HostPapa

I was with HostPapa for about three years and had a website hosting plan with them. When I added a new domain, I had to pay extra for a separate email plan, since they only allowed one domain per account. They also introduced a 500 MB cap on my old email hosting. I ended up switching to WHC, and it’s been a much better deal—significantly cheaper… Read more

and I can host multiple domains without the extra hassle. One thing I didn’t expect was how much faster my emails would be. I used to think delays—especially for verification emails—were normal, but now they come in almost instantly.

I have to say that the support I receive of HostPapa is refreshing. I just had to change host plans and had quite a lot of questions and every day I asked a question they responded writhin 24 hours, explained things and even took action for things I was supposed to do. Such a refreshing experience compared to other support services like Telstra and NBN. Very grateful for their support which pushed me to leave a very positive feedback.

DO NOT use their services. Exceptionally poor service (where I continually have issues in receiving my e-mails) and exceptionally poor customer service (where I keep getting harassed). Stay away!

I signed up with HostPapa to build and launch my new business website, but after more than five weeks of technical issues, I still don’t have a fully functioning site. Since 14th October, I have been unable to link pages on my website, meaning I cannot bring completed categories live, a major problem as I am actively marketing and trying to drive… Read more

traffic to my site.

I have contacted support multiple times and have been told repeatedly that this issue is being “worked on in the background” and “escalated,” yet I have still received no resolution, no timeframe, and no transparency around the problem. I’ve even tried contacting head office in Canada with no outcome.

Meanwhile, I continue to be billed for a service that is not working correctly, making my business appear unprofessional to potential customers and directly impacting my ability to sell.

I genuinely wanted to stay with HostPapa, but this is now causing serious disruption to my business. I hope HostPapa improves the speed of technical resolution, communication transparency, and support for small businesses, especially when the platform fails to deliver essential functionality.

Useless - for the third time in as many years they changed the server for our email server and subsequently send an email notification of after the change - no surprise the staff are khumarone, khumartwo, etc

I am surprised by these negative reviews, is it a small batch of people with some bad experience because mostly that's why people review. I have been using Hostpappa for 8+ Years, everything has been easy, customer service has helped a lot over the years with very technical things and the services offered are great and the prices are very good.

Criminals. They are over priced. You will get hacked. They don't care. Will blame you even if you are up to date and have paid for firewalls. Had auto renew on, and price tripled on 3 sites before I realised. Would give 0 stars if it was an option.

Hi everyone, if you are not located in Canada or the USA, I strongly advise against using HostPapa, as you may end up losing money due to their strict cancellation policy. I had been a loyal customer for ten years, despite my minimal server usage. I have brought them consistent business over the years, but since mid-last year, my business… Read more

activity increased and my website needed an upgrade. Initially, I was hesitant to commit to a long-term service upgrade. However, one of their staff members persistently emailed me to encourage the upgrade.

After upgrading my service, I discovered that my website speed was lacking just three months later. In comparison, the same website was tested with a different hosting provider and loaded lightning fast because they have a server in Singapore.

Therefore, if you are in Australia or New Zealand, I highly recommend that you do not sign up for HostPapa.

Finally my hosting was relocated to Hostinger on 11/04/25. Please watch out!

Very poor, they charge triple of everywhere else and start harassing you with their upsell to higher charged plans so that your website "won't run out of resources" They keep increasing the cost each year and seemingly giving your site less resources to work with.

Hostpapa are shady and not Australian – High pressure sales tactics, not enough resources. Hostpapa claimed that my websites were "using too many resources", took them offline and began regularly suggesting/demanding that I pay more to upgrade my plan (which had worked fine for two years with the same level of traffic). I did some searching and found many other customers had similar… Read more

experiences. I followed Hostpapa's tips for "optimisation" and eventually their upselling and threats stopped because I threatened them with legal action. They also claimed to be an Australian hosting company and are not based in Australia.

Owner/Operator – I wish I had read reviews on this site before I subscribed to their hosting service. They take your money, terrible service, hopeless at contacting real people that can help. Then when you tell them you are taking your business elsewhere they close access down even though I'm paid up for another 12 months. Don't go anywhere near them..

