Key Takeaways:
- Rocket.NET wins in TTFB and Global TTFB speed. Siteground wins in load handling and server hardware test. Both gets a tie in uptime.
- Rocket.net does not have any upsells while there are multiple upsells from SiteGround even on their GoGeek plan.
- It takes two clicks to reach Rocket.net customer support. At SiteGround, it takes a minimum of 10 clicks to chat with their support.
At Hostingstep, we buy our own hosting accounts, test them, and recommend hosting services based on real data. Hostingstep is the only review site on the internet to run a 24/7, 365 days a year of testing all popular hosting services. Our business is in survival mode, and we need the support of individuals like you. If you found our content useful, support us by purchasing your new hosting account using the link provided in this post. This keeps us from renewing our hosting subscriptions, testing new companies, and improving existing test methodologies to produce better content. Buying a hosting account through our link doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it keeps our small business sustainable and running.
Our Verdict:
| Metric | Rocket.net | SiteGround | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rank (of 29) | #27 | #25 | Tie |
| Final score | 5.85 | 5.86 | Tie |
| Average response time | 338ms | 779ms | Rocket.net |
| Uptime | 99.97% (10 outages, 1 hour 52 minutes) | 99.97% (31 outages, 1 hour 34 minutes) | Tie |
| Load handling (100 users, 60 seconds) | Did not complete (100% errors) | 170ms, 0% errors | SiteGround |
| Server hardware (WPBench) | 7.5/10 | 8.4/10 | SiteGround |
| Global TTFB (40 locations, cached) | 66ms | 1,200ms | Rocket.net |
| Intro price | $25/mo | $3.99/mo | SiteGround |
| Renewal price | $30/mo | $17.99/mo | SiteGround |
| Visit Rocket.net |
Rocket.net Vs SiteGround
Rocket.net is a Cloudflare-powered WordPress hosting service that offers agencies and customers optimized and reliable WordPress hosting solutions. The service is straightforward to use, with no configurations required by the users.
SiteGround is one of the most popular hosting services, and the service has been around since 2004. SiteGround hosting runs on Google Cloud and comes with easy website management.
Rocket.net vs SiteGround: Speed
Rocket.net is 441ms faster than SiteGround on server response time.
Rocket.net vs SiteGround: Uptime
Rocket.net and SiteGround are level on uptime, but they get there differently.
Rocket.net vs SiteGround: Load Handling
Rocket.net’s load test did not complete. SiteGround completed the same test at 170ms average response with a 0% error rate.
Rocket.net vs SiteGround: Hardware Server Test
SiteGround wins the server hardware test at 8.4/10 against Rocket.net’s 7.5/10.
Rocket.net vs SiteGround: Global TTFB
Rocket.net is eighteen times faster than SiteGround on global delivery. .
Rocket Vs. SiteGround: Features
Control Panel
Rocket comes with a custom WordPress control panel that offers the convenience of managing everything from a single place. This may include development, launching, staging, and optimization. The control panel allows you to access data center locations, SSO to WP-Admin, robust reporting, and collaboration tools.
SiteGround also has a custom control panel created by modifying the cPanel. The control panel has a much cleaner interface than the traditional cPanel and all the features you would find in a cPanel. However, the tools and options are presented in a much more organized manner.
CDN
CDNs are extensively used these days and can drastically improve content delivery speed. Rocket provides customers with Enterprise Cloudflare CDN for free on all plans. With that, sites benefit from a blazing-fast speed backed by advanced features such as Brotli file compression, Image Optimization, Tiered Caching, Agro Smart Routing, and the closest server.
SiteGround started offering its own CDN solution and ditched its decade-long partnership with Cloudflare. Since their CDN pricing is higher ($14.99/month/site), I haven’t tested the performance. You can get more details about their CDN here.
Backups
Rocket has an automated daily backup feature, wherein backup sites are taken every night and saved on the Rocket server. This is done as part of disaster recovery. However, users can also restore a backup as per their requirements. The company offers a 14-day backup retention on its plans, although one can take on-demand backups anytime.
Another cool thing about Rocket’s backup system is that the host allows on-demand backup on all plans. SiteGround offers free automated daily backups on all plans, and the host saves 30 recent backups. Users can restore any of the 30 backups at any point without any hassle.
Staging
Rocket offers Staging free on all plans, and creating a staging site is a pretty simple process. After you finish experimenting with the changes, you can quickly deploy the final changes to your live site.
In SiteGound, the Staging feature is not free on the StartUp plan and is only available on the following higher plans. However, SiteGroud makes the process pretty convenient for users. The host also offers Git integration with staging.
Security
Rocket has excellent security features, including a WordPress Website Firewall, Hack and malware Removal, and Automated WP Core, Plugin, and Theme Updates.
SiteGround security system is characterized by a custom web application firewall, AI Anti-Bot System, Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate, and Linux containers.
Hence, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Rocket and SiteGround have highly reliable security systems.
Support
Rocket has a decent support team of highly proficient WordPress experts from the USA. The support team remarkably assists the customers through 24×7 live chat, phone, and email.
SiteGround is used to offer great support, but it has made it difficult to contact customer support. Sounds crazy, right? Yes, reducing the chat & ticket volumes made it difficult for users to chat with a customer support agent. Finding the chat support button will take a minimum of 6 clicks. Many users are complaining, but the company hasn’t made any changes to the portal yet.
Pricing
Rocket.net plans start at $25/month and renew at $30/month. Rocket offers all its free features on all its plans, including Cloudflare Enterprise CDN.
SiteGround does deep discounting on your first invoice. However, their renewal charges are among the highest in the industry. You’ll be surprised to see their startup plan costs $3.99/mo. But it renews at $14.99/mo. Likewise, all the plans have high renewal charges.
Unlike Rocket, SiteGround limits its features based on the plan. You need to choose their $10.69/mo. The GoGeek plan (renews at $39.90/mo.) uses all of its features. You need to pay $14.99/month/site for CDN. Overall, I’m not happy with SiteGround’s pricing model.
We have a well research Rocket.net Review which offers better performance comparison with historical performance data comparison. Check it out.
