Is 20i Hosting Legit or a Scam? What You Need to Know

When I first discovered 20i, I had my doubts. As a UK-based hosting provider claiming lightning-fast speed, solid uptime, and “unmatched” support, 20i presents itself as a top-tier service, but does it live up to the hype?

After reviewing their platform extensively, comparing real customer feedback, and testing performance, my conclusion is clear: 20i is a legitimate hosting provider, but not without flaws. While they do deliver on uptime and customer service, numerous user complaints highlight ongoing issues with their control panel, pricing transparency, and plan limitations.

Here’s what I found:

Confusing feature descriptions and pricing structures
Proprietary control panel lacking advanced functionality
Consistently strong uptime and website speed
Limited features on lower-tier plans
UK-based support with responsive agents
Real user complaints about plan value and misleading claims

Let’s dive into the key areas where 20i performs, and where it falls short.

Why Do Some Users Complain About 20i’s Control Panel?

One of the most persistent criticisms of 20i centres on its decision to replace cPanel with its proprietary interface, My20i. While the company promotes My20i as a streamlined, modern alternative, real-world feedback suggests that the experience can be problematic, particularly for developers, agencies, and technically experienced users.

Several customers report that My20i lacks the depth, reliability, and transparency expected from a professional hosting environment. Issues are not limited to usability alone, but extend into integration, migrations, performance, and workflow limitations.

What users say:

“After having to spend money to integrate my control panel with theirs, since their api does not have any instructions or documentation, basically you have to go blindly testing, I ended up with the disappointment that also, the hosting service does not work (I should have started there).

Once I was able to integrate with their system having left me 1000$ in programmers, plus two invoices that I paid to them, I proceeded to try to migrate the first website, so I will describe the bugs, apart from the fact that I do not see well that they force users to hire two localizations, when I only needed one: United Kingdom.

I’m not going to go there because it’s their business and their rules, but what doesn’t make any sense is that you try to do a migration and it’s a whole odyssey.

I installed WordPress, then tried to upload a 10GB file from the All In One WP Migration plugin and it was impossible. Impossible by FTP, impossible by your file manager, I uploaded only 6GB using another WordPress plugin and when that happened…. That’s when the curious thing about this hosting starts.

I was trying to install a plugin and I got this error An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server’s configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums.

It’s normal, possibly the WordPress installation was corrupted, I tried to reinstall it from the dashboard, I didn’t have a connection to WordPress either.

I used your utility to install WordPress: now the connection to the database is lost.

I then tried to delete the account and create it again (between each attempt you have to wait half an hour for an SSL certificate to be installed, which usually takes seconds with another provider)…. For some reason it keeps giving the same error.

I don’t do this for anything else but that no one else gets what I got. Ultimately it’s not because of the money or because they have been rude or rude. What they have been is ineffective and I have wasted the whole afternoon on this.

UPDATE:

After my initial review, 20i reached out with what I can only describe as a half-hearted attempt at damage control. Let me set the record straight: their response managed to amplify my frustration rather than soothe it.

First off, they pointed me to their API documentation – which was as empty as the promises they seem to make (exhibit A). I expect documentation to guide me, not play hide and seek.

About the pricing debacle, I felt like I was cornered into choosing a more expensive package because of my location. This isn’t flexibility; it’s penalizing customers based on geography. I shouldn’t have to pay extra for data center options I don’t need or want.

The migration mess was another chapter in this saga. Blaming WordPress for the migration issues on their platform is as ludicrous as blaming the ocean for getting wet. If hundreds of websites are supposedly migrating smoothly every week, mine must have been beamed to the Bermuda Triangle of 20i servers.

The cherry on top? The alleged solution to my migration woes was to use SSH. The last time I checked, we weren’t in the stone age of internet technology, yet here I am being asked to jump through hoops to perform a simple file upload.

