Quality Of SiteGround Speed Compared With Other Hosts During The Whole Year. 788K Tests

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In this article I’d like to analyze in-depth the speed performance of SiteGround in 2019 and compare it to other hosts. I’ve done almost 800,000 speed (Full Page Load Time) tests of 15 shared hosts including SiteGround during the whole year in a non-stop mode from the 1st of January to the 31st of December. I have websites hosted with each hosting and every host was tested three times per hour from two US locations.

I’ve gathered a huge amount of data. And although I already have the analysis of the hosts performance and their comparison per months (see this research), I wanted to look deeper and get the insights from the daily analysis. This can show the hidden nuances of SiteGround speed performance, as well as this enriches the comparison with other hosts.

How SiteGround speed was tested and compared with other 14 hosts

I run a monthly Hosting Performance Contest, summarizing the average monthly performance of 15 shared hosts. But for this research I used daily average reports for 2019. Thus, for each of the 15 hosts including SiteGround I’ve gathered 364 daily reports (one day was off due to the monitoring service pause).

In short, the methodology of hosting performance monitoring is the following:

• Using anonymous accounts I buy the smallest (cheapest) shared hosting plans at 15 hosts. Only US server locations are used.
• Installing WordPress and adding a general content (a dozen of articles and images to imitate a generic main page of a website).
• Using monitis.com (my monitoring service) which tests my testing websites’ speed from two US locations and provides me with daily email reports.
• Putting together the daily reports on the 15 hosts’ speed (including SiteGround) in a table. Daily averages recorded.
• Analyzing the data sets using visualizations (charts, histograms). Although it may sound boring or not completely clear, in fact it really helps to understand what is going on with SiteGround speed. The visualization helps you really easily grasp the most important and often hidden insights.

I’ve got more information about the methodology of the monitoring here.

Getting just historical speed data or average values is not enough if you want to look deeper in how SiteGround and other hosts performed. That’s why I use additionally two main data grouping approaches in this research:

• Sorting the speed values to show you how slow and fast a hosting was during the whole year of the monitoring.
• Uniting the speed values into the groups to show you what typical speed a host has. I use histograms for visualizing this.

Okay, let’s get from a theoretical to a practical part.

SiteGround speed overview during one full year

Speed of SiteGround: line chart by days (chronological order)

Let’s start from the SiteGround speed chart displayed in a chronological order. There are 144 speed measurements done every day. And the chart contains daily averages.

As you can see, speed of SiteGround is great and fluctuates just a little bit. Only at the end of the year it makes an abnormal shift and goes down (which is superb anyway as the host became faster).

Speed of SiteGround compared to other hosts: line chart by days (chronological order)

And now look at the chart where the speed of SiteGround and other 14 hosts are displayed in a chronological order on a daily chart for the full year:

Compared to other hosts, SiteGround shows a tremendously good speed. And in addition, it looks like it fluctuates not much at all. I will research the speed stability of SiteGround further in this article.

Average speed of SiteGround by months (chronological order)

Sometimes looking at the daily data is not very convenient because the chart is clumsy. In this case here’s a chart with monthly average speed values of SiteGround:

Monthly average speed values also do not fluctuate much. It shows that the server management is pretty continuous. The improvement of the performance in December stands out a bit. Looking from some future, I can say that this is a not an obsolete case. SiteGround performance improved even more the following months according to the results I’ve got from the monitoring service.

Average speed of SiteGround and other hosts compared by months (chronological order)

The following chart makes it easier to evaluate and compare the performance of the hosts from a bird’s eye view:

As you can see, SiteGround’s line goes at the bottom of the bunch of the other hosts’ lines. Although SiteGround’s line is covered by other lines since April, Please note that I disproportionally increased the width of the lines for more pleasant look. In other words, if you don’t see SiteGround’s line, it does not mean that other hosts are faster than SiteGround. Anyway, the scale of the chart does not allow comparing the hosting speed carefully.

In the next chapters I will compare the speed of Siteground with other hosts one by one, and you will see a more precise comparison. For now it was just an overview. Also, you can see the yearly averages of speed in the brackets in the chart legend.

SiteGround vs other hosts: average yearly speed comparison

Here is the most generalized chart in this article. It’s average yearly speed of SiteGround and other hosts:

As you can see, SiteGround is the fastest in general. Although several hosts go very close to the leader. Tenths of a second does not play a big role in real life. More importantly is the stability of speed.

