Hostnet.de Review 2026. Is hostnet.de good web hosting in Germany?

📄 Editorial Review

(3*) 🔧 Services: Web HostingDomain Registration
hostNET Medien GmbH is a long-established German hosting provider founded in 1994 by Sebastian Jäschke, who continues to lead the company as managing shareholder. Based in Bremen, hostNET spent its early years working primarily as an infrastructure partner for hosting resellers and agencies. Services were later expanded to regular business and private customers, while professional hosting partners remained an important part of the company’s focus.

The product range is more technically oriented than conventional entry-level hosting. Instead of concentrating on inexpensive shared webspace, hostNET specializes in Managed-Root Cloud servers, Baremetal Cloud infrastructure, agency and reseller platforms, dedicated managed-root servers, application hosting, domains, SSL certificates, email services, snapshots, backups and administrative support.

Managed-Root Cloud is one of the company’s most attractive services. It combines root privileges with professional maintenance of the operating system and essential server services. Customers can configure resources with up to 16 Intel Xeon vCPUs, 32 GB RAM and 500 GB of SSD storage. Processor capacity, memory and disk space can be adjusted independently, while resource usage is calculated by the second.

The Managed-Root Cloud infrastructure includes SSD storage, RAID protection, hot-spare drives and high-availability failover technology. Traffic, one complete SSL certificate and five manually created snapshots are included. Longer snapshot retention and geographically separated backup services are available as paid options.

This managed-root model is particularly useful for agencies, developers and companies that need more freedom than a conventional managed server provides but do not want to maintain the entire operating system alone. PHP, Apache, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB are supported, together with unrestricted databases, virtual hosts, email accounts, aliases, FTP access and SSH/SFTP. Root privileges make it possible to install additional applications and create customized configurations, while hostNET continues to maintain the core system and standard services.

Baremetal Cloud is intended for customers who prefer full administrative responsibility. It provides unrestricted root access, configurable virtual disks and several Linux distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora. Server access is also possible through an encrypted browser-based HTML5 terminal.

The terminal-sharing function is useful during technical support or collaborative administration. A temporary link can be provided to another administrator, allowing both users to work within the same terminal session. CPU, RAM and SSD capacity can be adjusted without entering a long-term contract, making Baremetal Cloud suitable for development systems, temporary projects, testing environments and custom Linux applications.

The Agency Server range continues hostNET’s original reseller specialization. The portfolio includes Reseller Entry, PRO, MAX and MAX² configurations, with approximately 200 GB to 500 GB of SSD capacity, 6 to 16 vCPUs and 4 GB to 24 GB RAM.

Agencies receive a central easyTECC administration interface and separate access areas that can be provided to their own customers. Multidomain hosting, email, databases, SSL management and automated application installation are included. Technical monitoring operates continuously, and infrastructure problems generate automatic notifications for the responsible technicians.

For projects that require exclusive physical resources, Dedicated Managed-Root Servers combine dedicated hardware with hostNET’s managed-root administration. Customers retain root access and can install custom PHP versions, nginx, Varnish and specialist applications, while hostNET manages the operating system and essential system components.

Local backup capacity on a second disk is included with dedicated servers. A longer backup rotation with daily, weekly and monthly recovery points can be ordered on physically separate storage.

The standard dedicated configurations list Intel i5-4570T, Intel i7-4770T and Intel Xeon E5-2620 v3 processors. These are older hardware generations, so a customized quotation and written confirmation of the actual processor, storage media and replacement policy are advisable before ordering. Monthly contracts provide flexibility, although the setup fee and legacy standard specifications make the cloud products more attractive for many modern workloads.

Application-oriented hosting is available for WordPress, TYPO3, Drupal, Shopware, Magento and PrestaShop. These services use Managed-Root Cloud infrastructure rather than ordinary shared-hosting accounts. Applications can be installed and maintained through easyTECC, which supports more than 300 systems covering content management, online shops, CRM, ERP, forums, galleries and project-management software.

Existing websites can also be imported into the application installer. Updates, application-level backups and restoration functions can then be managed from the same interface.

Domain registration covers German, European and international extensions. DNS hosting is included with registered domains, together with management of A, CNAME, MX, SPF and other DNS records. Customers can create an unrestricted number of subdomains.

The Twin Domain program reduces the registration cost of a corresponding .com, .net or .org domain when the customer already manages the matching .de domain through hostNET.

Email functionality is integrated into the server services. Customers can create mailboxes, aliases and autoresponders and access their accounts through POP3, IMAP or Roundcube webmail. Spam protection and virus filtering are included within the mail environment.

