SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) hosting allows businesses to send and receive files and data securely on the internet. With cybersecurity as the hot topic, we bring you the 10 best SFTP hosting providers to help you securely set up, manage and maintain file transfer servers. As more and more businesses are going online, it’s important to start building digital infrastructures for your business too. Our compilation of the 10 best SFTP hosting providers will help you choose your hosting provider.
Here Are the Top SFTP Hosting Providers
- Kamatera – Best Overall SFTP Hosting
- Cloudways – Best Managed SFTP Hosting
- A2 Hosting – Fast SFTP Hosting
- Ultahost – Easy To Manage SFTP Hosting
- InterServer – Best Self-managed SFTP Hosting
- ScalaHosting – Best NVMe SSD Storage For SFTP Hosting
- Hostinger – ‘Easy To Scale’ SFTP Hosting
- TMDHosting – Highly Secure SFTP Hosting
- GoDaddy – Worry-Free SFTP Hosting
- Bluehost – Stable Pricing Plans For SFTP Hosting
The Best SFTP Hosting Providers of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
With 18 global data centers, Kamatera offers fast, secure, and high-performing servers that you can use for SFTP hosting. Its support is also great and responsive, while its hardware is reliable for enterprise, institutional, and personal usage. With SSD storage, file transfers can be done seamlessly and fast. Kamatera also ensures security for its servers using different protocols and tools. This is to facilitate hosting several applications, such as database hosting and SFTP hosting. If you are looking to host SFTP servers with Kamatera, our tests and research show it as the best overall SFTP hosting provider.
- Overall Score: 5
- Features: 5
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.8
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 5
Features: Kamatera offers its users full control through SSH access to their servers, infrastructure redundancy, no bandwidth restriction, multiple OS templates, instant scalability, support for all types of web apps, customized server creation, vCPU processors, extremely fast SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, top-notch hardware choices, custom OS, 40 Gbit public and private networking, and more.
Support: Kamatera provides world-class support for all of its users. They offer technical as well as service support. You can also access their Frequently asked questions to find solutions for simple issues to solve on your own. If you want to contact support, you can do so using phone calls and email. You can also use the Live chat function on your user dashboard.
User Friendliness: The subscription and purchase journey on Kamatera is very easy. You can simply build your server by choosing the hardware, and you are good to go. The control panel/dashboard of Kamatera is a bit complicated for first-time users. However, once you understand the 7 menus on the side panel, you will not have difficulties afterward. Also, you can install Plesk or cPanel if you choose to do so.
Pricing: The pricing of Kamatera is very flexible. You can pay hourly, monthly, and even 3 months once you talk to the support. The billing is only done the next day after you set up your server. Additionally, there is a 30-day free trial on all cloud servers. Some of the best pricing plans you can get on Kamatera are:
- Fully Managed – $0.184/hr or $134/month / 10240 MB RAM / 200 GB SSD / 8vCPU / 1000 GB per Month Bandwidth
- Fully Managed - $0.129/hr or $94/month / 8192 MB RAM / 100 GB SSD / 4vCPU / 1000 GB per Month Bandwidth
- Unmanaged – $0.005/hr or $4/month / 1024 MB RAM / 20 GB SSD / 1vCPU / 1000 GB per Month Bandwidth
Reliability: Kamatera is known for its excellent hardware and one of the best customer support systems. The user reviews across the internet forums are mostly positive towards the reliability of the servers. Also, Kamatera claims its servers have 99.99% uptime, making it a very reliable hosting service.
Security: Since you are searching for an SFTP server, security comes to the forefront. Kamatera provides several layers of built-in security, load balancer, firewall, hardware redundancy, and 24/7 network and physical monitoring of servers are some of the security features. You will have free SSL certificates to install on your sites.
Pros
- Instant setup and deployment of servers
- High-end server security
- Hourly billing available
- 30-day trial available
Cons
- Focused on tech-savvy users
- Managed servers are a bit expensive
Cloudways is not a hosting provider but a hosting manager. It allows you to choose plans from five different top-level cloud providers [DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, and Google Cloud] that will be managed by Cloudways with premium service and support. They can help you set up your server, optimize it for better performance and regularly monitor and secure the server for you. If you are looking to host an SFTP server and do not have the ability or manpower to manage your own server, Cloudways is the place to go. They will take care of everything technical while you can focus on your core task.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Features: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.8
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 5
Features: Being a premium service provider, Cloudways has most of the features required for almost all types of users and applications. Key features include SSH and SFTP access, HTTP/2-enabled servers, advanced cache optimization, automated backups, team management, unlimited application installation, free migration, and more. Also, Cloudways support can help you optimize the server for SFTP access.
