Looking for a managed WordPress hosting provider to start your blog or launch a new website?
Or maybe you’re frustrated with your current provider and want to explore other options.
With so many enticing choices, it’s hard knowing which platform outranks the competition.
While we believe the “best” WordPress hosting service is the one that best suits your specific needs and requirements, we also believe that some companies are better than others.
In this guide, we’ll compare the 7 best managed WordPress hosting providers.
We’ll cover everything you need to know like:
- Cost
- Speed
- Security
- Customer support
- Uptime
- Lots more
And by the end of this guide, you’ll have the knowledge and know-how for finding the best website host for your needs.
We’ll also spill the beans on our top hosting provider choice (and explain why we recommend it).
But before we slide into our list, let’s start with a quick definition…
What Is Managed WordPress Hosting?
With unmanaged WordPress hosting, you only get access to a server and an operating system. All other aspects involved in optimizing and managing your website are up to you.
Now, a managed WordPress hosting solution offers fast, secure servers, customer support, and manage administrative tasks like WordPress installation, automated backups, software updates, and file access restrictions.
The Top 7 Managed WordPress Hosting Providers For 2021
1. SiteGround
Pricing
- StartUp: $4.99/mo.
- GrowBig: $7.99/mo.
- GoGeek: $14.99/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7:
- Phone Support
- Live Chat
- Helpdesk
- Community Forum
- Knowledge Base
Performance
- 99.99% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress migration & installation.
SiteGround Pros
Fast Page-Loading Speed
Using a combination of effective hardware and software, SiteGround’s servers deliver some of the fastest page-load speeds of any hosting provider. Page speed is critical for increasing page views, generating conversions, and ranking in Google.
99.99% Uptime
SiteGround uses redundancy routines and multiple power feeds for all critical network components, resulting in an impressive uptime. Review site Bitcatcha, which hosts on SiteGround, has had an unfailing uptime since 2014.
Affordability
With a starting plan at $4.99, they’re one of the most affordable WordPress hosting options. Though their month-to-month plans are significantly more expensive than yearly plans.
Quality Service Worldwide
No matter where you are in the world, SiteGround can deliver optimal service for your website and visitors. They use Cloudflare Content Delivery Network — which has 200 distribution nodes in 100 countries around the world — to deliver content anywhere in the world as quickly as possible. They also have 6 ultra-fast data centers around the world that deliver speedy server response times no matter where you are.
Environmentally Friendly
SiteGround is committed to green hosting and sustainability. Their headquarters is in compliance with LEED design requirements, they optimize their server software to be more energy-efficient, they partner with carbon-neutral partners like Google Cloud Platform, and more.
Great Customer Support
SiteGround offers phone support, live chat, and helpdesk tickets, all available 24/7. Live chat resolves 90% of inquiries and the average helpdesk ticket gets a response within 15 minutes. They received a 97.7% customer satisfaction rate and won 2 Stevie Awards for customer service in 2020.
Transparency
SiteGround is committed to transparency in many ways. They display their monthly and yearly uptime percentage on their website. They provide the IP addresses of their data centers so you can test and pick the best one for your site. And they’re open and honest about what you get with each of their plans.
Easy-To-Use, Intuitive Dashboard
Rather than cPanel, SiteGround uses a custom dashboard called Site Tools. Site Tools is arguably easier to understand and navigate than cPanel. And users can customize Site Tools by pinning frequently-used functions at the top of the menu for easier access.
Free Daily Backup
SiteGround offers free, automatic daily backups of your site content in case of data loss. Shared hosting plans backup data for the past 30 days. And cloud hosting accounts backup data for up to 7 days.
Free Optimization Plugin
WordPress users rejoice, for every SiteGround WordPress plan comes with an exclusive (and free!) optimization plugin, SG Optimizer. Whether you’re using a fancy paid theme or a free WordPress theme, SG Optimizer works like magic to speed up your website. But remember it’s ONLY available for SiteGround customers.
SiteGround Cons
Limited Data Storage
SiteGround offers limited storage space for each WordPress plan — 10GB for StartUp, 20GB for GrowBig, and 40GB for GoGeek. If your plan doesn’t offer enough storage space, you have no choice but to upgrade to a higher plan.
High Renewal Price
While their prices are enticing for new customers, the cost of service renewal goes up significantly. Renewing your SiteGround website will cost from $14.99 – $39.99 per month.
