain.com, different types of hosting accounts have different control panels.

Shared hosting customers get access to DomainCentral, an in-house custom control panel. There are some articles in the knowledgebase which cover DomainCentral if you want to take a look; customers of other Endurance International Group brands may have come across similar control panels with other hosting providers.

VPS customers can request cPanel and WHM, but it isn’t clear whether these are included in the price or whether there’s an additional admin fee. If you’re thinking of purchasing a VPS from Domain.com, it would be wise to confirm any additional license costs before signing up.

Domain.com Extras

Domain.com offers a standard set of freebies, including marketing credits for Google AdWords, Yahoo!/Bing ads and Facebook advertising. These are all common sign-up bonuses with hosting companies at this level. They also provide shared hosting clients with a free YellowPages.com listing, a toll-free number and Google Webmaster Tools integration. Note that the toll-free number is only available if you’re based in the US.

In terms of scripts, Domain.com’s shared hosting customers can installed WordPress, Drupal, phpBB, CubeCart and a limited range of other popular scripts and tools. To expand the number of applications you can use, you’ll need to subscribe to the SimpleScripts service which costs extra.

Domain.com Money Back Guarantee/ Cancellation Policy

The Terms of Service on Domain.com mention a 30-day money-back guarantee, but there’s no indication that this is offered as standard. As such, it’s probably safer to assume that the guarantee isn’t applicable on any of its hosting plans.

If you cancel mid-term, Domain.com reserves the right to charge 100% of all money that was due to be paid over the course of your contract. In other words- don’t expect a refund. If you do want to cancel, bear in mind that your request will take up to 30 days to take effect.

Domain.com Summary

Endurance International Group has swallowed up many hosting companies that offer broadly similar deals. As far as Domain.com is concerned, there’s little to separate its hosting from any of the other brands in the group. Its hosting isn’t particularly expensive, but it’s not that innovative either.

On a basic level, many customers will be pleased with it, providing they’re OK with the custom control panel and lack of clarity on an uptime guarantee. If you’re not in the US, you might find the relatively slow turnaround time on support tickets to be a hindrance as your site matures.

Source: whoishostingthis.com