The customer-facing website and documentation are available in German, while prices are displayed in euros and generally include 19% German VAT. The interface remains practical on desktop and mobile devices, although its visual style is more traditional than that of newer cloud-hosting platforms. Some product tables and downloadable documents also contain older technical information, so larger orders and customized deployments should be confirmed directly with the sales team.

💰 Price & Cost

Managed-Root Cloud starts at approximately €0.025 per hour. Usage is measured by the second, and there is no setup fee or minimum contractual term. Servers can be removed directly from the customer area. A server that is frozen rather than deleted continues to generate a smaller storage and management charge.

Cloud services are billed retrospectively at the beginning of the following month. This model is useful for variable workloads because customers pay according to the resources and operating time actually consumed.

Baremetal Cloud starts at approximately €9.99 per month and uses the same flexible resource-based approach. There is no setup fee and no minimum commitment.

Managed-Root Cloud and Baremetal Cloud include a seven-day free trial. Trial systems are automatically removed when the test period ends, so important production data should not be stored on them unless the service has already been converted into a paid account.

Agency Server pricing starts at approximately €36.90 per month for Reseller Entry. The larger PRO, MAX and MAX² configurations cost around €59.90, €119.90 and €199.90 per month. Setup is free, and the normal contract period is one calendar month.

Dedicated Managed-Root Servers begin at approximately €139 per month for the Intel i5 configuration and approximately €165 per month for the Intel i7 version. Xeon configurations are individually quoted. A €149 setup fee applies to standard dedicated servers, while contracts remain monthly.

Domain promotions include .de registrations from approximately €0.20 per month during the first 12 months, increasing to around €0.49 per month afterward. Many international extensions require payment for a complete one- or two-year registration period, even when an equivalent monthly price is displayed.

Automated SSL certificates are included with Managed-Root services. Commercial SSL certificates begin at approximately €23.90 per year, with higher-assurance certificates available at additional cost.

Additional IPv4 addresses cost approximately €9.99 per month. Optional cloud snapshots start at around €0.01 per hour.

ProBackUp services create rotating full snapshots and transfer them to a separate data center. Dedicated-server backup packages with daily, weekly and monthly restore points start at approximately €59.90 per month. Independent customer backups remain advisable even when one of these services is active.

Payment is accepted through SEPA direct debit, PayPal and invoice for approved customers. Standard telephone and email support is included in the hosting price.

Private consumers receive the statutory 14-day withdrawal right required under German law. When immediate service activation has been requested, the proportional value of the already delivered service can be deducted from the refund. This is a legal cancellation right rather than a separate satisfaction-based money-back guarantee.

The seven-day cloud trial is the most practical option for evaluating performance, administration and compatibility before beginning regular billing.

Traffic is included with the server services, although usage remains subject to the Common Use Policy. Extremely intensive bandwidth consumption, excessive CPU usage, large public download archives, unusually demanding scripts and game-server workloads can result in restrictions or throttling.

🏢 Data Center

hostNET operates its hosting infrastructure in German Tier 3+ data centers. The facilities include redundant technical systems, controlled physical access, continuous security, fire-detection equipment, fire-suppression systems and separate network routes entering from different directions.

Network capacity is planned so that aggregate usage remains below approximately 50% during normal peak periods. This leaves additional capacity available during network faults, unexpected traffic increases or routing changes.

Long-term backup services add geographic separation between production systems and backup storage. ProBackUp+ creates a complete daily snapshot and transfers it to another data center situated more than one kilometer from the primary environment.

The remote backup connection remains disconnected between transfer operations. This reduces the exposure of stored backups to incidents affecting the production server or its active network connection.

Dedicated-server backup packages retain daily, weekly and monthly versions on separate RAID storage. These longer retention periods are useful for recovering files or configurations that were deleted or damaged several days or weeks earlier.

The main availability commitment is 99.99% physical server availability averaged over one year. The SLA assigns 99.99% availability to server systems and electricity supply and 99.90% availability to the Internet connection.

When an eligible availability target is missed, the customer can receive a service credit. The credit equals 10% of the affected monthly server charge for every complete percentage point below the guaranteed level, up to the full value of the affected monthly fee.

Customer software failures, server overload caused by the customer, denial-of-service attacks, customer-side connectivity problems, external carrier routing failures and announced maintenance periods are excluded from the availability calculation.

The SLA document carries a 2015 filename, so customers running critical systems should request the latest contractual SLA and credit procedure before placing a production workload on the platform.

hostNET operates AS34895 and connects directly to DE-CIX Frankfurt. The network announces address space including 83.138.64.0/18 and 185.171.136.0/22.