No Ad Credits
Many WordPress hosts offer freebies to new customers, usually in the form of advertising credits. Free ad spend is always nice to have, but can be especially useful to new websites trying to gain traction. SiteGround offers none.
Customer Support (Caveat)
As SiteGround has grown in size, it’s become more difficult to reach a customer service representative. And accessing customer support is a bit more complicated than it should be. Rather than clicking a simple button, you’ll have to click through multiple pages before prompting live chat or ticketing options.
Closing Thoughts
In addition to great customer support and transparency, SiteGround’s greatest feature is the quality of their service. If you want a managed WordPress host with lightning-fast speed and unfailing uptime (particularly if you’re based outside North America), SiteGround is for you.
If you want a deeper dive into SiteGround, check out our fully fleshed-out SiteGround review.
2. Bluehost
Pricing
- Basic: $2.95/mo.
- Plus: $5.45/mo.
- Choice Plus: $5.45/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7:
- Phone Support
- Live Chat Support
Performance
- 99.98% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress migration and installation.
Bluehost Pros
Affordability
With plans starting as low as $2.95/month, Bluehost is one of the most affordable hosting options. To get the lowest monthly rate for your plan, you’ll need to buy 36-month terms. Otherwise the monthly price increases.
Lots Of Storage
Bluehost provides customers with lots of data storage. For their Basic plan, you get 50GB of storage space. The Plus and Choice Plus plans come with unlimited storage space.
Solid Uptime Performance
Uptime testing done by WebsiteToolTester showed that their Bluehost was available 99.8% of the time. Most uptime tests performed by other websites have also performed in this range.
High-Performance Servers
With their Plus plan, you get access to Bluehost’s High-Performance servers. For their High-Performance servers, Bluehost allocates fewer users per server providing each user with more computing resources and consistent uptimes and load speeds.
Security Features
For additional costs, Bluehost provides excellent security features. They offer CodeGuard for daily website backups and restorations. SpamExperts is their advanced email filter that blocks out email-related attacks with 99.98% accuracy. And for enhanced site security, you can purchase SiteLock which protects against malware and DDoS attacks (depending upon which service tier you buy).
(Almost) Unlimited Everything
With their Plus and Choice Plus plans, you can host unlimited websites and get access to unlimited SSD storage, unlimited parked domains and subdomains, and unmetered bandwidth.
Great Customer Support
While we’ve come across some complaints, the overall perception of Bluehost’s customer support is positive. Customer support is available 24/7. And many users report Live Chat responses in as little as 5 minutes. They also offer Blue Sky, an add-on service that gives you access to a team of WordPress experts who can assist you with design, marketing, and WordPress security.
Bluehost Cons
Just One Data Center
Bluehost sites load impressively fast considering they have just one US-based data center. But if your visitors come from outside the US, they may suffer from slow site speeds and you may want to consider an alternative host with more data centers on other continents.
Site Scaling/Performance Issues
Bluehost will perform well for most small to midsize websites. But for larger, media-heavy sites, performance may slow to below average.
No Uptime Guarantee
Unlike most other hosting providers, Bluehost doesn’t provide an SLA that guarantees a minimum uptime. Uptime is critical to generating traffic, converting visitors, and ranking in Google. While Bluehost performs well on most tests, not offering a guarantee is a red flag.
Poor BackUp For Entry-Level Plans
Entry-level Bluehost plans don’t provide a good backup solution. If you want to protect your site data, you’ll need to pick a higher-tiered plan or another hosting provider.
High Renewal Costs
Like many other hosting providers, Bluehost lures users in with low-priced startup plans. But the price jumps significantly upon renewal.
Closing Thoughts
Bluehost will work well for most small to midsize websites. But if you expect lots of traffic and site performance is important, then you may want to find an alternative host.
3. WP Engine
Pricing
- Startup: $30/mo.
- Professional: $59/mo
- Growth: $115/mo.
- Scale: $290/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7
Performance
- 99.95% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress install and migration.
WPEngine Pros
No Long-Term Commitments
Unlike most other hosts which require you to pay for 12-36 month plans, WPEngine allows you to pay month to month. The lack of commitment can be great if you want to test out their service before investing heavily.
Incredible Speed
WPEngine has too much speed-boosting technology for us to describe in-depth here. They utilize single-click CDN integration, a custom NGINX extension, SSD technology, and more to deliver unrivaled site load speed. The point is, they’ve invested heavily into the speed and performance of the sites hosted on their platform.
