AVG Driver Updater is a device management tool made by AVG Technologies, a company based in the Czech Republic. The company is most famous for itsantivirus software, but it has other product lines, such as itsdriver updater.
AVG Technologies is a leading software company that has existed for three decades. It’s a subsidiary of Avast Software, an organization known for a family of solutions across the Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS operating systems - again, largely focusing on security matters.
This review will take a look at AVG’s Driver Updater specifically taking into account a variety of factors, including the program’s features, user interface, customer support, compatibility, and pricing.
(Image credit: AVG)
AVG Driver Updater: Plans and pricing
The AVG Driver Updater costs $40 per year, which works out to be quite expensive compared to similar products on the market. There’s a free trial version, but it has just a few features compared to the paid version and lasts only a month. Thus, the paid version is the practical option to make the most of the driver updater.
If you do sign up for the paid plan, it’s important to be aware that after your first year is complete, your subscription will automatically renew at the full price annually. Your bank account will automatically be charged for a one-year period, so make sure you are happy to continue subscribing before AVG automatically renews. You will receive an email reminder of your subscription ending up to 65 days in advance but if you don’t want to be charged, make sure you cancel your subscription at least 35 days before your current plan ends. There is also a free trial period of 15 days, however, which you can sign up for without entering any credit card details.
(Image credit: AVG)
Features
AVG Driver Updater contains a number of features to keep your system using the latest drivers and running smoothly:
(Image credit: AVG)
Real-time Scans
You can scan and update your drivers in real time as you perform other functions on your computer. Many driver updaters lack this feature, which means you can carry on with your work, which AVG Driver Updater operates in the background.
Scan Scheduling
You can set schedules and intervals for the AVG Driver Updater to run automatic scans of your PC’s drivers and produce reports. This feature ensures convenience and keeps you always in the loop regarding your driver updates.
Large Driver Database
AVG’s Driver Updater checks your drivers against a database of over 50 million drivers. Such an extensive database contains virtually any driver you may need, making it your one-stop shop for driver downloads and updates. Computer drivers come in various types, including printer, scanner, audio card, video card and graphics card drivers. Whatever driver you are looking to update, AVG will probably be able to find it.
AVG Driver Updater is also especially good if you’re a big consumer of video or gaming content. The updater can optimize your gaming and streaming experience by giving you access to the latest audio and graphics driver downloads.
Driver Backup and Restore
You can backup your drivers with AVG’s Driver Updater and restore them when required. This feature is critical because some driver updates can cause performance issues on your PC. You don’t need to panic in such a case when the software lets you backup and restore older versions of your drivers to avert the issue.
(Image credit: AVG)
Installs Official Drivers
AVG’s Driver Updater can download and install authentic drivers from over 1,300 leading technology brands.
Neat User Interface
This tool has a very well-organized user interface that makes it easy to use and navigate through. It’s uncluttered, and all the functionalities are visible to the user. This neat interface ensures that anyone can use the driver updater regardless of their technical knowledge or experience.
Compatibility
AVG’s Driver Updater is compatible with Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, and 11.
(Image credit: AVG)
Interface and in use
The interface of this driver updater is very organized and user-friendly - right from the downloading and installation phases. To download AVG Driver Updater, go to the official website and get the executable file (.exe), either for the free or paid version. Then, run it.
After installing and launching the software, you’ll see the friendly, uncluttered interface we’re talking about. There are clear buttons for whichever function you want to pick, with no complexity or opportunity for confusion.
(Image credit: AVG)
Support
AVG offers customer support through email, live chat, and telephone. You can contact the support team directly via phone or live chat for instant answers or use email and wait for a while. The telephone support varies depending on the country you’re calling from, but it’s generally reliable. Due to customer traffic, the live chat and telephone customer support may be unavailable at certain times.
However, there are also a number of tutorials and guides on AVG’s site in case you run into problems. The AVG Driver Updater FAQ will hopefully resolve your issue if it’s a common problem, including how to install and use the driver updater, as well as the usual troubleshooting.
The competition
There are many other competing driver updaters on the market. A few examples are the Ashampoo Driver Updater and Auslogics Driver Updater. AVG’s parent company, Avast, also has its driver updater that’s almost identical except for the name.
Compared to Ashampoo and Auslogics, AVG is the much more expensive option. It costs $40/year, while Ashampoo costs $19 and Auslogics $11.50 for the same period. While all of them have similar functionality, AVG's driver updater certainly draws from an impressively wide database of drivers - more than 50 million, in fact - so if you do need to update a driver, chances are AVG's updater will locate it. The support you receive, both before and after you've updated your drivers, is also impressive.
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Final verdict
AVG’s Driver Updater is a dependable tool for keeping your device drivers healthy and improving your PC’s performance. It’s easy to use and has all the necessary functionality you'd expect from a driver updater. Although it is relatively expensive compared to the competition, it does come from a well-respected brand and take the manual burden out of searching for new drivers.
Originally named Luminati Networks, Bright Data traces its beginnings back to 2014, when it was established as a division of arenowned VPN service calledHola. In 2017, it was sold separately from Hola and rebranded under its current name in 2021 to highlight its goal of helping users scrape data with its proxy services.
Today, Bright Data provides access to its 150 million-strong collection ofproxy IPs, including to more than 20,000 enterprises. Alongside individual users, they rely on its residential, datacenter, and mobile proxies to circumvent geographical restrictions and scrape important information.
Due to offering different types of proxies and related services, Bright Data has several pricing options.
Users pay for residential proxies according to the bandwidth they consume. Bright Data offers three standard plans, currently at a 50% discount for the first three months: $499 monthly for 141 GB, $999 monthly for 332 GB, and $1,999 monthly for 798 GB. Alternatively, you can choose the pay-as-you-go option starting at $4 per GB. The drawback is that the pay-as-you-go plan is slightly more expensive in the long run ($4 per GB compared to $3.5 per GB on the standard 141 GB plan). If you need more than 1 TB, you can reach out to the company for customized pricing.
For datacenter proxies, users can pay according to the number of IP addresses they require. The standard plans are 10 IPS at $14 per month ($1.4 per IP), 100 IPs at $100 per month ($1 per IP), 500 IPs for $475 per month ($0.95 per IP), and 1,000 IPs at $900 per month ($0.9 per IP). As with residential proxies, if these plans don’t meet your needs, you can contact the company for tailored pricing above 1,000 IPs. Users can also pay for datacenter proxies according to bandwidth. The standard plans are $499 monthly for 1 TB, $999 monthly for 2 TB, and $1,999 monthly for 5 TB. The pay-as-you-go option with no monthly commitment costs $0.6 per GB.
Dedicated datacenter proxies are pricier.
If you need ISP proxies, Bright Data has four standard plans to offer you: $18/month for 10 IPs ($1.8 per IP), $145/month for 100 IPs ($1.45 per IP), $700/month for 500 IPs ($1.4 per IP), and $1,300/month for 1,000 IPs ($1.3 per IP). You can also pay for ISP proxies according to bandwidth. The standard plans are $499 monthly for 39 GB, $999 monthly for 88 GB, and $1,999 monthly for 190 GB. The pay-as-you-go option with no monthly commitment costs $15 per GB.
Dedicated ISP IPs are a bit more expensive but follow the same structure. Similarly to residential and datacenter plans, should you require over 1,000 IPs or 1 TB, you’ll need to check in with the Bright Data team directly.
Mobile proxies are priced similarly to residential proxies, $499/month for 71 GB, $999/month for 166 GB, and $1,999/month for 399 GB, with the possibility to get the pay-as-you-go, no commitment option at $8 per GB.
Bright Data offers sophisticated web access APIs with its Web Unlocker API pricing coming in three standard versions: Growth for $499 monthly ($1.3 per 1,000 results), Business for $999 monthly ($1.1 per 1,000 results), and Premium for $1,999 monthly ($1 per 1,000 results). The higher your plan, the greater the scraping requests available each month. If you don’t want a monthly commitment, you can choose the $1.5 per 1,000 results pay-as-you-go plan.
It also has a similarly priced Web Scraper API, at $499/month for 1K records under the Growth subscription, $999/month for 1K records included in the Business plan, and $1,999/month for 1K records as offered by the Premium pricing tier. These are currently available at a 25% discount. As expected, there’s a pay-as-you-go option at $1.5 per 1K records.
SERP API has the same pricing structure as the Web Scraper API, except that it’s currently available at a 50% discount for the first six months of use. The Browser API pricing follows much the same sentiment, costing $499/month for 71 GB, $999/month for 166 GB, and $1,999/month for 399 GB. The no-commitment option is charged $8 per GB.
Alternatively, you can run your scrapers as serverless functions at $500/month + compute time of $0.095/hr under the Growth plan, $1,000/month + $0.09/hr compute time as part of the Business option, and $2,000 + $0.085/hr compute time included in the Enterprise subscription.
Finally, Bright Data offers pre-built datasets, a unique feature that many proxy platforms don’t have. Starting at $250 per month for 100,000 records, these datasets allow businesses to access ready-made data instead of scraping it from scratch at higher costs. Available datasets include Amazon products, Yahoo Finance stock market data, Zillow real estate listings, LinkedIn profiles, and much, much more.
There’s no free trial available per se, but you do get $2 in credits when first signing up. Bright Data also offers a 7-day free trial for registered companies. This trial period is short, but it helps users test the features before committing to a monthly or pay-as-you-go plan.
Features
Accessing Bright Data’s features starts with registration. To sign up as a new user, you’ll need a work email address, but the platform also supports logging in with Google and GitHub accounts. You'll receive a verification email after signing up and creating a password.
Residential Proxies
Bright Data offers proxy IP addresses sourced from physical devices worldwide. People agree to add their devices to the network for a benefit, such as a VPN subscription. Bright Data’s users can then choose one of the IPs to bypass geo-restrictions and scrape data.
This platform offers over 150 million ethically sourced residential proxies from 195 countries, with the most popular locations being Brazil, India, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Russia, and China. Residential proxies rotate IP addresses, i.e., change with each browsing session.
(Image credit: Bright Data )
During our test, the residential proxies had excellent speed and reliability. Both static and rotating proxies allowed us to surf the web seamlessly and bypass strict website geo-restrictions. You can manage all proxies from your user dashboard, deploying new ones or removing existing ones at will.
Bright Data gives you significant control over your proxies. You can choose proxies from specific cities, states, and countries. The robust IP network, especially in Europe and North America, makes it easier to bypass geo-restrictions. If an IP address can’t successfully bypass the restriction, Bright Data rotates different IP addresses until it succeeds.
ISP Proxies
ISP proxies are static residential proxies sourced directly from Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Unlike residential IPs that rotate with each browsing session, a static ISP proxy is assigned only to you. You can keep this static IP for as long as your subscription lasts.
