Most popular email platforms are free, but nothing is really free. In exchange for using free email services like Gmail and Yahoo Mail, you agree to let them harvest your data for advertising purposes to earn revenue. Understandably, many people are not comfortable with such an arrangement and seek encrypted email alternatives.
Tutanota is one of the best secure email providers. It doesn’t have ads but, instead, relies on donations and premium subscriptions to earn revenue. Tutanota is open-source and customizable, meaning third parties are free to analyze its encryption standards and confirm. The platform claims to have over 2 million users worldwide, which is impressive for something that’s been around for just a decade.
Tutanota is formally blocked in some countries such as Egypt and Russia but users in these countries can still access it via Tor or a VPN network.
Tutanota: Plans and pricing
Tutanota offers a free account with limited features; it gives just 1 GB of storage and access to one calendar. You’ll need to upgrade to a premium plan for more features.
This platform offers two plans for individual users; Revolutionary and Legend. The former costs $3.60 per month and gives you access to 20 GB of storage, unlimited calendars, 15 extra email address, 3 custom domains, and email support. The latter costs $9.60 per month and gives you access to 500 GB of storage, unlimited calendars, 30 extra email addresses, 10 custom domains, and priority email support.
Tutanota offers three plans for businesses; Essential, Advanced, and Unlimited. The Essential plan costs $7.20 per user per month and gives access to 50 GB of storage, unlimited calendars, 15 extra email addresses, 3 custom domains, and email support.
The Advanced plan costs $9.60 per user per month and provides 500 GB of storage, 30 extra email addresses, and 10 custom domains. The Unlimited plan costs $14.40 per user per month and provides 1000 GB of storage, unlimited custom domains, and 30 extra email addresses.
You’ll get a significant discount on all plans if you pay for 12 months in one go.
(Image credit: Tutanota)
Tutanota: Features
Tutanota offers many beneficial features, including
End-to-End Email Encryption
End-to-end encryption refers to a communication protocol that prevents any third party from accessing information as it’s transferred from one email to another. In this case, even Tutanota can not access your email contents to run any analysis whatsoever.
This platform uses 128-bit AES encryption and 2048-bit RSA encryption to protect emails. You can still send non-encrypted emails to users of other platforms; the email is only encrypted between your address and Tutanota's servers but is sent unencrypted to the recipient.
If you send encrypted mail to an external unencrypted email platform, the recipient will receive a link to a temporary Tutanota account to read the email securely.
Mobile & Desktop Apps
Tutanota offers native apps for both desktop and email devices. You can download the iOS app on Apple's App Store or the Android app via the APK or F-Droid software repository. You can also download the desktop app on Windows or macOS. Likewise, you can access Tutanota directly on your web browser if that’s what you prefer.
(Image credit: Tutanota)
Calendar
Tutanota offers a complimentary calendar app that you can use to plan your schedule. Users on the free plan can create just one calendar but users on the premium plans can create and manage multiple calendars. Your calendars are encrypted just like your emails so you can plan your schedule securely. You can also share your calendars with friends, family, or colleagues that have a Tutanota account.
Custom Domains
You can create emails using your custom domain name as the suffix. A custom domain looks professional, which is why businesses use it. A custom domain isn’t available on the free plan, so you have to subscribe to a premium plan to get access to this feature.
GDPR Compliance
Tutanota has been compliant with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws since 2018. This means European users can request their data from the company or request a permanent deletion. Even, Tutanota deletes free accounts that have not been logged into for 6 months.
(Image credit: Tutanota)
Tutanota: Interface and use
Tutanota is known for having a simple, intuitive interface. The interface is minimal and uncluttered, so you shouldn’t have a problem understanding it. You can switch between different features easily.
You can access Tutanota on your web browser or download the app on your desktop or mobile phone. The disadvantage for Android smartphone users is that Tutanota isn’t available on the Play Store. Instead, you must download and install the APK directly or use the F-Droid repository, which is pretty complex for the average user.
Tutanota: Support
Tutanota offers customer support via email. You can send an email to the support team and wait for a few days for a reply. Customers on the most expensive plans get priority support, which implies a response within 24 hours.
You also have access to complimentary support resources such as tutorials and user guides on the official website.
Tutanota: The competition
Protonmail is a major competitor to Tutanota. It’s one of the most popular encrypted email services out there and offers broader features than Tutanota. For instance, a Proton Mail subscription includes access to a calendar, cloud storage, and virtual private network (VPN) service.
Tutanota: Final verdict
Tutanota provides users with an exceptional level of security and privacy. The service is affordable and incredibly easy to access. Support features are lacking, and a 48-hour verification process might put off some users, but if security is your primary concern when choosing an email provider, there's not much better than Tutanota.
The most popular email platforms, such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, are free. But you’ll be right to wonder why you’re using a service for free. No one will really spend lots of money on a product just to give it out for free, right? Yes, in exchange for using these free services, you agree to allow the owners to access your data for advertising purposes to earn revenue. Many people aren’t comfortable with this arrangement, and, thus, seek alternative email services that don’t harvest data. StartMail is one such service.
StartMail was founded in 2013 in the Netherlands. 2013 was the year of notable global surveillance leaks, so you’ll observe a lot of secure email providers popping up in that year.
StartMail offers an alternative, secure email service that doesn’t harvest user data to make a profit. Instead, it profits by offering a subscription package to users.
StartMail: Plans and pricing
StartMail offers two pricing plans; Personal and Custom Domain. As the names suggest, the former gives you an email account ending with "startmail.com" and the latter gives you an account ending with your custom domain.