Advanced Security Features
WPEngine takes website security seriously. Their platform inspects all incoming site traffic for malicious behavior to detect and block bad actors. They identify and patch web application attacks before they affect your website. They also protect against DDoS attacks and work with 3rd-party security firms to ensure their security remains up to snuff. And if your site is hacked, they’ll fix it for free.
Free Access To WordPress Genesis Framework
With all WPEngine plans, you get free access to the Genesis WordPress framework and 35+ premium StudioPress themes. Each theme is beautifully designed, SEO optimized, and enhanced with optimal speed and security features.
WPEngine Cons
Expensive
With their most basic plan starting at $30/month, WPEngine is one of the most expensive WordPress hosting providers.
Lots Of Limitations
For such an expensive service, WPEngine comes with lots of limits. For example, their Startup plan limits you to 25,000 visitors per month, 10 GB of local storage, and 50GB of bandwidth. You can always upgrade if you need more access, but the plans quickly become pricey.
No cPanel
WPEngine has its own custom dashboard. While it’s easy enough to use, people who’ve become accustomed to cPanel or are migrating from another host may have difficulty adjusting.
Controlled Environment
WPEngine believes that their platform has all the security and optimization features your site will need. As a result, they have a host of disallowed plugins that they believe interfere with their servers. This can be great for users who want everything handled for them. But for people who want more control over their site security and performance, this may be an adjustment.
Closing Thoughts
With their advanced features and high costs, WPEngine is perfect for experienced website developers, enterprise WordPress applications, and anyone seeking a premium managed WordPress hosting plan. But new site owners and small businesses would do better to find a different hosting provider.
4. DreamHost
Pricing
- Shared: $4.95/mo.
- DreamPress: $12/mo.
- VPS: $30/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available:
- Email (24/7)
- Live Chat (Daily from 3:00am – 9:30pm)
- Community Forum
- Knowledge Base
Performance
- 100% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress installation and migration
DreamHost Pros
Unmetered Bandwidth
Most hosting companies that promise unmetered bandwidth actually come with an inode limit – a limit to the number of files located on your hosting account. But DreamHost offers truly unmetered bandwidth.
Affordability
With accounts starting at $4.95/month, DreamHost is one of the most affordable hosting solutions available.
Environmentally Friendly
For those who care, it’s good to know you’re doing business with an environmentally friendly hosting company. Their offices are designed to be energy efficient, they use power-efficient processors, and they use power from renewable resources.
100% Uptime
DreamHost has multiple data center locations and uses redundant cooling and emergency generators to ensure a 100% uptime for your website.
Solid Customer Support
Though DreamHost’s Live Chat is available for limited hours each day, their customer support is still more than adequate. They have knowledgeable staff on their tech support team, a community forum, and an extensive Knowledge Base.
DreamHost Cons
No Phone Support
Customer support can only be accessed via email and Live Chat. If you want to talk to a live person, you can request a callback from technical support for a fee. Or you can pay a monthly fee to receive 3 callbacks a month.
Custom Dashboard
DreamHost is another hosting provider that doesn’t use cPanel. Instead, they have a custom dashboard that can be a bit difficult to learn. It can also be difficult to find what you’re looking for and, as mentioned earlier, getting help from support can be a challenge.
US Servers Only
DreamHost only has servers in the US, which can lead to slower site speed for visitors in other regions.
Missing Advanced Features
DreamHost is missing some of the advanced features offered by other providers. For example, it offers no staging and no advanced backup solutions.
Closing Thoughts
While DreamHost isn’t the most impressive WordPress hosting solution, they offer competitively priced hosting packages with great features and solid performance.
5. GoDaddy
Pricing
- Basic: $6.99/mo.
- Deluxe: $9.99/mo.
- Ultimate: $12.99/mo.
- Ecommerce: $15.99/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7:
- Phone
- Live Chat
- Community Forum
- Help Articles
Performance
- 99.9% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress installation and migration
GoDaddy Pros
Affordability
With a 3-year term, GoDaddy hosting can cost as little as $6.99 per month.
Value
Every GoDaddy hosting plan provides great value for the price you pay. Each plan comes with a free SSL Certificate, domain name, business email, site backup protection, and automatic daily malware scans. And while only their Ultimate and Ecommerce plans provide unlimited storage and bandwidth, the storage and bandwidth on their Basic and Deluxe plans are generous.