Support: Cloudways provides 24/7/365 basic support for all of its users. Three levels of support are provided: standard support, advanced support add-on, and premium support add-on. While the standard support is provided to all, the other two are paid and only provided to users with the add-on purchased on their account. You can contact the support via Live chat, phone, or email.
User Friendliness: Cloudways is extremely user-friendly regarding purchasing journeys, support access, and server management. Although Cloudways handle most key server management tasks for you, you will also have full access to the server from the user dashboard. The user dashboard is intuitive and minimal. It would not be very hard for new users to understand the interface.
Pricing: Since Cloudways is a premium service where it does all the server management and maintenance, the price is a bit higher than other unmanaged services. However, it is still reasonable and affordable for most businesses and users. Some of the popular plans it offers are:
- Vultr - $26 per month / 2 GB RAM / 1 Core CPU / 64 GB Storage / 2 TB Bandwidth
- Digital Ocean - $12 per month / 1 GB RAM / 1 Core CPU / 25 GB Storage / 1 TB Bandwidth
- AWS - $86.77 per month / 4 GB RAM / 2 Core CPU / 20 GB Storage / 2 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: The user reviews, service ratings, and experiences that we found on different sites across the internet label Cloudways as a very reliable service provider. The servers it offers from its 5 cloud providers are fast and performance optimized. Cloudways claims its servers have 99.99% uptime and a loading speed of around 400 – 600 milliseconds.
Security: The servers on Cloudways are very secure for SFTP hosting as it offers regular security patching, auto-healing, automated backups, 24/7 real-time monitoring, a dedicated firewall, free SSL certificates, Cloudflare add-on, and more.
Pros
- Lets you choose among 5 different cloud providers.
- Excellent support and service.
- High-end server security features
Cons
- Expensive compared to other hosting services.
With turbo boost technology, A2 Hosting’s servers are 20x faster than any other hosting provider’s servers. It offers both managed and unmanaged VPS servers capable of SFTP hosting with loads of features to optimize your server for speed and performance. A2 Hosting provides high-end security features to keep your data safe on the server. You can also get immediate support if you want any assistance in setting up and maintaining the servers.
- Overall Score: 4.8
- Features: 4.8
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.7
- Pricing: 5
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: A2Hosting has lots of useful features such as Administrative level instant SSH root access to the server, free Cloudflare CDN, free SSL certificates, Lightspeed cache plugin, object caching using Redis, free site migration, NVMe SSD Storage, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, APC/OPcache, free dedicated IPs, seamless upgrade of the server when needed, and more. All these features are essential for a high-performing server for your SFTP hosting.
Support: The support for users is handled by a dedicated team called Guru Crew. You can access the support 24/7/365 via phone call, email, or Live chat. There is also a ticket support system for any technical issues that you will encounter on the server. However, if you do not want to take help from support, you will find a ton of resources such as FAQs, Knowledge Base, and blog articles to help solve the issue you are encountering.
User Friendliness: The purchasing experience of A2 Hosting is also seamless and can be completed within a few steps. You will also be provided with a free cPanel account that you can use to manage your own server. All the interfaces are intuitive and easy to use. And in case you need help, the Guru Crew is always there to help.
Pricing: A2Hosting has flexible pricing plans that are targeted toward all types of usage and applications. All the hosting, shared, VPS, and dedicated, are well-priced and are not expensive compared to other providers. Although, you will incur some extra costs if you go for managed services. There is also a hassle-free money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the service. Below are some of the popular pricing plans offered by A2Hosting:
- Runway 1 - $4.59 per month / 1 CPU Cores / 1 GB RAM / 150 GB NVMe Storage
- Lift 16 - $67.99 per month / 16 GB RAM / 450 GB SSD / 8 Cores CPU / 4 TB Bandwidth
- Mach 8 - $59.99 per month / 8 GB RAM / 150 GB SSD / 2 Cores CPU / 2 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: A2Hosting claims itself as an ultra-reliable hosting. The servers are expertly tuned to match usage and performance for all types of applications, including file transfers. The servers are monitored 24/7 for performance issues and other security issues. The network between all the data centers is made redundant with multiple 10 GB/s carriers for data protection in case of the failure of servers in one location. Additionally, A2Hosting is committed to providing 99.99% uptime on all its servers.