In other words, better to use a hosting that provides with a constantly good speed, than using a host that provides a impossible fast speed for a couple of days and then and then you get awfully slow performance for another couple of days. Even if the latter host is faster.

After all, SiteGround is both stable and fast. I will show you it further in this article.

Comparing the speed of each host individually with SiteGround

Comparing speed of A2 Hosting and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and A2Hosting speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

Both hosts are very fast. SiteGround is a bit faster than A2 Hosting on average though. There were no “bad” months for A2Hosting. Similar speed performance of the both hosts.

Daily charts of SiteGround and A2Hosting speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and A2Hosting:

Although the yearly average speed of the both hosts is similar, SiteGround’s speed is more stable, 8.e. there are less peaks and it fluctuates less from day to day.

SiteGround and A2Hosting speed ordered by value

For this chart type I used average daily speed values ordered by value. It allows seeing clearly how the hosts performed starting from the fastest days and going to the slowest days.

An ideal host would like a horizontal representation on a low level. It means that a host has small speed (i.e. fast) and its speed is stable (i.e. the fastest days are not very different from the slowest days).

Let’s see how the speed of A2 and SiteGround compare when ordered by value:

The daily daily speed values of SiteGround are presented as a line. The speed of the host to compare (A2 Hosting in this case) is presented with bars.

As you can see, the speed patters of SiteGround and A2Hosting are quite similar. The difference is that A2Hosting during its worst days was slower than SiteGround during its worst days. Also, A2 has one peak day when the average speed was abnormally high (see the right hand side of the chart with a taller bar). But even during that day the average speed was not that bad.

As a resume, when daily averages analyzed after ordering, SiteGround slightly wins, although both SiteGrond and A2 have similar daily average speed performance.

SiteGround and A2Hosting speed comparison histogram

This type of chart is a developed analysis of the analysis in the previous section.

Let’s break down the speed range by several intervals. And calculate how many days get into each of the intervals for both hosts which I compare (in this section I compare the speed of A2 and SiteGround). This way we will see the comparison of the hosting speed in a generalized and more insightful way.

For a starting example, have a look at the SiteGround speed histogram:

The image above is self-explanatory with the notes on it.

Here’s just a couple of additional general points:

• The more bars are located on the left hand side, the faster the host.
• The less bars there are and the taller the bars are, the more stable speed a hosting has.

Further in this article I will be combining the SiteGround speed histogram with other host’s histogram to compare. And it’s the comparison where it is becoming interesting 🙂

And here’s SiteGround and A2 speed histograms combined:

As you can see, there were more days at A2 when the speed was the fastest (the A2’s first bar is higher than SiteGround’s). But at the same time A2 Hosting has more “slower” days (see the third, the forth and the fifth bars). SiteGround’s speed does not fluctuate much, but A2’s speed is not that stable.

But anyway, regardless of SiteGround being an unquestionable winner, A2Hosting’s speed performance is really good.

SiteGround and A2Hosting speed comparison histogram (condensed)

In this section I’d like to use hosting speed histograms too. But unlike the previous histograms, these ones have lots of speed intervals. It’s not convenient to distinguish each bar on the charts. But the overall image of the distribution of the bars can give you good insights about SiteGround hosting speed in comparison with other hosts.

Let’s have a look at the speed histogram for SiteGround alone:

The following notes will help you “to read” other histograms in my article:

• The more normally distributed the bars (i.e. the more distinguishable “the cloud” of the bars), the more stable speed is. SiteGround has one “cloud” and this is perfect.
• If a host has multiple big “clouds” of bars, then it means that the hosting probably changed the server management or did something else which resulted in long-term hosting speed change.
• If a “cloud” of bars is too much horizontally extended, then it means that the hosting speed fluctuates quite greatly.
• And of course, the more the bars are located to the right, the slower the hosting is.

And here are SiteGround combined with A2 Hosting speed histograms:

SiteGround and A2 both have a very good average speed. But A2 Hosting has a bit more “extended” speed histogram without very distinguished condensed “clouds”. Although we can see that there is a more or less formed “cloud” in the interval between 1.04 and 1.42 seconds.

And by the way, right in the middle of this interval there goes the average speed of A2. It means that there are no significant long-term anomalies in A2’s speed.