Strong Site Security
As stated earlier, all GoDaddy plans come with automatic daily malware scans. But their Ultimate and Ecommerce plans also come with unlimited malware removal and hack repair.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
GoDaddy hosting comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Though some users have found that they frequently underperform, they will credit you 5% of your monthly hosting fee if they fail to maintain it for the month.
WordPress Premium Support
For a monthly fee, GoDaddy’s WordPress experts will help you fix problems with your site, manage administrative tasks, and optimize site performance. This is a great value for new and inexperienced users.
GoDaddy Cons
Poor Customer Support Quality
While GoDaddy offers plenty of customer support options, the overall quality of support is lacking. It can be difficult to find and access Live Chat (it’s on their Product Support page). In fact, in a WordPress Hosting Survey, GoDaddy received a 3.3/5 for customer support. Not great.
Confusing Control Panel
While GoDaddy gives you the option of using cPanel, installing it on your account can be confusing. And many GoDaddy customers complain that their control panel isn’t user-friendly.
Average Performance
Overall, GoDaddy’s performance isn’t anything to get excited about. Their server speed is average. And though they promise a 99.9% uptime, some users have found that they frequently underperform. While they’ll compensate you if a server falls short of that promise, they only credit you with 5% of your monthly hosting fee (unlike other hosts like HostGator which credit 100% of your monthly hosting fee).
Closing Thoughts
The best appeal of GoDaddy hosting is the great value you get at competitively low prices. But if site performance and customer support are important, you may want to choose another host.
6. HostGator
Pricing
- Starter: $5.95/mo.
- Standard: $7.95/mo.
- Business: $9.95/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7:
- Phone Support
- Live Chat
- Knowledge Base
Performance
- 99.9% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress installation and migration (within 30 days of sign-up).
HostGator Pros
Fast Servers
Even though HostGator only has 2 US-based data centers, they still have fast server response times. Of course, responses are the fastest in the US, but they still perform well elsewhere.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
HostGator provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If a server falls short of that promise, they’ll generously compensate you with one month of credit for your service package.
User-Friendly Dashboard
HostGator’s dashboard is visually appealing and user-friendly. All links and buttons are prominently displayed in intuitive places, making it easy to navigate. Alternatively, you can also use cPanel if you prefer.
User-Friendly Site Builder
HostGator’s site builder is also user-friendly. They offer a host of attractive themes and templates. And with one-click installs, you can quickly install any apps, widgets, and other features you desire. It’s easy to get your site up and running in a matter of hours.
Affordability
With managed hosting plans starting at $5.95/month (for 3-year terms), HostGator is one of the more affordable hosting options available.
HostGator Cons
Poor Customer Support Ratings
It’s difficult to gauge the quality of a hosting provider’s customer support without dealing with them yourself. While they offer 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and Live Chat, their customer support rates poorly across review sites (3.5/5 here and 4.5/10 here).
US Servers Only
HostGator has just 2 US-based data centers. Though their response times are still adequate outside the US, you may want to choose a different provider if response times are important to you. And unlike other hosting providers, they don’t allow you to choose which data center you use.
Poor Backup Options
Unless you pay for add-ons, you only have access to 1GB, 2GB, and 3GB backups for each plan respectively.
Missing Advanced Features
HostGator is missing some of the advanced features other hosting providers offer. There are no staging areas, server side-caching systems, or dedicated speed features (like NGINX server setup).
Closing Thoughts
HostGator is a great option if you’re looking for a hosting provider that’s affordable, easy to use, and has fast server response times in the US. But their slower response times outside the US and poor customer support may turn some away.
7. Liquid Web
Pricing
- Spark: $9.50/mo.
- Maker: $39.50/mo.
- Designer: $54.50/mo.
- Builder: $74.50/mo.
- Producer: $149.50/mo.
- Executive: $274.50/mo.
- Enterprise: $499.50/mo.
Customer Support
Customer support available 24/7:
- Phone
- Live Chat
- Helpdesk
- Knowledge Base
Performance
- 99.998% Uptime
WordPress Installation
Free WordPress installation and migration
LiquidWeb Pros
100% Uptime Guarantee
LiquidWeb guarantees an uptime of 100%. If a server falls short of that promise, they’ll credit you for 10 times the amount of downtime whether they’re directly responsible for it or not. That means if your site is down for 1 hour, you’ll get 10 hours of credit.
