ScalaHosting Reviews and Expert Opinion

They offer Managed Cloud VPS hosting, Self-Managed Cloud VPS, Web Hosting, and WordPress Hosting.

You also have access to reseller hosting, email hosting, domain names, domain reseller, and SSL Certificates.

Let’s take a deep dive into the world of online hosting and see exactly what makes Scala Hosting so great.

Getting Started with Scala Hosting

Setting up an account at Scala Hosting is a straightforward experience that anyone should have an easy time doing.

Open the main page, and find the signup button on the top right corner of the screen.

Alternatively, you can also click directly on Hosting, followed by Web Hosting.

Next, for the purposes of this guide, I’ll be using the “Mini” package. For one, it has a $1 trial that you can use for a month, and second, this is probably the package most people that are just getting into web hosting will end up using, so I feel like it’s my duty to genuinely get a feel from the hosting provider’s packages from even the cheapest offer.

So just click on Get Started, and select the Trial Month.

This will take you to the configurator screen, where you’ll get one last chance to opt-in for 12, 24, or 36 months, which will bring the overall cost per month price down tremendously, but you can’t really opt-out of it later on. Now, it does have a refund policy, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll want to change it by the time that policy is active.

Next, you’ll need to choose a domain.

Here you can register a new domain, transfer your existing domain from another registrar, or use your existing domain name just by updating the nameservers.

What I love here is the fact that you always have that “Order Summary” tab on the side, that showcases exactly what you’ve selected, and how much that will cost you.

Now, since I’ve added my own domain, all I have to do now is make an account in order to fulfill the payment.

After that, all you have to do is confirm your account and log in.

Settings Things up At Scala Hosting

Once you sign in to your newly created account, here’s what you’ll be looking at.

You have access to support tickets, invoices, domains, and other services in the main client area.

As the name might imply, you can create support tickets about any issues you might be having in the support tickets tab.

You can review all of the billing in the invoices tab, including how much you’ve paid, and how much you potentially owe if you haven’t yet.

On the domains tab, you can manage your domains and even register new ones.

Other services are where things get interesting, as you can review all of your purchased products and services.

On the left side of the screen, you’ll see your main navigation bar.

Here you’ll see your client area home, your details, your services, your domains, support, billing, the referral program, and the order new services tab.

I specifically love the referral program, where you can activate an affiliate account with ease.

Now comes the fun part, managing your website.

To begin, click on manage, followed by manage service.

Here, you’ll have access to quick shortcuts and quickly create email accounts, which are convenient features to have.

Once you log into your cPanel, you’ll see quite a lot.

To access cPanel, find it in the Actions tab and you’ll be logged in in no time.

Here you’ll see quite a lot of features that you will get access to, and I’ll give you an in-depth look at as much of them as possible.

First, you have an email management tab.

Here you can create email accounts, forwarders, email routing, autoresponders, default addresses, email lists, track delivery, global email filters, email filters, email deliverability, while also gaining access to address importer, spam filters, email marketing, encryption, box trapper, calendars and contacts, email disc usage and professional spam filter.

Next, you have the files tab. Here you can access the file manager, images tab, directory privacy,  disk usage, web disk, FTP accounts, FTTP connections, backup, backup wizard, Git Version Control, File and Directory Restoration, and R1Soft Restore Backups.

Next, you have SEO and Marketing Tools, where you can access tools such as “Get in Google”, SEO Tools, increase website traffic, link building, SEO for Resellers and Webmasters, SEO Optimized WordPress themes, WordPress Social Media Optimization, Drag and Drop Visual Page Builder, Free Shopping Cart, Free Email Marketing Tools and Hire a Web Designer.

This is what I like to call the advertising corner as I assume a lot of these are sponsored third-party apps. Nevertheless, they are neat to have.

Again, since this is specific for this hosting provider, and you won’t see these on every cPanel out there, I’ll take an individual look at each and every one of them in the attempt to figure out what they offer.

1. Get In Google, SEO Tools, Increase Website Traffic, and Link Building.
   This is a service provided by Attracta, the World's Largest SEO Service.
   
2. SEO for Resellers and Webmasters
   This is a service offered by TheHoth that allows you to sell custom SEO services to your clients.
3. SEO Optimized WordPress Themes
   This is done through Divi, a visual drag and drop website builder that lets you create a website through blocks that you just drag, drop, extend and reposition.
   
4. WordPress Social Media Optimization
   We can see a pattern here, as the same company behind Divi, Elegant Themes, also has their other product.
   Monarch is essentially a social media sharing plugin for WordPress.
   
5. Drag and Drop Visual Page Builder
   Here, we again see Divi.
   It’s important to note here that Divi is not a product of Scala Hosting, but a website builder made by another company, simply offered here, so you’ll still need to pay for it.
6. Free Shopping Cart
   This essentially lets you sell products through Shopify.
7. Free Email Marketing Tools
   This is done through Constant Contact.This service allows you to create branded emails, in order to sell products, build a website, and make it a lot easier for people to find you from a single platform.
8. Hire a Web Designer
   This is done through FreeUp!, which is essentially a freelance platform for pre-vetted freelancers.
   

Next, we have possibly one of the most important menus of any website hosting provider, the Databases section. Here you have everything you need in order to manage your databases, such as phpMyAdmin, MySQL Databases, MySQL Database Wizard, Remote MySQL, PostgreSQL Databases, PostgreSQL Database Wizard, and phpPgAdmin.

Next you have domains, which include the site publisher, domains, addon domains, subdomains, aliases, redirects, zone editor and dynamic DNS.

