One-minute review

[Update February 1, 2023: As of February 2023, a mic attachment has been released for the NTH-100 headphones. Alternatively, you can also purchase both the NTH-100 and the NTH-Mic in a bundle under the name NTH-100M.]

For decades Rode has been known around the globe for its quality microphones, and now with the release of its first ever pair of headphones, the Aussie company has taken its pursuit of quality to another category.

The Rode NTH-100 is the brand's first ever pair of headphones and are available now for $149 / £149 / AU$249. They're aimed at audio professionals with their studio grade performance, but comfortably appeal to anyone seeking a top-quality listening experience.

They’re cabled, closed-back headphones that don’t feature any of the modern conveniences associated with Bluetooth headphones, but their focus on sound, comfort and build quality easily makes up for this.

The NTH-100 sports a classy and professional appearance, with a build quality to match. All the elements, from the headband to the earcup swivels, give a strong degree of confidence in their longevity and day-to-day durability.

Luxurious features like Alcantara coating on the earcups and headband, as well as cooling gel coupled with memory foam in the cups, make for a comfortable experience, even for longer periods. Despite their large size, these features help to make the headphones practically vanish when worn.

Onto the star of the show: the audio quality is exceptional, living up to Rode’s high standards. Despite being closed-back by design, the 40mm drivers give a similar sense of space and clarity usually reserved for much pricier open-back headphones.

The audio profile is rather neutral, ideal for monitoring and close listening, but the NTH-100 listening experience manages to be more fun than other monitoring headphones we’ve heard. With that said, you won’t necessarily get the same compression and excitement as you would with the Beats Solo 3 or Sony WH-1000XM4, but you also won’t get the listening fatigue and low-end skew that typically comes with it.

For their price, the Rode NTH-100 are an exceptional pair of headphones that focus on the audio, and don’t forego comfort or durability in the process. For everyday commuters and casual listeners, some Bluetooth alternatives might present a better option, but for professionals or those after a deeper listening experience, these cans excel.

• Rode Wireless Go II review

Rode NTH-100 price and release date

• Available now
• $149 / £149 / AU$249

The Rode NTH-100 headphones launched March 29, 2022 for $149 / £149 / AU$249 globally and are available in a single color – black (although four different colors of headband, earcups and cables will be sold separately).

As a point of comparison, Sony’s MDR-1AM2 (entry-level audiophile headphones) launched at twice this price ($299 / £229 / AU$399), and while their lightweight design and exceptional clarity are impressive, the Rode NTH-100 offers audio with a better sense of space, and is enclosed in a significantly more robust design – all for half the price.

Another popular pair of cans worth comparing to are the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, which have been available for almost five years. As such, they're typically available lower than their retail price at around the same as the NTH-100 ($149 / £149 / AU$249), but the Rode cans blow them out of the water for overall clarity and space in the audio, as well as comfort.

As of February 2023, you can pick up the the NTH-100 bundled with a microphone under the name NTH-100M. This headset is priced at $189 / AU$329 (UK pricing yet to be revealed). Alternatively, if you already own a pair of the NTH-100 headphones, the NTH-Mic has also been released. It's a standalone boom mic attachment and will only set you back $69 / AU$99 (UK pricing currently unavailable). At this time, we have not reviewed the NTH-Mic or NTH-100M.

Design

• Extra measures for comfort
• Classy and professional look
• Premium materials for the price

The NTH-100 are cabled over-ear headphones, and from the outset you’ll notice they lack features found on many wireless counterparts. There’s no microphone, transport or volume controls, voice assistant, noise-cancellation or (obviously) any form of wireless connectivity. This, however, is by design.

These Rode headphones are aimed at studio use and focused listening, which means they’re not trying to fill the role of everyday cans for your commute or walk (although they still manage this rather well, despite their intention otherwise). Taking this into consideration, the NTH-100’s design is phenomenal.

Aesthetically, the headphones definitely look like professional kit – they’re not as sleek and minimal as some of the Bluetooth cans out there with their visible cabling and somewhat techy appearance, but their pure black palette is more suave than most gaming headsets and other such gaudy designs. With that said, there’s an option to swap out the earcups, headband and cable for four different colors (all of which are sold separately) if you’d prefer some personalization.

Rode’s iconic “Ø” is emblazoned prominently on the exterior of each of the rather large earcups, as is the brand’s small golden circle motif, so there’s no mistaking who made the headphones. Overall, we’d say the design maintains class without trying to hide its professional intention.

The NTH-100 boasts solid construction, with sturdy materials like the stainless spring steel headband and solid plastic of the smaller components all giving the impression of robust design. Even the swivels for the earcups – a common weak point in headphones – feel more durable than is typical. It’s all rather reassuring for the longevity of the product.

Rode claims that the headband has been rated for the equivalent of 25 years of use, the wiring that links the earcups can withstand 25kg of force, and the cable and earcup sockets can each withstand 12kg. The bayonet mounting of the detachable cable is also designed to deliberately give way before that of the headphone connector, meaning that in an especially hairy situation, you’ll only be replacing the cable rather than the cans themselves.

