This host is a very close second to Lunar Pages. The only reason that they did not win was the fact that I prefer Linux/Unix for hosting over Microsoft Windows. Some people prefer Microsoft, and I accept that. So, if you don’t have a preference between Linux and Windows (or if you prefer Windows), easyCGI may be for you.

Go the easyCGI website.

In an independent review of internet hosting companies, easyCGI received a whopping 5 stars (out of 5 stars), out of 54 votes. No other hosting companies had a perfect score. It seems the easyCGI’s customers are very loyal, which means they must be very happy with the company.

Much like Powweb, EasyCGI is another host that stands out from the crowd. If you search around for web hosts, you will soon find that 99% of shared hosting is done on Linux. Even then, most hosting companies still have no options for Windows-based hosting, even on dedicated machines. EasyCGI differentiates itself by having nothing but Windows hosting options - both shared and dedicated.

EasyCGI, again like Powweb, has its own in-house management software which allows complete control of your hosted space and services. As stated in the Powweb review, I think that control panels developed by in-house programmers have the ability to evolve quickly, which gives them an advantage over cPanel in many ways. You can try a demo of the program on easyCGI’s website, under “hosting control panel” on the left-hand navigation pane.

The shared hosting is the most popular choice for new customers, and on first glance you may think that it does not include SQL databases. The confusion arises when you see that the advanced plans come with Microsoft SQL Server. Rest assured, however, that the basic 7.95 plan comes with 50 MySQL databases.

In addition to the shared hosting, easyCGI offers dedicated hosting solutions, which are quite nice when it comes to hosting a larger site, or a site which sees a lot of traffic.

Here’s a breakdown on pricing:

  • Shared Hosting - $7.96
  • X2 Shared Hosting - $15.96
  • X4 Shared Hosting - $21.56
  • Dedicated VPS Hosting - $43.96
  • X2 Dedicated VPS Hosting - $55.96
  • X4 Dedicated VPS Hosting - $95.96

EasyCGI has a yet another extremely cool feature: e-Mail only hosting!

Yes, not many companies do this anymore, and to my knowledge this is the only host in the Top 7 hosts that does this. The price can’t be beat, either: $3.95 a month. This is perfect for those clients who don’t need a website, but still need e-mail. I had a client about a year ago who needed an e-mail solution, but did not need a website. The franchise corporate office hosted the main site, but did not host e-mail. This would have been perfect for my client, but at the time I didn’t know of easyCGI’s services. Considering the reputation of EasyCGI, I am thinking of changing this particular client over to easyCGI.

Another interesting option which is related to the e-mail-only hosting, is the web forwarding service. If you wish to change your domain name from pizzaplaza.com to coloradopizza.com, you don’t have to change web hosts. With easyCGI’s domain forwarding service, users are redirected to the old site from the new domain name. You even have the choice of having the address (in the browswer’s address bar) either change to the old address or stay the same. On top of that, easyCGI’s domain forwarding service includes e-mail services, so you can have up to 500 e-mail accounts at your new domain.

Lastly, two other great features of easyCGI (which I won’t go into great detail on here) is the server co-location service. For $79.96, you can have easyCGI monitor your very own 1U or 2U rack-mounted server in their climat-controlled environment. Also, easy CGI offers secure SSL certificates for your website for $149 per year.

Looking at all of the features of easyCGI, it’s easy to see why so many people are extremely satisfied with the level of service that this company provides. Even I am impressed with this Windows-based hosting company, and, being the Linux junkie that I am, that is saying something.

The only way that you can know if a host is right for you is to try it yourself. Since all of the hosts on this list offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose. Go to the easyCGI home page, open an account, and try it for yourself.

. . . . You may find that Windows-based hosting is a perfect fit for your site.