Christian’s Picks

As a reviewer, I sometimes bounce around from service to service as I test different products. It’s important to me that you always know what services I personally use and why. This can help you make an informed decision when I recommend something.

I may recommend services that I personally do not use, but I recommend them for someone who may be in a different position than me.

Last updated: 8/14/20

Domains

My Picks

I currently have domains registered at both Namecheap and Porkbun. I’ve used Namecheap for many years and have been generally happy with their service. I tend to register domains there during their Black Friday sales, but I have began to transfer/register domains at Porkbun for cost savings.

Disclosures: I pay full price for all domain services at Namecheap and Porkbun

My recommendations for domains

1. Namecheap for beginners or those who don’t have a lot of experience managing domains
2. Dynadot if you want a similar experience for cheaper
3. Porkbun if you want the absolute cheapest prices and don’t mind an inferior management panel

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Web hosting

My Picks

I currently have a 2GB Digital Ocean server with Cloudways for nearly all of my websites (including this one). I have one business website hosted at WP Engine. I do enjoy my experience at WP Engine and think it’s worth it if you’re a bigger business needing rock-solid reliability and amazing customer support.

Disclosures: I pay full price for my service with Cloudways. WP Engine supplies my hosting account for testing and review purposes.

My recommendations for hosting

1. Dreamhost or Namecheap for budget hosting – they both offer a decent budget experience. Dreamhost has a better overall experience with support, hosting quality, etc., but Namecheap has a standard cPanel hosting experience that will make it much easier to transfer your site to other cPanal hosts.
2. Cloudways for more power or multiple sites – you just can’t go wrong with the power and flexibility of Cloudways. If you’re looking for staging environments, daily backups, and your own managed VPS experience for less, Cloudways is a wonderful choice.
3. WP Engine + Flywheel for ultimate customer support – if you’re looking for the “it just works” of WordPress hosting, try WP Engine or Flywheel. Flywheel is owned by WP Engine and offers a very similar experience, but they also offer a smaller starting plan for $15/mo that might make sense for new WordPress users.

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Email hosting

My Picks

I currently use G Suite for my primary business email, and Namecheap Private Email Hosting for other custom domain emails that are less utilized.

Disclosures: I pay full price for my email hosting with G Suite and Namecheap

My recommendations for email hosting

1. Use G Suite if you want the “golden standard” of email hosting with the best security you can find. If the online Gmail interface and Google Apps experience matters to you, G Suite is the best option. Some find that it’s not worth $6/month per email, so consider Namecheap Private Email Hosting for a great budget option.
2. For reliability matching G Suite on a budget, use Namecheap Private Email Hosting. You don’t get the Google Apps experience, and the security is inferior (though still secure), but the reliability and functionality is totally there.

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VPN

My Picks

I currently use ExpressVPN to keep my internet service provider from seeing my browsing activity. I’ve used it for close to a year now and enjoy the experience. I’ve also been testing WeVPN lately and have liked the experience so far.

Disclosures: ExpressVPN and WeVPN have provided test accounts for me to review their service

My recommendations for VPNs

1. Use ExpressVPN if you want the ultimate VPN for streaming that doesn’t slow down your connection too much
2. Use WeVPN if you want a brand new, up-and-coming VPN with performance similar to ExpressVPN
3. Use Mullvad if you want a security-first VPN that prioritizes your anonymity.