So, there you have it. My experience with 20i was less ‘cloud 9’ and more ‘cloudy with a chance of system errors.’ Their response has only solidified my decision to part ways. Save yourself the headache and steer clear.”
— Pablo

“the service used to be good but now its terrible, operating costs increased so the price has increased, but quality has not increased your site is slower than ever, did testing and was surprised my site loaded slower than any other provider in the market. resulting in me purchasing a vps elsewhere so i can load faster, but if you are a noob then sure 20i is good for you, if you know what you’re doing and understand the value of hosting stay away, its cheap but extra charges are added, automatic backup, “premium email”, Whitelabel nameservers, and more so you might as well use a provider with cpanel cause all these things comes with it, the control panel is also slow compared to any other control panel, file manager is slow cause it connects to ftp before loading i think for security im not sure tho, but just get a vps or dedicated server if you are looking to host business websites”
— Jamie

Users migrating from traditional platforms such as cPanel-based hosts often report significant friction. In one detailed account, a customer described repeated WordPress failures, database connection losses, broken reinstalls, and SSL provisioning delays that stretched simple setup tasks into hours-long processes.

Reported issues include:

Poorly documented API, making third-party integrations expensive and time-consuming
Complex and unreliable site migration processes, especially for large WordPress sites
Severe upload limitations, including failed transfers of large backup files
Slow file manager performance due to FTP-based access
No cPanel option available, even on higher-tier plans
Forced multi-location configurations that increase costs without clear benefits
Reliance on SSH for basic recovery tasks, which many users consider outdated for routine hosting workflows

Some users also highlight a disconnect between rising prices and declining quality. While operating costs have increased, several reviewers claim site performance has worsened rather than improved, leading them to move critical websites to VPS or dedicated servers elsewhere.

That said, not all feedback is negative. Less technical users often find My20i clean and approachable, particularly for basic WordPress installs or single-site projects. However, experienced developers consistently describe the platform as restrictive, slow, and ill-suited for professional or business-critical hosting.

In short, My20i may work for beginners, but for users who value transparency, speed, documentation, and advanced control, it is frequently cited as one of 20i’s weakest points.

If you want a deeper breakdown of features, pricing, and real-world performance, you can read our full 20i hosting review here .

How Reliable is 20i Hosting When It Comes to Uptime?

Despite usability issues, 20i performs exceptionally well in terms of uptime and load speed, arguably one of the most critical aspects of any hosting provider.

Performance Metrics

Metric	Result
30-Day Uptime	99.990%
Server Response Time (UK)	6ms
Full Load Time	575ms
First Contentful Paint	383ms

For UK-based websites, this level of performance is competitive with higher-priced hosts. Sites hosted on 20i load quickly, with consistent uptime, making it a strong contender for SEO and user experience.

That said, they do not explicitly advertise an uptime guarantee, which can be concerning for businesses seeking service-level agreements.

What Do Real Customers Say About 20i’s Support?

Support is one area where 20i often receives praise, but even here, feedback is mixed depending on the complexity of the issue.

Positive feedback:

UK-based team with quick responses via chat and ticket
Detailed knowledge base and helpful agents
Support available for WordPress, site migration, and performance

But some users noted:

“Use to be AMAZING, Now it’s gone downhill, from the websites downtime, to slow websites, to forbidden errors and slow support it’s very frustrating!

I’ve been a customer over 5 years was really happy with the service but today alone all websites have gone offline for more than 2 hours on, off, on and support is getting slow how can I expect my clients to pay for a service like this. All I’m getting is backlash from my clients”
– Darren

So while the availability and friendliness of support is commendable, the depth of technical expertise may not meet the expectations of professional developers or agencies.

Is 20i Misleading Users with Its Hosting Plan Promises?

This is where many users feel let down by 20i. While the marketing material promotes “unlimited databases”, “premium performance”, and “unrivalled value,” the actual offering doesn’t always align with what’s advertised.

Feature Clarity Comparison:

Feature	Advertised	Reality
Unlimited Databases	Yes	Only available on Managed Cloud plans
SSD Storage	10–25 GB	Shared per site, limits not clearly defined
Free Domain	Mentioned vaguely	Not included, even in annual plans
Control Panel Choice	My20i only	No option to use cPanel

Customer frustrations:

“UPDATE: After speaking with Head of Customer Service, Simon Harlow, we have renewed confidence in the platform. He’s addressed every single piece of feedback left both in the feedback form in My20i and in this review and shown us where changes to the 20i platform have been made based on our feedback. We look forward to our relationship with 20i improving thanks to the renewed confidence that Simon has given us and we haven’t had client downtime or complaints now for several days.

