A Small Orange (ASO) offered reliable shared hosting in 2018 with 99.9% uptime, free SSL, and 24/7 support. Praised for its user-friendly interface and scalable plans, it catered to small businesses and bloggers. However, limited advanced features and higher renewal pricing drew mixed reviews. For basic hosting needs, ASO remained a solid choice in 2018 despite growing competition.
What Are the Downsides of Shared Hosting? Understanding Limited Resources and Bandwidth
What Are the Key Features of A Small Orange Hosting?
A Small Orange provided SSD storage, free site migration, and cPanel access across all plans. Its “Small” shared plan included 5 GB storage, 25 email accounts, and unmetered bandwidth. Unique perks included a 90-day money-back guarantee (longer than industry standards) and carbon-neutral hosting. However, backups and advanced security tools required add-on purchases, a limitation noted in 2018 reviews.
The “Medium” plan ($9.95/month) became popular for offering 15 GB storage and 50 email accounts, bridging the gap between personal and business needs. Developers appreciated SSH access and PHP version control, though the absence of one-click staging environments remained a drawback. A standout feature was ASO’s resource monitoring dashboard, which provided real-time insights into bandwidth and storage usage—a tool rarely seen in budget hosts at the time.
| Plan | Storage | Email Accounts | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 5 GB | 25 | Free SSL |
| Medium | 15 GB | 50 | Resource Monitor |
| Large | 25 GB | 100 | Priority Support |
How Does Pricing Affect A Small Orange’s Value?
ASO’s 2018 shared hosting started at $5.95/month, 40% pricier than BudgetHost but included free SSL. Renewals jumped to $10.95/month, eroding cost advantages. While WordPress-specific optimizations were absent, its $9.95 “Medium” plan offered better value with 15 GB storage. Enterprises found cheaper alternatives, but eco-conscious users paid premium for carbon offsets.
Hidden costs emerged when users required additional features: automated backups cost $2/month, while dedicated IP addresses carried a $4/month surcharge. Compared to HostGator’s unlimited storage plans at similar price points, ASO’s tiered storage model felt restrictive. However, their transparent pricing structure avoided the “unlimited” marketing gimmicks common among competitors, clearly outlining resource allocations per plan.
| Host | Entry Price | Renewal Price | Money-Back Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASO | $5.95 | $10.95 | 90 days |
| Bluehost | $3.95 | $8.99 | 30 days |
| SiteGround | $6.99 | $14.99 | 30 days |
Does A Small Orange Offer Adequate Security Measures?
Basic protections included DDoS mitigation and spam filtering, but SSL and daily malware scans required extra fees. Unlike 2018 leaders like DreamHost, ASO lacked automatic WordPress updates or web application firewalls. Users relied on third-party plugins for hardening—a security gap noted in expert analyses that year.
Can A Small Orange Scale With Growing Websites?
ASO’s VPS plans maxed out at 8 GB RAM and 240 GB storage—sufficient for medium sites but inadequate for large enterprises. No dedicated servers or cloud clusters were offered, forcing migrations to providers like Liquid Web. Reseller hosting options helped agencies, but resource ceilings made it a short-term solution in 2018’s rapidly scaling digital landscape.
“A Small Orange filled a niche in 2018 for ethically-minded small businesses, but its reluctance to adopt newer technologies like NGINX or HTTP/3 left power users wanting. Their support team’s technical depth was commendable, though the lack of Kubernetes or Docker support limited developer appeal.” — Hosting Industry Analyst, 2018 Web Trends Report
Conclusion: Is A Small Orange Right for You?
In 2018, A Small Orange delivered reliable basic hosting with standout eco-credentials but lagged in advanced features. Ideal for bloggers and small businesses prioritizing ethics over scalability. For high-growth sites or tech-heavy requirements, competitors offered more robust solutions. Its 90-day refund policy made risk-free trials a smart choice for cautious buyers.
FAQ: A Small Orange Hosting in 2018
- Does A Small Orange support WordPress?
- Yes, but without specialized caching or auto-updates. Users manually installed plugins for optimization.
- Is A Small Orange good for e-commerce?
- Only for small stores. Lack of PCI compliance guarantees and dedicated IPs made it risky for large-scale transactions.
- How eco-friendly is A Small Orange?
- ASO partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset 200% of energy use—a leader in green hosting until 2018 mergers diluted its focus.