In the box is a cloth pouch to further help protect the headphones, a ¼-inch adapter and a nice long (2.4m) cable, with the option to buy shorter (1.2m) cables separately. The long cable is mostly a blessing, but also a minor curse. For its intended purpose, it means you can stand and move around while still stationed by your computer or monitoring device, but if you only need it to travel a short distance, the extra length can add some weight to your head (albeit minor) and some extra microphonics, or cable noise, when it brushes against something.

The earcups swivel both left-to-right and up-and-down, but only so much as to provide a comfortable position with them flush against your head. Their shape is somewhat triangular rather than the classical circular or ovaloid shapes found in most headphone designs. 

We found this shape to suit our ears perfectly, encapsulating them comfortably, leading us to wonder why it isn’t an industry standard. One extra convenience on the earcup front – each one features an audio connection, meaning you can have your cable running to the left or right cup as desired.

Another feature we’d love to see appearing on more headphones is a mechanism Rode is calling, FitLok. This amounts to two simple mechanisms that lock the adjustable headband in place once you’ve found the appropriate size. It’s incredibly simple to use, fluidly variable, and saves you from the hassle of readjustment every time they get nudged or jostled when handling or carrying them in a bag.

Both the earcups and headband are coated in Alcantara – an incredibly soft, plush and breathable material that’s typically reserved for designer products and supercar interiors. The headphones are exceedingly comfortable to wear and, despite their large size, practically disappear when worn. There’s no feeling of constriction, even with this reviewer’s massive head, and the two-way swivelling earcups ensure all the appropriate contact points of the cans are in their right places. 

Furthermore, the earcups are crafted from a combination of memory foam and CoolTech gel, which (along with the Alcantara cladding) helps to reduce heat build-up during longer listening sessions and still manages to create a decent seal for audio isolation.

Although we did mention that these studio headphones aren’t trying to compete with everyday wireless cans, we would have loved to see the inclusion of a microphone in the NTH-100, especially considering Rode’s immense talents in this department. This would make them ever-so-slightly more suited to being permanently plugged in as a combination personal/professional pair of headphones at your primary workstation.

Considering the fact that the headphones feature TRRS connections and that the cabling is detachable and sold separately at different lengths, it’s conceivable that Rode may release a cable that features an in-line microphone down the road, but for now, assume this capability isn’t present.

• The best over-ear headphones on the market today

Audio performance

• Incredible sense of space
• Open-back sound in closed-back cans
• Excellent clarity and neutral response

With the focus squarely on audio performance for the Rode NTH-100, we were very pleased that our expectations were met, and even surpassed. While aimed towards professional use, these cans sound so good we’d recommend them to anyone wanting a detailed listening experience.

Despite sporting a closed-back design, these headphones offer many of the advantages of open-back cans without their inherent drawbacks (namely high pricing and sound leakage). The sense of space offered by the NTH-100 is among the best we’ve encountered, offering up excellent separation and reducing the fatigue that can come with listening to ‘close’ sounding audio for extended periods.

This means you’ll be hearing different elements and instruments distinctly, even in dense mixes. The overall clarity is superb, with no perceivable distortion at high volumes – the presence and weight of a track is still conveyed admirably with plenty of headroom to spare, and there’s no sign of the compression inherent to many headphones that offer more ‘excited’ audio signatures.

Skrillex’s track Supersonic (My Existence), featuring Noisia, Josh Pan and Dylan Brady, offers up its explosive suckerpunch of a drop with rich detail and clarity while retaining its immense impact. The haunting lead vocals in the verse drift over the tension-building, warped samples and swelling sub bass, while the crisp fizz of the bass takes centre stage at the drop, without dominating and squashing out the other surrounding elements. 

The same is true for the Yung Gud remix of Foreign Fields by Kacy Hill, with its soaring and reverb-drenched twin climaxes retaining their punch despite all the extra room they’re given to breathe. Fringe elements, like the bird calls, ocean sounds and hi-hats are given clear space in the overall mix, appearing distinct over more dominant elements but not detracting from impression.

For something a little lighter, the beautiful ballad Me (Heavy) by Fred Again Is revealed in all of its textural and artifact-laden beauty when listening on the Rode NTH-100. The heavily filtered and stuttering drum loop doesn’t compete for space with the wonky, unhinged lead line, nor the gorgeous lead vocals when they land, despite how deliberately lo-fi the production is. The intimacy of Fred’s vocal line is made all the more present, with the track’s lush harmonies, pads and piano lines supporting his breathy delivery without getting in its way.

As you may be able to tell from these examples, the spatial clarity, headroom and separation produced by the NTH-100 is exceptional, so much so that it breathes new life into tracks we’ve been listening to on heavy rotation for years.

As for the frequency response, we found it to be incredibly neutral (as is to be expected from professional studio monitors), with less sub-bass and low-frequency dominance than you’d find in many sets of Bluetooth headphones. 

While this can come across as ‘unexciting’ if you’re used to the likes of Sony and Beats cans, we found Rode’s delivery to be considerably more enjoyable for casual music listening than many other monitor headphones we’ve sampled (such as from Sennheiser and Audio-Technica). The NTH-100 somehow manages to inject some fun into the clinical role of reference audio, and we suspect its sense of space has a lot to do with this.

