• BYU Domains Features
• Other Free Hosting Providers
• Shared Hosting vs. Website Builders
• Leaving the University and BYU Domains
• Option 1: Keep the same hosting company (Reclaim Hosting)
• Option 2: Choose a different hosting company and migrate your site into their program
• The Typical Shared Hosting Provider Offering
• These Hosting Options are most similar to what is offered through BYU Domains
• These are the cheapest hosting providers
• These are the most recommended based on many experts
• Other options to consider
• Option 3: Delete your domain

BYU Domains is free to all active students, staff, and faculty. Your domain name and domain hosting will be paid for while you attend BYU. After you leave BYU your account can be migrated to another hosting provider. This document highlights the features of BYU Domains, defines other hosting options and provides some details about other alternative hosting providers.

Domain name		1 Free, Additional domain names can be purchased
Disk Space		Unmetered
# of sites		Unlimited
cPanel
FTP		Unlimited
SSH		Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual
Installable Applications		160
DNS management
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited
Email		Unlimited
SSL		Unlimited
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some
Support		24 X 7

Other features include: Web based File Manager, Over 4000 Perl Modules, SSL using Let’s Encrypt, Full database control using PHPMyAdmin, Python, Ruby on Rails, Unlimited Cron Jobs, Flexible error logging, user account management, and many support and learning resources.

NOTE: BYU Domains is not intended for departmental websites.

Here are some other free domain hosting providers:

		BYU Domains	Wix.com	Weebly.com	WordPress.com	Google Sites
Plan Name			Free	Free	Free	N/A
Domain name		1 Free Additional domain names can be purchased		1 domain for 1 year
Disk Space		Unmetered	500MB	500MB	3GB	Unmetered, Uses your Google Drive account
# of sites		Unlimited	One	One	One	Unlimited, 5 sub pages
cPanel
FTP		Unlimited
SSH		Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual	Manual		Versioning	No
Installable Applications		160	Wix Editor & ADI	Templates	One	Themes, gadgets
DNS management
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited	Yes, limited			Sheets
Email		Unlimited		Yes, For a fee		Gmail
SSL		Unlimited		Yes, 1 free	Yes, 1 free	Some control
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some
Support		24 X 7	24 X 7	Chat, Email, Forum	Chat, Email, Forum	24 X 7

Other features compared:

• Media Manager rather than a web based File Manager, limited user account management and support resources.
• No Perl Modules, No Let’s Encrypt, No PHPMyAdmin, No Python, No Ruby on Rails, No Cron Jobs, No error logging

This document describes several popular and affordable web hosting and website builder options. Shared web hosting provide a platform to do web development and the tools to develop a website and ways to scale it to fit any size business. Website Builders are designed to easily create a website with a simple to use interface to meet a few design scenarios. Here I will attempt to describe the differences between Shared Hosting and Website Building options.

• https://www.domain.com/blog/2019/04/23/website-hosting-vs-website-builder/
• https://www.hostingadvice.com/how-to/web-hosting-vs-website-builders/
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424725,00.asp

Graduating from BYU and wondering what will happen to your domain? The good news is that you can take your domain with you when you graduate and leave the university. However, you will need to choose what company you want to host your domain. We have put together this guide to describe the different options that you have in regards to your domain.

Watch the video tutorial or continue reading below for the options of what you can do with your BYU domain after you graduate.

We have done extensive research on other hosting options using many of the experts across the internet. We attempt to describe many of the options that are available for you.

BYU uses a hosting company called “Reclaim Hosting” (out of Virginia) to host the domains created through the BYU Domains program. You have already been using Reclaim Hosting, and, if you want, you can continue to use them to host your domain for a fee of $30 per year (~$2 a month). This option is nice because you don't have to migrate your site at all, worry about different logins, etc. Based on our research Reclaim Hosting is one of the most affordable options while also maintaining most of what is offered through BYU Domains

		BYU Domains	Reclaim Hosting
Domain name		1 Free, Additional domain names can be purchased	1 Free, Additional domain names can be purchased
Disk Space		Unmetered	2GB=$30/yr 10GB=$50/yr 100GB=$100/yr
# of sites		Unlimited	Unlimited
cPanel
FTP		Unlimited	Unlimited
SSH		Unlimited	Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual	Auto & Manual
Installable Applications		160	150+
DNS management
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited	Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited	Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited	Unlimited
Email		Unlimited	Unlimited
SSL		Unlimited	Unlimited
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some	Yes
Support		24 X 7	24 X 7

You have used Reclaim Hosting for a while now, and you want to shop around for a different hosting company. If you want to embark upon this path, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that, most hosting companies charge for hosting on a tiered basis. This means that, depending on the features and data storage space you want, the pricing will change. Below are some options for shared server hosting and website builder options (based on those most similar to BYU Domains, Cheapest, and most recommended by the experts). Please note that in some cases you can find cheaper prices than the ones listed below, but these prices are normally introductory prices for six months to one year, and then the prices go up.

