Afrihost Review
A buyer-focused review of Afrihost – the Rivonia-based SA ISP carrying multi-FNO fibre, LTE/5G mobile broadband, Pure VoIP home voice, DSL and web hosting under one brand, with an enormous and unusually positive public-review feed.
Is Afrihost worth shortlisting?
Yes for SA consumers and small businesses who want one provider for fibre, mobile broadband, hosting and home VoIP, with no fixed-term contracts and an exceptionally strong public-review pattern. Afrihost holds a 4.7-star Google rating across more than 74,000 reviews – the strongest customer-feedback signal of any major SA ISP. For larger enterprise procurement with contracted SLAs, a business-focused carrier is typically the better fit.
- HQ376 Rivonia Blvd, Sandton, Johannesburg
- Phone0800 011 000 · WhatsApp 071 883 5005
- Product breadthFibre (multi-FNO) + LTE/5G + home VoIP + DSL + web hosting + domains
- Award track8x MyBroadband ISP of the Year + 5x Ask Africa Orange Index
A consumer ISP with category-leading customer-feedback evidence and a multi-product portfolio under one brand – held back only by an enterprise-light positioning.
Afrihost is the closest thing SA has to a household-name ISP, with 25+ years of trading, eight MyBroadband ISP-of-the-Year wins and a 4.7-star Google profile across more than 74,000 reviews. The verbatim feed reads as overwhelmingly positive on WhatsApp support, named-agent care and account control through ClientZone. Multi-FNO fibre, LTE and 5G mobile broadband, DSL and home VoIP all sit under the same brand on month-to-month terms. The procurement caveat is fit: Afrihost is built consumer-first, so larger SA organisations needing contracted SLAs, named technical-account management or hands-on business voice typically need a different shortlist.
Is Afrihost likely to suit you?
Good fit: Afrihost covers your needs and you want a consumer-trusted brand.
Pros and watch-outs
What Afrihost does well, and where the consumer positioning shapes the fit.
- Exceptional public-review aggregate: 4.7★ across more than 74,000 Google reviews – the strongest sustained positive signal of any major SA ISP, with active WhatsApp support cited repeatedly by name.
- Broad portfolio under one brand: multi-FNO fibre (Vumatel, Openserve, Octotel, MetroFibre, Frogfoot, Evotel), LTE and 5G mobile broadband, DSL, home VoIP, web hosting and domains – all month-to-month with ClientZone self-service.
- Pure VoIP voice from R50 per month with per-second billing, no monthly line rental, free calls to any other Pure VoIP number, and number porting available.
- Long-running industry recognition: eight MyBroadband ISP of the Year wins (most of any SA ISP), five Ask Africa Orange Index wins, three IT Person of the Year awards for founder Gian Visser.
- Consumer-first voice design: the home VoIP product is built for households and small offices, not multi-site contact centres or enterprise UC deployments. For business voice with hunt-groups, IVRs, CRM integration and contracted SLAs, shortlist a SA business-voice specialist instead.
- Fibre install timing and after-sales response depend on the underlying network – Vumatel or Openserve install delays land at Afrihost’s support layer. Track which operator covers your address so attribution stays clean if something slips.
- Heavy reliance on WhatsApp + ClientZone for support is great when it works and praised in the public feed, but buyers wanting named human account managers and quarterly business reviews should expect to look elsewhere.
Score breakdown
Four categories that decide whether Afrihost is the right ISP for your household, sole-trader or small-business setup – weighted to the buying evidence a South African shopper actually uses.
Month-to-month across every product line, home VoIP from R50/month with per-second billing, no monthly landline rental. Fibre and LTE rates are competitive against Webafrica, Cool Ideas and the rest at the same speed tier.
Multi-FNO fibre (Vumatel + Openserve + Octotel + MetroFibre + Frogfoot + Evotel), LTE, 5G, DSL, home VoIP, web hosting and domain registration – one of the broadest one-brand portfolios in the SA market. ClientZone self-service covers it all.
Google 4.7/5 across 77,577 reviews — the largest sample in the set and well above the South African Google cohort — set against HelloPeter 1.7/10 across 903 on an unmanaged profile, where TrustIndex weights response rate and so penalises the profile independently of service. The two platforms disagree by more than any other provider here.
Holds an ECS licence rather than ECNS and owns no network infrastructure; installation and fault response depend on Vumatel and Openserve. Scored below 7.0 because there is no infrastructure evidence to cite.