The Personal plan costs $6 per month and the Custom Domain plan costs $7 per month. You can also pay a discounted rate of $60 annually for the former and $70 for the latter.
StartMail gives a 40% discount to new customers in the first year, but you’ll pay the normal price in the ensuing years. You can take advantage of the 7-day free trial to test the platform’s features before making your final decision.
(Image credit: StartMail)
StartMail: Features
StartMail offers many helpful features, including:
End-to-end email encryption
End-to-end encryption refers to a security protocol that prevents any third party from accessing data while in transit. StartMail encrypts your emails on its servers, and they can only be decrypted on the recipient’s servers. If anyone intercepts the data in transit, it’ll be gibberish to them because they don’t have the decryption keys.
StartMail uses the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption protocol. This protocol uses public and private keys to encrypt your data and prevent unauthorized access. StartMail encrypts your message using public encryption keys that the recipient's server provides. Once the recipient gets the message, it then uses its private keys to decrypt it.
PGP also uses digital signatures to check if any message has been altered in transit and block the message if detects any such altering.
End-to-end encryption means that even StartMail can not access your emails. Neither can it provide your email’s contents to any legal body that requests it.
Custom domain
Businesses and individuals often need custom domains for their emails because it makes them look more professional. StartMail allows you to use your personal domain for your emails and look professional. You just need to adjust your domain’s settings to point to StartMail’s mail servers.
Cloud storage
StartMail gives each subscriber up to 20 GB of cloud storage for their emails. That’s enough storage for most individuals and is more than what you’d find on many popular email platforms.
(Image credit: StartMail)
Email alias
An alias is an alternative email address that forwards to your main address. It acts as a “front” to your main email address. The purpose of using an alias is to avoid giving out your main email address when interacting with people or apps.
StartMail allows you to generate an unlimited number of aliases. For example, if your email is john@startmail.com, you can create john+news@startmail.com to receive newsletters, john+work@startmail.com to receive work-related messages, john+edu@startmail.com for academic matters, etc.
Migration
A major problem preventing people from switching email providers is potential data loss. To mitigate this, StartMail makes it easy to migrate from an alternative email platform to its own. It works with the ShuttleCloud platform, which allows you to migrate emails securely. You can export all your messages and contacts from other email platforms, e.g., Gmail, to StartMail.
Two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication is a security feature that requires two modes of identification before granting access to your account. The first mode is your password and the second is a one-time code sent to your phone number.
You can enable two-factor authentication to protect your StartMail account. Hence, an unauthorized party will not gain access to your account even if they somehow get hold of your password.
GDPR compliance
StartMail complies with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. Hence, you can request instant account and data deletion whenever you want.
(Image credit: StartMail)
StartMail: Interface and use
StartMail has an intuitive and modern interface. You’ll likely find it easy to navigate the platform and switch between different features. However, StartMail doesn’t have a native mobile or desktop app, unlike some rivals. You can add it to an existing email app such as Apple Mail, but it’s a more complicated process.
StartMail: Support
StartMail offers direct support to users via email. You can submit your request on a form on the official website or email directly. You can also check the Knowledge Base containing user guides and answers to frequently asked questions.
StartMail: Competition
Proton Mail is the main competitor to StartMail that we’ll like to highlight. It offers a slick and intuitive interface just like StartMail. It goes further by having mobile apps (iOS and Android), unlike StartMail. Proton Mail also gives access to complementary tools such as a calendar and a virtual private network (VPN).
StartMail: Final verdict
If you’re looking for a secure email provider with a user-friendly interface, StartMail is a good choice. It’s not exactly cheap but it’s not so expensive compared to the competition. It offers good value for your money.
FreshBooks is a one-stop, cloud-based accounting software package that for a relatively small outlay can provide you with an easy-to-use package that ticks most boxes, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. Within its browser-based design you’ll find a whole host of options that cover any and all aspects of running a business. It doesn't matter if you're a lone freelancer or someone who’s growing a business and employing staff.
FreshBooks is a doddle to use, has the capacity to expand with your business needs and, thankfully, keeps those stress levels low as you build up your accounting profile. New features for this year include advanced search, the ability to download your own statements, Dropbox connectivity, new keyboard shortcuts and much more.
FreshBooks is easily configured using a step-by-step series of user-friendly windows (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Pricing
FreshBooks comes with a selection of package and payment options that should provide a solution for most. For the self-employed there’s a no-messing $19 per month Lite package (currently available for $7.60) that allows for 5 billable clients.
Next up, the Plus edition is $33.00 (currently available for $13.20 per month), which is aimed at small businesses and has the capacity for 50 billable clients.
Premium, meanwhile, has potential for business that are expanding and costs $60.00 per month (currently available for $24.00 per month) with a 500 billable client capacity.
Any requirements over and above this selection and you’re best advised to contact FreshBooks for a custom deal. FreshBooks also gets a thumbs up for its try-free option, which lets you explore the package and cancel within 30 days if it’s not right for your needs.
Initial setup takes mere moments thanks to a very straightforward cloud-based design (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Features
FreshBooks comes with an impressive array of features no matter which of the package options you adopt. Even the Lite edition sparkles with the capacity for unlimited and customizable invoices, unlimited expense entries, the ability to accept credit card payments online and ACH bank transfers too.
Naturally, the beefier the package the more features you get, so Plus adds to the Lite feature set with unlimited proposals, automated recurring invoices, double entry accounting reports and more besides. Similarly, Premium gets all the Lite and Plus features along with up to 500 client capacity and the ability to add team members (at $10 per person).
