At TotalChoice Hosting, we’re proud to power everything from personal side projects to enterprise-grade platforms. Our dedicated servers are the quiet backbone behind thousands of websites, applications, and digital experiences — built by people who care about performance, reliability, and support that actually shows up when it matters.
In this Client Showcase, we’re excited to feature Criticker — a smart, community-driven recommendation engine that helps people discover what to watch or play next. Whether you’re a film buff, TV junkie, or gamer, Criticker offers a personalized experience built on taste and trust. Behind the scenes, their entire platform runs on our high-performance Michigan Dedicated Servers, backed by over 15 years of partnership.
Criticker is a film, TV, and video game recommendation platform that works a little differently than the typical streaming algorithm. Instead of guessing based on popularity, Criticker matches users with others who share their unique tastes and builds recommendations based on that network of similar preferences.
We recently spoke with Mike Powell, Co-Founder of Criticker, about his experience with TotalChoice Hosting and what makes Criticker tick.
Why Criticker Chose TotalChoice Hosting
After facing reliability issues with a previous provider, Mike Powell and his team at Criticker were looking for more than just another server — they needed trust, performance, and real support!
“We had a pretty rough experience with our previous provider — ongoing performance problems and support that just wasn’t there when we needed it. We started looking for a dedicated hosting provider that could offer more than just hardware — we wanted someone we could count on. After researching our options, TotalChoice Hosting stood out. That was over 15 years ago, and we’ve been with them ever since. The difference in service and reliability was immediately obvious, and it’s stayed that way ever since.”
How Criticker Runs at Scale
Criticker operates a server infrastructure designed to support the demands of a high-traffic, data-rich recommendation engine. Their platform runs entirely on a home-grown PHP framework, with MySQL and JavaScript powering the backend and frontend — all working in harmony to deliver personalized results in real time.
With over 21 million ratings and counting, the platform is built to handle continuous load, dynamic content generation, and a growing global audience. Thanks to the flexibility and reliability of their dedicated hosting environment, Criticker can focus on refining its platform, not managing downtime.
Performance That Speaks for Itself
At TotalChoice Hosting, we don’t wait for problems to happen — we work proactively with our clients to identify opportunities for improvement before performance becomes an issue. That’s exactly what happened during a recent review of Criticker’s infrastructure. After coordinating a hardware upgrade to better support their growing workload, the results were immediate.
“We really noticed a huge improvement in performance. Everything just felt smoother — and as developers, that kind of upgrade is something you don’t take for granted.”
By staying ahead of the curve with infrastructure planning and support, TotalChoice ensures Criticker’s platform runs at peak performance, no matter how much it grows.
Support That Shows Up When It Matters Most
We asked Mike if there was a time when TotalChoice Hosting’s support really stood out. Without hesitation, he recalled a moment that perfectly captured what we aim to deliver:
“A number of years ago, we were alerted that our hard drive was possibly about to fail. This was on a Sunday, but TCH support got back to us immediately — they didn’t wait until Monday. They scheduled downtime, pulled the server off the rack for inspection, kept us updated throughout the entire process, and replaced the failing hardware fast. Our sites were back online smoothly and without data loss. It was customer service that went above and beyond.”
At TotalChoice Hosting, this is more than just a support ticket — it’s our standard. Real people. Real responses. And real solutions, even on weekends, when it matters most.
Hosting That Helps You Grow
As Criticker has grown, so has its infrastructure’s complexity. Today, its platform runs on bare metal dedicated servers, supporting a custom-built PHP framework, MySQL databases, and JavaScript-powered features. With TotalChoice Hosting, Criticker has built a scalable and dependable environment that keeps pace with its evolving demands.
Mike Powell, Co-Founder of Criticker, said it best:
“Having our own dedicated servers, where we can host multiple projects, has been huge for our growth!”
This flexibility—backed by personal, responsive support—allows Criticker to scale confidently as its audience grows while keeping performance and reliability at the core of its user experience.
Final Thoughts from Criticker
“The uptime has been great, but what really sets TCH apart is their excellent, always-responsive customer support team.”
For over 15 years, Criticker has relied on TotalChoice Hosting to deliver the stability, speed, uptime, and personal support needed to run a global recommendation platform. From server upgrades to weekend support requests, our team has been there to ensure their infrastructure stays invisible so their users can focus on discovering great entertainment without interruption.
We’re proud to have earned that trust over so many years and even prouder to continue powering Criticker’s growth into the future. Partnerships like these define TotalChoice Hosting.