HostAfrica Review (South Africa)
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Quick Answer
HostAfrica is the best-value web host in South Africa for small businesses and developers. Plans run R99–R360/month from a Tier-3 SA data centre with cPanel, free SSL, and daily backups. Their 4.9/5 TrustPilot rating across 2,240+ reviews is the highest among South African hosts.
Pros
- Highest customer satisfaction in SA (TrustPilot 4.9/5, 2,240+ reviews)
- cPanel included — industry standard, easy migration
- Free daily backups and cPGuard anti-malware on all plans
- Most affordable VPS in SA market (from R130/month)
- Cheapest .co.za registration at R49/year
Cons
- Live chat support only 7am–11pm (not 24/7)
- Phone support limited to business hours (9am–5pm)
- Starter plan allows only 2 websites
- No managed WordPress hosting option
- Smaller company (50–65 employees) than xneelo or Afrihost
Plans and Pricing
HostAfrica offers four shared hosting tiers. All include cPanel, free Let's Encrypt SSL, daily backups, and cPGuard security.
| Plan | Monthly Price | Storage | Websites | Email Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | R99 | 20GB SSD | 2 | 25 |
| Basic | R139 | 40GB SSD | 5 | 100 |
| Power | R245 | 100GB SSD | 10 | Unlimited |
| Business | R360 | 200GB SSD | 20 | Unlimited |
Beyond shared hosting, HostAfrica offers Linux VPS from R130/month (1 vCore, 1GB RAM, 20GB NVMe) — the most competitive VPS pricing among major SA providers. Dedicated servers start at R2,170/month. Domain registration for .co.za is R49/year (lowest major provider rate), with R109/year renewals.
Payment options include EFT, credit card, and debit order, with both monthly and annual billing available.
Setup and Control Panel
HostAfrica uses cPanel — the most widely used hosting control panel. If you've managed a website before, you'll recognise the interface immediately. For beginners, cPanel's Softaculous installer lets you set up WordPress in a few clicks.
The benefit of cPanel goes beyond familiarity. Because it's an industry standard, migrating your site to or from HostAfrica is straightforward. You won't face the lock-in risk that comes with proprietary control panels.
DNS management, file manager, email setup, and database administration are all handled through cPanel's standard tools.
Support
Support quality is HostAfrica's standout feature. Their TrustPilot rating of 4.9/5 from 2,240+ reviews is the highest among South African hosting providers. They also score 4.88/5 on Hellopeter and 4.8/5 on Google Reviews. Customers frequently mention individual staff members by name.
Live chat and ticket support run 7am–11pm daily. Phone support is available 9am–5pm on business days only. This is the main tradeoff — if your site goes down at 2am, you'll need to submit a ticket and wait for morning. For businesses requiring 24/7 phone support, xneelo is a better fit.
Backups, SSL, and Email
Every shared plan includes free daily backups, free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates, and cPGuard anti-malware protection. You don't need to pay extra or configure these manually.
Email hosting is included with all plans, starting at 25 accounts on the Starter plan up to unlimited on Power and Business plans. HostAfrica's email runs through cPanel's standard email tools with webmail access.
The data centre is Tier-3 ISO 27001-certified, using RAIDZ2 SSD storage with Intel processors. A three-feed power supply with generator backup protects against load shedding.
Who Should Choose HostAfrica
- Small business owners who want reliable local hosting with strong support
- WordPress site builders who want cPanel and one-click installation
- Developers looking for affordable VPS hosting (from R130/month)
- Anyone who values being able to migrate easily (cPanel is portable)
- Businesses expanding across Africa (HostAfrica now operates in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana)
Who Should Look Elsewhere
- Businesses needing 24/7 phone support — consider xneelo
- Sites requiring PCI-DSS compliance — xneelo is certified
- Budget-first buyers who don't anticipate needing support — Afrihost starts at R84/month
- Users wanting managed WordPress with staging environments — xneelo offers this
Alternatives
If HostAfrica isn't the right fit, consider these South African alternatives:
- xneelo — Premium option with own data centres, managed WordPress, and PCI-DSS compliance. Better for enterprises; higher cost at scale.
- Afrihost — Cheapest entry at R84/month but limited storage and poor support ratings. Best when bundled with Afrihost internet.
See our comparisons: HostAfrica vs Afrihost | HostAfrica vs xneelo
We earn commission from some links. Rankings are not affected — see our affiliate disclosure.
FAQ
Is HostAfrica good for WordPress?
Yes. All shared plans include cPanel with Softaculous, which installs WordPress in a few clicks. HostAfrica uses LiteSpeed web servers, which are known for strong WordPress performance. They don't offer managed WordPress (with staging environments), though — xneelo does.
How good is HostAfrica's support?
HostAfrica has the highest support rating among SA hosts: 4.9/5 on TrustPilot from 2,240+ reviews. Live chat is available 7am–11pm daily. The only downside is no 24/7 phone support — phone hours are 9am–5pm weekdays.
Does HostAfrica include free SSL?
Yes. Every shared hosting plan includes free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates, which are automatically configured. You don't need to pay extra or install them manually.
Can I migrate to HostAfrica from another host?
Yes. HostAfrica uses cPanel, which is the industry standard. Most migrations from other cPanel hosts are straightforward using the built-in backup and restore tools. Contact their support team for migration assistance.
How does HostAfrica handle load shedding?
Their Tier-3 data centre has a three-feed power supply with generator backup. This provides protection during load shedding, though HostAfrica doesn't publish specific fuel reserves like xneelo (which has 7+ days of autonomous operation).