Bright Data offers a network of 1,300,000+ fully compliant static IPs, with the most popular locations being the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, and France. The U.S. has the highest number of static IPs - 1,173,705 - while all other countries have fewer than 15,000 each. This smaller number is expected because of the higher costs and difficulty of obtaining IP addresses directly from ISPs.
The static ISP proxies offered excellent speed and reliability during our test. Bright Data lets users manage static IPs directly from their Control Panel or an external API. The user-friendly Control Panel makes it easy to deploy and organize a large number of proxies.
ISP proxies are more reliable than typical residential proxies because they don’t change frequently. Using one IP address for a long period makes it easier to browse anonymously and break through geographical and IP website restrictions. Once you bypass a site’s restriction with a static IP, you can continue accessing the site with that IP. In contrast, rotating proxies mean you can bypass a site’s restriction today and struggle to bypass it tomorrow with a new IP address. Expectedly, Bright Data’s static IPs cost more than rotating IPs.
Datacenter Proxies
Datacenter proxies are sourced from secondary corporations rather than ISPs. A server (in a datacenter) with a unique IP acts as the intermediary between your device and a website you want to access. You can request a shared or dedicated datacenter IP: a dedicated IP is more reliable in circumventing site blockades.
(Image credit: Bright Data)
Bright Data offers 770,000+ datacenter proxies in 98 countries, unlike residential proxies available in 195 countries. You can select your datacenter proxy by specific city or country. These proxies are fast because your browser request is sent directly from the proxy server to the target website, unlike residential proxies that can bounce through several devices before reaching the target site.
The drawback is that datacenter proxies are more vulnerable to detection because of their less diverse IP range. They are cost-effective but less efficient at bypassing geo-restrictions than residential and ISP proxies.
Mobile proxies
Bright Data’s pool includes over 7 million mobile proxy IPs from 195 countries. These residential IPs are sourced from mobile devices across the globe, with India, the U.S., and Brazil having the largest share in Bright Data’s pool. You can use these IPs to surf the web from the eyes of real mobile users. You can choose IPs from 3G, 4G, or 5G networks.
During our test, Bright Data’s mobile proxies provided top-notch browsing speed. We tested IPs from different countries, and they worked reliably. Usually, mobile IPs are more expensive than residential IPs from PCs, but Bright Data charges the same amount for both.
Web Scraper API
Web scraping is one of the most common use cases for proxy servers. Some businesses need to scrape massive amounts of data from a website, e.g., pricing data from retail sites. However, many websites discourage scraping by implementing geographical and IP restrictions. Proxy IPs let businesses bypass these restrictions and scrape their desired data.
(Image credit: Bright Data)
As a first-rate platform, Bright Data doesn’t stop at providing proxy IP addresses for web scraping. It also provides APIs that let businesses automate data scraping. It has ready-made scraping APIs for websites like Facebook,Amazon, LinkedIn, Zillow, X, ChatGPT, and TikTok. Several websites, such as Facebook, have filed lawsuits to block these scraping APIs, but Bright Data has countersued and prevailed.
Suppose you run a price comparison site that helps people find the best e-commerce deals. You can use Bright Data’s APIs to automate data scraping from Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and other popular e-commerce sites. You’ll then clean the scraped data and display it on your price comparison website.
Bright Data's APIs can handle bulk scraping requests, convert raw HTML into structured data, and validate data automatically. Pricing depends on the number of API requests you make.
Dataset Marketplace
You don’t always have to scrape data from scratch. Bright Data offers an alternative: ready-made datasets sourced from different websites. It provides pre-built datasets from many websites, like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Crunchbase, Amazon, and Redfin. You can also get categorical datasets, such as car prices, housing prices, crime rates, NBA players' stats, etc.
(Image credit: Bright Data)
Pre-built datasets reduce headaches for businesses. Instead of scraping data from scratch and waiting a while to access it, you can access datasets already scraped by others. Pricing starts from $250 monthly for 100,000 records.
Ease of Use
Bright Data has an intuitive interface you’ll likely enjoy using. The left menu has all the features you need to access, and the right side is the main dashboard. Many features are neatly arranged across the dashboard to make them easy to find. With a white background and a few contrasting colors, Bright Data’s interface looks visually pleasing.
(Image credit: Bright Data)
You can access this proxy software primarily from the desktop interface. There’s also a Google Chrome extension that lets you seamlessly change proxy locations. Bright Data's user-friendliness is unmatched by most rivals.
Customer Support
One of Bright Data’s strengths is its top-notch support. You can contact its support team 24/7 and receive a response in less than 30 minutes. It offers support via live chat and email, but there’s no telephone support.
Bright Data also provides extensive documentation and user manuals to help users figure out solutions to their problems. The website’s Docs section contains detailed guides for all features and an API reference that helps users write effective data scraping commands.
We found Bright Data’s documentation easy to follow and helpful for our test. For instance, we followed the web scraping tutorial to harvest data from an external website.
The Competition
The proxy software market is very competitive. There’s no shortage of rivals to Bright Data, and the ones we’d like to highlight areDecodo (formerly Smartproxy),Oxylabs, andWebshare.
Decodo is an excellent proxy provider offering residential, ISP, and datacenter proxies. It's a cost-effective alternative with a large pool of 125 million+ IPs across 195 countries. However, Bright Data has a larger IP pool across the same number of countries and offers more features and customizability.
Oxylabs offers a slightly larger IP pool, with 175 million+ addresses compared to Bright Data’s 150 million+. Both platforms have similar offerings, but Bright Data provides some features not available in the other, such as a dataset marketplace and a web IDE. Bright Data also has a more responsive support team than Oxylabs, according to our experience when testing both.
Webshare is one of the best alternatives that go head-to-head with Bright Data. It’s a more affordable tool, which is crucial for small businesses. It offers effective APIs to scrape data en masse, just like Bright Data. However, Webshare has a much smaller pool of IP addresses: roughly 80 million compared to Bright Data’s 150 million.
Final Verdict
Bright Data is a comprehensive provider of proxy and proxy-related services. It offers not just tons of IP addresses covering the entire world, but also throws in quite a few extras for good measure. These include different kinds of web scraping APIs and even pre-built datasets. Thanks to these features, it’s well equipped to provide you with anything you need to bypass website restrictions and scrape any required data. There are a few drawbacks here and there, primarily its higher cost compared to the competition, but it might well be worth it, especially for high-volume needs.
Driver issues can lead to frustration - a slow PC, stuttering games and software, and even video playback. While Windows Update adds drivers to your PC, operating system patches and updates are prioritized.
From a point of overall stability, this might make sense. However, if you have specific hardware (e.g. specialist audio equipment) or a brand new device (perhaps a monitor) and its drivers are not available in Windows Update, you have a problem.
The solution is a driver updater, software like Avast Driver Updater that is designed to find, download, and install the latest drivers for your computer.
You’ve probably heard of Avast Software s.r.o, the Czech cybersecurity company now owned by Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec). But you might be more familiar with Avast’s antivirus tools, rather than system performance tools.
Avast driver updater: Plans and pricing
(Image credit: Avast)
You can sign up for an annual Avast Driver Updater subscription via the website for an annual license that covers a single computer, at $43.99 for 1 year. However, if you opt to download the trial version and click the upgrade button, you’re offered a choice of discounted options to sign up for 2 or 3 years.
Payment options are limited to credit/debit cards or PayPal. Note that the software comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee should you decide you don’t want the subscription. Note that this isn’t a one-off payment, but an annual subscription. This will recur annually until canceled, so keep an eye on this if you don’t think you’ll use it long-term.
Avast driver updater: Features
(Image credit: Avast)
To run Avast Driver Updater, you need Windows 10 or 11 (although 7, 8, and 8.1 are supported). Minimum hardware is 1GB of RAM, 2GB of storage, and an Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon 64 or later.
Avast Driver Updater includes the key features you would expect from a driver management tool.
Automatically scans
The software scans your system for outdated drivers automatically when you load it, and identifies anything that needs updating. This can have a beneficial impact on your system, notably in reducing security risks caused by old drivers and reducing the chances of system crashes or lock-ups.
Similarly, improved audio and smoother graphics can be enjoyed with the latest drivers installed.
Checks over 300,000 hardware devices
Avast Driver Updater can compare your system setup with a database of over 300,000 devices and components and scans in real time to look for drivers when new devices are added. Identified drivers are selected based on the operating system version in use, and the hardware itself. For instance, a hybrid may require different drivers for the same device than a desktop PC would.
Backup and restore drivers
It isn’t wise to simply bulk-update a bunch of drivers without first taking steps to back things up. Windows uses restore points when running Windows Updates, and Avast Driver Updater uses a similar feature here. Before new updates are installed, the existing drivers are backed up. If you run into any problems using the new drivers, you can easily reinstate the originals.
Note that older backups are deleted after 3 months by default, but you can set this to 6 months at the longest.
(Image credit: Avast)
Alternative drivers
In the event of a hardware vendor not providing updated drivers for a prolonged period, Avast Driver Updater offers alternatives. These are installed after a specific length of time (6 months by default, 1 year maximum) after the official driver developer’s last update.
Although useful, this feature can cause problems. Although it is enabled by default, this feature can be disabled.
Desktop notifications
If you want to know the latest news from Avast Driver Updater, you can enable desktop notifications. This will inform you when new scans have run in the background. Note that multiple languages are supported with this software.
Account management
You can access account information from within the Avast Driver Updater tool. As well as being able to sign into an existing Avast account, you can enter the software’s activation code, and manage your Avast subscriptions.
Avast driver updater: Interface and in use
(Image credit: Avast)
Firstly, downloading the Avast Driver Updater is uncomplicated. Go to the official website and download the installation file, whether free or paid. Afterward, run the downloaded file, and it begins installing. It doesn't require much computing resources, just 1GB RAM or above and at least 1GB free space on your hard drive.
The free version only lets you scan and update drivers, whereas the paid version has added features.
After installing and launching the software, you’ll see that it's easy to use. It has a central dashboard from which you can control all the features. The features are easily accessible on this dashboard for you to choose from.
The Avast Driver Updater scores very high in user-friendliness and ease of use.
Avast driver updater: Support
Avast's searchable knowledge base can help you find answers to common problems (Image credit: Avast)
What happens if you can’t get results from Avast Driver Updater, or need to cancel the subscription? Avast’s website has a whole subdomain dedicated to product support, providing assistance for everything from installation and activation to billing, subscriptions, and refunds.
Several help pages can be found for each Avast application, including Avast Driver Updater, which should help you to solve most issues. For those problems that aren’t covered, you can get in touch with Avast’s support team through the website (limited to subscribers).