Thus, A2Hosting has a less stable speed than SiteGround. But A2’s speed characteristics are good nevertheless.

Comparing speed of GeekStorage and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and GeekStorage speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

Looking at both monthly charts it’s clear that both GeekStorage and SiteGround are very fast in general with a little difference. SiteGround improved its speed at the last two months, whereas GeekStorage became a little bit slower at the same time.

Daily charts of SiteGround and GeekStorage speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and GeekStorage:

Daily fluctuations of speed of GeekStorage and SiteGround are very similar. GeekStorage has a very little bit less stable speed during a short period of time (see the little pikes in July). And in November the host became a tiny bit slower than usually. But indeed, the difference is insignificant.

SiteGround and GeekStorage speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of GeekStorage and SiteGround:

If you look at the GeekStorage bars and compare it to the SiteGround line representing the speed by days, you will see that the both hosts have very similar performance. But SiteGround is a bit faster than GeekStorage.

SiteGround and GeekStorage speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of GeekStorage and SiteGround:

The distribution of speed values per day is quite similar for both SiteGround and GeekStorage. The slight difference is that GeekStorage has more days when the speed was a bit slower. Anyway, the main speed interval (1-1.2 seconds) is clearly distinguishable and the same for both hosts. Awesome and stable speed.

SiteGround and GeekStorage speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with GeekStorage speed histograms:

GeekStorage, as well as SiteGround, have a very stable and fast speed. The daily speed values of each host are mostly concentrated around specific interval, which means that the servers of the both hosts are managed well. The histogram “tails” are barely visible on the chart which means the speed fluctuations are insignificant at both hosts. That is an awesome performance. SiteGround is just a bit faster on the whole.

Comparing speed of HawkHost and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and HawkHost speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of SiteGround and HawkHost compared.

The monthly speed performance of SiteGround and HawkHost are almost identical except the first three months. It makes not a big difference when counting the yearly average hosting speed.

Daily charts of SiteGround and HawkHost speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and HawkHost:

Although the average speed of SiteGround and HawkHost are quite similar, the stability of speed from day to day is not that similar. HawkHost’s speed does not fluctuate much. But compared to SiteGround’s speed, it looks more quirky. But anyway, HawkHost has a great speed performance even considering these fluctuations.

SiteGround and HawkHost speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of HawkHost and SiteGround:

This chart shows that the HawkHost’s speed distribution is close to SiteGround’s one. From a general point of view, both hosts have a small range of fluctuations. SiteGround is more stable and a bit faster though.

SiteGround and HawkHost speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And here’s the histograms representing the speed of HawkHost and SiteGround:

The distribution of speed values per day is very similar for both hosts. The difference to notice is that SiteGround has a bigger number of faster days within the major interval (1-1.2 seconds). HawkHost had even more days when it was faster than SiteGround. But due to even a bigger number of slower days HawkHost is slower than SiteGround by a little bit. After all both hosts have great performance

SiteGround and HawkHost speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

Here are SiteGround combined with GeekStorage speed histograms:

HawkHost has distinguishably visible two condensed speed areas, whereas SiteGround has just one major area. Considering the daily chart above, it means that HawkHost’s speed tends to fluctuate more from one interval (see the left grey “cloud” on the chart) to another (the right grey “cloud”). SiteGround’s speed is more stable. But again, the performance of the both hosts is superb from a speed point of view.

Comparing speed of MDDHosting and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and MDDHosting speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

From a average monthly point of view, the speed of both SiteGround and MDDHosting are close to equal. The average yearly speed of the both hosts is also almost the same. Let’s see if we can find any significant difference in the hosts’ speed performance on further charts.

Daily charts of SiteGround and MDD Hosting speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and MDD Hosting:

As we can see, MDDHosting’s speed is not as stable as SiteGround’s. But the difference is very little. SiteGround has a tiny advantage in both average speed and speed stability.

SiteGround and MDD Hosting speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of MDD Hosting and SiteGround:

MDDHosting is almost repeats the speed pattern of SiteGround. But SG is a bit faster. MDD did not have any slow days.

SiteGround and MDD Hosting speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of MDD Hosting and SiteGround:

The distribution of days with average speed is quite similar for the both hosts. MDDHosting is a little bit more evenly spread across the first intervals compared to SiteGround. It means that SG had a bit more table speed than MDD.