Original Review
Purchased Reseller Hosting offering as I like the fact you can have unlimited accounts and a load balanced infrastructure.

Unfortunately though, we’ve been plauged by multiple issues during our migration and afterwards.

The Migration Centre can’t seem to handle a large queue of sites, its incredibly slow and times out very often. The Migration Centre managed to get blocked by our previous hosting provider which made 20i’s staff have to manually migrate everything over.

After that, we had multiple teething issues because each new accounts gets setup with an incredibly old PHP version… Not the ones we had set in cPanel. No idea why that doesn’t pull across.

Then we had some sites databases that had lost their AUTO_INCREMENT settings, meaning we had to restore those from backup.

After that, we had some really big accounts that we wanted to split into multiple parts. The split tool managed to really break on us and instead of moving 1 database, it moved all of them. Then after support fixed it, we sucessfully split but needed to deactivate a hosting package for 1 subdomain we had split off. For some reason on 20i’s system, if you deactivate 1 subdomain (even if its in a separate account) it deactivates ALL of them… And to undo it, you have to wait 30 minutes before the sites are live again.

We still keep having these niggly issues. StackCP is not a true cPanel replacement because it does things which aren’t anywhere near common-sense. Also, the fact that most changes take 30 minutes to apply make it a clunky experience.

We’re fully migrated now but I’m wishing we hadn’t, I’m now sifting through our backlog of customer complaints due to website downtime and other 20i “niggles” that broke their website services.

20i’s marketing is a straight lie and makes out the process is easy, its nowhere near easy.

20i’s support team do reply quite quickly, however, seem reluctant to pass bugs or issues onto the higher teams who maintain StackCP and most of the time are looking for the easiest and fastest way to close off a ticket, rather than the best way to solve an issue.

All in all, I’m stuck here now hoping that 20i get better. I’ve left multiple feedback items for 20i (which they probably won’t read) and asked multiple times for many tickets to be escalated higher. I feel like my issues are falling on deaf ears.

If you’re considering moving to 20i then plan for at least a week of downtime and teething problems with little to no help from 20i support as that is the actual truth and I wouldn’t bother using the Migration Centre, just migrate them yourself its quicker.”
– James King

Transparency is critical in hosting, and 20i’s vague feature descriptions have led to accusations of being misleading, especially for first-time users.

Does 20i Offer Enough Value for Its Pricing?

Value is subjective, but many users argue that 20i’s lower-tier plans offer less flexibility compared to similarly priced competitors. The lack of cPanel, absence of a free domain, and single-site restrictions are key drawbacks.

Hosting Plan Comparison

Plan	Price/Month	Sites	Storage	SSL	Email
Startup Shared Hosting	£4.99	1	10 GB	Yes	1000
WordPress Hosting	£5.99	1	10 GB	Yes	1000
Managed Cloud Hosting	£9.99	Unlimited	25 GB+	Yes	Unlimited

While these plans appear reasonable, they often lack features available in competitor plans at similar or even lower prices. For example, no free domain even with annual billing, and automated backup restoration tools require add-ons.

Why Do Some 20i Customers Choose to Leave?

Despite strong uptime and fairly responsive support, some users actively move away from 20i after initial use, often due to expectation mismatches or operational limitations.

Reasons users leave 20i:

My20i control panel limitations for advanced customisation
Misleading feature marketing (e.g., “unlimited” promises)
No free domain, even for premium or yearly plans
Lack of Windows hosting support
Reseller-related issues: Some customers were affected by third-party resellers who misrepresented 20i’s services, causing confusion and trust issues

Final Thoughts

In my experience, 20i is a legitimate and established web hosting provider, particularly for users based in the UK who value speed, stability, and a local support team. Their uptime is solid, and the infrastructure is impressive.

But it’s important not to overlook the drawbacks.

The My20i control panel feels limited for experienced developers
Entry-level plans are restrictive compared to similarly priced options
Feature marketing can be misleading, especially around “unlimited” claims
Lack of global support channels (like phone) may be a downside for some

So, is 20i hosting legit? Yes. But is it right for everyone? Not necessarily. If you’re new to hosting or just need a basic UK-hosted website, 20i may suit you fine. But if you’re an advanced user or require full transparency and control, you may want to explore alternatives before committing.