4.7 stars across 74,807 Google reviews, agents named in customer verbatim, and eight MyBroadband ISP of the Year awards.
Pricing – published per product, month-to-month
Afrihost publishes rates across each product line on afrihost.com. Voice packages are flat monthly with rollover; fibre and LTE vary by underlying operator and speed tier.
| Cost area | Published rate | Buyer question | Risk level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice tier – entry | R50 / month | Per-second billing + CallTime rollover (3 months)? | Published |
| Voice tier – mid | R100 / R300 / month | Suits home + small-office call volumes? | Published |
| Voice tier – top | R500 / month | Free calls to any other Pure VoIP number? | Published |
| Fibre lines | Per-Mbps published | Which underlying operator at my address + speed tier? | Published |
| LTE / 5G mobile broadband | From R199 / R399 per month | Coverage at our sites + capped vs uncapped? | Published |
| Number porting | R99 once-off admin fee | Geographic + 087 / 086 / 0860 numbers eligible? | Confirm at signup |
What real customers say
The Afrihost Rivonia Google Business Profile sits at 4.7 stars across 74,807 reviews – the strongest positive signal at scale of any SA ISP. The verbatim feed surfaces support agents repeatedly by name (Nonjabulo, Siphesihle N, Mali, Mduduzi M, Ricky, Sbongile, Jan S), WhatsApp resolution speed and ClientZone control. There is real diversity inside the feed – not every review is uniformly glowing – but the dominant pattern is buyer satisfaction with the service interface.
“Afrihost is the best when it comes to customer service, they place a high standard on their service delivery and I cannot see myself with any other ISP.”
“It was easy to get in touch with them, especially via WhatsApp. What stood out to me most was that I was able to speak to a real person – Siphesihle N who actually listened and understood my situation.”
“Bad news about Afrihost no longer running Rain, so they cannot get any info when rain’s network goes belly-up … Update: Jan S helped out and gave me useful information. Updating to 5 stars.”
Buyer move: the feed is unusually consistent for an SA ISP at this scale. Use it as positive shortlist evidence, then verify two things specific to your situation: which fibre operator can reach your address, and whether the home voice fit suits your call volume (not a contact-centre replacement).
The Afrihost catalogue
One brand covering most consumer and SOHO connectivity needs – the breadth is the differentiator more than any single product line.
Vumatel + Openserve + Octotel + MetroFibre + Frogfoot + Evotel
One Afrihost contract covering whichever underlying operator reaches your address. Useful for households moving suburbs or running into one operator’s coverage gaps.
Fixed-wireless from R199pm and R399pm respectively
Capped and uncapped fixed-wireless data plans where fibre is missing or being installed. Useful as a backup line or for renters without fibre options.
Home-style voice over your existing connection
Per-second billing, no monthly line rental, free calls to any other Pure VoIP number, 087 number on signup or port your existing landline.
Hosting, email, domain registration under one brand
Shared and managed hosting plans, business email and SA domain registration – carried over from Afrihost’s early-2000s web-hosting roots and consistently praised in the customer feed.
Self-service plus named-agent escalation
ClientZone portal handles plan changes, payments and top-ups. WhatsApp support (071 883 5005) is the channel cited most in the public review feed for named-agent help.
A consumer-trusted brand under one bill, with month-to-month flexibility, is the priority.
- You want fibre, mobile broadband and a home phone number from one brand on one bill, with no fixed contract.
- Public-review consensus carries weight in your shortlist process and you value engagement signal as much as raw network speed.
- WhatsApp-first support and a self-service portal suit your preferred channel mix.
- The home voice service fits a household or small office – not a multi-user, multi-site call centre.
You are running enterprise procurement with contracted SLAs and named account management.
- You need contracted voice SLAs, hunt groups, IVR menus, CRM integration and contact-centre voice.
- Your stakeholders want a named technical-account manager and quarterly business reviews.
- Procurement requires a single carrier with its own infrastructure rather than a multi-operator retail brand.
Alternative ISPs to compare
Three SA ISPs worth quoting alongside Afrihost at your address.
Cool Ideas
Multi-FNO retail fibre ISP that consistently tops MyBroadband’s quarterly speed benchmark. Different positioning to Afrihost on technical-test data vs broad customer-base.
Webafrica
SA fibre ISP with 500,000+ customers post-MWeb acquisition. Volume-led retailer and the closest scale peer to Afrihost on a per-Mbps basis.