Its routing includes connectivity through Core-Backbone, LWLcom and Hurricane Electric. An independent autonomous system and direct Internet exchange participation provide more routing control than hosting services that depend entirely on a single upstream network.

Environmental measures include the use of green electricity, energy-efficient hardware and infrastructure optimization intended to reduce unnecessary electricity consumption.

✍️ Customer Support

Customer support is available by telephone, email and online contact form. Standard support is included with the service and is handled by experienced administrators and programmers rather than a general outsourced call center.

Technical email assistance is available daily between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., including weekends. Infrastructure and server monitoring continue around the clock.

This support model is particularly useful for agencies and technically demanding customers who may require help with DNS records, databases, email configuration, PHP applications, server services or operating-system problems.

The main technical support address is support@hostnet, while telephone assistance is available at +49 421 4089-00-80.

The standard SLA targets a response within four hours during business hours. Infrastructure incidents receive a reaction target of 15 minutes both inside and outside normal office hours.

Service Level B costs approximately €29 per server per month. It reduces the normal support-response target to three hours and includes 30 minutes of administration or programming work each month.

Service Level A costs approximately €49 per server per month. It reduces the response target to two hours and includes one hour of administration or programming work per month.

Additional technical work is charged in 15-minute units. Customers without an extended support package can also order administrative or programming assistance at the standard hourly rate.

The support area includes a substantial German-language FAQ and tutorial collection covering server administration, domains, DNS, email, databases, applications and common technical problems. German is the principal service language, and live chat is not part of the standard support channels.

🔨 Control Panel

hostNET uses its proprietary easyTECC administration platform instead of cPanel or Plesk. The system manages domains, virtual hosts, databases, FTP accounts, email users, aliases, autoresponders, SSL certificates, applications, backups and common server functions.

The control panel is adapted to direct hosting customers as well as professional resellers. Agency clients receive an administrative interface for managing the complete server and separate customer-level access that can be provided to their own hosting clients.

The integrated application installer supports more than 300 software packages. WordPress, TYPO3, Drupal, Shopware, Magento and PrestaShop can be deployed through the interface, while updates, application backups and restoration tasks are handled from the same administration area.

Existing applications can be imported into the installer after deployment. This allows older manually installed websites to benefit from the same update and backup functions as newly installed applications.

Managed-root customers can also work directly through SSH and SFTP or install additional packages using root privileges. The services managed by hostNET remain under professional administration, creating a useful compromise between a restricted managed server and a completely unmanaged VPS.

Baremetal Cloud includes an encrypted HTML5 terminal that works through a desktop or mobile browser. Temporary terminal sharing allows another administrator or technician to join a troubleshooting session without requiring a separate conventional console account.

Database administration is available through phpMyAdmin, while Roundcube provides browser-based access to email. The customer area also supports an additional authentication code delivered through SMS.

🎯 Conclusion

hostNET is particularly well suited to German agencies, developers, resellers and businesses that need more control than traditional shared hosting provides but still want professional operating-system maintenance.

Its strongest qualities are more than three decades of hosting experience, German data residency, independent network infrastructure, direct Internet exchange connectivity, flexible cloud billing, managed-root administration and a mature reseller platform.

Managed-Root Cloud is the strongest part of the portfolio. It combines adjustable resources, root access, managed base services, SSD infrastructure, snapshots and extensive application support without requiring a long contractual commitment.

The Agency Server range is also a practical option for companies that host and manage websites for multiple customers. Separate reseller and customer interfaces make it easier to delegate access without exposing the complete server administration environment.

Baremetal Cloud offers greater freedom for experienced administrators, while Dedicated Managed-Root Servers remain available for workloads that require exclusive physical hardware.

The main limitations are the German-only environment, the older visual design, several legacy dedicated-server configurations and the difference between the 99.99% server guarantee and the 99.90% network guarantee.

Backups are available at several levels, although maintaining an independent external copy remains essential. Customers should also confirm the latest dedicated hardware and operative SLA before ordering a business-critical configuration.

Overall, hostNET is a technically capable specialist rather than a beginner-oriented budget provider. It is a strong choice for customers who value German infrastructure, direct access to knowledgeable technical personnel and a combination of root control with managed system administration.

Customers who require English-language support, cPanel, Plesk or very simple low-cost shared hosting may prefer a more conventional international hosting provider.

🌏 Server locations:

Bremen Frankfurt am Main

📢 Special pages

• Contact us
• About us
• Terms of Service
• Privacy
• FAQ