FatCow Review

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According to FatCow, they offer “Great Hosting Plans. No Bull.” Taking this approach, FatCow strives to offer its customers an alternative in web hosting by offering a simple, customer-friendly hosting service.  FatCow has been around since 1998 and is the perfect match for small to medium-sized businesses that want something easy, fast and high quality when building their website. In other words, no bull.

How Does FatCow Web Hosting Work?

To start hosting with FatCow and building your website, you’ll need to sign up for an account.  But first, go ahead and click the “Get Started” button and follow the prompts.  If you need a dedicated server or a VPS or WordPress hosting option, you can find those in the drop-down menu from the “Create a Site” tab on the header menu on the home page.  Again, choose the plan that fits your budget and follow the prompts.  Once you pay and verify your email address, you can begin building your website.  Over time, as your website grows, you can advance your hosting options to fit your needs. FatCow is also designed to help your small business grow.

What Makes FatCow Web Hosting Stand Out?

FatCow has been around since 1998 and focuses on small to medium-sized businesses for its customer base. The company that owns FatCow also owns other hosting companies, such as BlueHost and HostGator. What makes FatCow a unique company, however, is that it powered by renewable energy. This is an advantage for those green websites out there looking for the perfect green web hosting partner. They also provide a massive amount of storage and bandwidth, more than most of their competitors.

Common Reviews of FatCow Web Hosting

Of 535 reviews on the website WhoIsHostingThis?, FatCow received three out of five stars on average. The scoring was based on FatCow’s support, features, uptime and value. Overall, FatCow scored well and got rave reviews from most of their customers, especially when it came to customer service and FatCow’s price. One customer, who had tried many different hosting companies, said, “I’ve now hosted over several years with five different hosting companies as I had yet to find a hosting company that cares enough to update continuously.FatCow is my last and final hosting company and YES I would recommend FATCOW to anyone who is looking for an affordable, progressive, up-to-date host.”

Of the negative comments, one in particular seemed to emanate from a misunderstanding about introductory versus regular rates. Another customer complained about getting too many promotional emails from outside sources after choosing FatCow as their hosting company. Some of the negative reviews were posted more than once, which helped to bring down FatCow’s overall score.

Is FatCow Web Hosting for Me?

If you’re looking for a low introductory price and don’t mind a long-term commitment, FatCow is a good choice for a web hosting company. They offer support around the clock and have easy tools to help you build a website. Considering your individual needs, however, will help you narrow down your choice when deciding which hosting company to choose.

  • Are you aware of the regular rate versus the introductory rate for FatCow and other web hosting companies?
  • Do you want to pay month to month or lock in at a much lower, annual rate?
  • What is your monthly or yearly budget for web hosting?
  • How many websites do you want to host?
  • Are you an international or domestic customer?
  • What do you predict will be your needed level of support when using a web hosting company?
  • What kind of experience do you want to have with your web hosting company?
  • What is most important to you? Price? Uptime? Customer Service?
  • Are you a small, medium or large company?

FatCow’s goal, it seems, is to provide you with inexpensive web hosting as well as great customer service; their prices are low and they scored an A+ by the Better Business Bureau. Cheap doesn’t mean unreliable, however, so if you are looking for power and speed to drive your website – along with a renewable energy source – then FatCow is an affordable web hosting company that has a good uptime even if they tend to lag on page load time. However, they don’t make any promises; unlike other hosting companies that will publish the results of uptime on their home page, FatCow seems to let this number remain fluid.

For a beginner or expert, FatCow is a company packed with features, making it simple to design and build websites. If you love free stuff, then you can take advantage of things like free advertising and a free Yellowpages listing. As an environmentally conscious company, FatCow helps you decrease your carbon footprint and give your brand more credibility, especially if your brand has anything to do with being green.

When it comes to customer service, one reviewer described FatCow’s customer service as “old-fashioned.” If we take that statement to heart, it means FatCow offers excellent customer service in a friendly and polite manner while a fair price and a quality product.

About the Author

Jeff Hindenach

Jeff Hindenach is the co-founder of Versus Reviews. He graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He has a long history of journalism, with a background writing for newspapers such as the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Examiner, as well as writing for The Huffington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, CNBC, Newsday and The Street. He believes in giving readers the tools they need to get out of debt.