OVHcloud review: web hosting, domain names and pricing of the European cloud provider

OVHcloud is one of Europe’s leading cloud providers, and one of the few that also sells everything a small website needs: a domain name, an email address, shared web hosting for a brochure site or a WordPress blog, then VPS and dedicated servers when the project grows. The company from Roubaix, in northern France, sells its web hosting and domains to the rest of the world through its international website, with prices in US dollars. The question is what it costs over time.

This review covers web hosting, domain names, email, the Control Panel, support and, above all, renewal prices, which is where the real bill lies.

What is OVHcloud?

OVHcloud is the trading name of OVH, a French company founded in 1999 by Octave Klaba and based in Roubaix. Its model is vertically integrated: OVHcloud designs its servers, builds its data centres and cools them with water. The company runs around forty data centres across four continents and serves more than a million customers.

The catalogue ranges from domain names to public cloud. For an individual, a small business or an agency, the appeal is having everything with one provider, under one contract and one account. On the domain side, OVHcloud offers more than 900 extensions, and more than five million domain names are already registered with it.

OVHcloud web hosting: the plans in detail

OVHcloud’s shared web hosting comes in three ranges: Eco, Business and Agencies. Prices are shown in US dollars on the international site, with a promotional rate for the first 12 months, then the renewal price, shown just below. Every paid plan includes a domain name free for the first year, unlimited free SSL certificates, anti-DDoS protection, anti-virus and anti-spam, automatic backups, unlimited traffic and 99.9% observed availability.

Free hosting: a simple page with your domain

Every domain name bought from OVHcloud comes with a small 100 MB hosting plan. Enough to publish an introduction page or a holding page while you build the real website.

Starter: one website, to get going

Starter hosts one website on 1 GB of SSD storage, with two email addresses, a 250 MB database and one-click WordPress installation. At $1.89 a month for the first year, then $3.09, it is the plan for the brochure site of a tradesperson, a freelancer or a non-profit.

Personal: several light websites

Personal is the plan OVHcloud recommends in its Eco range: 15 websites, 100 GB of storage, 10 email addresses and five 1 GB databases, with WordPress and Joomla in one click. At $3.59 a month for the first year, then $7.09, it suits a blog, a few personal websites or a small store. Administration goes through FTP and SFTP, with a Git repository.

Pro: SSH and 100 websites

Pro moves up a category: 100 websites, 250 GB, 100 email addresses, ten 2 GB databases, one vCore and 2 GB of reserved RAM, and above all SSH access, Git and multiple FTP accounts. With the promotion shown, Pro even costs less than Personal in the first year, at $2.39 a month, before renewing at $11.79. It is the plan to favour for a serious WordPress site or a freelancer who manages a few clients.

Performance: for websites that get traffic

Performance doubles the resources (2 vCores, 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB), hosts 150 websites and adds an included CDN, an 8 GB managed Web Cloud Database and a Boost option to absorb temporary traffic spikes. At $8.29 a month for the first year, then $23.59, it targets an online store or a media site that cannot afford to slow down on a busy day.

Beyond shared hosting

The Agency plans, from $15.39 a month for the first year (then $46.09) for Agency and $22.49 (then $68.49) for Agency Plus, open up unlimited websites and access management for a team. Then come VPS and dedicated servers. You scale up without changing provider or Control Panel.

OVHcloud domain names: prices and renewals

OVHcloud shows the renewal price on every line before you order, which makes comparison easy. On the extensions that matter, the gap between the first year and renewal stays moderate. Here is the grid of common extensions, per year, in US dollars.

Country extensions such as .eu, .co.uk, .us and .fr renew at almost the same price as the first year, which makes them very cheap to keep for the long term. A transfer in extends the domain by one year.

What comes with each domain

• a free 100 MB hosting plan to publish a first page;
• WHOIS privacy, activated by default, which hides the holder’s details in the public directory;
• protection against fraudulent transfers, which locks the domain with its registrar;
• DNSSEC, which protects your DNS records against cache poisoning;
• the DNS zone, redirections and unlimited subdomains;
• API access to manage the whole domain lifecycle.

Domain name security

OVHcloud brings the essential protections together on each domain’s page, at no extra cost. DNSSEC signs DNS answers to prevent a visitor from being sent to a fake website: it is switched on automatically when the zone is hosted with OVHcloud, and can be configured from its own tab when the zone is with another provider. Transfer protection blocks any move of the domain until the holder turns it off. WHOIS privacy hides the holder’s details from the public directory.

Automatic or manual renewal

Renewal is set domain by domain, automatic or manual, and can be changed at any time from the Control Panel. For anyone who manages domains on behalf of clients, OVHcloud also runs a partner programme with reduced prices.

OVHcloud email

Web hosting plans include their own mailboxes of 1 GB each: two with Starter, ten with Personal, a hundred with Pro and a thousand with Performance. They work from a webmail, a phone or an email client over IMAP or POP, which gives you a professional address in your own name.

Teams will find more complete offers, including Microsoft Exchange hosted in Europe, in the same Control Panel. And when email lives elsewhere, OVHcloud’s DNS zone takes its MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records: you can change web host without touching your email.

The Control Panel and the API

The OVHcloud Control Panel brings together every service on an account: domains, DNS zones, hosting, email, invoices and renewals. The trade-off is a rich interface, which also covers servers and public cloud, and takes a little getting used to.