Support can be contacted directly if you wish to cancel your subscription.
Avast has a 4-star rating on Trustpilot.
Avast driver updater: Competition
Driver updating tools are popular PC performance options, so it should come as no surprise that a whole host of similar apps are available. Think IObit Driver Booster and Ashampoo Driver Updater; many others also crowd this somewhat niche sector.
In fact, Avast even has competition from within its own stable. Avast and AVG (a company it bought in 2017?) are both now owned by Gen Digital. Both offer very similar suites of software, including driver updating tools. In our view, there is very little difference between these two utilities.
The similarities between the tools are so great that you cannot actually install them both on the same system.
Avast driver updater: Final verdict
When looking for a driver updater utility, you want software that doesn’t just look like it is regularly updated, it runs like it is. Avast Driver Updater looks good, boasts modern features (a slick user interface, account, and license management options), and will also update your Windows drivers.
Avast Driver Updater’s free trial is functional and limited only by time, rather than features. This means you can get a good idea of whether it will help you get the best performance out of your PC without paying first. And when it comes to subscribing, the app isn’t too expensive.
Overall, it’s a good driver updater that will deliver the latest drivers to your Windows PC as they’re released.
Having a good PDF editor that does more than just open documents on your phone can make life a whole lot more productive and convenient. You have probably been in a situation where you had to make alterations to a PDF file but couldn’t figure out how. There are various ways to do that, but using good PDF software is perhaps the most professional way to do it.
Readdle’s PDF Expert is a software package that lets you do that and so much more - easily one of the best PDF editors for the Apple ecosystem we’ve come across. If you’ve been trying to be more productive, then chances are you’ve heard of Readdle. It has made quite a name for itself in the productivity software market. The software is only available for the Mac, and iOS platforms, and has features like editing, protecting, organizing, and signing PDF documents.
Readdle PDF Expert: Pricing & plans
The iOS version of PDF Expert automatically offers you a 7-day trial, which is trivial to set up and also offers reminders should you wish to cancel before the trial ends.
The subscription will cost you $80 / £73 a year, and will allow you to use the software on any Apple device you own, and of course get all updates, large or small, as they’re released. The software allows you to edit and add notes to PDF files, convert PDFs into other formats, protect sensitive data, sign documents, and add, delete or extract pages.
For those who don’t like to rent their software, there’s also a ‘Lifetime’ offer, a one-off payment of $140. However, be aware it comes with serious restrictions. For one thing, it will only work on your Mac - iOS devices are out of the loop - you may not be able to download future updates without an additional charge, and PDF Expert’s AI co-pilot is unavailable (although those among us who are wary of the proliferation of AI in everything could see this as a positive). If you purchase a subscription, you also benefit from a 30-day money back guarantee.
Scroll down the main page to see a list of all available tools (Image credit: Readdle)
You’d think PDF Expert would mostly be for business people, but since the PDF format has become ubiquitous, being able to manipulate its content, and otherwise interact with such files has become increasingly popular and necessary for most.
If you’ve explored other PDF services, you’ll find many features are standard across the board. So it’s no surprise you’re able to perform various functions with PDF Expert, such as making annotations, rearranging, deleting, or rotating pages, editing existing text, images, and links, protect sensitive information through redaction, or by adding a password to a document, convert files to a Microsoft Office format, scan documents, have the software recognise the text and make it selectable (through OCR), and fill in forms and sign contracts.
As you can see, PDF Expert has numerous features that make it perfect for people who frequently use PDF files. For those who work in corporate, it’s hands down the most affordable and handy PDF software.
You can sync your work to your Google Drive, Apple iCloud, or Dropbox account so that any changes you make on a PDF file are saved to the cloud, and available on all your devices.
Readdle PDF Expert: Interface and in use
Annotations are very flexible - you can even edit your doodle after the fact: changing its colour, size, position, and even opacity (Image credit: Readdle)
We found the interface to be remarkably clean, simple, well designed, and easy to use. The main functions are listed at the top. Just click on the one you need and further contextual tools appear beneath it in a smaller row of icons. The icons don’t have labels, nor do any appear when you mouse over them which is a bit of a shame. But don’t fret: click on any of them to reveal an Inspector sidebar on the right, with the tool’s name at the top, should the icon itself not have been immediately clear (some of them aren’t at first glance).
The home page also contains a number of tools organised by categories, to help you perform the function you need quickly and easily.
Whichever tool you use, you’ll find it very easy to use. The flexibility is impressive. For instance, you can draw on a page, which you’re then able to resize and reposition, even changing your doodle’s colour, line width and opacity.
Edit a PDF’s existing content is remarkably easy. In fact, it’s one of the features that can often trip up such services, but here, access is smooth. The content is broken down into paragraphs which you can select, resize, reposition, and delete. Edit the original words preserves the text’s font, size, and colour (unless you wish to change it of course). The same applies for images.
Although your export options are limited, the process is very intuitive (Image credit: Readdle)
When it comes to exporting a PDF, you have a handful of options open to you, from Microsoft Office formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), plain text, RTF or HTML, to converting the document into an image. It’s all done with a handful of clicks.
If you need to fill in a form, you can do more than just entering text and signing (which it does very well). PDF Expert also offers checkmarks, crosses, stamps and even the ability to add images. And as for scanning, we found PDF Expert’s OCR capabilities to be adequate but not stellar. Although we could accept the odd mistake for unusual names, it seemed to even struggle with some simple words, which was a shame.
And finally, we have AI. This feature is currently in beta, and you can explore it for free (as part of your trial or subscription), and although it’s interesting to see it summarise a document, browse through a handful of questions you can ask it about the document, and even ask your own, it feels more of a fun gimmick than anything else. After all, everything must have AI in it now, right? And this style of using AI to simplify a document for easier digestion is something we’ve seen in other competing services, with similar results.
Readdle PDF Expert: Competition
Editing the PDF’s original content is remarkably versatile, simple to use, and powerful - what more could you ask for? (Image credit: Readdle)
PDF Expert’s biggest competitor is, you guessed it, Adobe Acrobat. As the owners of this format, it’s little surprise that most would flock to them for editing services, but there are other options available. Foxit, for instance is an excellent choice, as is Soda, and EaseUS. The best option is to try them all, as they do offer free trials and some even have limited free versions, to see which one would serve you best.
In terms of interface polish, and being able to work on any device within the Apple ecosystem, PDF Expert does shine brightly as one of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives we've tried.
Readdle PDF Expert: Final verdict
The OCR results were adequate, although we’ve definitely seen better elsewhere (Image credit: Readdle)
Readdle’s PDF Expert is a PDF software that provides you a wide range of tools for editing, organizing, securing, annotating, and converting PDF documents. It is an iOS-only software which works exceptionally well on the Apple ecosystem, giving you the ability to synchronize your documents and all the changes you make on them across all of your iOS devices.
The software makes it very easy for you to navigate through documents and you can open large PDF files in a matter of seconds. That is not something you can do with other PDF editors so if you have been looking for a new PDF software for your company or for your personal use, maybe you should give PDF Expert a shot!
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a device maintenance tool and driver updater for the Windows operating system. Usually, wrong or old drivers are an enemy of every computer system and can lead to system instability, data loss, or even security vulnerabilities.
Ashampoo Driver Updater keeps track of your drivers and ensures they’re updated when necessary. In doing so, Ashampoo can help guard against frequent system crashes and computer errors, allowing you to optimize productivity levels.
Ashampoo is a software company that develops a broad range of software tools. It maintains its headquarters in Oldenburg, Germany. The organization actually offers a range of different solutions outside of its driver updater program, including video editing software, ad blocker tools, and a file manager.
In this review, however, we'll focus on Ashapoo's driver updater tool. We’ll evaluate Ashampoo Driver Updater based on specific criteria, including pricing, features, compatibility, customer support, and user interface.
While Ashampoo Driver Updater may be discounted, you will need to pay extra for premium support (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Ashampoo Driver Updater: Plans and pricing
Ashampoo Driver Updater is available through an annual subscription. It costs $33 for an annual license covering three personal computers in a downloadable format but keep an an eye out for deals, as we’ve frequently noticed the price being cut in half.
Compared to other competing driver updater tools, Ashampoo is not the cheapest. For instance, both IObit Driver Booster Pro and SlimWare Utilities DriverUpdate are more affordable. However, there is a free tier available for users of Ashampoo Driver Updater but they will have to put up with limited functionality. For example, the free version takes longer to scan and update drivers than the paid version. However, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing you to try the software before committing yourself financially.
Wide device and driver support is one of Ashampoo Driver Updater's best features (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Features
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many of the features you'd expect to find in a driver updater software suite including:
Driver Detection
The Ashampoo Driver Updater can scan all drivers on your computer and identify which ones are outdated or not. The scan is rapid and easy to do. If you wish, you can set the driver updater to run a full scan whenever your PC boots up. Also, as soon as you launch Ashampoo Driver Updater, the software will conduct a scan of your PC for hardware and drivers. Once this is complete, you’ll then be presented with a list of both up-to-date and out-of-date drivers, as well as processor and RAM information.
Ashampoo Driver Updater automatically lets you know when driver updates are available (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Automatic Updates
You can update your drivers with the tool after scanning. Ashampoo uses a colour-coding system to quickly inform you of the status of each driver. A green icon signifies that a driver is up to date, a yellow icon is used for drivers that have had an update available for less than 365 days, and a red icon informs users that a driver has had an update available for more than 365 days. You can then either install updates individually or update all of them with a single click.
There are many benefits of updating your device drivers, including:
Fixes wireless connection, sound, and printer issues
Reduces risk of system crashes and freezes
Improves your gaming experience
Fully optimized system usage
You can also backup up your existing drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Driver Backup and Restore
You can save your driver backups to an external hard drive or DVD and restore them when needed. Sometimes, you’ll need previous versions of your drivers, for example, when an update results in failures. If this happens, it doesn’t mean the end of your PC. Instead, you could get the previous version from a backup and restore it with the Ashampoo Driver Updater.
Compatibility
The driver updater is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. This widespread compatibility makes it a very versatile tool. In fact, it is particularly well-integrated with Windows 10, with notifications appearing in the operating system's Action Center.
Interface and in use
It’s easy to download and use the Ashampoo Driver Updater. To do so, start by visiting the company’s official website. You can pay online and download the software or have it shipped to you in DVD format. Picking the DVD format requires an extra payment.
After downloading, run the installer on your computer. The downloadable file is under 100MB, and its installation doesn’t take long from start to finish. After installing, you can open the driver updater and start using it.
Just hit the scan button to have Ashampoo check your system for outdated drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
The user interface is clear and straightforward. You have visible options to scan, backup, or restore. After scanning, it’ll show you the drivers that require updates and those that do not. Admittedly, Ashampoo does lack the interface skins and transparencies that come with Obit Driver Booster Pro but although these are nice touches, they are only aesthetic of course.
