Mac users have often asked me about solid web hosting and online backup options that are user-friendly to Mac (and iOS) users (as well as Windows users and those needing solid web hosting and online backup in general). After using various web hosting and online backup solutions over the years, I now personally use, I have moved all of my clients to, and I personally recommend WebMate (formerly MacAce and MacMate).
One quick disclaimer I will mention when discussing “Mac friendly web hosting”. I do not mean web hosting on an actual Mac server (such as a Mac Mini Server or Mac Pro Server). While Apple does offer a Server addon to macOS available on the Mac App Store, Apple is slowly pivoting Server away from a full-fledged web server experience (and it’s web server experiences have been lagging for a while), I’ve never recommended Mac users actually use a Mac-based server for web hosting (there are some services that offer Mac Mini and Mac Pro hosting or co-locating for those who absolutely need it, but most Mac users simply don’t need this type of hosting). The hosting provider I recommend offers traditional cPanel-based hosting, as well as other premium hosting options.
There are a few key reasons why I personally use WebMate for my personal use and for my clients, as well as I recommend them to anyone who asks me about web hosting:
1. WebMate is an established company (the company started in 1996 under its former name, MacAce), so they’ve been in business long enough to offer solid web hosting to customers, as well as have built up enough of a client base to remain in business for the longhaul. I attempted to use smaller “startup” type companies in the past, and while I enjoy helping “startups”, the issues I had with smaller “startup” type companies with unreliable web hosting, attempts to cut costs to remain in business, and my clients having to worry about if they could get enough funding to keep their servers online. With WebMate, I’m dealing with an established company who has invested in reliability, knowing I and my clients are in good hands.
2. While WebMate is an established company, they also offer enough of a “small business feel” (they’re based out of Bodmin in Cornwall in the UK) that is the opposite of “big tech” style hosting providers. When I contact WebMate Support, I’m in touch with support reps who know me and my clients and who treat each of us as valued customers, not just another customer number in a support queue from random support reps I don’t know. The WebMate Support team (Pete, Lewis, and Charlie) are professionals in the web hosting industry, and they’ve handled all of our support questions with ease, including major migrations of all of my clients’ websites from other hosting providers to WebMate. I like being able to support a company who values my business and treats me as a customer versus spending my web hosting company with a major “big tech” company where all I am is another addition to their bottom line.
3. WebMate is headquartered out of the UK with offices and datacenters in the UK and US, and I also like knowing that my web hosting data is snugly hosted over in UK datacenters (one of their main datacenters is one of the Telehouse London datacenters), especially since I live in the heart of severe weather and tornado alley. My clients also like the fact that the WebMate Support teams are working hard when they’re asleep. 
4. WebMate was formerly known as MacAce, and they have years of Mac experience under them with integrating Macs into their web hosting and ISP plans (for UK ISP customers). As a full-time Mac user, it helps knowing the WebMate Support teams understand how to integrate Macs into their services when I need the additional level of Mac integration expertise, plus they’re the perfect web hosting provider to recommend to Mac users. They also have plenty of iOS, Windows, Linux, etc., experience, so they’re also a great overall web hosting provider for those wheo need it.
In terms of web hosting plans, most of my clients use their cPanel-based plans (known as cPack). Ther cPanel-based plans offer everything I need to manage my clients cPanel accounts, and their pricing is reasonable as well.
https://webmate.me/us/reseller-hosting/
They also offer WordPress-optimized hosting as well, and although most of my clients are using WordPress for their websites, I’m currently running their WordPress instances on cPanel so I can easily manage my clients’ cPanel accounts. Their WordPress-optimized plans look solid though, and my clients may eventually wish to transition over to them.
https://webmate.me/us/wordpress-hosting/
They also offer “WebMate Lite” and “WebMate Pro” hosting plans, and I’ve personally had websites on the predecessor to their WebMate Pro hosting plans (those websites were for organizations who are no longer in business), but when I had them running on their premium hosting, it was solid, plus they handled the backend management for me, which was luxurious. I would recommend “WebMate Pro” for those needing a premium experience, especially for Mac users who need simplicity instead of managing a cPanel account. They also offer their own Web Builder in addition to traditional CMS options such as WordPress, and while I haven’t personally used it, it looks like a solid, easy-to-use option for web design, especially for Mac users.