Anyone with a custom-priced deal can also enjoy a personal account manager, personal FreshBooks training for you and your team along with other value-added features.
FreshBooks Dashboard is where you can control all of the features and functionality (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Performance
FreshBooks has had plenty of time to perfect its operation and this cloud-based system is one that works with little to worry about. The service delivers a neat experience depending on what kind of business you run, and if you’re a one-man-band then there’s very little to go wrong it seems.
Even if you’re operating a large or expanding business FreshBooks seems nicely engineered and rolls with the punches if you’re dealing with large chunks of customer data.
Freshbooks is also available for iOS or Android and the app edition is a clever supplement to the desktop arrangement. Not everyone wants to do everything on their app, especially if that involves large reams of numbers, but this is a great option if you’re keeping track of things on the go.
FreshBooks can also be used in expanded fashion as your business grows (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Ease of use
Accounting software can be a long and arduous journey if you’re not au fait with its different sensibilities, let alone the work involved in mastering a new system. However, FreshBooks has been honed and fine-tuned over the years and is now an inviting option, especially if you’re starting out in business.
In fact, FreshBooks is refreshing in its set-by-step setup, with initial manoeuvres involving little more than picking a package and following the email address and password route so common with cloud-based operations.
Ease-of-use is enhanced as the system can be adapted to suit what type of user you are. Larger concerns, for example, allows team members to be added. Freelancers and self-employed sole trader-types have it even easier.
FreshBooks might look simplistic but it comes with a raft of powerful tools (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Support
FreshBooks has a dependable and well-established support system that goes back as long as it has been operating. To start, there’s an excellent online area of the FreshBooks site that offers up a delicious selection of quick fix answers. There are top categories too, such as dashboard and settings, invoicing and payments or handling online payments, which cover the majority of newbie enquiries.
However, for the more unusual requests you may have, or indeed if you prefer a human to advise you, then there’s an easy-to-find phone number in the same section of the site. Live support is available from Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm EDT (Excluding Holidays) in the US. Alternatively, FreshBooks has a support email address to beef up the contact and support options.
FreshBooks can be used to seamlessly connect to any or all of your financial institutions (Image credit: FreshBooks)
FreshBooks: Final verdict
We’re really pleased with the way the latest incarnation of FreshBooks looks and performs. It’s been around for a while now and that is obviously a strength as the FreshBooks folks have refined the essence of the accounts package, while making it a wonderfully straightforward user experience.
It’s easy to setup and configure, the menu systems and sections are plain and simple, plus there’s plenty of power behind it to ensure things keep on ticking even if you’re asking a lot of it. All told, FreshBooks seems like a mighty fine way to do your accounting and, depending on your requirements, is actually pretty cost-effective.
The company with the curious name of 20i was launched in 2016 by a dynamic duo consisting of two brothers, Tim and Jonathan Brealey. Although 20i is still basically a new-born in the trade, its creators are industry veterans, having gathered extensive web hosting experience while working on their previous creations.
Their first project was Webfusion, which was the first company to offer a customized version of a control panel called Virtual Control Panel. Three years later they founded 123-Reg, which remains a market leader in domain name registration in the UK. After two decades of experience the brother's launched a hosting company that would (in their words) “break the mold” (let’s hope for the better).
20i’s head office is located in Ransom Wood, the UK, and they have two of their own datacenters, one in London and one in Dallas, Texas. Plus they have the option of using AWS and Google Cloud servers. 20i also provide a global CDN (content delivery network) with twenty-one locations across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa, but their infographics could lead you to believe there are more locations included in their network than there are. So, double check the CDN locations when making a purchasing decision.
(Image credit: Future)
Actual amount and location of CDN nodes
(Image credit: 20i)
Plans and pricing
20i are best known for their reseller hosting but they also provide managed cloud hosting for AWS, and managed WordPress hosting and WooCommerce hosting from their own datacenters and AWS and Google Cloud servers. For reseller plans you can't choose the datacenter location but for other plans you can.
If you create a reseller account with US login details you'll automatically be given servers in the US datacenter. If you create a reseller account with UK login details, you'll get the UK datacenter. For other plans you can choose the location but only customers from outside the UK have the option to use the USD listing price which is cheaper than the GBP listing price after currency conversion. If you use a VPN you might be able to take advantage of the USD prices (but check the T&Cs).
(Image credit: Future)
We asked 20i about why the pricing is different and we were told that it's because of the lower costs to run a datacenter in the US. This didn't add up though because for this plan you can choose a server location anywhere in the world.
Even though 20i focuses on reseller hosting, its shared, WordPress and VPS packages offer a wide array of fantastic features such as free website migration, CDN, website acceleration suite and much more. All hosting plans are presented in a very detailed manner where you can get all needed information about web hosting packages, their cloud platform, security measures, e-mail features, supported web hosting software and their promises (some of which are backed by a guarantee) within a few clicks.
We've noticed at least one inaccuracy in the specifications listed for 20i plans. For example, for managed WordPress hosting unlimited MySQL databases with a 5GB capacity are provided but in the small print it says that database size is limited to 1024 megabytes. We asked 20i about the database capacity and were told that the limit is actually based on the SSD size of the hosting plan.
(Image credit: Future)
After you select a plan, you’ll be provided with a few options regarding the domain name. Here, in addition to the typical options (register a new or use an old one), you can choose to feed the little master of procrastination that lives in all of us and decide to, well, decide later what to do about your domain.