For more information on how to migrate your WordPress site to another hosting provider, see the video below:

The chart below shows the average offering by the least expensive hosting providers as well as the hosting providers that are the most similar to what is offered by BYU Domains.

		BYU Domains	Cheapest Hosting Providers	Hosting Providers Most Similar to BYU Domains
Domain name		1 Free, Additional domain names can be purchased	1 domain name for 1st year
Annual Cost (List Price)		$0.00	$68.33	$134.85
Disk Space		Unmetered	614GB	1.4TB
# of sites		Unlimited	1.6 sites	Unlimited
cPanel
FTP		Unlimited
SSH		Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual	Yes or Yes for a fee
Installable Applications		160	169+
DNS management			40% - Yes
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited	~8	Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited	~32	Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited	~14	Unlimited
Email		Unlimited	33% - Unlimited 33% - ~12 33% - No	Unlimited
SSL		Unlimited	50% - Yes 50% - Yes+1 Free
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner			70% Yes
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some	30% - Yes 10% For a fee 60% - No
Support		24 X 7	24 X 7
Comment			Some includes forced ads into your site

		BYU Domains	Hostinger.com	HostGator.com	a2hosting.com	BlueHost.com	GoDaddy.com	wix.com
Plan Name			Premium Shared	BabyPlan	Swift	ChoicePlus	Deluxe Hosting	Unlimited
Domain name		1 Free Additional domain names can be purchased	1 domain for 1 year			1 domain for 1 year	1 domain for 1 year	1 domain for 1 year
Annual Cost (Discounted/List Price)		$0.00	$25.80/$41.88	$35.76/$119.40	$39.60/$119.88	$65.40/$179.88	$95.88/$143.88	$204.00/204.00
Disk Space		Unmetered	20GB	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	10GB
# of sites		Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	One
cPanel
FTP		Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited			50
SSH		Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual	Weekly				Database	Manual
Installable Applications		160	100+	WordPress+16		Many	125+	Wix Editor & ADI
DNS Management
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited	100	Unlimited	Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited	100	Unlimited	Unlimited		Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited	UnlimitedX3GB	Unlimited	Unlimited		25X1GB
Email		Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited		30GB Extra cost
SSL		Unlimited	No, extra cost	Yes, 1 free		Yes, 1 free	Free for 1st year
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some
Support		24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7
# of Expert Recommendations in our study (out of 17)			12	13	10	12	12	10

If you have questions about the differences between hosting companies, watch this video. It is a really good introduction to web hosting and what you should look for. Lastly, if you want to explore more hosting companies, the following URLs contain more information and reviews about different companies.

• http://wpdevshed.com/best-shared-hosting-for-wordpress/
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2484510,00.asp
• http://www.whoishostingthis.com/compare/wordpress/
• http://www.whoishostingthis.com/hosting-reviews/

		BYU Domains	SquareSpace.com	SquareSpace.com	Shopify.com
Plan Name			Personal	Business	Basic
Domain name		1 Free Additional domain names can be purchased	1 domain for 1 year	1 domain for 1 year
Annual Cost (List Price)		$0.00	$144.00 50% off for students for 1st year	$216.00 50% off for students for 1st year	$348.00
Disk Space		Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered
# of sites		Unlimited	One	Unlimited	One
cPanel					Mgmt Console
FTP		Unlimited	Two	Unlimited
SSH		Unlimited
Backup		Auto & Manual
Installed Applications		160	Templates	Templates	70+ Themes
DNS management
Addon (parked) domains		Unlimited
Subdomains		Unlimited
Databases		Unlimited	Data Blocks	Data Blocks
Email		Unlimited
SSL		Unlimited			Yes, 1 free
Suite of Analytic Tools
Virus Scanner
Faculty Teaching and Learning Resources
Site Migration		Yes, some
Support		24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7	24 X 7
# of Expert Recommendations in our study (out of 17)			3	3	1

Choose the hosting company that will fulfill the vision you have for your site. We hope that you will keep your site alive and continue to develop the online experiences you have had with BYU Domains.

We are sad to see you go! However, if you decide to delete your website, you can contact BYU Domains support through email at domains.support@byu.edu to submit a request to have your account deleted. Once deleted, however, your website will not be accessible on the internet and you will no longer have access to cPanel. If you wish to start your website up again at a later date, you can download a backup copy of your website using the Backups documentation.