More practically, there is a settings section with Ashampoo's software where you have the option to auto-scan your drivers every time you launch the software or whenever your PC boots afresh. The software is also multilingual, supporting over two dozen languages.
Ashampoo's free support resources do leave something to be desired (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Support
There are various support options for the Ashampoo Driver Updater, including email, telephone, and live chat. The live chat and telephone support work pretty well, as did the company's email response. However, you also have the option to pay for premium email support that’ll make Ashampoo treat your inquiries as a top priority. This paid option costs $4.95 for two years.
There’s also an online Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) page you can consult to resolve common problems, as well as a help desk article that runs through the fundamentals like how to conduct a system scan and update your drivers.
The competition
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many competitors, such as IObit Driver Booster Pro and DriverDoc. Despite having similar features, Ashampoo costs $19 for a download and is more expensive than IObit ($11.50). On the other hand, DriverDoc (costing roughly $40) is more costly than Ashampoo but has more features.
Today, there are a plethora of driver updater tools on the market, including the likes of Auslogics Driver Updater, AVG Driver Updater, and many more. Although many of these may beat Ashampoo in certain areas, from power to speed, Ashampoo Driver Updater is a great all-rounder.
Final verdict
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a tool that lives up to its promise. It’s effortless to use and performs its required functions very well. Its main drawback is the cost, as it’s more expensive than many of its rivals, so it may be a good idea to get to grips with the 30-day free trial to see if you really want to sign up for an annual license.
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a device maintenance tool and driver updater for the Windows operating system. Usually, wrong or old drivers are an enemy of every computer system and can lead to system instability, data loss, or even security vulnerabilities.
Ashampoo Driver Updater keeps track of your drivers and ensures they’re updated when necessary. In doing so, Ashampoo can help guard against frequent system crashes and computer errors, allowing you to optimize productivity levels.
Ashampoo is a software company that develops a broad range of software tools. It maintains its headquarters in Oldenburg, Germany. The organization actually offers a range of different solutions outside of its driver updater program, including video editing software, ad blocker tools, and a file manager.
In this review, however, we'll focus on Ashapoo's driver updater tool. We’ll evaluate Ashampoo Driver Updater based on specific criteria, including pricing, features, compatibility, customer support, and user interface.
While Ashampoo Driver Updater may be discounted, you will need to pay extra for premium support (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Ashampoo Driver Updater: Plans and pricing
Ashampoo Driver Updater is available through an annual subscription. It costs $33 for an annual license covering three personal computers in a downloadable format but keep an an eye out for deals, as we’ve frequently noticed the price being cut in half.
Compared to other competing driver updater tools, Ashampoo is not the cheapest. For instance, both IObit Driver Booster Pro and SlimWare Utilities DriverUpdate are more affordable. However, there is a free tier available for users of Ashampoo Driver Updater but they will have to put up with limited functionality. For example, the free version takes longer to scan and update drivers than the paid version. However, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing you to try the software before committing yourself financially.
Wide device and driver support is one of Ashampoo Driver Updater's best features (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Features
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many of the features you'd expect to find in a driver updater software suite including:
Driver Detection
The Ashampoo Driver Updater can scan all drivers on your computer and identify which ones are outdated or not. The scan is rapid and easy to do. If you wish, you can set the driver updater to run a full scan whenever your PC boots up. Also, as soon as you launch Ashampoo Driver Updater, the software will conduct a scan of your PC for hardware and drivers. Once this is complete, you’ll then be presented with a list of both up-to-date and out-of-date drivers, as well as processor and RAM information.
Ashampoo Driver Updater automatically lets you know when driver updates are available (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Automatic Updates
You can update your drivers with the tool after scanning. Ashampoo uses a colour-coding system to quickly inform you of the status of each driver. A green icon signifies that a driver is up to date, a yellow icon is used for drivers that have had an update available for less than 365 days, and a red icon informs users that a driver has had an update available for more than 365 days. You can then either install updates individually or update all of them with a single click.
There are many benefits of updating your device drivers, including:
Fixes wireless connection, sound, and printer issues
Reduces risk of system crashes and freezes
Improves your gaming experience
Fully optimized system usage
You can also backup up your existing drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Driver Backup and Restore
You can save your driver backups to an external hard drive or DVD and restore them when needed. Sometimes, you’ll need previous versions of your drivers, for example, when an update results in failures. If this happens, it doesn’t mean the end of your PC. Instead, you could get the previous version from a backup and restore it with the Ashampoo Driver Updater.
Compatibility
The driver updater is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. This widespread compatibility makes it a very versatile tool. In fact, it is particularly well-integrated with Windows 10, with notifications appearing in the operating system's Action Center.
Interface and in use
It’s easy to download and use the Ashampoo Driver Updater. To do so, start by visiting the company’s official website. You can pay online and download the software or have it shipped to you in DVD format. Picking the DVD format requires an extra payment.
After downloading, run the installer on your computer. The downloadable file is under 100MB, and its installation doesn’t take long from start to finish. After installing, you can open the driver updater and start using it.
Just hit the scan button to have Ashampoo check your system for outdated drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
The user interface is clear and straightforward. You have visible options to scan, backup, or restore. After scanning, it’ll show you the drivers that require updates and those that do not. Admittedly, Ashampoo does lack the interface skins and transparencies that come with Obit Driver Booster Pro but although these are nice touches, they are only aesthetic of course.
More practically, there is a settings section with Ashampoo's software where you have the option to auto-scan your drivers every time you launch the software or whenever your PC boots afresh. The software is also multilingual, supporting over two dozen languages.
Ashampoo's free support resources do leave something to be desired (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Support
There are various support options for the Ashampoo Driver Updater, including email, telephone, and live chat. The live chat and telephone support work pretty well, as did the company's email response. However, you also have the option to pay for premium email support that’ll make Ashampoo treat your inquiries as a top priority. This paid option costs $4.95 for two years.
There’s also an online Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) page you can consult to resolve common problems, as well as a help desk article that runs through the fundamentals like how to conduct a system scan and update your drivers.
The competition
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many competitors, such as IObit Driver Booster Pro and DriverDoc. Despite having similar features, Ashampoo costs $19 for a download and is more expensive than IObit ($11.50). On the other hand, DriverDoc (costing roughly $40) is more costly than Ashampoo but has more features.
Today, there are a plethora of driver updater tools on the market, including the likes of Auslogics Driver Updater, AVG Driver Updater, and many more. Although many of these may beat Ashampoo in certain areas, from power to speed, Ashampoo Driver Updater is a great all-rounder.
Final verdict
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a tool that lives up to its promise. It’s effortless to use and performs its required functions very well. Its main drawback is the cost, as it’s more expensive than many of its rivals, so it may be a good idea to get to grips with the 30-day free trial to see if you really want to sign up for an annual license.
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a device maintenance tool and driver updater for the Windows operating system. Usually, wrong or old drivers are an enemy of every computer system and can lead to system instability, data loss, or even security vulnerabilities.
Ashampoo Driver Updater keeps track of your drivers and ensures they’re updated when necessary. In doing so, Ashampoo can help guard against frequent system crashes and computer errors, allowing you to optimize productivity levels.
Ashampoo is a software company that develops a broad range of software tools. It maintains its headquarters in Oldenburg, Germany. The organization actually offers a range of different solutions outside of its driver updater program, including video editing software, ad blocker tools, and a file manager.
In this review, however, we'll focus on Ashapoo's driver updater tool. We’ll evaluate Ashampoo Driver Updater based on specific criteria, including pricing, features, compatibility, customer support, and user interface.
While Ashampoo Driver Updater may be discounted, you will need to pay extra for premium support (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Ashampoo Driver Updater: Plans and pricing
Ashampoo Driver Updater is available through an annual subscription. It costs $33 for an annual license covering three personal computers in a downloadable format but keep an an eye out for deals, as we’ve frequently noticed the price being cut in half.
Compared to other competing driver updater tools, Ashampoo is not the cheapest. For instance, both IObit Driver Booster Pro and SlimWare Utilities DriverUpdate are more affordable. However, there is a free tier available for users of Ashampoo Driver Updater but they will have to put up with limited functionality. For example, the free version takes longer to scan and update drivers than the paid version. However, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing you to try the software before committing yourself financially.
Wide device and driver support is one of Ashampoo Driver Updater's best features (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Features
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many of the features you'd expect to find in a driver updater software suite including:
Driver Detection
The Ashampoo Driver Updater can scan all drivers on your computer and identify which ones are outdated or not. The scan is rapid and easy to do. If you wish, you can set the driver updater to run a full scan whenever your PC boots up. Also, as soon as you launch Ashampoo Driver Updater, the software will conduct a scan of your PC for hardware and drivers. Once this is complete, you’ll then be presented with a list of both up-to-date and out-of-date drivers, as well as processor and RAM information.
Ashampoo Driver Updater automatically lets you know when driver updates are available (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Automatic Updates
You can update your drivers with the tool after scanning. Ashampoo uses a colour-coding system to quickly inform you of the status of each driver. A green icon signifies that a driver is up to date, a yellow icon is used for drivers that have had an update available for less than 365 days, and a red icon informs users that a driver has had an update available for more than 365 days. You can then either install updates individually or update all of them with a single click.
There are many benefits of updating your device drivers, including:
Fixes wireless connection, sound, and printer issues
Reduces risk of system crashes and freezes
Improves your gaming experience
Fully optimized system usage
You can also backup up your existing drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Driver Backup and Restore
You can save your driver backups to an external hard drive or DVD and restore them when needed. Sometimes, you’ll need previous versions of your drivers, for example, when an update results in failures. If this happens, it doesn’t mean the end of your PC. Instead, you could get the previous version from a backup and restore it with the Ashampoo Driver Updater.
Compatibility
The driver updater is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. This widespread compatibility makes it a very versatile tool. In fact, it is particularly well-integrated with Windows 10, with notifications appearing in the operating system's Action Center.
Interface and in use
It’s easy to download and use the Ashampoo Driver Updater. To do so, start by visiting the company’s official website. You can pay online and download the software or have it shipped to you in DVD format. Picking the DVD format requires an extra payment.
After downloading, run the installer on your computer. The downloadable file is under 100MB, and its installation doesn’t take long from start to finish. After installing, you can open the driver updater and start using it.
Just hit the scan button to have Ashampoo check your system for outdated drivers (Image credit: Ashampoo)
The user interface is clear and straightforward. You have visible options to scan, backup, or restore. After scanning, it’ll show you the drivers that require updates and those that do not. Admittedly, Ashampoo does lack the interface skins and transparencies that come with Obit Driver Booster Pro but although these are nice touches, they are only aesthetic of course.