In any case, the rest of the process is everything one might expect from it. You are required to provide a first round of personal data, opt for a payment frequency (monthly or annual, with the annual one getting you one month of free hosting) and go through 20i’s terms and conditions. Now it’s time for the second round of personal data and the content of a form slightly differs depending on whether you are acting as an individual or on behalf of a company.
Ease of use
This is the user interface of 20i's custom control panel My20i (Image credit: 20i)
20i have their own control panel (named simply My20i) that, without much subtlety, proclaims its superiority over the fan-favorite “old-school” Linux-based cPanel. Funnily enough, My20i and cPanel look like chips off the same old block, which is something even the casual eye would take a notice of.
However, we have to admit, My20i is one of the most user-friendly tailor-made control panels we have seen and the one that will make everything you need readily available at your fingertips. It is a genuine one-stop solution for managing all of your web hosting, e-mails, databases and software. In addition to this, it has to be noted that My20i is included with all hosting packages, so you won’t be driven to pay extra just to enjoy its elegant simplicity and intuitive ease of use.
As an alternative (not that you will need one), you can use 20i’s drag-and-drop website builder, but if you haven’t opted for their “Startup”, “Premium”, “Business” or any of the reseller plans, it will come at a price.
We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of 20i's main website (Image credit: GTmetrix)
Speed and experience
Considering that 20i utilizes worldwide CDN and their own website acceleration suite in order to improve your site speed and “make it fly”, we came with a certain set of expectations regarding the speed performance. After we performed a speed test on 20i’s main website (provided by GTmetrix), our expectations were pretty much justified.
The page fully loaded in just 1.8 seconds (the average result is 8.1) and it required 55 requests to do so (the average being 98 requests). In addition, all other vital web metrics were ahead of the curve i.e. all but one, and that is total blocking time that regrettably took 352 milliseconds, although ideally it should be less than 150. Nevertheless, GTmetrix rated the speed performance of 20i’s site with a B (86%), which is one of the better performances we have seen so far.
20i emphasizes security of their “state-of-the-art” data centers that are manned day-and-night and reinforced with high-level physical security measures that cover everything from backup power generators to advanced fire protection. However, oddly enough, they failed to say a lot about the uptime we can expect while doing business with them.
As per usual, we put the uptime of 20i’s main website to the test, so you don’t have to. After a month of steadfast monitoring (via tireless UptimeRobot), our efforts were rewarded by pretty promising results. There was no recorded downtime at all resulting in an impeccable 100% of uptime.
Support
Although all visitors to 20i’s website have an option to reach its support staff via telephone, if you are looking for some good old customer support, you will notice that their help is primarily text-based. The first pick for most of us will be live chat, which seems available during the working hours at a minimum. Fortunately (for both parties), after testing the willingness of their helping hands, we were well pleased with all the hand-holding we got.
20i's knowledgebase can help you find the answers you need to common web hosting problems (Image credit: 20i)
If you’re not in a rush, you can get in touch with 20i’s technical team via support ticket or email. However, if you want to remain as self-sufficient as humanly possible, there are some excellent options for you as well. The principal one is their knowledgebase (titled “Support Database”) as it manages to cover all key issues and concerns in an easy-to-understand way. On the other hand, if you are more into how-to video guides, 20i’s YouTube channel features a stack of them (actually, around sixty) and those we have checked out seem really handy.
The competition
Most newcomers looking for a well-balanced reseller hosting solution are likely to consider web hosting providers like InMotion Hosting, HostGator and A2 Hosting at some point, and not without reason.
Since you are here, you are presumably taking 20i into consideration. And if you pick them out, you are right to expect a full list of features (many of which are unlimited), lightning speed and powerful performance in general, together with a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. However, if this should be your first close encounter with reseller web hosting, InMotion Hosting is most likely your safest bet. Their packages present a great value for money at a pocket-friendly price of $26.59 (with 20i it is about $49.50) per month, with cPanel, WHM and WHMCS included together with an overgenerous 90-day money-back guarantee that will give you quite a bit of time to try them out before making any definitive decision.
Although HostGator is not as reseller-focused as 20i, its reseller plans can grab anyone’s attention, particularly in terms of features. For a really reasonable price HostGator will put no limitations on the number of domains, subdomains, email accounts, MySQL databases and FTP accounts. However, if you want an unlimited hosting in its true form, you’ll have to go with 20i for they will throw in an unlimited number of websites, unlimited storage space (100% SSD), unlimited bandwidth and unlimited Wildcard SSL certificates.
Bluehost is another popular alternative for those on the lookout for a novice-friendly hosting provider that has something to meet most needs. However, while Bluehost offers no reseller packages (which are 20i’s specialty), 20i doesn’t provide an option for demanding users in need of dedicated servers (and Bluehost does). This is one of those differences that can serve as a decisive point for certain types of users.
In terms of features, GreenGeeks is comparable with InMotion Hosting, but one feature that sets them apart from all the hosts above is (not hard to guess considering the name of the company is highly suggestive) their dedication to eco-friendly hosting. If we add that they guarantee 99.98% of uptime, provide 24/7 live support chat and all at a price starting at $10.95 (you can get about 80% off on sale), going green might sound even better.
Final verdict
One of the hallmarks of hosting with 20i is their very own custom-made My20i control panel and it is the closest thing to an industry-standard control panel (such as cPanel and Plesk) we have seen since the Jurassic period of web hosting. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, intuitive design and sheer user-friendliness, which is something we seldom see with non-standard counterparts.
