STRATO
Germany's most popular web host with 4 million+ customers.
The verdict
STRATO is one of the largest web hosts in Germany and Europe, serving more than 4 million customers across Germany, Austria, the UK, France and Spain. Owned by United Internet (the same parent as IONOS), it specializes in affordable shared, WordPress and VPS hosting with German data centers.
The full picture
STRATO is one of Germany's largest hosting providers, founded in Berlin in 1997 and owned since 2017 by United Internet, the group behind IONOS. It serves around two million customers and four million domains, almost entirely in the German-speaking market, and its proposition is straightforward: cheap, reliable hosting from German data centres, with German data protection, German support and German invoicing.
The product range covers shared hosting, managed WordPress, VPS, dedicated servers, a website builder, email and the HiDrive cloud storage product that is popular in Germany as a Dropbox alternative. Everything is priced aggressively, with introductory offers that renew at higher rates in the usual pattern.
Technically it is conservative. The control panel is proprietary and functional, the stack is conventional, and there is no LiteSpeed, edge caching or modern developer tooling. What there is, reliably, is German data residency with ISO-certified facilities, TÜV-audited operations, and a company that has been running since the beginning of the commercial web in Germany.
What you get
- German-based data centers
- Free domain included
- Unlimited traffic on most plans
- Free SSL certificate
- WordPress optimized plans
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Every hosting type it sells
| Product | From | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Web hosting | $1.10/mo | Shared plans with domains, email and a builder included. |
| WordPress hosting | $4/mo | Managed WordPress with automatic updates. |
| VPS | $5/mo | Virtual servers with root access, Linux or Windows. |
| Dedicated servers | $45/mo | Bare metal in German data centres. |
| HiDrive storage | $2/mo | Cloud storage with German data residency. |
Plans & pricing
- 1 Website
- 50 GB SSD
- Free Domain
- 5 Websites
- 150 GB SSD
- Staging
- 1 vCPU
- 2 GB RAM
- 40 GB SSD
What the price actually costs you
- Very low introductory pricing that renews substantially higher.
- Minimum contract terms apply — note the cancellation notice period.
- Prices are in euros with German VAT.
- Statutory EU withdrawal rights apply to consumer purchases.
Technical specification
| Control panel | STRATO custom customer panel |
|---|---|
| Data residency | German data centres with ISO 27001 certification and TÜV audits |
| Storage | SSD across current plans |
| PHP versions | PHP 7.x and 8.x |
| Backups | Included on most hosting plans with restore |
| Mailboxes included with hosting plans | |
| Domains | Large German domain registration business including .de |
| Extras | HiDrive cloud storage and a website builder in the same account |
| Support | German-language phone and email support |
| Compliance | German data protection law, GDPR aligned |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% target |
Performance in practice
Adequate and stable. German data centres give good latency for a German-speaking audience and nothing special for anyone else. The stack is conventional with no caching layer beyond the basics, so expect ordinary shared hosting numbers. STRATO sells reliability and price rather than speed.
Infrastructure & support
Support channels
- 24/7 phone support
- Email ticketing
- Help center
Data centers
- Germany (Berlin)
- Germany (Karlsruhe)
Security & compliance
- German data residency with ISO 27001 certified, TÜV-audited facilities
- Free SSL included on current hosting plans
- DDoS protection at the network level
- Backups included with restore on most plans
- German and EU data protection law compliance
Moving a site in
Migration assistance is offered through support with standard transfer tooling. There is no white-glove engineering service.
The trade-off
In its favour
- Very strong brand recognition in DACH region
- Affordable entry pricing
- Reliable German data centers
Worth knowing
- Less competitive for international audiences
- Interface can feel dated
- Limited advanced developer features
Who should look elsewhere
- Audiences outside German-speaking Europe
- Developers wanting SSH, Git, staging and modern tooling
- Performance-focused buyers
- Anyone averse to minimum contract terms and notice periods
The company behind it
| Ownership | United Internet AG, the group behind IONOS |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Scale | Around 2 million customers and 4 million domains |
| Facilities | German data centres with TÜV-audited operations |
How it got here
- 1997 Founded in Berlin at the start of the German commercial web.
- 2009 Launches HiDrive cloud storage, a popular German alternative to Dropbox.
- 2017 Acquired by United Internet, joining the IONOS group.
- 2020 Modernises hosting plans with SSD storage and updated PHP support.
- 2023 Refreshes the website builder and managed WordPress products.
Common questions
Is STRATO the same as IONOS?
Both are owned by United Internet but operate as separate brands targeting different market segments.
Where are STRATO data centers located?
STRATO operates data centers in Berlin and Karlsruhe, Germany.
The bottom line
A cheap, dependable German host for a German audience, with data residency and local support as the main draw. Technically unambitious, commercially conventional. Check the contract term and the renewal rate before buying.