SiteGround and MDD Hosting speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with MDD Hosting speed histograms:

The chart above shows that MDD Hosting has a “condensed” area of daily average speed values to the left side compared to SiteGround. But regardless, MDDHosting has a little bit slower average speed because of the bigger number of slower days (see the grey tail to the right).

Comparing speed of VeeroTech and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and VeeroTech speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

VeeroTech monthly speed chart line looks very similar to HawkHost’s line. Veerotech improved after the first three months. Both hosts are fast, there were no slow months on average. SiteGround is technically faster, but not significantly.

Daily charts of SiteGround and VeeroTech speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and VeeroTech:

On the chart above we see that VeeroTech has also a quite stable speed from day to day. Even though it was noticeably slower than SiteGround during the first three months.

SiteGround and VeeroTech speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of VeeroTech and SiteGround:

This chart above shows that in general the speed of SiteGround and VeeroTech does not differ much. But SiteGround has more stable performance during the whole year. And SG is faster during the most part of the year.

SiteGround and VeeroTech speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of VeeroTech and SiteGround:

The histogram above confirms the conclusion I made in the previous section. I.e. VeeroTech, compared to SiteGround, has more spread speed across the intervals. SG looks more advantageous from this perspective. Although the average speed of the both hosts is not very different.

SiteGround and VeeroTech speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with VeeroTech speed histograms:

And this chart gives us an interesting insight. Whereas SiteGround’s speed is concentrated mostly on one place, VeeroTech has two “clouds” (see the two separate grey areas). It just confirms the observation that VeeroTech’s speed jumped from one average level to another (see the speed daily chart in this previous section). SiteGround did not change its performance during the whole year.

Comparing speed of GreenGeeks and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and GreenGeeks speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

It’s easy to see that during almost the whole year GreenGeeks was constantly slower than SiteGround. Only at the end GreenGeeks’ speed improved to the SiteGround’s level.’

Daily charts of SiteGround and GreenGeeks speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and GreenGeeks:

The main observation is that GreenGeeks’ fluctuations from day to day are not significant in absolute numbers (max. half of a second or so). But it’s more than SiteGround’s speed changes.

SiteGround and GreenGeeks speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of GreenGeeks and SiteGround:

The pattern of GreenGeeks’ daily average speed looks good, since most of the days have pretty stable performance. Only at the beginning tail the GereenGeeks’ speed drops noticeably compared to SiteGround’s speed changes. On average, GreenGeeks is slower than SiteGround, but not extremely.

SiteGround and GreenGeeks speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of GreenGeeks and SiteGround:

Although GreenGeeks’ speed is distributed from below 1-second to2.2-second interval, most of the values get between 1.2 sec and 1.8 sec. And as you see, the pattern of the speed is quite similar of the both hosts. Only in case with SiteGround the most speed values get between 1-1.2 seconds (the highest bar), GreenGeeks’ speed get between 1.4-1.6 seconds. SiteGround is more stable (the SG’s highest bar is higher).

SiteGround and GreenGeeks speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with GreenGeeks speed histograms:

No surprises here. This histogram just can confirm that both hosts have good-looing distribution of speed values (both hosts have clearly seen “clouds”). But GreenGeeks has more small peaks within its cloud. It means that GreenGeeks’ speed has more abnormalities compared to SiteGround. But still GreenGeeks has a good performance, although pretty noticeably slower than SG.

Comparing speed of StableHost and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and StableHost speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

StableHost’s monthly speed looks similar to GreenGeeks’ in the section above. In general, the monthly average speed is fine of both hosts. Of course, the faster host is obvious.

Daily charts of SiteGround and StableHost speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and StableHost:

StableHost has a very stable day-to-day speed performance. It looks like as stable as SiteGround, but slower 🙂

SiteGround and StableHost speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of StableHost and SiteGround:

This chart shows that except 30 days StableHost’s speed is lower than SiteGround’s by nearly a constant value on the whole. SiteGround looks a bit more advantageous, but comparable.

SiteGround and StableHost speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of StableHost and SiteGround:

This chart just adds some more details to the previous section. The speed values of StableHost are quite condensed in the two intervals – between 1.4 and 1.8 sec, whereas other intervals get less values. Moreover, the first interval (less than 1 sec) looks sticking out. SiteGround looks like a bit more normal from this perspective.