Should I buy the Rode NTH-100?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

• The best headphones available

One-minute review

[Update February 1, 2023: As of February 2023, a mic attachment has been released for the NTH-100 headphones. Alternatively, you can also purchase both the NTH-100 and the NTH-Mic in a bundle under the name NTH-100M.]

For decades Rode has been known around the globe for its quality microphones, and now with the release of its first ever pair of headphones, the Aussie company has taken its pursuit of quality to another category.

The Rode NTH-100 is the brand's first ever pair of headphones and are available now for $149 / £149 / AU$249. They're aimed at audio professionals with their studio grade performance, but comfortably appeal to anyone seeking a top-quality listening experience.

They’re cabled, closed-back headphones that don’t feature any of the modern conveniences associated with Bluetooth headphones, but their focus on sound, comfort and build quality easily makes up for this.

The NTH-100 sports a classy and professional appearance, with a build quality to match. All the elements, from the headband to the earcup swivels, give a strong degree of confidence in their longevity and day-to-day durability.

Luxurious features like Alcantara coating on the earcups and headband, as well as cooling gel coupled with memory foam in the cups, make for a comfortable experience, even for longer periods. Despite their large size, these features help to make the headphones practically vanish when worn.

Onto the star of the show: the audio quality is exceptional, living up to Rode’s high standards. Despite being closed-back by design, the 40mm drivers give a similar sense of space and clarity usually reserved for much pricier open-back headphones.

The audio profile is rather neutral, ideal for monitoring and close listening, but the NTH-100 listening experience manages to be more fun than other monitoring headphones we’ve heard. With that said, you won’t necessarily get the same compression and excitement as you would with the Beats Solo 3 or Sony WH-1000XM4, but you also won’t get the listening fatigue and low-end skew that typically comes with it.

For their price, the Rode NTH-100 are an exceptional pair of headphones that focus on the audio, and don’t forego comfort or durability in the process. For everyday commuters and casual listeners, some Bluetooth alternatives might present a better option, but for professionals or those after a deeper listening experience, these cans excel.

• Rode Wireless Go II review

Rode NTH-100 price and release date

• Available now
• $149 / £149 / AU$249

The Rode NTH-100 headphones launched March 29, 2022 for $149 / £149 / AU$249 globally and are available in a single color – black (although four different colors of headband, earcups and cables will be sold separately).

As a point of comparison, Sony’s MDR-1AM2 (entry-level audiophile headphones) launched at twice this price ($299 / £229 / AU$399), and while their lightweight design and exceptional clarity are impressive, the Rode NTH-100 offers audio with a better sense of space, and is enclosed in a significantly more robust design – all for half the price.

Another popular pair of cans worth comparing to are the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, which have been available for almost five years. As such, they're typically available lower than their retail price at around the same as the NTH-100 ($149 / £149 / AU$249), but the Rode cans blow them out of the water for overall clarity and space in the audio, as well as comfort.

As of February 2023, you can pick up the the NTH-100 bundled with a microphone under the name NTH-100M. This headset is priced at $189 / AU$329 (UK pricing yet to be revealed). Alternatively, if you already own a pair of the NTH-100 headphones, the NTH-Mic has also been released. It's a standalone boom mic attachment and will only set you back $69 / AU$99 (UK pricing currently unavailable). At this time, we have not reviewed the NTH-Mic or NTH-100M.

Design

• Extra measures for comfort
• Classy and professional look
• Premium materials for the price

The NTH-100 are cabled over-ear headphones, and from the outset you’ll notice they lack features found on many wireless counterparts. There’s no microphone, transport or volume controls, voice assistant, noise-cancellation or (obviously) any form of wireless connectivity. This, however, is by design.

These Rode headphones are aimed at studio use and focused listening, which means they’re not trying to fill the role of everyday cans for your commute or walk (although they still manage this rather well, despite their intention otherwise). Taking this into consideration, the NTH-100’s design is phenomenal.

Aesthetically, the headphones definitely look like professional kit – they’re not as sleek and minimal as some of the Bluetooth cans out there with their visible cabling and somewhat techy appearance, but their pure black palette is more suave than most gaming headsets and other such gaudy designs. With that said, there’s an option to swap out the earcups, headband and cable for four different colors (all of which are sold separately) if you’d prefer some personalization.

Rode’s iconic “Ø” is emblazoned prominently on the exterior of each of the rather large earcups, as is the brand’s small golden circle motif, so there’s no mistaking who made the headphones. Overall, we’d say the design maintains class without trying to hide its professional intention.

The NTH-100 boasts solid construction, with sturdy materials like the stainless spring steel headband and solid plastic of the smaller components all giving the impression of robust design. Even the swivels for the earcups – a common weak point in headphones – feel more durable than is typical. It’s all rather reassuring for the longevity of the product.

Rode claims that the headband has been rated for the equivalent of 25 years of use, the wiring that links the earcups can withstand 25kg of force, and the cable and earcup sockets can each withstand 12kg. The bayonet mounting of the detachable cable is also designed to deliberately give way before that of the headphone connector, meaning that in an especially hairy situation, you’ll only be replacing the cable rather than the cans themselves.