Security: You can have a 100% worry-free hosting experience with A2 Hosting, as it provides several layers of security on its servers. Regular security patches, 24/7 physical and technical monitoring of the servers for security vulnerabilities, Viruses, and secures the servers from DDoS attacks. Free SSL certificates are also provided for additional security of your site.
Pros
- Lots of useful features
- Wide range of pricing plan options
- Optimized for all types of applications
Cons
- Expensive when you renew the plans
Ultahost offers powerful VPS servers that are also very easy to manage on your own. The control panels and dashboard provided by Ultahost are very easy to navigate, intuitive, minimal, and also built to facilitate end users. If you are not too tech-savvy and still want to manage your own server, Ultahost is the service you need. In addition, the support of Ultahost is very responsive and offers vast resources to help you with setup, maintenance, and monitoring the servers. So, if you are an individual or a small business who have limited human resources to manage servers, you need to opt for Ultahost’s server.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Features: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.7
Features: Ultahost offers a lot of features included in its servers. Some key features include SSH and SFTP access, free domain transfer from other providers, free daily backups of your server files, unlimited bandwidth, free migration, unlimited application installation, HTTP/2-enabled servers, team management, and more.
Support: Ultahost provides several support services including the Server Support Service that you can contact for any assistance in resolving issues with your servers. It also has a vast Knowledge Base and FAQs that can help you solve simple issues by yourself. Ultahost also maintains a blog that provides information and tutorials about setups and functionalities. You can contact Ultahost support via email, phone call, Live chat, and ticket support system.
User Friendliness: Purchasing servers with Ultahost is very easy, and the website is user-friendly. Although you will get a free cPanel on shared hosting servers for server management, the VPS servers only offer Hestia and Cyberpanel as free. If you want cPanel, you need to purchase the add-on. While cPanel would be more user-friendly, Hestia and CyberPanel are also very easy to use.
Pricing: The pricing plans offered by Ultahost are also of a wide range covering all types of applications, including SFTP hosting. In addition, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their service. Some of the popular plans offered by Ultahost are:
- VPS Basic - $5.50 per month / 1 CPU Core / 1 GB RAM / 30 GB NVMe Storage
- VPS Business - $9.50 per month / 2 CPU Core / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe Storage
- VPS Professional – $16.50 per month / 3 CPU Core / 4 GB RAM / 75 GB NVMe Storage
Reliability: In our research and tests, Ultahost showed extreme reliability through its performance. The user reviews across the internet forums also back up the claim of Ultahost being a reliable host. The servers are performance-optimized and offer a 100% uptime guarantee.
Security: For file transfers, you need good security on your server. Ultahost offers security tools such as Bitninja security, free SSL certificates for your site, staging environment, auto-healing hardware, 24/7 real-time technical and physical monitoring, regular security patching and updates, CDN add-on, advanced cache optimization, and more. The several security layers allow your server communication to be secure from malware and unauthorized access.
Pros
- Performance optimized
- Fully managed servers
- Loads of security features
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Bit expensive when renewing the plans
Interserver is an economical and flexible provider with high-end hardware that is performance optimized. It offers some of the best self-managed VPS servers for SFTP hosting that are also very secure. If you are a medium-sized business and have manpower who can manage the server for you, Interserver will be the best option for you. With a reputation of being a secure and reliable provider of cloud servers, Interserver also lets you build your own server by simply choosing the hardware. The setup is very easy, and your server can be online within an hour.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
- Support: 4.9
- User Friendliness: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: Interserver offers great flexibility in servers and their features. Some key features include SSH and SFTP access, full control of your server, Unlimited bandwidth, lightning-fast loading speed, dedicated resources for VPS servers, self-healing hardware, better collaboration for team members, KVM / Openvz / Virtuozzo / Hyper-v virtualization platforms, remote backup service, optimized for databases, free website migration, and more.
Support: Interserver had one of the fastest response times for any query on our tests. The support is available 24/7/365 and offers multiple ways of contact. Phone calls, emails, Live chat, Facebook chat, and ticket support can be used to contact the support and you can expect your issue to be resolved as fast as possible.
User Friendliness: Using Interserver is also very easy. You will get your own control panel, i.e., DirectAdmin / cPanel / Plesk, to manage your intuitive and minimal servers. Even if you are a first-time user, you will have no problem finding the things you like on the control panels. You can opt for any of the three control panels and have a user-friendly experience.