More practically, there is a settings section with Ashampoo's software where you have the option to auto-scan your drivers every time you launch the software or whenever your PC boots afresh. The software is also multilingual, supporting over two dozen languages.
Ashampoo's free support resources do leave something to be desired (Image credit: Ashampoo)
Support
There are various support options for the Ashampoo Driver Updater, including email, telephone, and live chat. The live chat and telephone support work pretty well, as did the company's email response. However, you also have the option to pay for premium email support that’ll make Ashampoo treat your inquiries as a top priority. This paid option costs $4.95 for two years.
There’s also an online Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) page you can consult to resolve common problems, as well as a help desk article that runs through the fundamentals like how to conduct a system scan and update your drivers.
The competition
Ashampoo Driver Updater has many competitors, such as IObit Driver Booster Pro and DriverDoc. Despite having similar features, Ashampoo costs $19 for a download and is more expensive than IObit ($11.50). On the other hand, DriverDoc (costing roughly $40) is more costly than Ashampoo but has more features.
Today, there are a plethora of driver updater tools on the market, including the likes of Auslogics Driver Updater, AVG Driver Updater, and many more. Although many of these may beat Ashampoo in certain areas, from power to speed, Ashampoo Driver Updater is a great all-rounder.
Final verdict
Ashampoo Driver Updater is a tool that lives up to its promise. It’s effortless to use and performs its required functions very well. Its main drawback is the cost, as it’s more expensive than many of its rivals, so it may be a good idea to get to grips with the 30-day free trial to see if you really want to sign up for an annual license.
Servicing your clients' needs is key to running a well-oiled business, but what happens when your customer requires attention from the other end of the globe? Sure, you can communicate all day via email or telephone, but sometimes, there’s only so much you can do without looking at the computer screen on the other end of the call.
That’s where remote access tools like ISL Online come in. The saving grace of every IT department is that ISL allows technicians to tap into client workstations from thousands of miles away, making troubleshooting much easier on both ends.
But is it the ideal choice for your needs? Let’s delve into the pros and cons and explore who could benefit the most from ISL Online.
ISL Online provides plenty of features for IT departments looking to offer support to their organization's employees (Image credit: ISL Online)
ISL Online: Features
ISL Online offers advanced remote support and management capabilities, making it ideal for IT professionals who can efficiently manage or troubleshoot remote devices. Large businesses can use ISL Online to support a wide range of technology, ensuring employees can access systems and support regardless of physical location. Educators and IT staff in schools can also use ISL Online to manage and troubleshoot classroom technology or support remote learning environments. Hospitals and clinics can also take advantage of ISL Online’s secure and reliable platform for managing patient data and supporting telehealth services.
An intuitive remote access software suite with numerous ways to connect and support clients, ISL Online offers a number of unique features to best serve the needs of your IT department and loyal customers. Basic tools include remote control, audio and video calls, file sharing, and messaging.
There are also a number of tools to make remote support easier for both clients and IT admins (Image credit: ISL Online)
Once a remote session is active, technicians are presented with a toolbar with quick-click functions for things like screen sharing, requesting control of a client’s machine, an option for transferring the session to another tech, and a button for inviting extra participants to a session.
On the client end, customers are able to accept and deny remote logins (if unattended access isn’t granted). File transfer permissions and storage locations can also be managed on the client side – although a technician can decide where to send files, too.
ISL Online : Types of remote sessions
Technicians can initiate a remote session in numerous ways. The quickest and most efficient way to jumpstart remote access is by downloading ISL Light to the technician and client machines. When fielding a request for remote support, techs can then launch the app and generate a session code that gets pinged to the client machine. After the client grants permission, the remote session can begin. For unattended machines (client machines that techs are automatically permitted to access), clients must have the ISL AlwaysOn app (for Windows and Mac machines) installed.
Once installed, all the technician has to do is find the client computer in the list of available ISL Light devices and click to start a remote session. “ISL Online” is not only the name of the company’s software suite but a remote access option for clients – with the “Online” aspect of the name referring to ISL’s remote site (islonline.net), where clients can enter session codes to enable remote access. While some users have complained of slower tools and extensions during a web session, it’s still a viable option for clients who do not have ISL Light installed on their machines.
(Image credit: ISL Online)
And not to mention that the web portal is extremely easy to use, with options for sorting AlwaysOn clients into custom groups and sharing permissions for other techs.
Remote access can also be initiated through an invite-only email with an attached session code that automatically downloads ISL Light on your client’s machine, as well as a live chat option that plants a chat button on your site that can be used to initiate a remote session.
ISL Online is available on desktop as well as mobile (Image credit: ISL Online)
ISL Online: Platforms
ISL’s range of remote service tools are compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops, as well as iOS and Android devices. As mentioned, in order for a tech to access a client’s desktop or mobile device, all the client needs to do is install ISL Light on their own desktop or mobile device, or head over to islonline.net to start a browser session.
You can sign up for an annual plan or opt for the pay as you go route (Image credit: ISL Online)
ISL Online: Plans and pricing
ISL Online offers various subscription options tailored to meet the remote access needs of businesses and clients. New subscribers can avail a 15-day free trial to test the software. This trial provides access to all essential features, such as remote desktop control, unattended access for client machines, mobile device support, app customization, and maximum security. The only exclusions for trial members are multi-session and premium phone support.
The standard plan includes unlimited users and devices, mobile device support, connections via RDP, user management, device permissions, and standard customization, priced at $34.90 per concurrent user per month.
For a premium plan at $54.90 per user per month, subscribers get all the standard plan features, along with SSO/SAML and premium support.
Companies with smaller footprints may consider the Pay Per Use plan, priced at $125 per 500 minutes over a year. This plan includes all the standard features with multi-session streams charged per minute.
Enterprise plans start at approximately $24,000 per year.
Not only does ISL Online offer end-to-end encryption but its software also has several security certifications (Image credit: ISL Online)
ISL Online: Privacy
ISL Online is dedicated to maintaining robust security measures. In addition to the end-to-end encryption of all transferred data, the platform employs two-factor authentication (2FA), code signing, port filtering, user access management, and an allowlist/blocklist for controlling which machines ISL Online technicians are permitted to access. Furthermore, the client's ISL AlwaysOn app is secured with password protection, and initial session access is restricted to the technician who initiated the call. These measures collectively ensure high security and control over remote access operations.
ISL Online: Pro and cons
ISL Online has its own set of pros and cons that need to be considered.
Firstly, ISL Online is compatible with various platforms such as Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. This cross-platform functionality ensures that users can offer or receive support, irrespective of the operating system in use.
The platform takes security seriously by using industry-standard encryption protocols to safeguard data transmission. This feature is especially important for businesses that handle sensitive information or operate in regulated industries.
ISL Online has an intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and use. This ensures that both support technicians and end-users can operate the software smoothly without a steep learning curve.
Businesses using ISL Online have the option to customize the software to their specific needs. This includes custom branding options, which can enhance the support experience for customers and reinforce brand identity.
ISL Online is suitable for freelancers, SMBs, and large corporations as it can scale to meet their requirements. Its pricing structure and feature set cater to a broad range of needs, making it a versatile tool for different business sizes and sectors.
However, the pricing for ISL Online might be a hurdle for individuals or small businesses with limited budgets. The investment is substantial, and potential users must weigh the benefits against the costs.
Although the platform is generally user-friendly, some of its more advanced features may require a learning investment. Users looking to leverage the full suite of tools will need to spend time becoming acquainted with them.
ISL Online's free version is quite limited, offering just a brief trial period to test its capabilities. Businesses looking to extensively test the software before committing might find this period restrictive.
RemotePC by iDrive allows access to up to ten Windows and Mac machines with prices starting at only $4/month and includes file sharing from machines and remote drives, and even includes live video support.
Zoho Assist is another worthy contender. Featuring some of the toughest security features on the market and options for remote printing and custom branding, there are numerous subscription options available for whatever your team may require, with prices starting at $8/month for the Zoho Standard plan.
Final verdict
ISL Online provides many powerful remote access tools, offering multiple ways to support clients across different machines and platforms. The platform emphasizes top-notch security features and permissions tools for both technicians and clients, demonstrating ISL's strong commitment to user data security.
While the cost of Cloud-licensing fees may be high, especially for small businesses, ISL's subscription comes with a wealth of tools, extensions, and add-ons, making it a worthwhile investment. New suite users can also benefit from an excellent built-in support team, facilitating successful integration with ISL Online for the user and their clients.
ISL Online is a powerful, versatile, and secure remote desktop service suitable for a diverse audience, from IT professionals to large enterprises. However, potential users should carefully weigh the platform's cons, such as its cost and the complexity of some features, against their specific needs and the benefits it offers. With its security, support, and scalability strengths, ISL Online is a compelling solution for those seeking reliable and professional remote access tools.
Before making your final decision, consider your organization's specific needs, budget, and the level of support and features required. ISL Online might be the comprehensive tool to elevate your remote access capabilities.
What to look for in a remote desktop solution
When searching for a remote desktop software package, it's crucial to prioritize several key features to ensure a smooth, secure, and efficient remote access experience. The first aspect to consider is security. Given the nature of remote access, the software should have robust encryption standards to protect data during transmission. Features like two-factor authentication and multi-level permission settings offer additional layers of security, ensuring that only authorized users can access the system.
Another critical factor is the ease of use. The software should have an intuitive interface, allowing users to connect to remote devices seamlessly without extensive technical knowledge. It is also important that it supports multiple platforms and devices, providing flexibility to access your desktop from various operating systems like Windows, MacOS, Linux, or through mobile devices running iOS or Android.
Performance is equally vital. The software should offer a smooth, lag-free experience, even with low bandwidth, ensuring that tasks can be performed efficiently without frustration. Look for options that provide a good balance between video quality and transmission speed, minimizing delays in rendering graphics or text.
Compatibility with business tools and scalability are other significant considerations. As businesses grow, their remote desktop needs may evolve. A good remote desktop software should easily integrate with existing IT environments and scale to accommodate additional users or workstations without major overhauls.
Lastly, customer support cannot be overlooked. Reliable customer service is crucial, as it ensures that any technical issues can be promptly addressed. Look for software providers that offer comprehensive support via various channels, including live chat, email, and phone.
In summary, when scouting for a remote desktop software package, prioritize security, ease of use, performance, compatibility and scalability, and customer support. Selecting a software with these features in mind will not only enhance productivity but also safeguard your digital assets, ultimately offering a positive return on investment.
Hostinger is one of the best web hosting providers. It's an all in one solution for many scenarios and use cases. Shared hosting, VPS & cloud plans, multiple website builders, vibe coding tools, and email and marketing products mean there is everything a business needs to launch and grow.