In the box is a cloth pouch to further help protect the headphones, a ¼-inch adapter and a nice long (2.4m) cable, with the option to buy shorter (1.2m) cables separately. The long cable is mostly a blessing, but also a minor curse. For its intended purpose, it means you can stand and move around while still stationed by your computer or monitoring device, but if you only need it to travel a short distance, the extra length can add some weight to your head (albeit minor) and some extra microphonics, or cable noise, when it brushes against something.

The earcups swivel both left-to-right and up-and-down, but only so much as to provide a comfortable position with them flush against your head. Their shape is somewhat triangular rather than the classical circular or ovaloid shapes found in most headphone designs. 

We found this shape to suit our ears perfectly, encapsulating them comfortably, leading us to wonder why it isn’t an industry standard. One extra convenience on the earcup front – each one features an audio connection, meaning you can have your cable running to the left or right cup as desired.

Another feature we’d love to see appearing on more headphones is a mechanism Rode is calling, FitLok. This amounts to two simple mechanisms that lock the adjustable headband in place once you’ve found the appropriate size. It’s incredibly simple to use, fluidly variable, and saves you from the hassle of readjustment every time they get nudged or jostled when handling or carrying them in a bag.

Both the earcups and headband are coated in Alcantara – an incredibly soft, plush and breathable material that’s typically reserved for designer products and supercar interiors. The headphones are exceedingly comfortable to wear and, despite their large size, practically disappear when worn. There’s no feeling of constriction, even with this reviewer’s massive head, and the two-way swivelling earcups ensure all the appropriate contact points of the cans are in their right places. 

Furthermore, the earcups are crafted from a combination of memory foam and CoolTech gel, which (along with the Alcantara cladding) helps to reduce heat build-up during longer listening sessions and still manages to create a decent seal for audio isolation.

Although we did mention that these studio headphones aren’t trying to compete with everyday wireless cans, we would have loved to see the inclusion of a microphone in the NTH-100, especially considering Rode’s immense talents in this department. This would make them ever-so-slightly more suited to being permanently plugged in as a combination personal/professional pair of headphones at your primary workstation.

Considering the fact that the headphones feature TRRS connections and that the cabling is detachable and sold separately at different lengths, it’s conceivable that Rode may release a cable that features an in-line microphone down the road, but for now, assume this capability isn’t present.

• The best over-ear headphones on the market today

Audio performance

• Incredible sense of space
• Open-back sound in closed-back cans
• Excellent clarity and neutral response

With the focus squarely on audio performance for the Rode NTH-100, we were very pleased that our expectations were met, and even surpassed. While aimed towards professional use, these cans sound so good we’d recommend them to anyone wanting a detailed listening experience.

Despite sporting a closed-back design, these headphones offer many of the advantages of open-back cans without their inherent drawbacks (namely high pricing and sound leakage). The sense of space offered by the NTH-100 is among the best we’ve encountered, offering up excellent separation and reducing the fatigue that can come with listening to ‘close’ sounding audio for extended periods.

This means you’ll be hearing different elements and instruments distinctly, even in dense mixes. The overall clarity is superb, with no perceivable distortion at high volumes – the presence and weight of a track is still conveyed admirably with plenty of headroom to spare, and there’s no sign of the compression inherent to many headphones that offer more ‘excited’ audio signatures.

Skrillex’s track Supersonic (My Existence), featuring Noisia, Josh Pan and Dylan Brady, offers up its explosive suckerpunch of a drop with rich detail and clarity while retaining its immense impact. The haunting lead vocals in the verse drift over the tension-building, warped samples and swelling sub bass, while the crisp fizz of the bass takes centre stage at the drop, without dominating and squashing out the other surrounding elements. 

The same is true for the Yung Gud remix of Foreign Fields by Kacy Hill, with its soaring and reverb-drenched twin climaxes retaining their punch despite all the extra room they’re given to breathe. Fringe elements, like the bird calls, ocean sounds and hi-hats are given clear space in the overall mix, appearing distinct over more dominant elements but not detracting from impression.

For something a little lighter, the beautiful ballad Me (Heavy) by Fred Again Is revealed in all of its textural and artifact-laden beauty when listening on the Rode NTH-100. The heavily filtered and stuttering drum loop doesn’t compete for space with the wonky, unhinged lead line, nor the gorgeous lead vocals when they land, despite how deliberately lo-fi the production is. The intimacy of Fred’s vocal line is made all the more present, with the track’s lush harmonies, pads and piano lines supporting his breathy delivery without getting in its way.

As you may be able to tell from these examples, the spatial clarity, headroom and separation produced by the NTH-100 is exceptional, so much so that it breathes new life into tracks we’ve been listening to on heavy rotation for years.

As for the frequency response, we found it to be incredibly neutral (as is to be expected from professional studio monitors), with less sub-bass and low-frequency dominance than you’d find in many sets of Bluetooth headphones. 