Pricing: The pricing plans offered by Interserver are also of a wide range. If you go for the managed VPS servers, which are very suitable for SFTP hosting, you can choose the hardware yourself and build your own VPS. Although it does not offer any trial period, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you dislike the service. Some of the best pricing plans offered by Interserver are:
- $6 per month - 1 Core CPU / 1 TB SSD / 2048 RAM / 2 TB Bandwidth
- $12 per month - 2 Core CPU / 2 TB SSD / 4096 RAM / 4 TB Bandwidth
- $18 per month – 3 Core CPU / 3 TB SSD / 6144 RAM / 6 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: During our research on Interserver, we found most of the users find the servers offered by Interserver reliable. The servers are optimized for performance and speed, which makes sense if you are looking for SFTP or database hosting. Interserver also claims its servers have 99.9% uptime, making it very reliable hardware to host your assets.
Security: With KVM, Openvz, Virtuozzo, and Hyper-v virtualization, which is considered a best security practice in VPS, you can expect tight security around the servers. Also, the provider ensures dedicated resources to all VPS servers where other servers’ workloads would not affect your server’s performance. Free SSL certificates, 24/7 monitoring, and regular scanning of incoming and outgoing traffic also protect the servers from any attacks and malware.
Pros
- High-end security
- Can build your own VPS server
- Fully managed service
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Does not have a lot of pre-set plans
- It can be a bit expensive when renewing
Scala Hosting is a fully managed hosting provider that offers one of the best storage options with NVMe SSD. While SSD storage is faster than traditional HDD storage, NVMe SSD is even faster than normal SSD storage. This makes Scala Hosting’s servers one of the fastest VPS hosting servers offered by any provider. Since SFTP hosting requires faster storage for faster file transfers, Scala Hosting offers a great opportunity to choose performance over prices. Although the initial pricing of Scala Hosting is a bit expensive, the hardware it offers makes it worthwhile.
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Features: 4.7
- Support: 4.7
- User Friendliness: 4.5
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.5
Features: SSH access, FTP support, WHMCS integration, Support for Python, full account backup, Webmail, remote MySQL access, HTTP/2, HTTP/3 support, static content compression, Cloudflare CDN, LiteSpeed Enterprise support, Open LiteSpeed support, Memcached, unlimited website hosting, free guaranteed site migration, Improved SEO optimization, and more. Scala Hosting offers all these features on its fully managed VPS servers.
Support: Scala hosting also offers responsive and 24/7/365 support via phone calls, email, Live chat, and ticket support systems for all its users. There is also a vast Knowledge Base you can browse in order to find solutions and information about the hosting servers. The FAQs available on their site will also help you troubleshoot any minor problems you face without contacting support.
User Friendliness: Scala Hosting offers its own version of a control panel called SPanel. It is a tool that lets you manage your server resources with extreme ease. The interface is also minimal and intuitive. Even if you are new to using SPanel, you will have no trouble finding the things you want as all the menus are organized and accessible.
Pricing: The pricing plans offered by Scala Hosting vary from server to server. Since VPS servers are the best ones for SFTP hosting, you can find both Fully managed and self-managed ones. Scala Hosting also offers an ‘Anytime Unconditional Money-back Guarantee’ if you are not satisfied with their service. Some of the popular VPS price plans offered by Scala Hosting are:
- Build #1 - $29.95 per month / 50 GB NVMe SSD Storage / Unlimited Bandwidth / 2 CPU Cores / 4 GB RAM
- Build #2 - $63.95 per month / 100 GB NVMe SSD Storage / Unlimited Bandwidth / 4 CPU Cores / 8 GB RAM
- Build #3 - $121.95 per month / 150 GB NVMe SSD Storage / Unlimited Bandwidth / 8 CPU Cores / 16 GB RAM
Reliability: Scala Hosting servers are optimized for all types of applications, such as database hosting, website hosting, SFTP hosting, and more. The hardware is high-end and built with the latest technology making it reliable and trusted among its users. The reviews we found on the internet forums also suggest the same. Additionally, Scala Hosting guarantees 99.99% uptime for all its servers.
Security: Since SFTP hosting requires a highly secure server, Scala hosting offers security features such as Mod_security protection, Free Let’s Encrypt SSL, 2FA authentication, Inbound and Outbound Spam protection, Blacklists Monitoring & Removal, Real-time Malware Protection, and most importantly, SShield security system which provides a layer of security to all its servers. With Scala Hosting, you are safe to transfer important files using SFTP.