RSAWEB
SA enterprise ISP with data-centre depth. Useful where business workloads beyond a residential line drive the procurement decision.
South African essentials
Four SA-specific signals to verify before signing.
Afrihost operates as a licensed SA electronic communications service (ECS) provider. Verify the operating-entity name at register.icasa.org.za if procurement requires it.
The most important pre-signup check. Confirm which underlying operator Afrihost can offer at your specific address – the underlying network determines install timing, line speed and fault chain.
Voice signup requires a copy of your ID/passport and proof of residence. Porting an existing landline takes up to 14 working days and incurs a one-off R99 admin fee.
The home voice product is built for household and SOHO use over fibre or fixed LTE. For business hunt-groups, IVR menus or contact-centre voice, shortlist a SA business-voice specialist alongside Afrihost.
Sources and disclosure
Where this review’s facts come from, and how WhichVoIP gets paid – both transparent before you act on any of it.
- afrihost.comUsed for product portfolio, voice pricing tiers, LTE / 5G plan structure, ClientZone references, awards claims and HQ address. Verified live 19 May 2026.
- afrihost.com/voipUsed for the home voice package matrix (R50 / R100 / R300 / R500 per month), Pure VoIP free-calling rules, porting admin fee and supported handset models.
- Afrihost Google Business Profile (Rivonia)Used for the 4.7★ / 74,807 aggregate rating, HQ address (376 Rivonia Blvd) and the three verbatim quotes (Gershwin Solomons / Dalet Wilmans / Barry Eslick). Listing is claimed. Open source →
- Prior review baselineUsed for the 2024 publication context, product-line continuity and historical category-award track.
- 19 May 2026Score recalibrated from 8.0 to 8.3 against the updated 4-axis rubric. The 4.7★ / 74,807 GBP signal is the strongest positive-feed evidence in the SA ISP category and weights up Support & Reliability. Surfaced the Pure VoIP free-calling design and broader award track that the prior review condensed.
Disclosure: This review was researched and written by WhichVoIP’s editorial team using primary sources (provider website, Google Business Profile and prior review baseline). WhichVoIP may receive a referral fee when you request quotes through our platform. Read our full editorial policy.
How this score should be read
Scores are editorial guides, not guarantees. They combine published pricing signals, service fit, feature depth, support and reliability indicators, public customer signal and South African procurement checks.
- 25%Pricing value, including commercial transparency, contract flexibility and quote-process friction.
- 25%Feature set, including portfolio depth, integrations and admin usability.
- 30%Support and reliability, including public customer signal and institutional credibility.
- 20%Buyer transparency, including local procurement checks and implementation risk.
FAQ
Short answers for the questions buyers typically ask before requesting quotes.
What is Afrihost?
A major South African ISP offering fibre across multiple underlying operators, LTE and 5G mobile broadband, Pure VoIP voice, DSL, web hosting and domains under one brand. 25+ years of trading and 8 MyBroadband ISP-of-the-Year wins.
How much does Afrihost cost?
It depends on the product. The home voice tiers start at R50 per month with per-second billing. Fibre is published per Mbps and varies by underlying operator. LTE and 5G mobile broadband packages start from R199 per month for capped data.
Is Afrihost good for business?
For SOHO and small-business connectivity, yes – particularly the multi-product portfolio under month-to-month terms. For larger enterprise voice and contracted SLAs, a business-focused SA carrier is typically a better shortlist.
What is Pure VoIP?
Afrihost’s home-style voice service over your existing internet connection. Per-second billing, no monthly line rental, free calls to any other Pure VoIP number, 087 number on signup or port your existing landline for a R99 once-off admin fee.
Which fibre operators does Afrihost retail?
Vumatel, Openserve, Octotel, MetroFibre, Frogfoot, Evotel and others. Confirm the specific operator available at your address before signing.
How does Afrihost compare to Webafrica?
Both are large multi-operator SA retail ISPs with consumer positioning. Afrihost has the stronger public-review feed (4.7★ / 74,807); Webafrica has volume scale post-MWeb acquisition. Compare at your specific address with your priorities.
Can I keep my existing landline number?
Yes – geographic SA numbers (starting 01, 02, 03, 04, 05) and non-geographic numbers (starting 087, 080, 086, 0860, 0861) can be ported. Mobile numbers cannot. Porting takes up to 14 working days and there is a once-off R99 admin fee.