When does “unlimited” actually mean “limited”?
No, this isn’t a joke – but I wish it was.
If you’ve ever shopped around for web hosting then you’ll have seen companies promising unlimited hosting for tiny prices. Sounds perfect, right?
Unfortunately, it’s too good to be true.
Web hosting providers too often base their approach on internet service providers (ISPs) who promise “unlimited” broadband packages and then throttle your bandwidth at peak times or charge you extra if they consider you to be a “heavy” user. It’s a process that’s designed to milk customers out of every last penny. Too often, “unlimited” is just marketing speak – which means in other words, it’s a load of hot air with no substance to back it up.
Like the ISPs, these mega-sized hosts hide behind the fine print, and that “unlimited” hosting account is actually quite limited in how it can be used.
Welcome to the fast food of hosting.
Don’t be fooled by these fast food web hosts. You deserve better.
The three most common “unlimited” promises:
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited websites
The three most common limitations of “unlimited” hosting:
- Inodes limits
- Bandwidth throttling
- RAM/CPU AUP/ToS violations
And this is how it works:
Inodes Limits
The inodes limit is the number of files that can be stored on a hosting account. All hosts have inodes limits, but they’re notoriously tiny at “unlimited” hosts.
Bandwidth Throttling Limits
The network throughput is typically capped at a lowly 10mbit, effectively limiting bandwidth. But they’ll still call it “unlimited” if you’re talking to their sales team.
RAM/CPU Limits
The RAM/CPU allowances are usually so low that you won’t be able to run more than a couple of sites without them experiencing errors.
Extra Charges
After setting up your “unlimited” hosting account and applying those artificial limits, the web hosts will then scold you for “abusing” the server if you happen to exceed those limits. They can even charge you extra for it. It’s backdoor limiting of the “unlimited” account.
And it’s perfectly legal. It’s just immoral.
Why do they do that, you ask?
Well, that’s a good question, and you won’t be surprised that it all comes down to greed. Low limits allow them to squeeze more users onto their slow servers. That means more profit for them – but at the expense of quality for their customers.
Don’t fall victim to “unlimited” promises. Find a web hosting company that wants to help you to succeed and not one that wants to hold you back while taking your money. After all, what these “unlimited” web hosts don’t realize is that when the client grows, the host grows too. Instead of a symbiotic relationship, they approach web hosting like a parasite.
Luckily, at EuroVPS, we’re all about our customers’ success, and we like to think it shows. We don’t apply artificial limits and we’re 100% transparent when it comes to the resources and performance levels that you can expect. So if you’re frustrated with your “unlimited” host and you’d like to switch to a real provider with unlimited potential, get in touch. We’ll be happy to help!