Pros
- High-end performance-optimized hardware
- Anytime unconditional money-back guarantee
- Offers Managed and Self managed servers
- Locked pricing
Cons
- Bit-expensive plans compared to some other providers.
Hostinger allows you to scale up your server very easily using the dashboard provided to you. You do not need to transfer any files and data, simply upgrade your plan, and you are good to go. If you are looking for SFTP hosting that allows you to scale up quickly and easily, go for Hostinger as it offers easy scaling with just a few clicks.
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Features: 4.6
- Support: 4.5
- User Friendliness: 4.4
- Pricing: 4.8
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: Some of the key features offered by Hostinger on its servers are full SSH root access, unlimited FTP account, free weekly backups, WebMail access, IMAP/SMTP, Unlimited Cronjobs, Auto Script Installer, Usage Monitoring and Statistics, Automated Scaling suggestions, Unlimited Databases, dedicated IP, SSD storage, vCPU, IPV4 & IPV6 Support, and more.
Support: Hostinger has very good support for its users, with 20 minutes average issue resolution time. The response time of technical and general support is less than 5 minutes. You can contact Hostinger support via the ticket support system and email, both of which are very responsive. You can also find FAQs and blogs that can help you resolve issues without contacting the support.
User Friendliness: Subscribing to a plan with Hostinger is very easy and can be done within a few steps. After subscribing, you can access the server and manage it via cPanel. If you are familiar with cPanel, you will not have any problem managing the server. However, if you are new to using cPanel, it is very user-friendly and easy to use. It would not take long for you to understand the interface.
Pricing: Hostinger offers different types of servers, such as shared hosting and VPS servers. Since VPS servers are the best and most secure for SFTP hosting, below are some of the popular plans offered by Hostinger for VPS hosting. Also, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you do not like the service.
- VPS 1 - $3.49 per month / 20 GB SSD Storage / 1 TB Bandwidth / 1 Snapshot / 1 GB RAM
- VPS 3 - $7.99 per month / 60 GB SSD Storage / 3 TB Bandwidth / 1 Snapshot / 3 GB RAM
- VPS 5 - $23.95 per month / 120 GB SSD Storage / 6 TB Bandwidth / 1 Snapshot / 6 GB RAM
Reliability: Hostinger is a top name in the Hosting business. They have been providing hosting services for decades and have garnered a very good reputation for being a reliable service provider. User reviews also suggest that Hostinger’s servers are reliable and secure. Also, Hostinger claims their server has 99.9% uptime.
Security: Hostinger’s servers are secured using Bitninja’s full-stack server protection tool. It also offers an Enterprise Virus scanner, Enterprise SPAM filter, automated backups, and live snapshots to safeguard your data. SFTP hosting with Hostinger is definitely very secure with high-end security.
Pros
- Reasonable pricing plans
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
Cons
- Bit expensive when renewing plans
TMDHosting offers a highly sophisticated web-based firewall to protect your servers from any intrusion and attacks. The servers are also monitored 24/7, technically and physically, to ensure performance and security. This makes TMDHosting a very secure provider for your SFTP hosting. The hardware is also redundant as the data will be transported to other data centers in case of any incident. It separates the storage from the processing unit to facilitate this redundancy.
- Overall Score: 4.5
- Features: 4.6
- Support: 4.3
- User Friendliness: 4.6
- Pricing: 4.6
- Reliability: 4.4
Features: Features included in TMDHosting servers are SSH and SFTP access to the server, SSD storage, RAID technology, fully scalable hardware and plans, isolated environment for resources, performance-optimized hardware, free migration and setup, regular server monitoring, premium service and support, free cPanel/WHM, and more.
Support: TMDHosting is a fully managed hosting provider which also offers premium support for its users. You can contact the support via Live chat, email, or ticket support system. It does not provide phone call support, but the ticket support system and Live chat are very responsive and solves any issues within a short span. TMDHosting also maintains Knowledge Base and FAQs to help you solve minor issues by yourself. You can also read their blog for more information about the hosting and its servers.
User Friendliness: As stated, TMDHosting provides free cPanel or WHM on all its servers. The control panels are very easy to use for any regular as well as first-time users. Subscribing or upgrading the plans on TMDHosting is also very easy with their user-friendly system and website.