While this can come across as ‘unexciting’ if you’re used to the likes of Sony and Beats cans, we found Rode’s delivery to be considerably more enjoyable for casual music listening than many other monitor headphones we’ve sampled (such as from Sennheiser and Audio-Technica). The NTH-100 somehow manages to inject some fun into the clinical role of reference audio, and we suspect its sense of space has a lot to do with this.

Should I buy the Rode NTH-100?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

• The best headphones available

With all this hybrid working across a global workplace, companies to fast shifting to secure digital document solutions. We’ve seen a massive rise in the best cloud storage and PDF editors to keep files accessible but safe. 

When it comes to signing documents without printing them, the best eSign software is ideal, letting you create digital signatures, work together, and share and track files. And signNow from airSlate is tailored-made for the task. 

signNow: Pricing & plans

• A eSign service for businesses with subscription tiers adding additional features and security tools - but a 7-day free trial is available 

As signNow is an online service, it’s unsurprisingly subscription-based.  You’re presented with 4 different tiers, with a yearly commitment saving you up to 60% compared to paying monthly. There's also a 7-day free trial to see if it works like you need it to. 

The Business plan is cheapest. With it, you’re able to send a document to be signed to other parties. You’ll find tools to fill in forms, you’re allowed to create as many templates as you need, connect to other online storage services such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and Box. There’s access to a mobile app, so you can keep track of your documents on the go. This will cost you $20 a month or $96 a year.

Business Premium adds a few extra features for $30 a month or $180 a year. This includes reminders, sending documents in bulk, and adding your custom logo design (it’s easy to make one using the best logo maker). You can find a ‘kiosk mode’ for the mobile app, letting you grab someone’s signature in person, which is useful. 

In addition to this, Enterprise subscribers gain the ability to request payment when a person signs a document. You’ll also benefit from better security, being able to attach additional documents when signing, and introduce fillable fields to your templates. This plan is priced at $50 a month or $360 a year.

Finally the Business Cloud subscription introduces multiple users to the same account, CRM/ERP integration, HIPAA and 21CFR Part 11 compliance. The price is based on the number of users, with a minimum of 5 per account, starting at $50 per month per user or $600 per year per user. 

• Pricing & plans: 4/5

signNow: Setting digital signatures

• Creating an e-signature is an easy process that’s as hands-on as you need it to be

The sign-up process is actually as simple as it can be. All you need to start is your email address and password. A click on an email they send you to verify your address is genuine, and you’re good to go.

Once in, you type in your name and signNow will offer you a generic signature and initials, based on a cursive font. If you’re fine with that, click on Next. You can change it later if you wish, or right now by clicking on Change Signature or Change Initials.

Doing this gives you multiple options, which are the same for either your signature or initials. You’re able to rewrite your name, change the font that’s used (there are 8 on offer), draw your signature using your mouse or trackpad, which is always fun. Alternatively, you can upload an image of your signature.

During the setting process, you’ll be encouraged to add the email address of some of your colleagues, to make it easier further down the road to share your documents with them. As with your signature, if you don’t want or need to do that right now, you can skip this process and return to it at any time later on. You’re now ready to start working with PDF documents.

• Setting digital signatures: 4.5/5

signNow: Preparing documents

• Add various types of editable fields to a file quickly and easily

When working with documents, the first thing you need to do is tell signNow who it will need to be sent to. You’ll also find a list of recent recipients to make it easier to send work to people you collaborate with often. If you have to fill it in yourself, just click on the Add Myself button.

‘Save and Continue’ gets you to the working interface proper, which is similar in layout to others we’ve seen before. To the left is a sidebar with all the tools available to you, from your signature, to text boxes, radio buttons, drop-down menus, formulas and more. You can add any of these to your document, a large preview of which takes up most of the interface, to that sidebar’s right. The right sidebar offers a thumbnail preview of all the document’s pages.

signNow is designed to set up which recipient is allowed to fill in specific elements, and this is clear from the very start: just above the tools in the left sidebar is a list of people who will be allowed to edit the document you’re currently working on. You can even modify that list right from that section.

Each one of your colleagues sports a different color, with each one applied to the elements added to a document. We felt this made it very simple to see at a glance who is allowed to modify different sections of a document.

To add an element, click on it, then move the cursor over to your document (no need to drag). You’ll see your cursor has that element attached to it. Position your cursor over the correct location and click to add the element.

Don’t worry if its position is not exactly right, you can now drag it and also resize it, until you’re happy with it. You’re also able to change which recipient gets to alter that element thanks to a pulldown menu above it.

Click again on your document to add the same element elsewhere. This makes it easy to quickly populate your file with editable text fields for instance, without having to go back to the sidebar each time. You’ll find that setting up a document with all relevant fields can be done very efficiently with this method.

• Preparing documents: 4/5

signNow: Completing documents

• Fill in just the sections you need, but the lack of formatting options is disappointing

Once your document is prepared, signNow brings you to the Send Invite section, which is where you set up how you’re going to notify the people who need to fill in the document. One recent feature is the ability to contact people via SMS as opposed to email. You get to customise your message for each, and when ready, click on ‘Send Invite’.

