In the era of digital transformation, many businesses are opting for cloud hosting due to its versatility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Kinsta, a company that offers managed WordPress hosting on the Google Cloud Platform, simplifies the process of setting up and maintaining websites for businesses. However, the journey of migrating away from Kinsta to deal directly with Google Cloud often presents unforeseen challenges. One significant hurdle is the lack of access to a complete image of the client’s own data, making migration less straightforward.
A recent case exemplifies this situation. A client approached Kinsta with a clear request aimed at streamlining their migration to Google Cloud Compute. They asked, “Instead of us exporting all the files and migrating manually, can we arrange for an image & template of the machine to make our migration easier?”
However, Kinsta’s representative responded by stating, “Regretfully, our full container backups cannot be downloaded, you can only use Downloadable backup… and it will create ZIP file you can use with files/folders/database.” This policy, although designed to maintain the integrity of Kinsta’s proprietary settings, increases the complexity of the migration process for the client.
The client expressed concern over this policy, highlighting its potential to create a sense of “lock in” by restricting clients’ access to their critical data. To this, the representative from Kinsta explained, “We cannot share the container image because it contains our Nginx Kinsta settings that are differently set then on any other hosting, and as such cannot be used, that is the only reason :(.”
This interaction underscores the importance of understanding the terms and conditions of your hosting provider, especially when considering migrating away from managed services like Kinsta to a direct relationship with platforms such as Google Cloud. It’s essential to be aware of any potential roadblocks that might complicate the migration process, enabling you to plan and prepare for a smoother transition.
Kinsta is still much better than Godaddy
While challenges can arise when migrating away from Kinsta, it’s still worth noting that Kinsta’s services often receive higher praise than other popular hosting providers, like GoDaddy. Both services have their strengths, but there are several areas where Kinsta seemingly outperforms GoDaddy.
One of the key differentiating factors is the type of hosting offered by each provider. Kinsta exclusively offers managed WordPress hosting, which means they take care of all the technical aspects of hosting a WordPress site, allowing users to focus on content creation and site management. On the other hand, GoDaddy offers a range of hosting services, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, in addition to their managed WordPress hosting.
The specific focus on WordPress hosting by Kinsta allows them to provide features and optimizations tailored to WordPress, leading to improved performance and reliability. Kinsta’s infrastructure is powered by Google Cloud Platform’s premium tier network, ensuring high-speed performance for all hosted sites.
Customer support is another area where Kinsta outshines GoDaddy. Kinsta’s support staff are WordPress experts, available 24/7, and can assist with a wide variety of issues. In contrast, GoDaddy’s customer support has been subject to criticism, with some customers expressing dissatisfaction with long wait times and lack of in-depth knowledge, as illustrated in this complaint, this review, and this discussion.
Moreover, Kinsta offers automatic daily backups and a free hack fix guarantee, where they pledge to fix your site if it gets hacked. While GoDaddy also offers backups, they are not included by default in all plans and come at an additional cost.
Finally, one of the significant complaints against GoDaddy is their upselling tactics. There have been several instances where customers feel pressured into purchasing additional services or upgrades that they don’t necessarily need, as shown in this complaint. Kinsta, in contrast, adopts a more straightforward pricing model without aggressive upselling.
In conclusion, while the migration from Kinsta to a direct Google Cloud service might present some hurdles, it’s essential to weigh these against the overall benefits and service quality of the hosting provider. Despite some limitations, Kinsta’s specialized WordPress focus, high-quality customer service, and straightforward pricing often place it ahead of competitors like GoDaddy. Most people do end up at Kinsta because they felt mistreated by Godaddy. They do make a lot of sense if you lack the technical expertise to deal with Google Clould directly, for now, however the future if AI would hopefully mean better interface support also for Google Cloud and less middlemen erecting barriers to lock you in!
