ChemiCloud naspram Hostway 2021

sting service. I like that they are constantly updating their servers and apps to keep up with changes in the hosting market, they always seem to be on the ball no matter the chalenges.

P, EXPLICITLY AND PATIENTLY. I HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH HOSTWAY SINCE 2003, AND NOW I LIKE THEM EVEN MORE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM TO YOU.

even understand how a robots.txt work (basic sysadmin knowledge) because they set an allow rule to an user agent that had not been disallowed in any previous rule on the robots file. Also, the other day, from another chemicloud account from one of my clients, a support agent on the chat was asking me on the chat how can she check the server response of a page. Another case of an agent lacking basic sysadmin knowledge.
This is not a problem specific to the agent that breaks basic hosting management protocols or the other support agent that didn't know how to use the chrome inspector, both cases are just a signal of how unsustainably is chemicloud escalating its growth. They are not investing enough in support service and this is what will end up breaking up everything. Not the inflated prices compared to competitors, its the terrible support service, because that was the only added value from this company in comparison to the competitors and it used to be brilliant 2 years ago when I came, and I recommended every client to do so. Not anymore, I'm leaving and my clients are leaving.

environment. Hostway is running PHP version 7.0.33+ (debug version) which is very outdated. It’s been lagging behind for some time, but everything’s stayed relatively stable. An outdated PHP means a less secure environment, which is a major concern.
WP and WC are on the verge of new updates that will push everyone into PHP v8 and above. As long as nothing is updated on the back end, his site will stay up and running; however, plugin developers will soon stop supporting older PHP and require updates for their software to remain functional. If updates are based on PHP v7.4 or higher requirements, which will no doubt be the case, it’ll effectively bring his whole site down.
According to Hostway, they’re running the latest PHP version they support. I ask every week or so when the warning pops up. It’s extremely frustrating to get the same “we’re working on it” response every single time.
Also, Hostway's server is very slow, with a TTFB of over 3 seconds and a fully loaded time of over 8 seconds. Considering the tiny size of my client’s website (~12 pages), this is an abysmal byte rate. Potential customers will click off long before 8 seconds have elapsed. I’ve tried to optimize the site as much as I can (e.g., reducing image sizes, removing older posts, etc.), but I can't speed up the TTFB since it’s reliant on the server specs. I’ve talked to Hostway about this, too, with no resolution.
Just for laughs I pinged a friend and had him plug the site into his servers just like it comes from Hostway without any optimization or caching configured. The normal TTFB on his servers is around 300-400 MS, as a comparison. Just abysmal all the way around, but I can’t get my client to switch and I refuse to use Hostway’s web developer, which will only add to my client’s ~$400 annual hosting fees.