MediaTemple Review – 2016 Update

Our latest MediaTemple review finds us re-enamored with a top-rate hosting provider, servicing close to two million websites, with upwards of 120,000 customers from 120 countries around the globe. Serving such a disparate customer-base – in both location and needs –  with one type of hosting is a pipe dream at best. Which is why MediaTemple provides a spectrum of offerings, from traditional hosting to cloud technologies, and even enterprise options. Add on scalable resources and cloud hosting innovations, and you’ve got a dynamo package. Let’s dive in below, or give MediaTemple a try after the blue jump.

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MediaTemple Pricing & Plans

MediaTemple provides a host of plans ranging from small business or lone gun website operational needs, to enterprise hosting. We’ll be focusing on the most common ones for our purposes. From the first day of operation in 1998 through the takeover by GoDaddy in 2013 – and beyond – MediaTemple’s (mt’s) hosting has been nothing short of superb at what it aims to do, despite missing support for Windows needs.

Grid Plans

Media Temple offers only one (Linux-based) shared hosting plan for $20 per month at the entry level. That gives you 20GB of SSD storage and up to 1TB of scalable bandwidth. You can go Pro and add a CDN and Malware tools for just $10 more monthly. The Agency plan is a higher outlay at $150 per month, though it comes with a free domain name and SSL cert, if you commit for a year.

 

Unfortunately, Windows users are left somewhat in the cold. Grid Hosting is a neat mix of traditional shared hosting and cloud hosting, making shared use of resources as different websites take on more visitors, needing more bandwidth in the process. The fact that it all takes place seamlessly in real time is all the more attractive from a new or expanding website perspective. Now let’s look at packages for those in need of extra server capacity.

VPS Hosting Plans

Those in need of some more hosting juice might opt for a VPS shared hosting plan

Those in need of some more hosting juice might opt for a VPS shared hosting plan which comes in two forms: Self-Managed, or Managed by MediaTemple. That entirely depends on your skill level and time resources.

The VPS plans run anywhere from $30 per month to an above-average $1,500 per month.  Of course, this will vary widely based on whether you go for unmanaged or managed hosting (not to mention that $1500 comes backed with a multiplicity of features, and up to 64GB of RAM, with 600GB of storage space).

Unmanaged VPS is understandably cheaper, as you’re stuck doing the (grunt work)  control panel pleasantries with any preexisting coding expertise you may have.

In May, MediaTemple also released Managed WordPress Hosting using Amazon AWS.

If you need anything more than what’s listed in each plan variant, you may add a ‘Booster Pack’ from your WP control. An extra 50GB SSD storage, 1 million monthly visitors, and five additional sites for $30 more per month. 

“We can customize WordPress hosting solutions to fit any need.”

Managed Dedicated Hosting plans come with a choice of cpanel/WHM, or Plesk packed in for $2,500 a month ($2,000, if you do it all yourself). For fully managed mt dedicated servers you’ll have to pony up a princely $2699 per month, but you will have priority support and all the bells and whistles.

Video Review

Here’s a short MediaTemple review video elaborating on GridHosting.

MediaTemple Features

MeidaTemple is a bit lacking in some customizations facets many folks would like. FTP config, customizations at the root level, and especially 3rd party SSL certs is slightly odd and possibly a drag. If that’s the case, see the various features on offer before you decide below.

MediaTemple runs a proprietary control panel usefully christened ‘Account Center’ for Grid customers. Here, you control every aspect of your Grid service: adding domains, managing users, installing web apps, billing, and customer support. You may also opt to use cpanel/whm, or Plesk, but only if you go the Dedicated server route.

Each Grid Plan comes with the latest builds for Apache, PHP, Perl, Python, and MyPHP 5, Perl 5.8.4, Python 2.4.4, Apache 2.0.54 and MySQL 5.1.26 – as does every other plan variation. See for yourself with the money-back guarantee.

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MediaTemple Speed and Reliability

MediaTemple provides some great speeds with all SSD drives. The image above shows the network operations page where you can always make sure mt’s service is always running smoothly. It’s nice to not have to read some kind of gimmicky slogans about 100% uptime, either as those can often be misleading, if not outright fraudulent.

Customer Service

All plans from the basic Grid Hosting to VPS and Dedicated feature 24/7 support in a variety of formats which is quite appropriate for a company subtly presenting itself as Nirvana for webhosting. There are plentiful setup guides for the DIY types, or those looking for quick and simple answers to general and specific questions alike.

There really are guides to just about everything you’d be interested in looking through. Best of all, each guide is illustrative and informative in equal measure.

Meanwhile, Livechat specialists are available around the clock for highly specific queries and on hand to walk you through any issues that may come up, regardless of whether you go the managed or unmanaged route. It’s further reassuring to have constantly come across positive outright mentions and commendations for MediaTemple’s support around the web. You can use email or open up a support ticket, though these responses can and do often take up to about half a day, depending on the length and urgency level of each subscriber’s needs – so if you aren’t in dire straights with imminent or current downtime, be prepared to wait a bit.

MediaTemple Review Conclusion

I liked

• 24/7 Support & Detailed Guides With All Plans
• Wide Range Of Scalable Plans
• Decent Entry-Level Pricing

I wasn’t so sure about

• Steeper Prices On Higher-End Plans – With Impressive Functionality

I hated

• No Windows Hosting

MediaTemple is a decent but not superlative hosting outfit some cool offerings. You can likely find some comparable offerings starting at $20 for grid hosting, but that’s a preferential matter. It’s altogether more worthwhile if you’re looking for better performance and expecting heavier traffic. Shared VPS and Dedicated VPS packages present a solid bet, in addition to WordPress hosting. Take a look at mt for yourself right now using the 30-day money-back guarantee.

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