SiteGround and StableHost speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with StableHost speed histograms:

This chart shows that both hosts have clearly formed “clouds” of speed values. And the clouds have good form (increasing by number of days, then decreasing). Both hosts have healthy performance, regardless that SiteGround is faster than StableHost.

Comparing speed of LunarPages and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and LunarPages speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

LunarPages is lower than SiteGround during almost all the month, except the last month when it improved its speed dramatically. Other than than quite stable performance. SiteGround is more stable and faster on the whole.

Daily charts of SiteGround and LunarPages speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and LunarPages:

LunarPages has speed changes from day to day which are not large during most of the days. But there are several leaps (sharp changes from one speed level to another). Especially during the first half of the December the speed was quite unstable from day to day, although the hosting speed was good. SiteGround is more stable and faster on the whole.

SiteGround and LunarPages speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of LunarPages and SiteGround:

LunarPages has a pretty stable performance during the most part of the year. There are less than 40 days when the speed becomes significantly better. Considering the daily chart above, the “fast” days were mostly at the end of the year.

SiteGround and LunarPages speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of LunarPages and SiteGround:

LunarPages’ distribution of speed values is not quite typical. As you see, the bar on the right hand side from the highest yellow bar (1.8-2 sec interval) is almost missing (2-2.2 sec). At the same time the bars from the left are present (the ladder besides the highest bar). SiteGround’s speed distribution from this perspective is healthier.

Also, the small yellow bars on the very left side (faster than 1.2 sec) are sticking apart. But we already know that it’s because of the abnormal December.

SiteGround and LunarPages speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with LunarPages speed histograms:

More detailed histogram like this shows that LunarPages has obviously slower speed than SiteGround, although its speed distribution looks good (clearly visible main grey “cloud”). A smaller grey “cloud” corresponds to the December that I already talked about.

Comparing speed of Squidix and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and Squidix speed (chronologically)

Speed of Squidix is generally fine, but the fluctuations from month to month are significant compared to SiteGround (see the “hill” in August – October).

Daily charts of SiteGround and Squidix speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and Squidix:

Squidix dos not have as stable speed performance as SiteGround during at least a half of the time. And during the period from July to October the speed was unstable and comparatively slow. SiteGround looks like a solid rock compared to that.

SiteGround and Squidix speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of Squidix and SiteGround:

Squidix speed ranges look fine as it fluctuates within not large limits on the most of the days. But the 30 days (the upraising tail on the right hand side) shows that now and then the performance becomes slower. Although it is not as bad as some other hosts that you will see below.

SiteGround and Squidix speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of Squidix and SiteGround:

The speed values distribution of Squidix is too stretched to the right. Ideally there should be not so many bars, especially if these bars are from the right hand side. Anyway, most speed values and the hosting average speed is okay. SiteGround is of course the better performing host from both speed values and speed stability point of view.

SiteGround and Squidix speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with Squidix speed histograms:

The condensed histogram confirms that Squidix speed values are stretched too much without forming a typical “cloud“ like SiteGround is. From speed point of view Squidix may disappointsom times if your expect always very fast performance. SiteGround has much less such risks.

Comparing speed of HostWinds and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and HostWinds speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

HostWinds monthly speed performance looks okay. There are some pretty fast months, and some a bit slower ones. But anything is within not bad limits. Of course, SiteGround looks better during the whole year. But anyway, let’s see more details charts below.

Daily charts of SiteGround and HostWinds speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and HostWinds:

Interestingly enough that there are some quite long periods of time when HostWinds performs very stably. For example, from Janury to the middle of February. But most of the year HostWinds speed fluctuates from day to day. The fluctuations are not large. But compared to SiteGround they are pretty noticeable. In addition. HostWinds is slower than SiteGround. After all, HostWinds has a pretty good performance in general.

SiteGround and HostWinds speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of HostWinds and SiteGround:

On this ordered chart above HostWinds looks really good. All the spectrum of values are filled pretty evenly. Of course, the host is not as fast as SiteGround. But HostWinds’ speed does not give bad surprises.

