Afrihost Review

Plans and Pricing

Afrihost offers seven shared hosting tiers, more than most SA competitors. The range is wide, but storage on the cheaper plans is very limited.

The R84/month Silver plan is eye-catching, but 2GB of storage barely fits a WordPress site with images. For a functional WordPress business site, you'll realistically need the Bronze Pro at R135/month (8GB) or higher. At that price, HostAfrica's Starter plan gives you 20GB for R99/month.

Afrihost includes a free .co.za domain with hosting packages, and claims a "100% uptime guarantee" with a double money-back guarantee — though standard exclusions apply.

Setup and Control Panel

Afrihost uses a proprietary Website Control Panel rather than industry-standard cPanel or Plesk. This is a significant consideration. While the custom panel handles basic tasks, it means:

• Migration lock-in — Moving your site to another host is harder than with cPanel, since backup formats and structures differ.
• Limited third-party tool compatibility — Many WordPress migration plugins and management tools assume cPanel access.
• Smaller knowledge base — Online tutorials and community help mostly cover cPanel. Afrihost's panel has less documentation available.

For beginners who plan to stay with Afrihost long-term, this may not matter. For anyone who might switch providers later, it's a real drawback.

Support

Afrihost offers the widest range of support channels among SA hosts: 24/7 phone (0800 011 000), WhatsApp, email, live chat, and tickets. On paper, this looks excellent.

In practice, support quality is Afrihost's biggest weakness. Their TrustPilot score is 1.3/5 from 270 reviews, and their Hellopeter TrustIndex is 1.8. Common complaints include 60+ minute live chat waits, billing disputes, account blocking without explanation, and slow technical resolution.

If you're comfortable managing your hosting without needing to contact support, Afrihost can work. If you expect to need help — especially with technical issues — this is a serious concern.

Infrastructure and Reliability

Afrihost uses MTN's South African data centres rather than owning their own. This is worth noting because of a documented incident: load shedding caused a cooling failure at MTN's Gallo Manor data centre, damaging Afrihost hosting servers. At the time of reporting, only 12.6% of affected servers had been recovered.

MTN has since deployed over 2,000 generators, but this incident highlights the risk of depending on third-party infrastructure. Hosts like xneelo and HostAfrica operate their own facilities with dedicated power redundancy.

Who Should Choose Afrihost

• Budget buyers who need the absolute cheapest major SA host
• Existing Afrihost fibre customers wanting everything under one roof
• Simple brochure sites that won't need technical support
• Users who value brand familiarity over hosting specialisation

Who Should Look Elsewhere

• Anyone who anticipates needing technical support — consider HostAfrica (4.9/5 TrustPilot)
• WordPress sites needing more than 2GB storage — HostAfrica offers 20GB at R99/month
• Businesses that might switch hosts later — Afrihost's custom panel creates lock-in
• E-commerce sites or anything requiring reliable uptime guarantees
• Sites needing PCI-DSS compliance — xneelo is certified

Alternatives

• HostAfrica — R99/month for 20GB storage, cPanel, and 4.9/5 support rating. Better value for most use cases.
• xneelo — Premium option with own data centres and managed WordPress. Higher cost but enterprise reliability.

See our comparison: HostAfrica vs Afrihost | Best hosting in South Africa

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FAQ

Is Afrihost good for web hosting?

Afrihost is a well-known South African brand, but their hosting has significant weaknesses. Their TrustPilot score of 1.3/5 reflects widespread support complaints. The cheapest plan offers only 2GB storage. Afrihost works best when bundled with their internet services, not as a standalone hosting choice.

Why is Afrihost so cheap?

Afrihost's Silver plan at R84/month includes only 2GB of storage and one database. The low price reflects limited resources. Once you choose a plan with usable storage (8GB+ at R135/month), the price advantage over competitors like HostAfrica (20GB at R99/month) disappears.

Can I use WordPress on Afrihost?

Yes, but you'll need enough storage. The R84/month Silver plan (2GB) is too small for most WordPress sites with images. The Bronze Pro at R135/month (8GB) is more realistic. Note that Afrihost uses a custom control panel, not cPanel, so WordPress management tools may work differently.

Does Afrihost use cPanel?

No. Afrihost uses a proprietary Website Control Panel. This means migrating your site to another host later is more difficult than with cPanel-based hosts like HostAfrica. If portability matters to you, this is an important consideration.

Is Afrihost better than HostAfrica?

For most users, HostAfrica is the better choice. It offers more storage (20GB vs 2GB at entry level), cPanel for easy migration, and a 4.9/5 TrustPilot rating versus Afrihost's 1.3/5. Afrihost's advantage is price (R84 vs R99) and brand bundling with their internet services.