Pricing: TMDHosting’s pricing for its server varies according to the type of server you are looking for. The VPS servers which are best for SFTP hosting are of a wide range targeted toward all types of applications. There is also a 60-day money-back guarantee in case you don’t like the service. Some of the popular plans offered by TMDHosting are:
- Starter - $19.97 per month / 40 GB SSD Storage / 3 TB Bandwidth / 2 CPU Cores / 2 GB RAM
- The Original - $29.97 per month / 65 GB SSD Storage / 4 TB Bandwidth / 2 CPU Cores / 4 GB RAM
- Best Value - $39.97 per month / 100 GB SSD Storage / 5 TB Bandwidth / 4 CPU Cores / 6 GB RAM
Reliability: TMDHosting’s servers are also very reliable as they are equipped with the latest hardware. The servers are also made fully redundant by separating the storage from the computing processes. There are also protocols in place to safeguard the data from any incident. Additionally, TMDHosting claims its servers have 99.999% uptime making the servers very reliable.
Security: Security of the server is the primary focus for SFTP hosting as there is a lot of sensitive data being transferred to and from the server. TMDHosting secures its servers and networks using sophisticated web-based firewalls and SSL certificates, monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic and also physically and technically monitoring the servers and their performance in real time.
Pros
- High-end security implementation
- Wide range of pricing
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Expensive pricing plans for non-enterprise users
Godaddy’s fully managed VPS is a 100% worry-free VPS hosting solution. Godaddy will be taking care of setup, maintenance, monitoring, and maintaining the security of the server for you. You can rest assured that Godaddy will take care of any issues that arise on the server while you focus on your organizational goals. If you want a worry-free SFTP hosting experience, Godaddy is there for you.
- Overall Score: 4.5
- Features: 4.6
- Support: 4.5
- User Friendliness: 4.4
- Pricing: 4.5
- Reliability: 4.6
Features: Godaddy offers a ton of features on its servers, including SSH and SFTP access, root access to the server, NVMe SSD storage for fast performance, additional IP addresses, snapshots backup, vCPU processors, performance optimization for all applications, cPanel/WHM or Plesk, KVM virtualization, OpenStack, and more. There are also other features you can purchase as add-ons from their site.
Support: Godaddy has a robust support system that has a very fast response time. You can contact support from the user dashboard if you are already a user. In case you are trying to subscribe to the service, you can contact them via the Live chat from their website. Alternatively, you can also email them and ask for help. There are also tons of FAQs and other resources provided by Godaddy to help you solve minor issues by yourself.
User Friendliness: Godaddy provides cPanel on all its servers to help the users manage the hosting server. If you are familiar with cPanel, then you will have no difficulty using it. And if you are still new to using cPanel, it is very simple and straightforward; you will understand the interface after using it a few times.
Pricing: Godaddy offers both Fully managed and self-managed VPS servers. You can choose any of the pricing plans that fit your need, and you will find it reasonable when compared to other similar providers. Some of the top plans offered by Godaddy are:
- $99.99 per month / 1 CPU Core / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- $109.99 per month / 2 CPU Core / 4 GB RAM / 100 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- $129.99 per month / 4 CPU Core / 8 GB RAM / 200 GB NVMe SSD Storage
Reliability: Godaddy is a well-known brand offering various types of services. They have a huge customer base that is very satisfied with the service and deems it a reliable hosting provider. However, it also has a bit of a reputation for the slow pace of resolving issues. These complaints were quite frequent in our research. However, the issues were ultimately resolved by the support team. Godaddy claims its servers have 99.98% uptime making it some of the top reliable providers.
Security: The security of the server is taken care of using several protocols and tools such as Free SSL certificates, managed patching and regular updates, and continuous monitoring of the network and the hardware. Regular scanning is done to identify any malware and DDoS attacks on the servers and the network. SFTP hosting with Godaddy is very secure and worry-free.
Pros
- Fast response support
- High-end hardware
- Performance optimized servers
Cons
- The laggy issue resolution process
- Renewing plans can be a bit expensive
Bluehost is an old player in the Hosting business, offering experience and reliability. Bluehost’s pricing plans are very stable and do not change often. When you opt for a plan with Bluehost, you will also be able to lock your prices until the subscription expires, giving you a better idea of your hosting expenses. Responsive support, easy to use dashboard and reliable performance are just a few of the qualities of this hosting provider.