SiteGround and HostWinds speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of HostWinds and SiteGround:

The distribution of HostWinds speed values is not very typical mostly because of the sticking out bar on 2-2.2 sec. Anyway, the difference (“the sticking out” effect) is not that large, so it’s quite tolerable. SiteGround look much more ideal here.

SiteGround and HostWinds speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with HostWinds speed histograms:

The grey “cloud” of HostWinds is noticeable (which is good), although it’s stretched to the right with unclear condensed sport (which is not very good). The main HostWinds’ cloud is within quite fast range (approx. less than 1.8 sec). Anyway, SiteGround is a faster and more stable host, no doubt.

Comparing speed of InMotionHosting and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and InMotionHosting speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

InMotionHosting shows slight speed improvement throughout the whole year. Last two months were especially good. SiteGround is obviously faster.

Daily charts of SiteGround and InMotionHosting speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and InMotionHosting:

InMotionHosting speed performance compared to SiteGround is more spiky and slower. Average speed in one day at IMH can be noticeably different from the previous day. SiteGround looks more attractive.

SiteGround and InMotionHosting speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of InMotionHosting and SiteGround:

This is a good example, when the minimum speed of the both hosts starts at the same value. But the range and the maximum speed values are different. IMH does not have bad speed in general. But SiteGround is of course more stable and faster than InMotionHosting.

SiteGround and InMotionHosting speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of InMotionHosting and SiteGround:

The distribution of InMotionHosting looks pretty healthy. There’s a bit long left tail. But since “left” means “fast”, it’s not that bad. Most speed values are concentrated between 1.4 and 2.2 seconds, that is not fast, but not very slow too. SiteGround is just faster.

SiteGround and InMotionHosting speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with InMotionHosting speed histograms:

Although a grey “cloud” (InMotionHosting) is clearly identifiable, it’s quite stretched and without concentrated center. It means that the IMH speed is not really fluctuating around some value, it just varies. SiteGround’s speed distribution on this chart looks much more normal and stable during the whole year.

Comparing speed of Eleven2 and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and Eleven2 speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

Eleven2 in its monthly speed performance reminds InMotionHosting’s chart, but Eleven is even slower. SiteGround’s performance is both faster and more stable.

Daily charts of SiteGround and Eleven2 speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and Eleven2:

Eleven2 has pretty unstable speed performance from da y today. The fluctuations can be upto one second, and usually within half of a second. This is pretty much compared to most reviewed hosts and especially SiteGround. Interesting to note that Eleven2’s speed sharply improves after the first week of September. There was something there (server optimization or something like that). SiteGround has obviously more stable and better speed.

SiteGround and Eleven2 speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of Eleven2 and SiteGround:

Eleven2’s chart looks very similar to InMotionHosting’s chart above, but Eleven2 is slower. SiteGround is almost as twice as faster in general.

SiteGround and Eleven2 speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of Eleven2 and SiteGround:

The distribution of speed values at Eleven2 looks healthy (mostly a “normal”, a “bell-like” type of the histogram). But the hosting speed is quite slow, especially compared to SiteGround.

SiteGround and Eleven2 speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround (SG) combined with Eleven2 speed histograms:

The more detailed histogram shows that Eleven2’s speed distribution has a condensed cloud in between approx. 1.94 and 2.3 seconds. This is not fast. And all the grey area (Eleven2’s chart) is quite stretched horizontally with some insignificant minor condensed areas. It confirms that Eleven2 has not a big range of fluctuations, although the speed is not too stable (compared to SiteGround). And the speed – it’s the biggest disadvantage of Eleven2 compared to SG.

Comparing speed of MochaHost and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and MochaHost speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

MochaHost’s speed performance within the year breaks into two parts. The first two months the average monthly speed was unacceptably slow. And the other months were pretty good from the average speed point of view, although slower than SiteGround.

Daily charts of SiteGround and MochaHost speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and MochaHost:

The detailed daily chart shows that MochaHost’s speed was not 0only slow during the first two months., but alos quite unstable (jumping within the range of 4 – 5 seconds). Then the speed drastically improved. As well as improved the stability of MochaHost’s speed. Although compared to SiteGround, the latter still looks much better.