At the same time, 20i has been quietly gaining worldwide momentum thanks to its well-structured, feature-rich and easy-to-set up hosting solutions, a performance one can rely on and professional and polite in-house support staff.
We just found too many inaccuracies on their site which could fall into being misleading for us to strongly recommend this hosting provider for everyone. If you're looking for the best UK web hosting, there are other options.
Claimed score vs real score
(Image credit: Future)
The company with the curious name of 20i was launched in 2016 by a dynamic duo consisting of two brothers, Tim and Jonathan Brealey. Although 20i is still basically a new-born in the trade, its creators are industry veterans, having gathered extensive web hosting experience while working on their previous creations.
Their first project was Webfusion, which was the first company to offer a customized version of a control panel called Virtual Control Panel. Three years later they founded 123-Reg, which remains a market leader in domain name registration in the UK. After two decades of experience the brother's launched a hosting company that would (in their words) “break the mold” (let’s hope for the better).
20i’s head office is located in Ransom Wood, the UK, and they have two of their own datacenters, one in London and one in Dallas, Texas. Plus they have the option of using AWS and Google Cloud servers. 20i also provide a global CDN (content delivery network) with twenty-one locations across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa, but their infographics could lead you to believe there are more locations included in their network than there are. So, double check the CDN locations when making a purchasing decision.
(Image credit: Future)
Actual amount and location of CDN nodes
(Image credit: 20i)
Plans and pricing
20i are best known for their reseller hosting but they also provide managed cloud hosting for AWS, and managed WordPress hosting and WooCommerce hosting from their own datacenters and AWS and Google Cloud servers. For reseller plans you can't choose the datacenter location but for other plans you can.
If you create a reseller account with US login details you'll automatically be given servers in the US datacenter. If you create a reseller account with UK login details, you'll get the UK datacenter. For other plans you can choose the location but only customers from outside the UK have the option to use the USD listing price which is cheaper than the GBP listing price after currency conversion. If you use a VPN you might be able to take advantage of the USD prices (but check the T&Cs).
(Image credit: Future)
We asked 20i about why the pricing is different and we were told that it's because of the lower costs to run a datacenter in the US. This didn't add up though because for this plan you can choose a server location anywhere in the world.
Even though 20i focuses on reseller hosting, its shared, WordPress and VPS packages offer a wide array of fantastic features such as free website migration, CDN, website acceleration suite and much more. All hosting plans are presented in a very detailed manner where you can get all needed information about web hosting packages, their cloud platform, security measures, e-mail features, supported web hosting software and their promises (some of which are backed by a guarantee) within a few clicks.
We've noticed at least one inaccuracy in the specifications listed for 20i plans. For example, for managed WordPress hosting unlimited MySQL databases with a 5GB capacity are provided but in the small print it says that database size is limited to 1024 megabytes. We asked 20i about the database capacity and were told that the limit is actually based on the SSD size of the hosting plan.
(Image credit: Future)
After you select a plan, you’ll be provided with a few options regarding the domain name. Here, in addition to the typical options (register a new or use an old one), you can choose to feed the little master of procrastination that lives in all of us and decide to, well, decide later what to do about your domain.
In any case, the rest of the process is everything one might expect from it. You are required to provide a first round of personal data, opt for a payment frequency (monthly or annual, with the annual one getting you one month of free hosting) and go through 20i’s terms and conditions. Now it’s time for the second round of personal data and the content of a form slightly differs depending on whether you are acting as an individual or on behalf of a company.
Ease of use
This is the user interface of 20i's custom control panel My20i (Image credit: 20i)
20i have their own control panel (named simply My20i) that, without much subtlety, proclaims its superiority over the fan-favorite “old-school” Linux-based cPanel. Funnily enough, My20i and cPanel look like chips off the same old block, which is something even the casual eye would take a notice of.
However, we have to admit, My20i is one of the most user-friendly tailor-made control panels we have seen and the one that will make everything you need readily available at your fingertips. It is a genuine one-stop solution for managing all of your web hosting, e-mails, databases and software. In addition to this, it has to be noted that My20i is included with all hosting packages, so you won’t be driven to pay extra just to enjoy its elegant simplicity and intuitive ease of use.
As an alternative (not that you will need one), you can use 20i’s drag-and-drop website builder, but if you haven’t opted for their “Startup”, “Premium”, “Business” or any of the reseller plans, it will come at a price.
We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of 20i's main website (Image credit: GTmetrix)
Speed and experience
Considering that 20i utilizes worldwide CDN and their own website acceleration suite in order to improve your site speed and “make it fly”, we came with a certain set of expectations regarding the speed performance. After we performed a speed test on 20i’s main website (provided by GTmetrix), our expectations were pretty much justified.
The page fully loaded in just 1.8 seconds (the average result is 8.1) and it required 55 requests to do so (the average being 98 requests). In addition, all other vital web metrics were ahead of the curve i.e. all but one, and that is total blocking time that regrettably took 352 milliseconds, although ideally it should be less than 150. Nevertheless, GTmetrix rated the speed performance of 20i’s site with a B (86%), which is one of the better performances we have seen so far.
20i emphasizes security of their “state-of-the-art” data centers that are manned day-and-night and reinforced with high-level physical security measures that cover everything from backup power generators to advanced fire protection. However, oddly enough, they failed to say a lot about the uptime we can expect while doing business with them.
As per usual, we put the uptime of 20i’s main website to the test, so you don’t have to. After a month of steadfast monitoring (via tireless UptimeRobot), our efforts were rewarded by pretty promising results. There was no recorded downtime at all resulting in an impeccable 100% of uptime.