https://webmate.me/us/budget-web-hosting/
https://webmate.me/us/web-hosting/
https://webmate.me/us/web-builder/
They also offer domain registration and SSL certificates, so everything one would need to get fully going on the web. The majority of my clients have migrated their domains over to them, and I’m working to ensure the rest of my clients migrate their domains to them for centralized management.
https://webmate.me/us/domains/
https://webmate.me/us/ssl-certificates/
They also offer what they refer to as “business class email” with 100% uptime reliability and mirrored email hosting. Some of my clients are hosting email on the cPanel accounts, although some of my clients use their “business class email”, and I personally have a personal WebMate.me email address from them (since you can signup for both domain-based email hosting or WebMate.me email hosting), and it has been solid for me. I’ve been forwarding other email accounts to it that get a lot of junk mail, since my WebMate email account offers better junk mail filtering and blocking than some accounts I’ve used, and it feels great finally being able to get a handle on my junk mail filtering and blocking with my WebMate email account.
https://webmate.me/us/business-email/
Now that I’ve scaled-back on web design and handle more post-web design management due to time constraints, it also feels great to refer my clients and others to WebMate’s web and graphics design services. It was always difficult in the past to recommend a good graphics designer and web designer for larger projects for my clients, and now I can recommend solid design services from the same company my clients host with, plus I’ve seen their design services in action since WebMate builds and mantains their billing system and control panel (which I’ve found well-designed and easy to use). They offer “jump start” services, WordPress web design, and custom design options from their “SAUCE” brand.
https://webmate.me/us/jumpstart/
https://webmate.me/us/wordpress-design/
https://webmate.me/us/web-design/
In addition to web hosting, WebMate also offers online storage and backup through their “WebMate Drive” service, which I personally use. WebMate Drive is similar to the “iDisk” feature that Apple offered with .Mac and MobileMe years ago, although with faster performance, more space, and more flexibility, since one can connect to it over AFP (Apple Filing Protocol), FTP/SFTP, and WebDAV. It can be mouted as a Time Machine drive, as well as it works with popular backup utilities such as Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, and GoodSync. You can also use WebMate Drive to share files with others, as well as allow others to upload files to WebMate Drive (without accessing the rest of one’s personal WebMate Drive). I’m currently on their 500GB plan (although I may bump up my storage space soon), and I’m currently using WebMate Drive to backup and sync the contents of a share on my Drobo NAS, plus I’ll be using it to backup my Mac as well (I’m not sure if I’ll be using Time Machine or a third-party backup utility yet). I’m also slowly pivoting away from other cloud storage services and using it for file sharing and having people send files to me. While there are times when I’ll still need to use iCloud and Dropbox for some online storage and syncing, people have been sending me large files over Google Drive, and I’ve been sending people large files over iCloud Mail Drop, but consolidating file sharing over WebMate Drive would streamline my workflow with people.
https://webmate.me/us/cloud-backup/
For UK customers, WebMate is also a Mac-friendly ISP and phone provider, so they offer broadband and phone services for UK customers as well. Since I’m in the US, I haven’t used any of their ISP or phone services, but since I have friends in the UK, it’s always great to know a UK ISP I can recommend to them.
https://webmate.me/us/sip-trunks/
https://webmate.me/3cx-hosted-voip/
https://webmate.me/leased-lines/
https://webmate.me/home-line-rental/
https://webmate.me/business-line-rental/
For Mac users needing solid web hosting and online backup that offers solid performance, reliability, support, and the Mac integration support edge, WebMate is a solid choice and a great company that I highly recommend. If you need any of their services, give their friendly team a call or email (and tell them I sent you to them, as it helps me out a little bit), and I am pleased to be a customer with them and knowing all my clients are running well with them.
Nathan Parker