Next, we’ll move on to the metrics tab. Here you’ll have access to visitors, errors, bandwidth, raw access, awstats, metrics editor, and Google Rankings.

Going forward, you’ll be greeted by the Security tab.

Here you’ll have access to features such as SSH access, IP blocker, SSL/TLS, Manage API Tokens, Hotlink Protection, Leech Protection, SSL/TLS Wizard, ModSecurity, SSL/TLS Status, and Two-Factor Authentication.

In terms of the software tab, you can access Cloudflare, WordPress Manage by Softaculous, PHP PEAR Packages, Perl Modules, RubyGems, Site Software, Optimize Website, MultiPHP Manager, MultiPHP INI Editor, Free Shopping Cart, WordPress Themes, and the Softaculous Apps Installer.

You’ll get access to some other complex features on the advanced tab, such as cron jobs, track DNS, indexes, Error Pages, Apache Handlers, MIME types, Virus Scanner, and Resource usage.

On to the preference tab, you have access to password and security, change language, change style, contact information, and user manager.

Now, here’s where convenience shines. You have an applications tab, and here you’ll see the WordPress Manager.

However, if you click on it, and don’t have WordPress installed, you can create a site here directly.

Simply click on Create Site.

Select your domain and you should be up and running in no time.

Normally, you shouldn’t really show anybody your username and password, but since this is a guide, and I’ll delete this database, later on, feel free to review how it would end up looking like.

That’s about it; you can use WordPress on your website now.

Customer Support Experience at Scala Hosting

To access support, click on support, and click on open new ticket.

Now, you can get support about the hosting itself, billing, sales, or abuse.

Once you click on support, you can submit a support ticket here.

The support staff should get back to you soon.

Here’s what the reply looks like, I received the reply after waiting just 10 minutes.

The In-House Proprietary SPanel

One of the most stand-out features of Scala Hosting is the fact that they have their own SPanel, which serves as an alternative to cPanel.

However, there’s one caveat, as you need to get a specific hosting plan in order to access it.

In other words, you’ll need to get a managed hosting plan, starting at $9.95 per month in order to access it.

The difference here, when you buy this plan and set up everything again, is that you’ll see the little SPanel Logo next to the manage tab.

Once you click on manage server, you’ll need to click on the Login to SPanel tab.

And this is how you essentially log into SPanel.

Here you can create and manage accounts by simply clicking on create an account, which is located under the Accounts Management Section.

Installing WordPress through SPanel is also a straightforward process.

Click on list accounts, and look for your newly generated one.

Here, click on Actions, and click on login.

Now, you’ll need to scroll all the way down to the WordPress Manager tab.

Click on it, and select the domain path where you want to install the WordPress website.

Click on Install WordPress, and you’ll see a confirmation e-mail.

You can also create backups through the SPanel.

To do this, you’ll need to log into your account and find the Backup function under the Files tab.

Here, you’ll need to click on Generate Backup.

SPanel will show you a notification that the backup has been generated.

You can restore it at any time.

Now, on the tools tab, you can also install an SSL Certification.

Do this by going to SSL Certificates, clicking on actions, and clicking on Install Custom SSL.

SPanel also lets you create subdomains. To do this, you’ll need to navigate to the Domains tab, and click on Subdomains.

You always have the option to delete WordPress if you are not satisfied, and to do this, all you have to do is find the Existing WordPress installation on the bottom of the page, and click on Uninstall.

SShield

One of the main strengths of SPanel is actually its SShield security implementation. This is an in-house built platform that essentially allows you to easily manage your hosting. It can protect your websites from attackers, such as DDoS attacks and Hacking or phishing potential. It does this through monitoring all of your website in real-time, and when an attempt for a hack is made, it detects it and suspends it. SShield also gets information about the hacker and prepares a detailed report, where the summary itself contains information about how to fix the vulnerability, as well as make the website more secure.

Pricing

When it comes to Scala Hosting, you have four types of packages to choose from in its main tab.

Managed Cloud VPS - Starts from $9.95 per month up to  $63.95 per month.

Self-Managed Cloud VPS -Starts from $10.00 per month up to $49.00 per month.

Web Hosting - Starts from $3.95 per month up to $9.95 per month.

WordPress Hosting - Starts at $3.95 per month up to $9.95 per month.

Uptime and Speed

Now, what really will change the speed at which a website load in your specific location is if the main server is located there. Luckily, Scala Hosting has strategically placed locations across the globe, and you should always have a quick load speed.

When it comes to the uptime, they advertise a 99.9% uptime, and from my experience, my website never went offline, so that again is true.

When it comes to loading speeds, it all really depends on what kind of a website you have, how many plugins you need to load, and the kind of content you have. Obviously, 4k images or video files will result in a slower loading time. However, with a basic blog website with only a few optimized images, I saw a loading speed of around 1 second (up to 1.3 seconds) on a 1 MB page, which is excellent.

Pros and Cons of Scala Hosting

Pros:

• Great Speed
• 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
• Automated Backups
• Free SSL

Cons:

• Higher Fees on Renewal
• No In-House Website Builder

Conclusion

Scala Hosting offers an excellent assortment of features to the table. For one, it has fairly affordable prices throughout all its offerings, and second, its cPanel implementation is flawless and gives you unique features such as a website builder, for example. You can even set up your own cloud VPS managed server, get dedicated resources and improved security, host unlimited websites, free SSL certificates, and a 30-day money-back guarantee policy that works as advertised.

I would recommend this service for people who are just starting their hosting journey, however, if you want any advanced, in-depth, proprietary app-based hosting services, this might not be a perfect choice.