Support
Although all visitors to 20i’s website have an option to reach its support staff via telephone, if you are looking for some good old customer support, you will notice that their help is primarily text-based. The first pick for most of us will be live chat, which seems available during the working hours at a minimum. Fortunately (for both parties), after testing the willingness of their helping hands, we were well pleased with all the hand-holding we got.
20i's knowledgebase can help you find the answers you need to common web hosting problems (Image credit: 20i)
If you’re not in a rush, you can get in touch with 20i’s technical team via support ticket or email. However, if you want to remain as self-sufficient as humanly possible, there are some excellent options for you as well. The principal one is their knowledgebase (titled “Support Database”) as it manages to cover all key issues and concerns in an easy-to-understand way. On the other hand, if you are more into how-to video guides, 20i’s YouTube channel features a stack of them (actually, around sixty) and those we have checked out seem really handy.
The competition
Most newcomers looking for a well-balanced reseller hosting solution are likely to consider web hosting providers like InMotion Hosting, HostGator and A2 Hosting at some point, and not without reason.
Since you are here, you are presumably taking 20i into consideration. And if you pick them out, you are right to expect a full list of features (many of which are unlimited), lightning speed and powerful performance in general, together with a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. However, if this should be your first close encounter with reseller web hosting, InMotion Hosting is most likely your safest bet. Their packages present a great value for money at a pocket-friendly price of $26.59 (with 20i it is about $49.50) per month, with cPanel, WHM and WHMCS included together with an overgenerous 90-day money-back guarantee that will give you quite a bit of time to try them out before making any definitive decision.
Although HostGator is not as reseller-focused as 20i, its reseller plans can grab anyone’s attention, particularly in terms of features. For a really reasonable price HostGator will put no limitations on the number of domains, subdomains, email accounts, MySQL databases and FTP accounts. However, if you want an unlimited hosting in its true form, you’ll have to go with 20i for they will throw in an unlimited number of websites, unlimited storage space (100% SSD), unlimited bandwidth and unlimited Wildcard SSL certificates.
Bluehost is another popular alternative for those on the lookout for a novice-friendly hosting provider that has something to meet most needs. However, while Bluehost offers no reseller packages (which are 20i’s specialty), 20i doesn’t provide an option for demanding users in need of dedicated servers (and Bluehost does). This is one of those differences that can serve as a decisive point for certain types of users.
In terms of features, GreenGeeks is comparable with InMotion Hosting, but one feature that sets them apart from all the hosts above is (not hard to guess considering the name of the company is highly suggestive) their dedication to eco-friendly hosting. If we add that they guarantee 99.98% of uptime, provide 24/7 live support chat and all at a price starting at $10.95 (you can get about 80% off on sale), going green might sound even better.
Final verdict
One of the hallmarks of hosting with 20i is their very own custom-made My20i control panel and it is the closest thing to an industry-standard control panel (such as cPanel and Plesk) we have seen since the Jurassic period of web hosting. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, intuitive design and sheer user-friendliness, which is something we seldom see with non-standard counterparts.
At the same time, 20i has been quietly gaining worldwide momentum thanks to its well-structured, feature-rich and easy-to-set up hosting solutions, a performance one can rely on and professional and polite in-house support staff.
We just found too many inaccuracies on their site which could fall into being misleading for us to strongly recommend this hosting provider for everyone. If you're looking for the best UK web hosting, there are other options.
Claimed score vs real score
(Image credit: Future)
The company with the curious name of 20i was launched in 2016 by a dynamic duo consisting of two brothers, Tim and Jonathan Brealey. Although 20i is still basically a new-born in the trade, its creators are industry veterans, having gathered extensive web hosting experience while working on their previous creations.
Their first project was Webfusion, which was the first company to offer a customized version of a control panel called Virtual Control Panel. Three years later they founded 123-Reg, which remains a market leader in domain name registration in the UK. After two decades of experience the brother's launched a hosting company that would (in their words) “break the mold” (let’s hope for the better).
20i’s head office is located in Ransom Wood, the UK, and they have two of their own datacenters, one in London and one in Dallas, Texas. Plus they have the option of using AWS and Google Cloud servers. 20i also provide a global CDN (content delivery network) with twenty-one locations across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa, but their infographics could lead you to believe there are more locations included in their network than there are. So, double check the CDN locations when making a purchasing decision.
(Image credit: Future)
Actual amount and location of CDN nodes
(Image credit: 20i)
Plans and pricing
20i are best known for their reseller hosting but they also provide managed cloud hosting for AWS, and managed WordPress hosting and WooCommerce hosting from their own datacenters and AWS and Google Cloud servers. For reseller plans you can't choose the datacenter location but for other plans you can.
If you create a reseller account with US login details you'll automatically be given servers in the US datacenter. If you create a reseller account with UK login details, you'll get the UK datacenter. For other plans you can choose the location but only customers from outside the UK have the option to use the USD listing price which is cheaper than the GBP listing price after currency conversion. If you use a VPN you might be able to take advantage of the USD prices (but check the T&Cs).
(Image credit: Future)
We asked 20i about why the pricing is different and we were told that it's because of the lower costs to run a datacenter in the US. This didn't add up though because for this plan you can choose a server location anywhere in the world.
