Are you searching for a REAL FastComet vs SiteGround Comparison?
I assume you're here because you're trying to decide between FastComet and SiteGround hosting providers, and you're tired of reading the same old crappy hosting comparisons. Let me help you with this more unorthodox comparison: SiteGround is slow!
Okay, FastComet has its flaws too, but as far as speed is concerned, SiteGround is slower than a herd of snails traveling through peanut butter.
And that's an overstatement! Seriously though, the proof is in the pudding. But If you're here to compare hosts, this article covers the following topics:
- Overall user sentiment
- price-to-performance ratios
- Basic hosting features
- Pros and cons
FastComet vs SiteGround
User Sentiment
I like to start off my hosting comparisons with some research on user sentiment to get an idea of how the rest of the internet feels about each host. At first glance, both appear to be highly rated.
Both hosts have raving user reviews on all the major review websites. Additionally, you'll find overall user sentiment is quite positive on Reddit as well.
SiteGround on Reddit
It doesn't really matter where you look. Most people are happy with SiteGround and will defend it from less-than-happy customers.
FastComet on Reddit
The same goes for FastComet. Most people are happy with them. The only negative I could find was attributed to their renewal prices (which are less than SG, by the way).
SiteGround's Deceptive Trustpilot Score
After receiving customer support on SiteGround's platform, you are redirected to Trustpilot to write a review. I know this because I witnessed it first hand. I wrote the review thinking it was for SiteGround's internal tracking, not even noticing it was for a public review!
If you search for the term support on SiteGround's Trustpilot page, you'll find hundreds of pages riddled with people “reviewing” their support.
These reviews aren't from long-term users going out of their way to write extensively constructive reviews about SiteGround's support. These reviews are from users who were helped with a simple task and are just saying thanks. Of course, they're going to give them 5 stars!
Here's what an actual unsolicited review looks like:
See the difference? Notice how they said it's decent at first and then gets very bad? See how the review is longer? This isn't a redirection from a support chat. It's from a frustrated long-term user.
FastComet Blames Their Users
After much investigation, I noticed that almost all of their negative reviews were related to tech support. And I found common themes of them blaming the users instead of finding a solution.
The Google Test
When users are fed up with a company/product/service, they will often search for others to validate their feelings. With that said, if you type SiteGround sucks into Google, here is what you'll find:
That doesn't look good if you ask me. It appears there are many people upset with SiteGround's service. If we do the same for FastComet, here's what turns up:
Well, there isn't much. It seems there aren't many people mad enough at FastComet to lash out on random forums. From what I can tell, it seems FastComet has fewer unhappy users.
Overall Sentiment
The overwhelming majority of users seem to be entirely happy with FastComet and SiteGround, although there is a growing movement away from the ladder. But enough about what others think. Let's move on to some more objective (and exciting) data.
Price to Performance Ratio
Fortunately for you, I recently performance-tested 19 different WordPress hosts, including FastComet and SiteGround, and I have some compelling results.
I set up identical websites on each host, each configured with maximum performance settings, and ran them through multiple benchmark tests, including GTmetrix, Pingdom, Sematext, WebPageTest, Loader, etc. I gathered thousands of results and compiled them into Excel spreadsheets.
I awarded each host points for each benchmarking test according to their performance and ended up with this:
The higher, the better.
As you can see, SiteGround earned 41 points (out of a possible 133), and FastComet earned 72 points. SiteGround was one of the slowest hosts I tested, and I really felt that when I was with them.
For SiteGround, I used their managed Grow Big plan with a full price of 24.99/month, and I used FastComet's FastCloud Extra plan with a full price of 19.95/month. FastComet performed much better than SiteGround with an even lighter price tag.
As far as speed and performance are concerned, FastComet takes the cake! SiteGround just couldn't deliver.
Features Comparison
Here, I've highlighted each host's basic features for easy comparison. The below information was compiled from each host's cheapest managed WordPress plan for fairness.
*While bandwidth is unlimited (and never charged extra for), both hosts monitor usage to ensure clients are kept within a reasonable operational utilization of resources.
FastComet and SiteGround are similar in standard hosting features; however, FastComet gives you slightly more.
FastComet Pros
- Faster than SiteGround
- Cheaper than SiteGround
- Domain registrar
- Free Cloudflare CDN
- Unlimited websites starting with their FastCloud Plus plan
- Trusted cPanel environment
- Free SSL & email accounts
- 45-day money-back guarantee
FastComet Cons
- Hit or miss tech support
- Not as trusted for large corporations
- Pay for premium CDN
SiteGround Pros
- Trusted host with a long history
- Domain registrar
- Free Cloudflare CDN
- Unlimited websites starting with their Grow Big plan
- Advanced security plugin (not top-tier by any means)
- Powerful SG Optimizer caching plugin
- Native file manager
- Free SSL & email accounts
- 30-day money-back guarantee
SiteGround Cons
- Pay for premium CDN
- High renewal rates (more than FastComet)
- Uses Site Tools (not as popular or feature-rich as cPanel)
- Constant price hikes
- Slower than dirt
The Bottom Line
To recap, here's what you've learned so far in this comparison.
- FastComet has better overall user-sentiment
- FastComet is faster according to my extensive performance tests
- FastComet provides a better value over SiteGround
Expert Choice
Personally, if I were forced to choose between the two hosts, I would go with FastComet for the performance and pricing. FastComet is simply faster and provides an overall better value. SiteGround's creeping TTFB (Time to First Byte) is one of the main reasons why I left them, and I'm glad I did.
Both hosting providers offer live chat support, and from my experience, both are great, and overall user sentiment reflects that. I'm also a bigger fan of cPanel than Site Tools.
Anyway, that's just me. I'm not even using either of these hosts. I'm actually using Cloudways because I found them to be the fastest managed WordPress host out of the 19 that I performance-tested. For me, speed and stability are the names of the game, and Cloudways fits that bill perfectly.
In the comments below, let me know what you think about my FastComet vs SiteGround comparison. Who do you prefer? Any gripes?