(Image credit: Hostiner)
Hostinger: The pros
Ease of use
When I started building websites, if you had zero experience and wanted a website you'd go to a place like Squarespace or Wix because they offered an easy to use website builder and hosting all in one. They were a bit more expensive but if you didn't want to pay for a web developer they were still much cheaper. Hostinger has changed the game as you can use Hostinger's website builder, AI tools, and guides to easily create and host a website at a much lower cost. This now expands into app building with Hostinger Horizons.
Cost
If you went with a website builder such as Wix you'll be paying $17 a month and if you want to add features to your site like taking bookings or payment you'll need to fork out even more. At Hostinger you can start from as little as $2.49 a month with very little restrictions. It's unlikely you'll need to upgrade your plan unless your site get more use. You won't need to pay more for features that you want. Plus, you get a website builder with Hostinger too. After renewal the most basic Hostinger plan is $11.99 a month still making it cheaper than Wix and Squarespace at $16 a month.
You can use our exclusive discount code TECHRADAR for an additional 10% off at checkout View Deal
(Image credit: Hostinger)
Feature packed plans
Hostinger’s plans are well priced and stuffed with features, many of which are chargeable extras elsewhere. Page speed monitoring, malware scanning, and analytics are all nice extras for beginners. There are also drag and drop website builders alongside AI builders and AI tools to manage website optimization and troubleshooting.
The more advanced plans like cloud the cloud hosting plans include auto-scaling and geo-redundancy for maximum flexibility and reliability.
Excellent uptime
Reliability is one of the most important elements in any quality web host. A provider can offer as many other features as it likes, but if your site is down all the time, most of your visitors will disappear.
We measured Hostinger’s performance by setting up a test WordPress website, then using Uptime.com to monitor its speed and any downtime from multiple locations around the world.
Although our site was hosted on Hostinger's most basic shared hosting plan, it still managed an excellent 100% uptime record over 10 weeks of monitoring.
Fast load times
We measure website load speeds with help from GTmetrix, which accesses a test page and reports how long its main content takes to load (a value called Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP). A low LCP means your website begins to appear on the screen more quickly, keeping visitors happy.
Hostinger scored here with a speedy LCP of 0.607 seconds, the second fastest result in our last 15 tests, just behind HostGator.
One-off load speed checks are important, but we also like to see how a site performs when it's busy. To do this, we use the stress-testing service k6 to unleash 20 virtual users on our site and measure what happens.
Hostinger's results showed it could handle 15 requests per second throughout the test. That’s similar to other providers, but very acceptable for shared hosting, and if you’re opting for a more high-powered cloud or VPS plan, you should be able to handle even more visitors.
Low starter prices
Hostinger’s prices start at just $2.49 a month for the four year Premium hosting plan (renewing at a still very reasonable $7.99 on the first renewal).
Not keen on signing up for such a long time? Switch to the annual plan and it’s still well priced at $2.99 a month and $11.99 on renewal.
The pricing can be a bit confusing and renewal prices can change based things like whether you have auto-renew enabled. You can ignore the countdown timer on the page as it's always refreshing and the prices stay the same. However, we do recommend that you take more time to look at the long term cost of your plans.
Data centers in nine countries
Sign up with many web hosts and they’ll give you storage space in a data center but they won’t tell you where it is, or give you any choice of locations.
That could be bad performance news if, say, your target audience is in California but your website is hosted in a data center halfway around the world.
Hostinger has data centers in nine countries: the USA, UK, France, Netherlands, Indonesia, Lithuania, Singapore, India and Brazil.
That's far more than most hosts, and it’s especially good to see a service which doesn’t purely focus on North America and Europe.
There is one catch though, some plans don't support all the data centers. The Shared, Cloud and WordPress plans are available everywhere, but Hostinger's VPS plans can't be hosted in Netherlands, the UK, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Check the small print of individual plans to find out more, or take a look at Hostinger's 'Where are your servers located?' support document.
Quality custom control panel
Hostinger doesn't offer cPanel (an intuitive server and site management platform) to its shared hosting users, opting to provide its custom hPanel platform, instead. Custom control panels make us wary, probably because most of them are underpowered in the extreme, but hPanel is an exception.
It looks similar to cPanel with server details (location, IP address) in a sidebar, and colorful icons representing features in categories such as Domains, Emails, Files, WordPress and more.
Most functions are accessible to even novice users. Creating an email address, for instance, is as easy as entering the address and a password. Advanced features like importing existing emails, to setting up SPF and DKIM records (to authenticate emails and protect against phishing) are just a click or two away too.
Hostinger: The cons
Confusing prices
With three different subscription lengths and each one having a different renewal cost, it can be hard to work out which plan is best for you. Keep in mind when calculating long term costs. After the reduced renewal price the monthly fee will revert to the monthly cost of $11.99.
There are significant discounts to be had for longer plans but are you really going to need that plan for 48 months? Check your business plan and pick a subscription length not just based on price but one that might come up for renewal when you're about to out grow your hosting plan.
Performance restrictions
Any site that does any kind of image processing or has big databases will find low performance because disk read/write speeds are throttled and memory is not that generous. Any static site will be fine but performance of sites that have user accounts and to some extent eCommerce sites will be affected.
No telephone support
Hostinger say that telephone support just slows down getting things done and that they've been able to fix issues faster by removing this option. If you really care about speaking to a human via a voice call there are other hosts that offer phone support but they are more costly.
We've put Hostinger through its paces to see how well it copes and how easy it is to use. Our testers are industry experts that have extensive experience in a range of web hosting scenarios so we can give a reliable and comprehensive review on everything Hostinger claims to be.
On the whole, we found a web hosting service that's easy to use and performs well for the majority of users.
Hostinger has put a lot of effort into making their shared hosting experience as seamless and beginner friendly as possible. From the moment you sign up, Hostinger walks you through every step with very clear and easy to follow instructions that can help beginners get their website up and running.
There's more for experienced users too. With the inclusion of additional features such as page speed monitoring, malware scanning, and analytics, they’re really making sure that you can manage every aspect of your website directly from Hostinger’s hPanel. This really goes above and beyond the industry standard control panel cPanel and it does a good job of hiding away any of the techy stuff that can be confusing, presenting everything in a logical manner.
Hostinger guide you through every combination of scenarios - building a fresh website vs migrating an existing one, doing it yourself vs getting a developer to do it - they really caters for everyone. They’ve even customised the Wordpress admin panel to ease the transition from their own control panel to help newbies get to grips with Wordpress.
Wordpress is by no-means difficult to use, but if you’re not familiar with it then it can be overwhelming and their customisations are a really nice touch. Overall impressions are very high.
Hostinger have developed a new AI troubleshooter that can automatically detect errors (403, 404, 500, 503, etc) and suggest fixes making hosting even easier than before. Currently the tool works 42% of the time but it's improving every month. It also only takes one minute to use so it's not an added inconvenience if it doesn't work, you can just go through the usual support channels.Hostinger is a genuine alternative to Wix and Squarespace. The getting started process is really well thought out. It covers every eventuality including, transferring your website from another host and installing WordPress.
Extras such as malware scanning, page speed monitoring and analytics are great for beginners who wouldn’t know how to set up third party tools such as google analytics
There's an AI website builder if you don't want to use WordPress but if you do it's very easy to personalise WordPress, add content, and configure performance improving settings like automatic caching.
When it comes to their VPS offerings, you’ve very much on your own. VPS tend to be aimed at people with experience setting up and managing servers and, in exchange for far more performance for your money, you will need to know how to run and manage the server yourself.
One click installers
Hostinger really shines here. There are a bunch of different things you can one-click install, most are a bit useless but there’s not much harm in having the choice. Some plans include staging versions which let you test changes to your website on a cloned version of your website. Perfect for beginners that are afraid of breaking their live site. There's also automatic updates which is a fantastic feature.
This also extends into the VPS products with one click installers for various popular installations such as n8n and Docker. There is also a catalogue of popular services to install on Docker containers.
Hostinger's performance
We used Uptime.com to monitor our test website from multiple locations around the world, logging response times and any downtime.
Our test site was hosted on Hostinger's most basic shared hosting plan, but still managed a solid 99.96% uptime record over 10 weeks of monitoring.
Uptime.com recorded a response time range of 171ms to 1.73s, with an average of 382ms, over the last seven days of testing. Starter shared hosting plans typically manage 200-400ms with an average peak of 700-800ms, so Hostinger is a bit on the slow side when it comes to response times.
Page load times matter too, though, so we used Dotcom Tools' Website Speed Test to measure our site performance from 16 locations around the US and Europe. This time the results were much better at 878ms, putting it in the top 25% of providers.
One-off load speed checks are important, but we also like to see how a site performs when it's busy. To do this, we use the stress-testing service k6 to unleash 20 virtual users on our site and measure what happens.
Hostinger's results showed some drops in performance at peak load, but that's what we would expect for a shared hosting package. Overall, it was able to handle 15 requests per second throughout the test, a typical result for most providers.
These are broadly positive results, and show Hostinger performs better than most budget hosts. But keep in mind that our figures are based on testing a shared plan, and if you're opting for VPS, cloud hosting or any other product, your experience may be very different.
A mixed story, then, but keep in mind these are comparisons based on the cheapest shared hosting plan from each test provider. Some of those plans cost 5x to 10x the cost you could pay with Hostinger, so on balance we think the company did reasonably well.
Unusually for a top hosting provider, Hostinger doesn't have telephone support. There's 24/7 live chat, though, and email or ticket support if you prefer.
We opened a ticket asking how we could install WordPress on a subdomain. That's not a complicated technical issue, but it's more involved than a simple product question, and gave us a better chance of getting an interesting response.
The reply arrived only 17 minutes later, just about as speedy as we could expect for ticket support. (Who needs live chat, anyway?)
The text used more jargon than we’d like, but was accurate and included all the detail we needed to figure out a solution.
Live chat is also available whenever you need it. We never waited more than a couple of minutes for a response, and agents were just as quick at identifying our issues and coming up with relevant and useful advice.
A web knowledgebase is on hand if you prefer the DIY approach. We'd recommend ignoring the Search box (it does a poor job of finding the best articles), and just browse the categories further down the page. There are hundreds of articles arranged into topics such as hPanel, cPanel, DNS, SSL Certificates and more.
These articles are often short, and not always organized or presented as you'd expect. The site does have plenty of useful advice on carrying out specific tasks, though, even when they're not about Hostinger's own services.
If your domain is managed by another registrar, for instance, most hosting providers don't give you any real advice on how to modify DNS records. But Hostinger has separate articles for managing DNS at Bluehost, GoDaddy, IONOS, Namecheap, HostGator, SiteGround, WordPress.com, DreamHost’s, and many more: 30+ providers in total.