It’s a little odd to have to send an invite to yourself in order to begin filling in the fields you’ve added, and signing a document, but that’s how signNow works - treating you the same as all the other members of the team.

Once you’re in that stage, click on each field to enter the appropriate information. As you do, they will turn green, helping you see at a glance what you still need to do. You have no apparent ability to alter the font or perform any other formatting. This limits your options but also makes it easy to input the necessary data quickly.

Click on Finish, top right, when you’re done. Although if you’ve missed a field somewhere, signNow will inform you of that and even allow you to see where they’re located (most useful when working with multi-page docs. Selecting Close saves your work so you can get back to it later, and ‘Decline’, is pretty self-explanatory.

signNow’s main dashboard lets you see at a glance which documents have been done, which are incomplete, who hasn’t yet signed it, etc. You even have a way to resend invites to specific colleagues to nudge them gently. This is also where you can archive documents, print, download and delete them.

• Completing documents: 3.5/5

signNow: Scorecard

Should I buy...?

Buy it if...

You need to frequently work with others, and have to manage and monitor a list of colleagues who regularly fill in and sign documents.  

Don't buy it if...

 You’re less involved in working with and managing others, compared to filling in your own documents or you prefer using software over working online.

HostGator is a hugely popular Texas-based web hosting provider who has been helping customers get online since 2002.

These days the company is owned by Newfold Digital (previously Endurance International Group), the hosting giant who also runs Bluehost, iPage, Domain.com, Web.com, SiteBuilder.com and more.

HostGator's cartoon mascot, cheerful website and low headline prices might leave you thinking it's mostly for consumers and hosting newbies, but in reality the service offers a full range of products for all levels of user.

It's a winning recipe which delivers great results. Datanyze' Web Hosting Share report puts HostGator in 5th place with 5.71%, ahead of all but the largest of web names (GoDaddy, Amazon AWS, Google.)

• Want to try HostGator? Check out the website here

What hosting plans does HostGator offer? 

HostGator's range starts with low-cost shared hosting, simple to manage, but with all the features many sites will ever need.

If you don't have a website already, HostGator's website builder helps you create a starting design in minutes. Editing can be as easy as typing in some text, and dragging and dropping images, contact forms and anything else you need onto the page.

More powerful VPS and dedicated products deliver extra speed and reliability, and are better suited for large or business-critical sites.

There's also a capable managed WordPress range, reseller hosting, domain registration and more.

Next, we'll talk about some of HostGator's most important hosting products, their pros and cons, who they'll suit best and any alternatives you might want to consider.

Shared hosting

Sign up for a shared plan and HostGator places your website on a single server which also hosts many other accounts. With everyone using the same CPU, hard drive and network connection, speeds aren't the best. But they're enough for many sites, and with the cost of the server spread across many users, prices are low.

HostGator's shared hosting starts at just $2.75 a month over three years ($6.95 on renewal). It only supports a single site, but still delivers everything we'd hope to see: free domain, free migration, unmetered storage and bandwidth, one-click WordPress installs (via the excellent Softaculous), free SSL, the powerful cPanel control panel and 24/7 support via phone, live chat and email, all protected by a generous 45 day money-back guarantee (most hosts only offer 30).

Upgrading to the top-of-the-range plan gets you support for unlimited websites, along with a dedicated IP and a free Positive SSL certificate (a higher grade of SSL which allows you to display a Trustlogo® Site Seal on your website). This could be a smarter choice for businesses, but it's still very reasonably priced from $5.25 a month for the first three years, $14.95 afterwards.

Overall, HostGator's shared hosting is a capable product which has loads of features, but still remains very easy to use.

If price is key, iPage shared hosting starts at only $1.99 a month over three years. But although it more than covers the basics, the service doesn't match HostGator for quality and speed, and it's more expensive on renewal at $7.99.

Hostinger's shared hosting is an interesting HostGator alternative. Its Premium plan is priced similarly to HostGator's starter package, for instance, but it has similar performance, supports up to 100 websites, and adds useful WordPress and other tools.

Power users or anyone with large and advanced sites should look at A2 Hosting, too. Its top shared hosting packages are far more expensive ($12.99 a month over three years, $25.99 on renewal), but they get you more RAM and CPU time, high-speed storage, a faster web server and assorted other performance-boosting tech.

WordPress hosting

WordPress is a powerful and configurable platform which can help you build anything from a simple single-page website, to a personal blog, a professional business site or (with help from add-ons like WooCommerce) a full-featured web store.

HostGator's shared hosting plans are the most cost-effective way to try WordPress. The bundled Softaculous installs WordPress in seconds, and you can begin building websites right away. That could be the smart choice for simple sites, or if you’re just looking to learn the WordPress basics.

HostGator also offers managed WordPress hosting for more demanding users. Valuable extras include CodeGuard's daily automatic backups and 1-click restores. And SiteLock Fix doesn't just scan for your website files for malware, like most of the competition; it grabs any affected files, removes the threat and uploads a clean version back to your site.

Other benefits are less visible, though also important. Managed WordPress servers are optimized for WordPress, delivering more speed and higher security. And the support team has more WordPress expertise, helping you solve tricky WordPress-specific issues.

