Host Compare

Signing Up with Crazy Domains — What We Found

2026-08-28T00:00:00Z

Signing Up with GoDaddy — What We Found

2026-08-27T00:00:00Z

Signing Up with Hostinger — What We Found

2026-08-19T00:00:00Z

Signing Up with Hoopla Hosting — What We Found

2026-08-13T00:00:00Z

Signing Up with MyHost — What We Found

2026-06-03T00:00:00Z

How We Test NZ Web Hosting — Our Methodology Explained

2026-05-10T00:00:00Z

Every number in our comparison table has a story behind it. Here's exactly how we collect them — and why we do it the way we do.

We start with renewal pricing, not introductory deals

The first thing most hosting comparison sites get wrong is pricing. They list the promotional rate — the one that applies for the first 12 months and then doubles or triples at renewal. We don't do that.

Every price in our table is the standard renewal price in New Zealand Dollars, excluding GST. If a provider charges $2.99/month for year one and $9.99 after that, we show $9.99. That's the price you'll actually live with.

We track the entry-level shared hosting plan that includes at least one website, email hosting, and a free SSL certificate. If the cheapest plan lacks those basics, we step up to the next tier.

All prices are verified at least once per quarter. The verification date is visible in the table — hover over any price on desktop to see it.

PHP performance: two independent tests

We measure PHP performance two ways, because no single benchmark tells the whole story.

PHP Vitals runs micro-benchmarks (strings, maths, arrays, file I/O). PHP Vitals reports a letter grade (including plus/minus variants, through to weaker grades such as E and F) for the environment — we record that grade plus the link to the result page when available, then remove their harness.

WP Benchmark is a WordPress plugin that runs three sub-tests — PHP execution, MySQL/MariaDB throughput, and filesystem speed — then combines them into a single composite score. We use a frozen WordPress installation with the plugin pinned to a specific version, so scores stay comparable across providers.

The key word is pinned. If we update either tool, we re-run every provider before publishing new scores.

Latency: probed from three NZ cities

TTFB tells you how quickly the server responds. We measure it from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. For each city we send 20 timed requests with cache busting and record mean and p95. The table shows the best city mean; the provider page lists all three.

Server location verification

We resolve the site's IP and ASN and compare against NZ network allocations so "NZ hosting" claims match reality.

Support, email, backups

We benchmark support with standard questions across channels; test Gmail and Microsoft 365 inbox placement from the host's mail; and attempt real restores from the provider's backup UI. Thresholds and procedures are documented on our full methodology page.

Read the technical detail — commands, versions, grade bands — on Methodology. Spot an error? Email compare@hostcompare.nz.

NZ vs Australian Servers — Does Hosting Location Actually Matter?

2026-05-06T00:00:00Z

Ask where servers live and you'll often hear "New Zealand!" Resolve the IP and sometimes the answer is more nuanced — traffic may originate from Sydney or Melbourne.

That's not automatically wrong — but you should know what you're buying.

Latency is real, but context matters

Round-trip latency NZ ↔ eastern Australia is often on the order of tens of milliseconds. For a brochure site or lightly dynamic WordPress install, visitors rarely perceive that difference next to DNS, TLS, images, and JavaScript weight.

Where it stacks up is many database round trips per page, real-time interactions, or high-frequency AJAX — small delays multiply.

SEO

Geo-targeting signals include ccTLD, content, Search Console settings — server IP is one weaker signal among many. Strong NZ relevance usually matters more than the difference between a good AU POP and an NZ POP.

Data sovereignty

If you handle sensitive personal information, where copies live (including backups) can matter for privacy posture and contractual obligations — separate from raw milliseconds.

Verify it yourself

Resolve your site's IP (dig, hosting panel, or nslookup), look up ASN and geography (e.g. ipinfo / WHOIS). Our comparison marks NZ data centre claims where we've recorded verification on each provider's detail page.

Summary

For typical NZ-facing brochure sites: infrastructure quality and caching often beat AU vs NZ latency debates. For DB-heavy apps, sovereignty-sensitive workloads, or latency-sensitive UX — NZ infra can genuinely matter.

See who's verified NZ-side in the comparison table.

How to Choose a NZ Web Hosting Plan in 2026

2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

Choosing hosting should be simple; marketing makes it noisy. Here's what actually matters on NZ shared plans.

Renewal price first

Ignore headline promo rates. Find renewal NZD ex-GST — that's what you'll pay long-term. Our comparison table lists renewal pricing explicitly.

Shared hosting fits most starters

Unless you already know you need VPS isolation or dedicated hardware, shared hosting is the right default for brochure sites, blogs, and small shops. Upgrade when metrics say so — not because upsell copy says so.

Ignore vanity specs

Unlimited disk/bandwidth always has fair-use fine print. Unlimited emails rarely decides anything real.

Actually care about these

PHP 8.1+ (ideally 8.2/8.3) for modern apps
Backup frequency + whether you can self-restore
Support hours vs how you actually work incidents
SLA numbers — read what's excluded

NZ vs AU servers

NZ servers usually shave latency for NZ visitors; AU isn't automatically slow — compare measured TTFB and verified DC claims rather than geography alone.

Quick checklist before checkout

Renewal rate locked in
PHP version path clear
Backup + restore story understood
Support channels match how you'll escalate