ALL-INKL.COM: web hosting from Germany with no minimum term

For the reference project we look at the Privat entry plan. It includes three domains, which you can register with the .de ending among others. It also comes with 500 email mailboxes, 50 GB of storage for web space, email and databases, and five MySQL or MariaDB databases.

An SSL certificate is not included in the Privat plan. There you book Let's Encrypt as a monthly add-on in the Members Area; the option then covers all domains in your contract. We count it as a mandatory extra cost because a website needs HTTPS today. From PrivatPlus upwards, Let's Encrypt is included at no extra charge. Over 24 months, Privat with the SSL option still costs less than PrivatPlus according to the published prices.

The first month of every new web hosting plan is free; from the second month the regular monthly price applies. Each customer gets the free month only once within 365 days. The setup fee is struck through on the plan pages and marked as waived.

There is no minimum contract term. You pay monthly or in advance for three, six or twelve months. The provider does not mention discounts for longer periods. Payment is usually by SEPA direct debit.

ALL-INKL.COM does not mention a managed WordPress offer with automatic updates on its plan pages. You install WordPress in a few clicks with the software installer in the KAS customer menu. After that, you handle updates, caching and security yourself, for example with WordPress features or plugins. The provider does not describe a staging feature for a copy of your website.

According to the provider, several PHP versions are usually installed on the servers. You choose the version in the KAS for each domain or subdomain. The provider does not publish details on the memory limit or PHP processes. In the Privat plan, up to 100 customers share one server; from PrivatPlus it is up to 50. Data transfer is included as a flat rate in all plans.

SSH access is only available from the Premium plan. Cron jobs cost extra in the Privat plan; from PrivatPlus a fixed number is included. In our view, this is rarely an obstacle for a simple WordPress website. If you want to run scheduled scripts or work on the command line, however, you should pick a larger plan from the start.

According to the provider, ALL-INKL.COM backs up your account data automatically. For databases there is a backup from the previous day plus copies that are about five to eight and nine to twelve days old. The files in your web space are backed up about every 14 days; usually two copies are kept, at most two and four weeks old. Storage-heavy files such as ISO images are excluded. In all current plans you access the backups in the KAS under Tools. The provider does not say whether a restore by support costs anything.

Important: the provider calls the automatic backups a voluntary service with no entitlement. According to the terms, you back up your content regularly yourself. For a WordPress website an additional backup of your own, for example with a plugin, is therefore worthwhile.

For logging in to the Members Area, KAS and webmail you can switch on two-factor authentication with an app. Since September 2022 you conclude the GDPR data processing agreement with every new order; you can view and download it in the customer menu. According to the provider, data is stored exclusively on its own servers in Germany, in several company-owned data centres in Dresden. According to the provider, the power comes from hydroelectric plants.

Even the entry plan includes three domains in the price, PrivatPlus five and Premium ten. Available endings include .de, .com, .eu, .at and .ch. You can add more domains at extra cost.

For email, the Privat plan already offers 500 mailboxes with IMAP and POP3, spam and virus filters, autoresponders and webmail. You set up the mailboxes yourself in the web interface. They share the plan storage with web space and databases.

You can reach support by email around the clock. According to the contact page, phone support is available Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to midnight and at weekends from 10 am to 10 pm. A 24-hour phone hotline is only available from PrivatPlus upwards, and separate business support only in the Business plan. Everything is managed through two interfaces: the Members Area for the contract and add-ons, and the KAS for the technical management of domains, mailboxes and databases.

In our view, ALL-INKL.COM suits beginners, clubs and small businesses that want to run a website with their own domain and email with a provider in Germany and maintain WordPress themselves. The many mailboxes and included domains fit companies that want to secure several addresses or names.

The provider is less suitable if you expect an all-round WordPress package in which the host takes care of updates, caching and staging. Developers also get no SSH in the entry plan; that needs at least the Premium plan.

For the reference project it pays to put Privat with the SSL option next to PrivatPlus. Besides SSL, PrivatPlus adds cron jobs, DNS settings and the 24-hour hotline. If these extras matter to you, the extra cost is reasonable in our view.