Despite these advantages, the managed WordPress plans are only a little more expensive, with prices starting at $5.95 a month over three years ($9.95 on renewal) for a single site account.

This looks like a good deal to us. CodeGuard backups and SiteLock Fix are top-quality, industry-standard tools which are premium extras with most web hosts, and getting them bundled with even the cheapest Managed WordPress plan is a real plus.

Bluehost's managed WordPress range is relatively costly, with a starting price of $17.95 a month, but support for unlimited bandwidth and websites, free domain privacy protection and bonus marketing and other tools could make it a worthwhile alternative for business users.

If you can't decide what level of WordPress support you need, take a look at InMotion Hosting. A huge range of plans from a $3.99 a month standard hosting option to specialist VPS and dedicated WordPress options ensure there's something for every level of user.

VPS hosting 

VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting, like shared hosting, has multiple accounts on the same server. But there aren't as many, and every VPS gets its own resources. If you buy a VPS with two CPU cores and 2GB RAM, for instance, no other account can use them, ensuring your site delivers higher and more consistent speeds. While shared hosting might run into trouble if you have tens of thousands of visitors a month, a good VPS can handle hundreds of thousands.

HostGator has only three VPS plans. The starter product gives you 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 120GB SSD storage, free domain, free SSL and 2 dedicated IPs from $23.95 a month for 12 months, $79.95 on renewal. 

The top-of-the-range plan offers 4 cores, 8GB RAM and 240GB storage for $59.95 a month over 12 months, rising to $149.95 on renewal. 

(cPanel is available, but only as a paid extra: add $10 a month to each of those plans if you'd like a copy.)

These are capable products, all fully managed (which means HostGator offers full support to keep the VPS updated and running smoothly), and should deliver solid and speedy hosting for larger, resource-hungry websites. But other providers typically have a far wider range of plans, and if you're looking for something cheaper, more powerful or configurable, it's well worth checking a few alternatives.

Hostwinds has ten VPS plans rather than three, for instance. It has unmanaged plans (no software support, you run the server yourself) from only $4.99 billed monthly.) The top-of-the-range VPS has far more resources, with 16 CPU cores and 96GB, and all plans are available with Windows as well as Linux. Plus, there are network and power uptime guarantees of 99.9999%, equivalent to 31.56 seconds of down time a year.

Dedicated hosting 

Opt for shared or VPS hosting and you'll share your server with other accounts, limiting your site's speed. Choose dedicated hosting and the server, the CPU, the RAM, the network connection is all yours, ensuring you'll never be affected by other site's behavior.

Another big plus for experienced users is the ability to set up the server just as you'd like. You can choose the hardware specs, the operating system, web server and more, and tweak them to suit your precise needs.

HostGator's dedicated server hosting products (like its VPS range) is limited, with only three server configurations. 

These start with a 4-core, 8GB RAM and 1TB HDD system, priced at $89.98 a month over three years, $189 on renewal. 

The top-of-the-range is an 8-core, 30GB RAM and 1TB SSD system for $139.99 a month over three years, $289 on renewal.

Both systems support Windows as well as Linux, a welcome option you won't see with most web hosts.

These are decent mid-range systems, fully managed with 24/7 support, and good value for what you're getting. But with three plans only, your choice is very limited. If you're looking for something outside of this middle ground, a cheaper or more powerful server, there are many more options available.

IONOS' dedicated server range doesn't have the most powerful hardware, but there's some amazing value. Managed entry-level servers start at $45 a month (billed annually) for the first six months, then $65, and we’ve seen special deals as low as $33 billed monthly.

Alternatively, Hostwinds and A2 Hosting support far more powerful servers, are supremely configurable (you can install up to ten drives in some systems), and allow you to choose your operating system (Hostwinds supports Windows as well as Linux).

Does HostGator have a website builder?

Website builders are just about the easiest way to start a site. Choose from a selection of designs, drag and drop elements like text blocks, photos, maps and video onto the page, then customize the content to make it your own. Even newcomers could have a good-looking site online within hours.

All HostGator's shared hosting products include a free version of the Weebly site builder. This limits sites to six pages and displays a HostGator link in the footer, but it might work for kids or just learning what a website builder can do.

HostGator has a far better option in its stand-alone Gator Website Builder plan. Instead of asking you to choose a template, then drag and drop page blocks, Gator Builder asks you some questions and then automatically builds a site to suit your needs. 

Prices start low at $3.84 a month over two years, $7.68 on renewal, which gets you hosting, a free domain, free SSL, the Gator Builder, and even support for a tiny three-product web store.

The top-of-the-range Gator Builder plan lifts the product limit, helps encourage customers with up to ten email campaigns a month, includes an appointment booking system and allows taking payments with no transaction fees. Those are some valuable e-commerce extras, yet it's still cheap at $9.22 a month over two years, $18.45 on renewal.

Put it all together and Gator Builder is well worth a look, especially for newcomers looking to take their first steps into the web design waters. 

If you're looking for more features, try Wix. It's just as easy to get started, but gives you many more design and website tools, and you can try it out and build your first site for free.