Managing a domain portfolio

The domain list shows at a glance each name’s status, technical state, renewal frequency and expiry date, with filters, column choices and a CSV export. For an agency or a publisher tracking dozens of deadlines, it is exactly the view you need. The most flexible set-up is to keep the DNS zone at OVHcloud and point the website to the host of your choice.

The API to automate

OVHcloud’s public API covers domains, name servers, DNS zones, hosting and email. Two details make it stand out. First, API keys can be scoped route by route: you can allow reading domains and writing zones, and nothing else. Second, OVHcloud refuses a name server switch until the new servers actually answer for the domain, which prevents taking a website down by mistake. It is the tool I use to move domains from one host to another in a few minutes.

Performance and reliability

OVHcloud reports 99.9% observed availability on its web hosting, and publishes a status page where you can follow incidents and scheduled work in real time. Its own data centres and its own global network give it control over the whole chain. The reserved resources of Pro and Performance, the CDN and the Boost option serve websites that need speed.

For backups, web hosting keeps several restore points of the FTP space, which you can restore from the Control Panel. As with any host, keeping your own copies of the website and the database remains good practice.

OVHcloud support

OVHcloud offers four support levels: Standard, included with every service, then Premium, Business and Enterprise. Incidents are handled around the clock. On Standard and Premium, phone and tickets answer during business hours; on Business and Enterprise, at any time. The first-response target ranges from 15 minutes to 8 business hours depending on the level.

Alongside, a chatbot answers at any time and the documentation covers most tasks step by step. For a brochure site or a blog, that is often enough; for a website that drives revenue, a higher level is worth the cost.

Renewal prices: what you really pay

The promotional hosting price lasts 12 months. After that, the price roughly doubles for Personal (from $3.59 to $7.09 a month) and is multiplied by about five for Pro (from $2.39 to $11.79). In practice, Personal costs $43.08 for the first year, then $85.08 a year; Pro $28.68 for the first year, then $141.48 a year. The free domain then renews at its extension’s price, $16.49 for a .com.

These prices remain reasonable for what you get, and OVHcloud shows them under the introductory price. Hosting renews automatically, and can be cancelled at any time from the Control Panel.

What we like about OVHcloud

• A range that follows a project from start to finish, from the domain with its free page to the dedicated server, without changing provider.
• Transparent domain pricing, with the renewal price on every line and country extensions that stay cheap.
• Security included: WHOIS privacy, transfer protection and DNSSEC with domains, SSL, anti-DDoS and backups with hosting.
• A single Control Panel and a serious API, with keys limited to the routes you need.
• An integrated European provider, with its own servers and data centres, reassuring for businesses that care where their data lives.

Things to know

A few realities to keep in mind to get the most out of OVHcloud.

• Hosting renewal doubles or quintuples after the first 12 months depending on the plan: that is the price to compare.
• Standard support answers by phone and ticket during business hours; a higher level brings faster response.
• SSH comes with the Pro plan: Starter and Personal are managed over FTP and SFTP.
• Some promotional extensions renew at a high price: .info goes from $4.03 to $25.89, .shop from $3.19 to $42.99.

Who OVHcloud is for

My tips to get started with OVHcloud

1. Compare the renewal price, shown under every plan and every extension: it is what you will pay from the second year.
2. For WordPress, aim for the Pro plan: SSH and Git included, and a lower entry price than Personal with the promotion shown.
3. Keep DNSSEC, transfer protection and WHOIS privacy on: they are free and protect your address.
4. Create your first email address as soon as your hosting is active: it gives a professional image from day one.
5. Note your deadlines and decide on renewing a domain well before its expiry date.

OVHcloud vs the alternatives

OVHcloud stands out for the breadth of its range and its transparent domain pricing; others take a different approach.

To compare with other tools, browse all my tool reviews.

OVHcloud FAQ

Which OVHcloud hosting plan should I choose for WordPress?

For a small brochure site, Starter is enough. For a blog or several websites, Personal offers 15 sites and 100 GB. For a WordPress site that matters, Pro is the best choice: SSH, Git, reserved resources and an entry price of $2.39 a month for the first year, then $11.79.

How much does a domain name cost at OVHcloud?

A .com costs $9.20 for the first year and $16.49 a year at renewal; a .net $12.19 then $16.89; a .co.uk $8.49 then $9.49. The renewal price of every extension is shown before you order.

Is OVHcloud the same as OVH?

Yes. OVH renamed itself OVHcloud to reflect its cloud offering. The company, the accounts and the services are the same.

Does OVHcloud include email?

Yes: every web hosting plan includes mailboxes, from two on Starter to a thousand on Performance, and Microsoft Exchange is available for teams.

Can I keep my domain at OVHcloud and host my website elsewhere?

Yes. You either change the website’s record in OVHcloud’s DNS zone, or change the domain’s name servers to hand the zone to the host. Email can stay in place in both cases.

Is OVHcloud reliable?

Yes. OVHcloud reports 99.9% observed availability on its web hosting, runs its own data centres and network, and publishes incidents on a public status page.

My verdict on OVHcloud

OVHcloud is a solid choice for anyone who wants their website, domain name and email address with a single European provider. Web hosting covers every need, from the brochure site to the high-traffic website, with a Pro plan that is particularly attractive for WordPress. Domain names are a strong point: more than 900 extensions, renewal prices shown up front, security included, a single Control Panel and an API that saves hours.

Read the renewal price before ordering, aim for Pro for WordPress, and OVHcloud deserves its place at the top of the list, for a first website as well as for a domain portfolio.