Even though 20i focuses on reseller hosting, its shared, WordPress and VPS packages offer a wide array of fantastic features such as free website migration, CDN, website acceleration suite and much more. All hosting plans are presented in a very detailed manner where you can get all needed information about web hosting packages, their cloud platform, security measures, e-mail features, supported web hosting software and their promises (some of which are backed by a guarantee) within a few clicks.
We've noticed at least one inaccuracy in the specifications listed for 20i plans. For example, for managed WordPress hosting unlimited MySQL databases with a 5GB capacity are provided but in the small print it says that database size is limited to 1024 megabytes. We asked 20i about the database capacity and were told that the limit is actually based on the SSD size of the hosting plan.
(Image credit: Future)
After you select a plan, you’ll be provided with a few options regarding the domain name. Here, in addition to the typical options (register a new or use an old one), you can choose to feed the little master of procrastination that lives in all of us and decide to, well, decide later what to do about your domain.
In any case, the rest of the process is everything one might expect from it. You are required to provide a first round of personal data, opt for a payment frequency (monthly or annual, with the annual one getting you one month of free hosting) and go through 20i’s terms and conditions. Now it’s time for the second round of personal data and the content of a form slightly differs depending on whether you are acting as an individual or on behalf of a company.
Ease of use
This is the user interface of 20i's custom control panel My20i (Image credit: 20i)
20i have their own control panel (named simply My20i) that, without much subtlety, proclaims its superiority over the fan-favorite “old-school” Linux-based cPanel. Funnily enough, My20i and cPanel look like chips off the same old block, which is something even the casual eye would take a notice of.
However, we have to admit, My20i is one of the most user-friendly tailor-made control panels we have seen and the one that will make everything you need readily available at your fingertips. It is a genuine one-stop solution for managing all of your web hosting, e-mails, databases and software. In addition to this, it has to be noted that My20i is included with all hosting packages, so you won’t be driven to pay extra just to enjoy its elegant simplicity and intuitive ease of use.
As an alternative (not that you will need one), you can use 20i’s drag-and-drop website builder, but if you haven’t opted for their “Startup”, “Premium”, “Business” or any of the reseller plans, it will come at a price.
We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of 20i's main website (Image credit: GTmetrix)
Speed and experience
Considering that 20i utilizes worldwide CDN and their own website acceleration suite in order to improve your site speed and “make it fly”, we came with a certain set of expectations regarding the speed performance. After we performed a speed test on 20i’s main website (provided by GTmetrix), our expectations were pretty much justified.
The page fully loaded in just 1.8 seconds (the average result is 8.1) and it required 55 requests to do so (the average being 98 requests). In addition, all other vital web metrics were ahead of the curve i.e. all but one, and that is total blocking time that regrettably took 352 milliseconds, although ideally it should be less than 150. Nevertheless, GTmetrix rated the speed performance of 20i’s site with a B (86%), which is one of the better performances we have seen so far.
20i emphasizes security of their “state-of-the-art” data centers that are manned day-and-night and reinforced with high-level physical security measures that cover everything from backup power generators to advanced fire protection. However, oddly enough, they failed to say a lot about the uptime we can expect while doing business with them.
As per usual, we put the uptime of 20i’s main website to the test, so you don’t have to. After a month of steadfast monitoring (via tireless UptimeRobot), our efforts were rewarded by pretty promising results. There was no recorded downtime at all resulting in an impeccable 100% of uptime.
Support
Although all visitors to 20i’s website have an option to reach its support staff via telephone, if you are looking for some good old customer support, you will notice that their help is primarily text-based. The first pick for most of us will be live chat, which seems available during the working hours at a minimum. Fortunately (for both parties), after testing the willingness of their helping hands, we were well pleased with all the hand-holding we got.
20i's knowledgebase can help you find the answers you need to common web hosting problems (Image credit: 20i)
If you’re not in a rush, you can get in touch with 20i’s technical team via support ticket or email. However, if you want to remain as self-sufficient as humanly possible, there are some excellent options for you as well. The principal one is their knowledgebase (titled “Support Database”) as it manages to cover all key issues and concerns in an easy-to-understand way. On the other hand, if you are more into how-to video guides, 20i’s YouTube channel features a stack of them (actually, around sixty) and those we have checked out seem really handy.
The competition
Most newcomers looking for a well-balanced reseller hosting solution are likely to consider web hosting providers like InMotion Hosting, HostGator and A2 Hosting at some point, and not without reason.
Since you are here, you are presumably taking 20i into consideration. And if you pick them out, you are right to expect a full list of features (many of which are unlimited), lightning speed and powerful performance in general, together with a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. However, if this should be your first close encounter with reseller web hosting, InMotion Hosting is most likely your safest bet. Their packages present a great value for money with cPanel, WHM and WHMCS included together with an overgenerous 90-day money-back guarantee that will give you quite a bit of time to try them out before making any definitive decision.
Although HostGator is not as reseller-focused as 20i, its reseller plans can grab anyone’s attention, particularly in terms of features. For a really reasonable price HostGator will put no limitations on the number of domains, subdomains, email accounts, MySQL databases and FTP accounts. However, if you want an unlimited hosting in its true form, you’ll have to go with 20i for they will throw in an unlimited number of websites, unlimited storage space (100% SSD), unlimited bandwidth and unlimited Wildcard SSL certificates.
Bluehost is another popular alternative for those on the lookout for a novice-friendly hosting provider that has something to meet most needs. However, while Bluehost offers no reseller packages (which are 20i’s specialty), 20i doesn’t provide an option for demanding users in need of dedicated servers (and Bluehost does). This is one of those differences that can serve as a decisive point for certain types of users.