SiteGround and MochaHost speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of MochaHost and SiteGround:

Well, the right part of the charts looks awful. Slow and unstable and takes a considerable part of the year (previously we got to know that MochaHost had a problematic period in the beginning of the year). Comparing the speed performance of SiteGround and MochaHost for the whole year just does not make sense. There was obviously something wrong with MochaHost.

SiteGround and MochaHost speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of MochaHost and SiteGround:

Okay, let put away the awfully slow part of MochaHost performance (the very right-hand side blue bar). In general MochaHost looks not bad then. But the first bar (less than 1 second) sticks out not normally, because there is no intermediate bar in the 1-1.2 second interval. It means that quite sharp speed changes took place (although the speed was very good). SiteGround compared to Mochahost’s best part is still more attractive because SG is faster and more stable.

SiteGround and MochaHost speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with MochaHost speed histograms:

Let’s ignore the awfully slow part, as MochaHost’s speed was out of the acceptable limits there. As reagrds the rest “healthier” part, we see two major grey “clouds”. The biger one is where MochaSpeed’s speed values are concentrated the most – approx. between 1.4 and 1.8 seconds. Not bad speed in general. The cloud’s form is not ideal, but acceptable.

The smaller grey “cloud” from the left (1.2-1.3 sec) looks fine. Faster speed values are distributed without condensing, so they can be considered as not typical. SiteGround is no doubt looks better from all perspectives (speed, stability).

Comparing speed of GlowHost and SiteGround

Monthly charts of SiteGround and GlowHost speed (chronologically)

Here are the average monthly speed values of the two hosts compared.

Monthly average speed of GlowHost is not really impressive at all. There’s a slight tendency of its speed improvement though. GlowHost is not a competitor to SiteGround.

Daily charts of SiteGround and GlowHost speed (chronologically)

Here is the chart representing daily average speed values of SiteGround and GlowHost:

The daily chart shows that GlowHost quite shaprly improved its speed in September, but still the performance stays not superb. As regards the slower period (from Jan to September) GlowHost was not only slow, but also quite unstable (speed jumped by have of a second easily and sometimes even by more than a second). SiteGround looks like a solid rock being fast and stable compared to GlowHost.

SiteGround and GlowHost speed ordered by value

A short explanation of this chart type’s particularity is above.

And here’s the chart with the ordered values of speed of GlowHost and SiteGround:

The ordered average daily speed confirms that there are two major parts of GlowHost performance – faster and slower. Even the fastest speed values are not comparable to SiteGround’s worst speed.

SiteGround and GlowHost speed comparison histogram

The explanation of what this chart shows is in the section above.

And now let’s look at the combined histograms representing the speed of GlowHost and SiteGround:

This chart does not help us much since GlowHost is too slow compared to SiteGround to be analyzed here.

SiteGround and GlowHost speed comparison histogram (condensed)

I explained the purpose and the particularities of such histograms in short above.

And here are SiteGround combined with GlowHost speed histograms:

The detailed histogram shows that GlowHost has condensed areas, although thery do not form normal “clouds”. Let’s skip the slow part (speed more than 3 seconds) since it’s too slow. And look at the faster “cloud”. It has the center in approx. 2.5-second mark. The speed in that area is sort of okay for a mediocre shred hosting. Although of course it cannot be compared to much faster SiteGround.

Roundup of SiteGround’s and other hosts’ speed performance

In this chapter I will just put the charts of each type together for more convenience for bulk comparison of the hosting speed performance.

Monthly hosting speed charts (chronologically) in one place

Daily hosting speed charts (chronologically) in one place

Hosting speed ordered by value in one place

Hosting speed comparison histograms in one place

Hosting speed comparison histogram (condensed) in one place

Conclusion

I took the average daily speed values of 15 hosts including SiteGround for the whole year 2019. There were totally 788,000 speed (full page load time) tests performed on my test WordPress sites. I analyzed and compared the speed performance using different charts.

It allowed me to make a conclusion that SiteGround not only showed the fastest performance on average, but also it had one of the most stable speed (i.e. it did not fluctuate from day to day, from month to month). Most hosts could not stand close to SiteGround. But some hosts’ speed performance could be at least compared to SiteGround’s, although no hosts were faster than SiteGround.

I recommend several hosts (see this page for the full list). And I recommend SiteGround not only because of the great performance, but also because of other advantages -support and the tools (here’s my short review on SiteGround).

You can download a PDF version of this article (2.21 MB):

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