High-Speed Performance
LiquidWeb has just 3 data centers (2 in the US and 1 in Europe), which means, depending on where you are, page load speed will be different. Still, they have an impressive average page-load speed of less than 1 second. They also provide built-in optimization solutions, redundant cooling and networks that ensure consistent uptime and speed, and experts who monitor network performance 24/7.
Specialized WooCommerce Hosting
LiquidWeb’s managed WooCommerce hosting is loaded with performance-enhancing features. It’s optimized to reduce query loads by 95%, mobile responsive, comes with more than 20 performance tests you can use to prepare for traffic increases, and more.
Excellent Customer Support
LiquidWeb customer support is available 24/7 and staffed with knowledgeable WordPress experts. They also promise a 59 support guarantee: live humans will respond to phone and Live Chat requests within 59 seconds and helpdesk tickets within 59 minutes. If they fail to meet this guarantee, you’ll receive a hosting credit of 10x the amount of time that passes (i.e. for every hour that passess, you’ll receive 10 hours of credit on your hosting plan).
Great Security
LiquidWeb offers free DDoS protection through CloudFlare CDN. The protection blocks malicious traffic while still allowing legit traffic through to your site. And if you want even more, you can purchase their Premium DDoS protection for $99/month.
LiquidWeb Cons
Expensive
With packages starting at $9.50/month, LiquidWeb is one of the more expensive hosting options available. And starting prices are only available for the first 6 months. After that, prices increase significantly.
No Shared Hosting
LiquidWeb doesn’t offer shared hosting options. While this leads to better performance, it’s also one of the reasons they’re so expensive.
Lack Of Freebies
LiquidWeb offers little in the way of freebies. No free domains, SSL certificates, ad credits, or other gifts that most hosts provide.
Closing Thoughts
If you want WordPress web hosting that’s fast, consistent, secure, and has great customer support, you can’t do much better than LiquidWeb. And they’re especially good for Ecommerce sites. But be prepared to spend a lot of money.
And The Best Managed Website Host Is…
As you can probably tell by now, SiteGround is our top choice for hosting a WordPress site.
While other companies may offer cheaper solutions, there’s no competition for the service you get with a SiteGround hosted website.
SiteGround offers:
- Award-winning customer support
- Speed and reliability
- Cloudflare CDN network with over 200 distribution nodes in 100 countries around the world
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Free daily backups
- A host of security and optimization features that make your site faster and more secure.
For a full breakdown of what we love about SiteGround and why it’s the best hosting option, check out our SiteGround review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Managed WordPress Hosting For Me?
While unmanaged WordPress hosting is cheaper, the choice between the two really comes down to two questions:
Are you a website developer?
Or are you tech-savvy and knowledgeable about website development? If you want to go with unmanaged hosting, then you’d better be.
As we mentioned earlier, all aspects involved in optimizing and managing your unmanaged WordPress website will be up to you.
But if you’re new to web development and have no idea how to run your own site, you’re much better off with managed hosting.
Do you even want to put in the time?
Even if you know how to perform every aspect of managing your own website, would you want to?
Managed WordPress hosting offers convenience and peace of mind. All you have to do is pick a top provider with great features and a solid record… The rest is taken care of for you.
Is WordPress Hosting Free?
No. While you can host for free on WordPress.com, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee for WordPress hosting and a yearly fee for a domain name if you want the full capabilities and features of a WordPress website.
What Is The Cheapest WordPress Hosting?
If you want a cheap managed WordPress hosting provider, try:
- Namecheap: starting at $1.44/mo.
- Hostinger: starting at $0.99/mo.
The cheapest WordPress hosting providers on our list are:
- Bluehost: starting at $2.95/mo.
- DreamHost: starting at $4.95/mo
- SiteGround: starting at $4.99/mo.
Your Future Starts With Your WordPress Hosting Platform
You’re ready.
You’ve got a great idea for a money-making blog or website…
And now you have all the information you need to pick the best managed WordPress hosting provider to launch it with.
All you need to do now to make a decision is to:
- Get clarity on the features and performance requirements for your website.
- Pick the option above that best suits your needs.
Regardless what you choose, the important thing is that you stop dreaming and start doing!
Your digital empire awaits…
The post 7 Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers Compared (2022) appeared first on Smart Blogger.
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