- Overall Score: 4.4
- Features: 4.5
- Support: 4.6
- User Friendliness: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.4
- Reliability: 4.5
Features: Bluehost has a number of useful features that come with its servers. Some of the key ones include SSH and SFTP with root access to the server, SSD storage for faster data transfers, free IP address, cPanel and WHM control panels, multi-server management from one single place, elaborate access control on your hosting accounts and servers, unlimited FTP accounts, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited website hosting, and more.
Support: The support offered by Bluehost is very responsive, and issue resolution is made within an hour. The support can be contacted via phone call, email, Live chat, or the ticket support system, which can be accessed from the user dashboard. You can also access the blogs, Knowledge Base, and FAQs on their site for solving minor issues without contacting the support.
User Friendliness: Bluehost offers a very simple yet efficient and minimal user dashboard to monitor the performance of your server along with managing the server resources. Also, you will have access to the cPanel, which is a popular management tool for servers. All the interfaces are very easy, and even a new user will get familiar with them within a few usages.
Pricing: When it comes to pricing, Bluehost offers limited plans for VPS servers, however the plans are well designed to meet the demands of most users. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are dissatisfied. Some of the popular plans offered by Bluehost are:
- Standard - $19.99 per month / 2 CPU cores / 30 GB SSD Storage / 2 GB RAM / 1 TB Bandwidth
- Enhanced - $29.99 per month / 2 CPU cores / 60 GB SSD Storage / 4 GB RAM / 2 TB Bandwidth
- Ultimate - $59.99 per month / 4 CPU cores / 120 GB SSD Storage / 8 GB RAM / 3 TB Bandwidth
Reliability: Bluehost has a lot of regular users that are very satisfied with the service that Bluehost offers. Multiple businesses and firms also use Bluehost and deem its servers as reliable. Additionally, Bluehost claims its servers have 99.9% uptime.
Security: The security features offered by Bluehost for its servers are Free SSL certificates, free CDN, automated security updates, backup data protection, expert consultation for better security optimization, and more.
Pros
- User-friendly dashboard
- Epic support for new and old users alike
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Renews at the same rate
Cons
- Limited plans offered
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
Final Recommendations
Our ranking shows that Kamatera offers the overall best SFTP hosting service among the dozens of service providers we tested on. They keep the plans affordable, provide epic support, and give you the ability to build VPS by choosing the hardware. The hardware offered by Kamatera is also high-end and equipped with multiple security features. We recommend using Kamatera for your SFTP hosting for a better overall experience.
However, all the 10 providers on this list are worthy of your choice. So, even if you choose any provider other than Kamatera, you will still be getting a good deal. Whichever provider you choose, check for their core features before proceeding.
How Do We Rank, And How Should You Choose Your SFTP Hosting?
- User reviews30%
- Performance and reliability10%
- Types of hosting servers offered5%
- Customer support10%
- Site speed8%
- Bandwidth and storage3%
- Traffic volume4%
- Security4%
- Features included10%
The above metrics are the detailed version of our core ranking factors, i.e., features, support, user-friendliness, pricing, and reliability. The user reviews, performance and reliability, and support are the main metrics that have more effect on our ranking of ours. All the other metrics have a somewhat smaller impact on the rankings, which is by design. Since the ranking is for SFTP hosting which requires excellent security, we added Security as a sixth metric just to measure how secure each hosting provider is.
Key Considerations When Choosing SFTP Hosting:
Ask yourself the following questions when choosing an SFTP hosting as all the points included above have a greater impact on your own experiences with the provider. Choose wisely and start setting up the server for file transfers.
- Does the hosting provider have high-end security measures in place to protect the servers?
- Does the provider (and their plans) have positive user reviews?
- How easy is it to use the interface of the dashboard or control panel?
- Is adequate support provided for the users when needed?
- Are the prices reasonable for the hardware that comes with it?
What Is SFTP Hosting? And Who Needs It?
SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) is a protocol to transfer files and data over a network. Most of the time, a client-server or a server-server file transfer is done using SFTP. An SFTP hosting is a server that facilitates this transfer by allowing storage, processing, and bandwidth.
SFTP hosting is mostly used by businesses, organizations, or individuals to transfer files to and from other sources. Large businesses such as banks, companies, and governments use this type of server to transfer sensitive data with high-end security.
So, if you are also looking for such servers for your own business or personal use, you will need to set up an SFTP server before transferring files. You can choose any of the hosting providers we have ranked in this article for secure and seamless file transfer servers.