There's clearly work to do here, but Hostinger scores well in most areas, and overall delivers a far better quality of support than most budget providers.
What sort of hosting plans does Hostinger offer?
Hostinger offers affordable shared hosting for small to medium low-traffic sites. VPS hosting and cloud hosting give your website more resources for extra speed, making them suitable for more demanding, business-critical sites. (How demanding? A good VPS can run a WordPress site with hundreds of thousands of visitors a month.)
Hostinger is also one of the few big hosting names to offer pre-configured Minecraft server hosting from under $10 a month.
Shared hosting works just as the name suggests: your site is stored on a web server along with many others, and everyone shares the server costs and resources. It's cheap and relatively easy to use, and although this is the slowest hosting type, shared plans may still be able to handle sites with tens of thousands of visitors a month.
Hostinger's shared hosting starts with the Premium plan. It's well priced at $2.49 a month over four years ($7.99 on renewal, then the standard $11.99 monthly price), and has some welcome features including free SSL, easy WordPress installation and management.
The Business plan comes at an affordable $3.99 a month ($8.99 on renewal, then the standard $13.99 monthly price). There's support for 50 websites and 100 email addresses, a free domain, and unlimited bandwidth are also available with the Premium plan. This plan comes with more (200 GB) and faster (NVMe instead of standard SSD) storage, free CDN for faster loading speeds, daily and on-demand backups, WordPress AI tools that help you create bespoke content and troubleshoot issues, Amazon Affiliate plugin for WordPress, and enhanced DDoS protection, to name a few.
On top of what the Business plan offers, the Cloud Startup plan adds a dedicated IP for increased security and enhanced control, as well as more power (100 PHP workers instead of 60 with the Business plan, 3GB RAM instead of 1.5GB, 1024 IOPS limit instead of 256), up to 2 million files and directories (inodes), and support for up to 100 websites. It starts at $7.99 a month for 48 months and renews at $19.99 a month before switching to the standard $24.99 a month. We recommend Hostinger's cloud hosting plans for WooCommerce users so they can enjoy the performance they expect.
Hostinger business web hosting | 4-years | $3.99 per month Exclusive to TechRadar readers. This is an incredibly cheap deal. You can get a free domain, 200GB storage, unlimited traffic, a free SSL certificate, and daily backups. This package is perfect if you plan to host just one website and grow it rapidly with plenty of features not usually found at this price level. View Deal
VPS hosting
Signing up for VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting gets you a private area in a web server with your own system resources. This automatically gives any VPS a speed advantage over shared hosting, and the more resources your plan includes (CPU time, RAM, storage space) the faster it's likely to be.
Hostinger offers four VPS plans. The first is $13.99 a month for 1 vCPU core, 4GB RAM, and 50GB NVMe storage. The higher end plan is $59.99 a month for 8 vCPU cores, 32 GB RAM, and 400GB NMVe storage. All these plans are on offer at a discount when you purchase plans of long durations. For example, the basic plan is $4.99 a month instead of $13.99 if you get a 24-month subscription.
The range is fair value, but it won't work for everyone. One reason Hostinger's prices are low is that their VPS plans are unmanaged. That means Hostinger doesn't monitor the operating system, set up the firewall, install security patches or do anything similar: you're left to manage the server's system software yourself. That's manageable for experts, but if you're not one, Hostinger has over 60 one-click templates, so clients can install top control panels and applications with ease. Also, VPS AI Assistant provides answers and guidance for VPS clients.
All VPS plans have 1000 Mb/s network speed which facilitates high-performing websites, smooth streaming, and fast data transfers.
A new feature from Hostinger for VPS servers is Vibe sysadmin. You can create an MCP server that acts as the link between an AI coding assistant and the VPS server. This can help you perform system administration like maintenance and automation more easily.
Cloud hosting
If Hostinger’s shared hosting isn’t powerful enough for your needs, its cloud hosting packages might help. They come with up to 20x more resources and come with a dedicated IP address, ensuring fast performance, great stability, and maximum security. But they’re also just as easy to use as the shared range.
There are three cloud hosting plans available: Cloud Startup, Cloud Professional, and Cloud Enterprise. They all offer unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, a free domain, daily backups and a dedicated IP address, and can host up to 300 websites on the same account.
The Cloud Startup plan includes 100GB of NVMe storage, 4GB of RAM, and 2 CPU cores for $27.99 billed monthly or $7.99 for a 48-month subscription. Other subscription durations are available too at varying discounts.
The Cloud Professional plan increases these to 200GB storage, 6GB RAM and 4 CPU cores, and remains reasonably priced at $47.99 a month (discounts are available for different subscription lengths).
Opting for the Cloud Enterprise plan gets you 300GB storage, 12GB RAM ,and 6 CPU cores for $69.99 a month or $29.99 for four years. The major difference between the Cloud Enterprise plan and the Cloud Professional plan is that Enterprise is more suitable for larger eCommerce businesses.
Horizons
Hostinger Horizons is like a website builder but for web applications. If you can imagine it, you can build it. I've built various things with it, including a chess learning app.
You interact with it using natural language, meaning that you just write out your instructions in your language (80+ languages supported). Then, Horizons does it's thing in the background and if there are any issues it will tell you about them in your language giving you clear instructions on how to solve them.
The plans start from $6.99 and includes 30 credits (one credit is one message). This is enough for the most basic apps (like a family planner or gamified to do list) but more demanding apps might require an upgrade to one of the higher-level plans that include a free domain and more tokens to iterate on your app.
Reach email marketing
Hostinger Reach is an email marketing tool powered with AI for small businesses, creators, and anyone that wants to grow their audience. It enables you to create and send professional emails quickly and easily, without needing to use a third party.
All you need to do is tell it what email you want to send, such as a product launch or special offer and it will create a professional, mobile-friendly email in seconds. It also suggests a layout for your message – and learns your style settings so you don’t have to start from scratch every time.
It also includes essential tools like analytics, GDPR compliance, and email deliverability features. There’s a free plan available, and you can upgrade as your list grows. It’s a simple way to turn your website into a complete marketing platform.
Does Hostinger have a website builder?
If you don't have a website yet, and WordPress seems a little intimidating, a website builder may be the easiest way to get started. Typically, they'll have a gallery of pre-built website designs you can use to get started. Adding pictures, videos, maps and other page elements is as easy as dragging and dropping, and customizing the content with your own text and photos works much like any editor.
Hostinger has its own website builder, which comes with unmetered traffic, unlimited free SSL certificates, web hosting, up to 50 websites, free domain, free email, ecommerce features, plus more.
We found it to be a simple and straightforward tool that we could use right away. No need to spend an age scrolling through feature lists, comparing plans or wondering what you can afford: just hand over your email address to create an account and you can start building right away. In fact, now you can generate your own, unique website with Hostinger's AI in less than a minute.
The editor is relatively basic, but the online shop’s what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editor will give you tools to create detailed descriptions with HTML titles.
Hostinger website builder has two plans: Premium Website Builder and Business Website Builder. The entry-level plan costs $2.99 per month for a 12-month period and is a decent website builder for personal use and small sites. But, if you want more, the Business plan costs $3.99 per month for a 12-month period and offers eCommerce features and AI tools to write articles, generate images, and even whole sections for a website.
Does Hostinger provide Minecraft server hosting?
Hostinger Minecraft server hosting price plans (Image credit: Hostinger)
Hostinger offers Minecraft server hosting, even though it's not as obvious as its other hosting options.
Setting up a server isn’t quite as straightforward as Hostinger’s 1-click WordPress installers, but it’s not difficult either. The support site has tutorials on how to get your server running, find and install mods, tweak key settings and change your server type (options include Official, Spigot, CraftBukkit, Paper, Forge and more.)
Plans start with a small-scale 4GB RAM, 1 CPU package for $4.99 a month for a 24-month period, ranging up to $19.99 for a 24-month term, which offers 32 GB RAM, 8 vCPU cores, and 400 GB NVMe storage.
All plans include a malware scanner and a dedicated IP to protect your server from DDoS attacks, while automated backups keep you safe from just about everything else. Its AI assistant -- Kodee -- is a stand out feature as it'll help answer many common questions along the way. It's easily one of the best Minecraft server hosting options for most people.
Can you build a web store with Hostinger?
Hostinger has two options for eCommerce clients: WordPress clients can pick a managed WooCommerce plan, and eCommerce Website Builder is perfect for simple online shops.
As we’ve discussed above, Hostinger Website Builder can create web stores with up to 1000 products, and supports 20+ popular payment types. It’s not very configurable, but it’s easy to use and could be enough to run a simple home business.
The alternative is to sign up with one of Hostinger's other hosting plans, then install a specialist ecommerce platform. WooCommerce is probably the best-known option. It's a hugely capable WordPress plugin, which can be easily installed on any Hostinger plan, and includes all the product cataloging, inventory managing, payment taking and worldwide shipping integrations you need.
This really does give you the power to build a world-class web store, and handle most of it on your own. Hostinger will not only help with the hosting but also provide expert WooCommerce support for managed WooCommerce hosting clients.
Final verdict: Is Hostinger right for you?
Hostinger is really good for complete beginners and very basic websites and the VPS plans are good value. If you’re either a complete beginner or experienced enough to handle your own server through their VPS offering then Hostinger are good for you. Anyone that has enough experience to not need the help with the shared plans won't be getting their value for money and if you are not an expert at VPS then using Hostinger VPS packages might be slightly out of your league.
How we test
Hostinger was tested and reviewed by Lewis Wright who has years of experience in web hosting and infrastructure. He tested the features and usability of the basic shared plan and a VPS plan, assessed the performance, and compared the plans with hosts that offer similar packages.
Meet the authors
Hostinger FAQs
How big is Hostinger?
Hostinger is an experienced Lithuanian hosting provider with almost 900 employees and more than 2.5 million subscribers around the world.
Datanyze' Web Hosting Market Share report ranks Hostinger in 35th place, used by around 20,000 companies, for 0.45% of the hosting market.
Does Hostinger register domains?
Hostinger isn’t just about web hosting; the company can also help you find and register your perfect domain.
First year prices are reasonable, with .com’s available from $9.99, and some domain names are discounted to $0.99 in the first year (.cloud, .shop and so on).
Renewal prices can be more expensive than some. Shop domains are $0.99 in year one, but $34.99 afterwards, and Porkbun.com renews .shop domains at around $25 a year.
Hostinger domain registration has its plus points, though, including free domain privacy to hide your details from spammers. If you’re after a domain, it’s worth a look.
What payment types does Hostinger support?
Hostinger accepts payment via credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Alipay and Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via CoinGate.