In terms of features, GreenGeeks is comparable with InMotion Hosting, but one feature that sets them apart from all the hosts above is (not hard to guess considering the name of the company is highly suggestive) their dedication to eco-friendly hosting. If we add that they guarantee 99.98% of uptime, provide 24/7 live chat support going green might sound even better.
Final verdict
One of the hallmarks of hosting with 20i is their very own custom-made My20i control panel and it is the closest thing to an industry-standard control panel (such as cPanel and Plesk) we have seen since the Jurassic period of web hosting. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, intuitive design and sheer user-friendliness, which is something we seldom see with non-standard counterparts.
At the same time, 20i has been quietly gaining worldwide momentum thanks to its well-structured, feature-rich and easy-to-set up hosting solutions, a performance one can rely on and professional and polite in-house support staff.
We just found too many inaccuracies on their site which could fall into being misleading for us to strongly recommend this hosting provider for everyone. If you're looking for the best UK web hosting, there are other options.
Opera was founded in 1995, which makes it one of the oldest browsers (even older than Chrome and Edge), which adds to its credibility. While its earlier versions were known to be slow and featureless, the recent updates have put it on par with the competitors.
In fact, in some areas, such as performance and security, Opera has surpassed other popular browsers with its consistent and remarkable service. If you’re planning to give Opera another try or have yet to experience it, read this guide till the end to find everything you need to know about whether it's the best browser for you.
Opera browser: Features
Opera is perhaps one of the only widely recognized browsers that provides a free VPN to all users. Sure, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge provide an option to use VPN, but both are paid services. VPN-enabled browsing is undoubtedly far safer than any incognito mode or private browsing mode.
It also comes with a built-in adblocker that gives you a seamless browsing experience without the distraction of pop-ups. Also, since pop-ups from unknown websites could be bait from hackers, keeping them blocked is a great way to protect your system against such digital attacks. Another notable benefit of having ads blocked is the browser will load much faster.
Opera also integrates with many popular social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. If you frequently use these platforms on the web, Opera’s instant access feature will definitely benefit you. Opera also integrates with Whatsapp and lets you chat through a small Whatsapp window on the sidebar as you browse online. It's the perfect way to work online while collaborating with your team.
One of Opera’s most unique features is the “Lucid Mode,” which instantly improves the quality of your videos and images with a click. Opera has also made managing web snapshots easier than ever. While traditionally, you had to go back to the folder where any snapshots you’ve taken are saved to edit them, Opera allows you to edit them as soon as you capture the screen.
If you want to watch videos as you work, Opera has the perfect solution for you — Video Pop-Up. Using this, you can make the video window float on the screen as you browse other things. The same goes for music and podcasts — you can play any audio in the background as you work. Unlike music on YouTube that disappears as soon as you close the tab, this feature will keep the music running at all times.
Opera provides you with an easy way to save and share web content that you frequently browse, all thanks to its Pinboards feature. Additionally, you can share this saved content visually with other users.
Opera browser: Privacy
Opera has a high standard for user privacy. For starters, it provides a free VPN to all its users so that none of you have to worry about your activities being tracked.
Secondly, it blocks all ads and pop-ups that could possibly lead you to websites that steal data.
Thirdly, you get a tracker blocker that's specially designed to keep away third-party tools that are infamous for stealing your data.
These features come together to not only keep your data safe but also reduce the load time, lighten the load on your CPU and RAM, and boost the overall performance of your device.
(Image credit: Opera)
Opera browser: Ease Of use
Opera is certainly easy to use, but if you compare it against the likes of Chrome or Edge, you might find it a tad bit difficult to operate.
For instance, when you open the browser, you won't find the search bar at the center of the page. The only way to open new tabs is through the top header, where all the tabs are lined up, just like Chrome.
But on the flip side, the central space of the main page is used to introduce you to important features such as Bookmarks, Dark/Light Mode, VPN, Adblocker, and more. Plus, Opera comes preinstalled on a lot of devices, thus saving you any effort you might have to put into installing it.
Accessing your social media apps via Opera is easy too. You’ll find all the necessary shortcuts on the left-side menu of the screen.
Opera browser: Competitors
As with other tier 2 browsers, Opera faces tough competition from Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Chrome has the biggest market share in the browser industry, with more than 93% of global searches directed through it. However, more doesn't always mean better. Opera is slightly ahead of Chrome in terms of user security and performance efficiency.
For example, while Chrome offers a paid VPN service, Opera offers it for free. Chrome takes up too much space and slows down your system, whereas Opera is fast and responsive. Along with that, Chrome has faced several lawsuits and allegations for leaking user data, but Opera is widely renowned for its safe network.
The same goes for Edge. When compared for privacy and security, Opera is the clear winner. Edge’s privacy settings are rather basic and limited. Opera not only has a wide range of security settings but many features, such as an intuitive ad-blocker, are set by default. This way, your browsing experience remains secure from day one.
Speaking of Firefox and Opera, the latter is a few brownie points above the former with faster loading, enhanced tracking protection, and a built-in tracker blocker.
Opera browser: Final verdict
Opera is a comprehensive browser with enough in it to win you over. It provides you with a secure browsing space like no other and offers a free VPN too, which further adds to your protection.
Despite not being one of the top contenders in the market, Opera’s catalog of features is praiseworthy. Starting from multiple browser themes and integrated social media platforms to AI integration and simpler task management, Opera does it all.
Last but not least, Opera takes much less space and CPU power than Chrome, meaning your system and other apps work smoother.