Disappointing Experience with HostPapa – I wanted to share my recent experience with HostPapa, which has frustrated and disappointed me. I purchased their hosting plan for my business, which included a free domain registration for "xxxxxx.xxx.xx." However, despite the domain showing as available on their system, I later found out it was unavailable due to its registry status. This caused… Read more

major disruption to my business plans. To make matters worse, HostPapa cancelled my order and refunded me without my consent or any discussion. This action was taken without allowing me to find an alternative solution, leaving me in a difficult situation with no resolution. I was not properly informed or consulted throughout the process, which is unacceptable. This experience violated consumer protection laws, and I believe it's important for others to know about the poor customer service and lack of accountability I’ve encountered. #Website #Domain #ConsumerRights #HostPapa #CustomerService #BusinessDisruption #LegalAction #CommerceCommission

Renewal Price is Not Disclised – The first 3years pricing was very attractive. The renewal was a 300% increase with jo refund possible. A shame because they were otherwise good until that point.

Re: Dishonest – Got charged from $30 to $547.39 per year after around 3 years, without notice! Will never use it again. Contacted and also got charged with $15.43 extra international transaction fee that is not refundable.

Price Increased Over 1000% After Only 6 Months! – My pricing was increased from $2.60 per month to over $38 per month after only joining 6 months ago (a 1000% increase). This was due to using too many inodes (on a very small website, 10 visitors a week) and having 1 inbox over the size limit (even when utilizing a total of 3 out of 10 inboxes). The support person (Sebastian) is rude, arrogant &… Read more

condescending, suspending my account on multiple occasions even tho I had plenty of credit available. I have moved to Hostinger and WOW what an improvement in speed, price, resource allowance and above all, customer service.

DishonestPapa – I would give these crooks 0 stars if possible. They claimed (caused?) problems with my low traffic website and then tried to force me to use more and more expensive services and plans, instead of helping me identify any actual problems. Switched to another hosting service, and all the problems were gone instantly.

Updated review after finding a better host – Wow, I'm genuinely surprised at these reviews. I have used and recommended Hostpapa for years and reading these reviews is so sad. Firstly, they are one of the most affordable web hosts around, considering you get unlimited emails included in all hosting plans. And secondly, their service is amazing! Just jump on to chat and let them know what you… Read more

need or experiencing and they'll get their support team to do it for you.

Yes their renewals are super hefty after the honeymoon period, but the deal you get when you sign up is a fraction of the cost of other providers. I recommend for my clients to sign up on monthly contracts so that they're not hit with hefty renewals, or I advise them of the price hike, so they understand that the initial term is discounted.

Edited - I found other more affordable hosts with better speeds.

Don't waste your money on a provider that wants you to pay more and more for no reason – My business has used Hostpapa for about 3 years. All going ok but them then all of a sudden the data usage started spiking over the allowed amount. For what l use it for it should never have spiked. Then the emails start. I was already paying over the odds compared to anything l've paid before. My account sales person from Hostpapa kept hounding… Read more

me to upgrade to the top level. Not only that but basically holding my account to ransom. Another $300 on top of what l was paying. No help just using the sales strategies l presume they are all trained for to pray on honest hard working clients that have been with them for years. Anyway now paying $300 for 4 years elsewhere instead of $900 a year for these scammers. If you want to ripped off, go with Hostpapa. Good riddance

Charged ultra high auto recharge. criminals – These criminals charged an obscene amount for a simple web page. Do not deal with these thieves. They refused to communicate.

Unprofessional service – I signed on with Hostpapa 3 years ago and have had multiple issues with my email accounts. I have an automatic payment set up to maintain my domain name each year. Without warning, a very large automatic payment has been made to Hostpapa to cover the next 3 years of webhosting - 5 x the amount I signed up with (beware of this when you sign up). … Read more

I did not receive any notice in advance, did not have an opportunity to review the service being provided which is no longer what I need, and the money was taken at the same time the invoice was issued, 2 weeks before the due date of payment. I would STRONGLY advise people to think twice before signing up with Hostpapa

Bad website transfer and ongoing email issues – Transferred our website to their hosting, immediately broke all out emails, took 3 - 4 days to get working. Then the emails would fail randomly for nearly 3 months, when trying to lodge a ticket, I can only send them text and when sending attachments their ticket system has an error. Only level 1 tech support available by phone, and after lodging… Read more

7 tickets they still don't review the previous ones and the issues are unresolved. Apparently, their level 2 support team, won't discuss things via the phone, so they will use the ticket system (unreliable) or email (which is broken half the time, unreliable). Unsure if their lack of ability to contact experience support staff is breach of consumer law but will check as I am honestly regretting going with them.

Absolutely awful. Never should have swapped – Awful storage even on a "pro" account. 1GB of data per email!? And only 1Gb of data for backups and then you have to pay for more! Absolute madness. Will be changing back asap.