GoDaddy's Website Builder also has a surprisingly capable free option (there's email marketing, an appointments system, even the ability to sell online with GoDaddy Payments), along with some business-friendly paid plans. And Bluehost's WordPress-based website builder has 300+ appealing templates, a custom image library and support for unlimited websites, but starts at only $2.95 a month.

Can I build a web store with HostGator?

HostGator doesn't have the same ecommerce-focused products as the likes of Bluehost and GoDaddy, but as we've discussed above, the Website Builder's Express Store plan is a simple solution for smaller web stores. 

This is an appealing option for ecommerce newbies. Creating your site is easy; there's a free domain and free SSL, and you can add as many products to the store as you like. Many e-commerce hosting products take a share of every sale you make, but not this one: Express Store has no transaction fees. That's great value at only $9.22 a month over two years ($18.45 on renewal).

If you're looking for more power or features, then opting for a specialist WooCommerce hosting plan could make more sense (WooCommerce is one of the best ecommerce platforms around). 

Bluehost's baseline WooCommerce plan includes tools to simplify building your site, take payments and collect customer reviews from only $12.95 a month on the annual plan ($24.95 on renewal). InMotion Hosting gives you even more choice, with optimized OpenCart and Magento software, bonus features and a pile of performance-boosting tweaks.

How fast is HostGator?

We assess web host performance by signing up for a shared hosting package, using a standard WordPress template to create a basic site, then watching how it performs in different situations.

Uptime - the proportion of time a website is available to visitors - is a vital factor in hosting success. We test this by using Uptime.com to try to access our test site every five minutes over 14 days, and logging any failures. HostGator managed 99.63% uptime, and although that sounds like a high figure, it's a little disappointing for a short test (most providers manage 100%.)

We measure website load speeds by using GTmetrix to access our test site, then calculate how long it takes to display the main content (a value known as Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP.) The lower a site's LCP, the faster and more responsive it feels.

This time HostGator trampled all over the competition, with an LCP of 0.551 seconds earning it first place out of our last 15 tests. The lead isn't huge - most providers score between 0.600 and 0.800 seconds - but this is an important stat, and a good result for HostGator.

We're also interested to see how a site performs when it's busy. The service k6 helps us figure this out by unleashing 20 simultaneous visitors on the site and monitoring what happens. This time the results were typical of most providers, with our HostGator site handling a very acceptable average of 15 requests per second.

How easy is HostGator to use?

HostGator's customer portal has a helpful Create Website guide which walks hosting newcomers through their first site-building steps: installing WordPress, choosing another CMS or app, maybe uploading files via FTP. This doesn't do very much, but it's still a welcome touch which could be very handy if you're still finding your way around.

The rest of the portal is little more than lists of links. Click here to open the WordPress dashboard, there to create email accounts, and over there to manage your domains. There's even a Search box to find relevant support documents without opening a separate tab at the HostGator knowledgebase.

This is useful, but HostGator spoils the effect by regularly trying to sell you more stuff. At least eight of the control panel links were mostly about pushing other products. You'll quickly learn which links to avoid, but we don't think that should be necessary.  If you've spent maybe hundreds of dollars on a hosting package, we expect its dashboard to focus on helping you use that, not selling you even more.

Fortunately, once you identify the useful links, they point you to some top-quality hosting tools. HostGator's shared hosting plans all come with cPanel, for instance, a very popular platform which has all the features you need to manage domains, emails, web space, databases and more.

Put aside the over-enthusiastic marketing, then, and HostGator is relatively straightforward to operate, even for newcomers to the hosting world.

How good is HostGator's support?

Run into any issues at HostGator and its web knowledgebase could be the quickest route to an answer. 

Searching for common hosting terms brings a huge number of hits, but that's partly because there are duplicates or not-so-relevant articles in the list. 

When we searched for 'subdomain', the top result was an article called '[Featured] HostGator Datacenter Migration', for instance: not something we'd expect to come first. And the next three articles were titled 'What is a subdomain name and how to create one', 'Please read before creating a subdomain' and 'How to create a subdomain' (a blog post.) What we really want is a single comprehensive page, but here we'd probably open and read all three.

The various articles mostly have a lot of helpful content, and they can also be filtered according to their category. If you're only interested in cPanel guides, say, or video tutorials, you can view those results only with a click.

When you finally reach your chosen article, there's usually a lot of helpful content, but we found this wasn't always well maintained. The How To Create a Subdomain piece has broken image link icons where its screenshots used to be, for instance, making it less than useful as a tutorial.

If you can't find what you need, there's real live help available 24/7 via telephone, live chat and email.

Our experience with HostGator support has been excellent over the years, and it was broadly positive in this review. Email queries received speedy and accurate replies, and although we waited a lengthy 19 minutes to get a response on one live chat session, once the agent arrived he did a good job of identifying our fictional test problem and pointing us to the best and easiest solution.

Final verdict

HostGator has some of the best shared hosting plans around, speedy, great value, with a pile of features and responsive support on tap when you need it. Its high-end VPS and dedicated plans can't match the power of the best of the competition, but there's still a huge amount to like here for both home and big business users.

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