Does Hostinger have an uptime guarantee?
Hostinger has an uptime guarantee of 99.9% per month, similar to many other budget hosts.
If Hostinger doesn't hit that target, you can contact the company and request a credit of 5% of your monthly hosting fee.
Capping your compensation at 5% is one of the least generous guarantees around. Other hosts typically give you much more. For example, ScalaHosting promises to credit users with a free month of hosting if its uptime drops below 1% (that's around seven hours and 18 minutes of downtime).
Where are Hostinger's data centers?
Hostinger has data centers in the USA, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. That's far more than most hosts, and they're also more widely spread (many hosts barely step outside of the USA and Europe).
The advantage of having a lot of data centers is that more users can choose to host sites close to their audience, for the best possible performance. Another advantage is that their in-house content delivery network (CDN) covers all data centers on 4 continents. It automatically caches website’s content across other servers, loading up to 40% faster for end-users and minimizing pressure on the main server.
There's just one potential catch: some plans don't support all the data centers. The Shared, Cloud, and WordPress plans can be hosted in all eleven, but Hostinger's VPS plans can't be hosted in the Netherlands, the UK, Indonesia, and Singapore DCs.
Check the small print of individual plans to find out more, or take a look at Hostinger's 'Where are your servers located?' support document.
What are Hostinger's nameservers?
Before using an existing domain with your web hosting, it may be necessary to point the domain to Hostinger's nameservers.
The hPanel, Shared and Cloud plans use the nameservers ns1.dns-parking.com and ns2.dns-parking.com.
The cPanel nameservers depend on the plan and host a client is using.
How does Hostinger compare to other web hosting service providers?
Hostinger is cheaper than Bluehost, and by comparison, offers roughly the same amount of features in its shared hosting plans. While Hostinger has strong features and pricing, it doesn't have 24/7 telephone support like GoDaddy.
Hostinger also offers its web hosting and website builder services as a combination plan unlike other popular web hosting providers that will make users buy website building services separately.
When comparing Hostinger to popular web hosting solutions from SiteGround, Hostinger's shared plans are not an overall bad choice. It offers the same unlimited bandwidth and storage for the premium plans, an easy hPanel control system, free website migration, free domain for a year, and a better performance with 1.5s average page load time.
How do I cancel a Hostinger product?
Log into Hostinger's hPanel.
Click Hosting in the menu at the top of the screen, then click Manage.
Scroll down and click Deactivate Account.
Choose whether to cancel your hosting account immediately, or when your subscription expires, and click Continue to complete the cancellation process.
Does Hostinger offer refunds?
Hostinger has a 30-day money-back guarantee covering its hosting plans and some other products. These include SSL certificates, often excluded by other hosts.
It's good to see Hostinger's policy covers renewal fees as well as your original purchase, something else we don't see with all hosts.
There's a final bonus in a limited four day warranty for some domain registrations and domain name transfers (see the official Refund Policy for the list.) Sure, four days isn't long, but most hosts don't offer any domain-related refunds at all.
We've also teamed up with Hostinger to offer a full refund for a year's hosting in Amazon vouchers.
Can I build a WordPress site with Hostinger?
Yes. Hostinger have a wide range of tools and optimizations for WordPress. Hostinger has further rolled out several features, including a WordPress Compatibility Checker, which looks for compatibility issues between PHP and WordPress versions, plugins, and themes. Plus, the Hostinger Amazon Affiliate plugin and theme for WordPress help launch an affiliate marketing website much faster and easier.
There is also a new hosting infrastructure for WordPress that makes WordPress hosting 30% faster so in the near future we will need to re-do our speed tests.
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Although Wix is best known as one of the best website builder platforms on the market, it also offers a host of other helpful business tools to its users, including an easy to use logo maker.
The Wix Logo Maker is an AI-powered tool that helps businesses and individuals create professional logos without needing graphic design skills. By answering a few quick questions about your brand, the tool generates logo options that you can customize to match your vision.
Accessing the Wix Logo Maker is easy — you can find it on the official website and the mobile app. The tool is free to try, so you can make unlimited edits before purchasing. Plans range from basic logo downloads to full branding kits that include extras like business cards and social media assets - you may be able to save when you buy by using one of our Wix promo codes.
Features
Wix Logo Maker offers a range of features that make logo design easy and efficient. Its standout feature is the AI-driven design process, which generates logo suggestions based on your business name, industry, and style preferences. This ensures logos are tailored to your brand, though the initial designs can sometimes feel generic and may require extra customization to stand out.
The platform’s customization options are another strong point. With a drag-and-drop editor, you can easily adjust fonts, colors, icons, and layouts. You can even upload custom fonts or images to give your logo a personal touch. It's a really versatile tool, especially compared to competitors like Tailor Brands, which offer fewer editing tools.
Another key feature that I really liked is the ability to download high-resolution files, including scalable vector formats (SVG), perfect for both digital and print use. Wix also provides mockups that show how your logo will appear on merchandise or marketing materials before finalizing it. Recent updates have made SVG files available in basic plans, a significant improvement and not something I expected to see.
The tool also integrates seamlessly with the broader Wix platform, allowing you to align your logo with websites, social media kits, and business cards. This all-in-one approach helps create cohesive branding. But the AI recommendations could be improved by offering a wider variety of icons and style options upfront to give users more diverse starting points.
Ease of use
Wix Logo Maker is easy to use, making it a great choice for beginners or those with no design experience. The onboarding process is straightforward: answer a few questions about your brand’s name, industry, and style, and the platform generates logo suggestions for you. But while quick and efficient, the initial designs often need some tweaking to fit specific needs.
The drag-and-drop editor is intuitive and offers plenty of customization options without being too complicated. Features, like undo/redo buttons and side-by-side comparisons, make it easy to experiment with different styles. However, some users may feel overwhelmed by the number of design options at first, especially if they’re new to design principles.
For accessibility, Wix includes features like keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility, ensuring the platform is usable for people with different needs. While these tools are mainly aimed at website design, they demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity and ease of use.
Overall, Wix Logo Maker strikes a good balance between simplicity and functionality. It’s user-friendly enough for beginners to create polished designs while offering enough tools for those who want more control over their logos.
Wix Logo Maker strikes a good balance between simplicity and functionality. (Image credit: Wix.com)
Customer support
Wix Logo Maker offers a solid range of customer support options to help users resolve issues quickly. Self-help resources include a detailed Knowledge Base, covering common topics like logo creation, customization, and file downloads. Step-by-step guides and FAQs are also available through the Wix Support Center.
For personalized help, Wix provides live chat support in multiple languages during set hours and a callback service for more complex issues. These support options can be accessed directly from your Wix account dashboard for a smooth experience.
Wix also has active social media channels where users can ask questions or get advice. The community forum is another useful tool, allowing users to share tips and solutions. However, one downside is that making edits to a purchased logo comes with an extra fee, which some users may find frustrating.
Compliance
Wix Logo Maker provides full commercial usage rights once you purchase and download your logo files through any paid plan. This means you can legally use purchased logos for all business applications, websites, marketing materials, merchandise, and print advertising without any additional licensing fees.
However, there's an important caveat that sets Wix's tool apart from traditional design services. Logo elements (icons, fonts, colors, and other design components) are provided on a non-exclusive basis to all users of the platform. According to Wix's terms of use, that means the company cannot guarantee that your Wix Logo will not be similar, or even identical, to other companies using the tool.
Multiple businesses could theoretically end up with nearly identical logos if they select similar design elements during the creation process, which could pose challenges for brand differentiation and potential trademark registration. Wix also explicitly states that users "may or may not be able to register or use your Wix Logo as a trademark." It's always better to consult with an attorney regarding trademark availability.
Moreover, using the tool means you waive the right to legally challenge the validity or registration of similar logos created by other users using the same logo elements. Also, purchased logos cannot be modified after download (creating a derivative work requires purchasing a new logo), and individual logo elements cannot be used independently outside of the complete logo design.
All of this stuff is pretty standard for any similar logo generator you find on the internet, including most competitors. That said, you might want to do some research and consult an attorney if you want to use your generated logo for legal purposes.
Competition
Wix Logo Maker competes with other popular tools like Looka, Tailor Brands, and Canva.
Compared to Looka, Wix offers more customization, allowing users to adjust fonts, colors, and layouts in greater detail. Tailor Brands offers an all-in-one branding suite but doesn’t match Wix when it comes to customization.
Canva is another strong competitor with its beginner-friendly interface and huge library of templates. While it is better for creating a wide variety of marketing materials, Wix stands out for its seamless integration with its website builder and branding tools.
Generally speaking, Wix offers more control than most other logo designers, which is ideal for users who want to fine-tune their logos. However, the associated learning curve may confuse new users, which is especially perilous given that edits cost extra.
Pricing
Plan
Price
Payment Type
Key Features
Just Logo Plans
Basic Plan
$49
One-time fee
High-resolution PNG files, commercial usage rights, standard logo files
Advanced Plan
$99
One-time fee
Everything in Basic, plus scalable SVG files, 40+ social media formats, brand guide, favicon
Logo + Website Bundles
Value Plan
$11/month
Annual billing
Logo design, commercial usage rights, free domain (1 year), Wix Combo website plan
Professional Plan
$16/month
Annual billing
Everything in Value, plus resizable logo files, social media assets, business cards, Wix Unlimited plan
Deluxe Plan
$24/month
Annual billing
Everything in Value, plus priority customer support, optional graphic designer touch-ups
Wix Logo Maker has two main pricing options: Just Logo plans and Logo + Website bundles.
Just Logo Plans:
- Basic Plan ($49 one-time fee): Includes high-resolution PNG files for online use.
- Advanced Plan ($99 one-time fee): Adds scalable SVG files and formats for social media and print.
Logo + Website Bundles:
- Value Plan ($11/month): Includes a logo design, commercial usage rights, one free domain for a year, and Wix Combo website features.
- Professional Plan ($16/month): Adds resizable logo files, social media assets, and business cards.
- Deluxe Plan ($24/month): Includes priority support and optional graphic designer touch-ups.
Wix's plans are competitively priced compared to platforms like Looka or DesignEvo. However, extra fees for post-purchase logo edits can be a drawback unless you upgrade to a higher-tier plan, like "Brand Plus." Additionally, subscription plans renew automatically each year, so users should keep an eye on renewal dates to avoid unexpected charges.
Final verdict
Wix Logo Maker is an AI-powered tool that helps individuals and small businesses create professional logos easily. It offers customization options, high-resolution files, and seamless integration with Wix’s branding tools. While its initial designs can feel generic and some pricing aspects may be restrictive, it’s a great option for startups and entrepreneurs seeking an affordable, quick, and professional branding solution.