Terrible and untrustworthy and unprofessional – Bunch of money Hungary crooks They operate outside Australia to rip off Australian business without providing decent and professional services to customers Best advice stay away even if they are the cheapest service in the world as you would certainly regret dealing with them

Appalling service – Constant emails about using too many server resources for a basic Wordpress website with barely any visitors despite having signed up for an unlimited bandwidth plan. Constantly being pushed to upgrade to expensive hosting packages or pay for technical support and being emailed about these 'issues' on a site that should have been set and forget. I… Read more

undertook all their recommended measures to try to reduce server resources, but it was never enough. It honestly all felt like a huge scam. I've been using web hosts for more than a decade and have never encountered anything like this. Avoid avoid avoid avoid.

Stay well away from this host- service is attrocious – Im sooo glad most people on here don't rate these guys. The wider reviews on other review sites and IT sites seem all positive- i thought i was going nuts. I have email and web hosting and its been a total waste of time and money. I will go elsewhere despite forfeiting several hundred bucks. But service is hopeless. The add ons expensive and now… Read more

that im looking to get out there is no refund of any charges. I purchased a 3 yr plan but it need sot work for it to be worthwhile. Im only using email at the moment and even that is clunky and doesn't work as it should. They are cheap when you buy on a deal but the extras can often be found included elsewhere. Its a bit like Tiger or jetstar airways. Everything costs. I'm going to get a more premium service (with added price tag admittedly- although not as much as a difference than i first thought). But that will be a massive step forward for my business.

Avoid. VERY expensive and unhelpful – Hosting is 400% more expensive than the average. Technical support is not customer focussed. If you’re not a geek - expect to be treated the way nerds always treat others.

Worst Service Provider in Australia ever , trying to get money by force – Worst Service Provider in Australia ever , trying to get money by force . I bought 3 years hosting service when they just started , the medium one which is unlimited website and unlimited bandwidth. after 1 year they started emailing me that my resources are using high cpu and memory . I fixed it , after 2-3 months again again and again . I ended… Read more

up deciding to migrate to another Service provider but I didn't tell them to see what's their reaction . very very funny , I migrate all of my websites's host to another service provider except one of my website , maybe you don't believe but they emailed me again because of high resource usage !!!!!! I asked them show me ! they didn't and they suspended my account !!! I never seen anything like this ever ....

Hostpapa unethical – They sign up honeymoon rate is ok. They get you with the renewal costs and then a hefty domain transfer fee to exit. All not disclosed upfront. Tech support is not great. You get an off shore person with poor English language skills to deal with. Very unethical hosting service.

Not right for our charity – The platform was not intuitive. Many aspects involve added cost. The online contacts responded quickly to any inquiry but remained unable to solve the issues that our charity had.

Very insecure – I’ve had hosting with host papa for many years. Recently my email box which I thought was unlimited got to full so I received a rather nasty call to say I needed to empty the mailbox to make more space. They told me if I did not clean up my inbox within a week, they would clear the entire inbox for me. They did not say politely it was basically I… Read more

do it or else warning. I told him I have a lot of important emails in my inbox and they told me “ these emails look like nothing but mostly spam” They had accessed my personal emails to go through them to see what was wasting space on the service. So they have access to everyone’s personal emails and God knows what else. Do not use this service if you wish to use it for personal emails or business if you have secure information.

It took me almost 2 weeks to sort the many years worth of emails, which I keep is back up, and I received many many threatening emails and phone calls that I need to hurry up and get it done or they will delete everything.

They kept claiming my 500 MB of emails were slowing the entire server down, but for a fee, I could pay to have an unlimited server. So they were basically using threatening tactics to get me to pay more money.

Worst experience I’ve ever had with a web host, but since we are a charity, we do not have the spare cash to get another service. This was the cheapest, but the worst service we’ve had.

The service itself, yes the website stays up for awhile without any hassle. Loading times are usually okay. Email service is usually a bit unreliable as a client can send me an email and he can take a couple of hours to arrive. Even in the early days of having a service with host papa, it would be a slow reply for emails, even though I’m next to the person in the same room when they send me an email.

And but their scare tactics and ability to read personal emails, I think makes it a service that should be investigated as I do not believe others should have any access to personal emails, even if they are hosting the service.

Disappointed! – After taking over a week to have my web site back up and running as they did not have the protection in place to stop hacks also not able to log in to account. l asked for a refund on remaining time left only to hear l am not entitled to it. l am extremely disappointed as l have been a customer for some years. Had enough cut my losses and have found a more reliable source.