Rocket.net hosting review: A non techie, 1 year perspective

Welcome to my Rocket net hosting review. It’s been well over a year since I made the switch to Rocket.net hosting. Hosting is a very important “blogging tool“. After all, it’s the engine that drives websites.  Don’t settle for garbage because it can make a difference.

I initially tested the service with one large site. It was fantastic at a price that still impresses me, so I moved all sites over including Fat Stacks.

You should know that I’m a writer, blogger and Web publisher. I’m not a website developer or all that technical.  This Rocket.net review focuses on my Rocket experience from a layperson’s perspective.  I don’t go into all the specs because they’re largely meaningless to me.  If hosting specs are important to you, check them out over at Rocket.net and ask them for more details.

Instead, this review is from the perspective of a blogger who simply wants fast, secure sites with a very user-friendly hosting service. As owner of 20+ niche websites and having been a full-time blogger for over ten years, I know what I want and need in a hosting service.

 

Nutshell: The 4 Key Benefits I Enjoy with Rocket Hosting

1. Performance: My sites load fast.
2. Cost: Before Rocket I was with well-respected hosting service.  Performance was good but I paid through the nose for it. Switching to Rocket cut my hosting bill down over $1,000 per month.  I couldn’t believe it when Rocket told me how much it would cost to host all my sites with them.  And get this… the cost has not gone up since I switched.  My previous service consistently increased my hosting cost.
3. Security: The built-in security means I don’t need to worry about security issues.
4. Customer service: From day one, when Rocket.net migrated my sites without any hassle to now, the customer service has been top-notch, Their customer support team has helped me with dozens of technical issues including bulk redirects, plugin conflicts, moving content in bulk, troubleshooting to name a few. Hosting with Rocket is like having a tech team on your side.

I’ve used many Web hosting services over the years so I have plenty to compare Rocket to.

=> Try Rocket.net here at a special discounted price

My Web hosting history

Having blogged full time for over a decade, I’ve used my fair share of web hosting services.  Here’s the list:

• Bluehost
• Synthesis (no longer available)
• WP Engine (disappointing and expensive)
• Kinsta (very good but expensive)
• Rocket.net (best performance ever and reduced my monthly hosting bill by over $1,000).

Rocket.net Specs

I’m not much of a tech geek so I reached out the Ben Gabler, founder and CEO of Rocket to provide me the key specs behind Rocket.  Here they are:

• 32 cores
• 256gb RAM
• NVMe storage

I’m not technical. Hosting specifications mean nothing to me. It’s like vehicles. I know nothing about cars and trucks except whether they get me from A to B in comfort and safely.

If it’s specs you want to dive into, check them out at Rocket.net. They’ll be happy to regale you with this info.

CWV Scores: Sounds good n’ all Jon, but what are your CWV scores with Rocket?

Most hosting services claim their the fastest. Anyone can claim anything.  What matters is performance. Part of assessing performance these days is a site’s CWV score.  I know some say this is a bogus metric but since Google claims to rely on it to some degree, let’s go with that.

Here are examples of a few sites just to show that I get stellar CWV scores with Rocket.

Site 1: My most important website

This is my most important niche site. It’s the biggest, highest-earning site.  It’s also a site with more plugins than I should use but I use them anyway and get great results thanks in part to Rocket.

Site 2: Mid-sized site

Site 3: Another sizeable niche site

 

Built for WordPress Sites

Since all my sites run on WordPress, I wanted hosting geared for WordPress.  Rocket.net is such a host.  For example, when I start a new site, Rocket creates a new WP install for that site with a click of a button with a link for instant log in to the site.  While performance is the most important, I do like hosting that is user-friendly.

FYI, Rocket only hosts WordPress sites. If you have a site on another platform, Rocket won’t work for you.

User-Friendly Hosting

Because I’m not technical, I need a hosting service that is user friendly.  Back in the day I dealt with C-Panel which I did learn but it wasn’t terribly user-friendly.

Rocket hosting is as user-friendly as it gets. The backend is well design. I’m able to launch new sites with a couple of clicks.  I’m able to find all my sites easily.

Here are screenshots of the backend:

When you click “Manage” you’re taken to the following screen:

I won’t go through all the screens because they’re self-explanatory, but below is a screenshot of the Advanced dashboard:

Stellar Customer Service

Customer service is via live chat which is available 24/7. You can submit a ticket which is a good option if you don’t have time to do live chat but for me, live chat is key.

Instant service: I can’t recall a time I was put into a queue to access customer service on live chat. Every time I trigger live chat, I get a rep immediately.  It’s unbelievable. I don’t know how

Friendly: There are no snarky jerks at Rocket.  Better yet, they’re really polite and friendly.  I use other SaaS software and some reps are like robots.  It’s not terrible or anything but there’s something nice about working with folks who are super friendly.

Knowledgeable:  It’s rare I have an issue that needs to be escalated. Rocket doesn’t put lackies on the front line. Their first contact reps know hosting, WordPress and pretty much anything you can throw at them.  The only time any issue needs to get escalated is when it’ll take time to do the job such as a large bulk operation.

I’ve spoken to Ben Gabler, Rocket’s CEO and founder about customer support and it’s one of the most important aspects to him when providing a hosting service.  I can tell he’s invested a great deal of time and money into hiring and training an exceptional team.  The fact I never have to wait for a rep tells me he’s not skimping on support.

Cost

Rocket isn’t the cheapest hosting option but it’s far from expensive.

In fact, if you have a site with decent traffic, you’ll find the cost is low compared to other WordPress hosting services.  In the past I used both WP Engine and Kinsta, both of which cost way more. I switched from WP Engine to Kinsta to save money (and I did).  But switching from Kinsta to Rocket saved me an additional $1,000 per month.

Don’t fret… there are plans that don’t come close to $1,000 per month. Pricing starts at $30 per month so there’s a plan for every website.

Free Website Migration

Most hosting offers this but it’s important to mention it because it’s a question I always have when assessing a new host.  Rocket migrated over 20 websites for me for free and did so very fast.

I’m a Rocket affiliate but I also refer all friends and family who ask for a hosting recommendation to Rocket because I know they’ll be well taken care of

I have several friends with websites for their businesses (local trades, e-commerce and agencies) who over the last year asked me for a hosting recommendation because they were disappointed with their hosting.  I suggest Rocket to all of them because I know they won’t be disappointed.  Whether it’s a family member, close personal friend or Fat Stacks reader, when someone asks which hosting service they should get for their WordPress site, I unequivocally say Rocket.

=> Try Rocket.net here at a special discounted price