You might wonder about the best WordPress hosting for your website. It is essential to choose the one that provides features suitable for your site’s needs.
But, what are the criteria that should be put into attention when choosing WordPress hosting?
It has to provide various technical features supporting the optimization of the site, such as the speed and security features, the uptime rate, and the customer support team.
Choosing the right WordPress hosting might be confusing since there are abundant alternatives. Therefore, in this article, I will cover some of the best WordPress hosting providers out there. Let’s start!
How WordPress Hosting Works?
WordPress hosting is the type of hosting optimized to meet WordPress performance and security needs. That’s the reason it is highly recommended for WordPress users.
However, does WordPress hosting really matters?
In fact, a site doesn’t need special hosting to run on WordPress. The minimum requirements of WordPress are incredibly simple: it should support PHP version 7.3 or greater and MySQL version 5.6 or greater. But, to be fair, there are some advantages you might miss if you choose not to use WordPress hosting.
It will provide proper infrastructure for WordPress sites, offering excellent speed and security features, and having responsive customer support service. Those are pretty much the base standard.
Top 10 WordPress Hosting Providers
Here is the list of great WordPress hosting providers in terms of features, uptime guarantee, and customer support services. Let’s take a look at what each of the options has to offer!
1. Hostinger
Hostinger brings an affordable solution for your WordPress hosting. Nonetheless, they shouldn’t be underestimated since they offer excellent speed performance and reliable security feature as well.
Hostinger will improve your site’s speed performance by using SSD storage and custom-built cache manager. You can also increase the processing power by upgrading the plan to the Premium plan and the Business plan.
In addition to that, Hostinger uses a combination of NGINX and Apache web server as a way for the server resources to be used more efficiently. Combining both can optimize the serving of both static and dynamic content, which can lead to better site performance.
You can prevent external threats through an SSL certificate, Cloudflare CDN, and automated backups. SSL certificate can help to encrypt data to protect the privacy of your site and its visitors. Whereas the Cloudflare CDN will help you to avoid DDoS attacks and keep steady uptime.
You can buy an SSL certificate for $11.95 (lifetime access). As for CloudFlare CDN – it can be purchased for $9.95 for a lifetime.
The free weekly backups feature is available in every plan. But if you upgrade it to the business plan, you will get daily backups, which is essential since it might reduce the risk of losing data.
Hostinger stands out from the rest by utilizing a unique management panel – hPanel. While most people have their hearts set on cPanel, this tool should not be overlooked. It offers incredible ease of use and a very intuitive user interface.
You can choose from three different WordPress hosting plans:
- The Single plan – 100 GB bandwidth, 10 GB SSD disk space, and weekly backups for $0.99 per month.
- The Premium plan – free domain registration, unlimited websites, unlimited bandwidth, and 20 GB SSD disk space for $2.59 per month.
- The Business plan – it offers all of the previous features with the addition of free SSL certificate, daily backups, advanced live support, and four-times processing power for $4.49 per month.
If you run into any problems, you can contact their customer support, check out their knowledge base or comprehensive tutorials.
The Good
- Affordable plan
- Comprehensive features on speed and security
- Ease of use
- WP CLI and GIT for advanced users
- 24/7 Customer support via live chat
The Bad
- No phone support
The Verdict
Hostinger can be a great choice if you are looking for an affordable WordPress hosting alternative with great features to support your site’s speed and security. Furthermore, Hostinger can provide ease of use, especially if you are a beginner user.
2. Bluehost
As one of the providers recommended directly by WordPress, Bluehost offers a lot of features that are worth checking.
The most appealing aspect from their offer is the free SSL certificate, free domain for one year, and unmetered bandwidth in every plan.
Aside from that, they also provide one-click installer feature for WordPress and automatic updates.
They use SSD storage and Cloudflare services to improve the site’s speed and security. In addition to that, you can get increased security by using SiteLock and CodeGuard to prevent malware attack and protect your data.
You can purchase SiteLock for $23.88 per year, however, you can only purchase it if you’re using the shared hosting option. Whereas CodeGuard can be purchased for $2.99 per year. It will help you by monitoring site changes and restoring data with one click.
Bluehost provides three shared WordPress hosting plans.
- The Basic Plan – free SSL and a free domain for one year, 50 GB SSD disk space and unmetered bandwidth for $2.75 per month.
- The Plus Plan and Choice Plus – Both plans will give you unlimited websites, unmetered SSD storage, and unlimited parked domains and subdomains. But, the Choice Plus plan will provide you with an additional feature in the form of CodeGuard Basic Backup. Both plans cost $5.45 per month.
If you have any problems, you can contact their customer support team 24/7 via live chat, email, or phone. They also have a knowledge base, which consists of various articles and guides to answer their users’ frequently asked questions.
The Good
- Free SSL and Free domain for one year on every plan
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Customer support team available 24/7 via live chat, email, and phone
The Bad
- Lack of core security products
The Verdict
Bluehost provides plenty of exciting features on the basic plan, such as free SSL, free domain for one year, and unmetered bandwidth. Moreover, it is worth considering since it is recommended directly by WordPress.
3. SiteGround
Another popular WordPress hosting provider is SiteGround. They have plenty of features to support your site’s speed and security. In addition to that, they are recommended by WordPress as well.
If you choose SiteGround, you will get various essential features such as free drag-and-drop website builder, free SSL certificate, one-click installer, and unlimited subdomains and parked domains on any plan.
That’s not all – they are also very scalable since they offered plans which are suitable for 10.000 monthly visitors to 10.000 monthly visitors.
To enhance speed performance, they use SSD storage, free Cloudflare CDN, and in-house caching service (WordPress SuperCacher) that will boost loading speed by cutting HTML processing time. On top of that, they also use the combination of Apache and NGINX web server for better-shared server performance.
Furthermore, they use HTTP/2 enabled server to ensure quick loading time.
Aside from having great speed, they also have excellent security features. For instance, SiteGround provides an anti-hack system in the form of a web application firewall. They complete it by proactively updating the security of their server software.
SiteGround also offers specific features for WordPress sites, such as WordPress auto-updates, free WordPress transfers, and in-house WordPress caching service. They even provide pre-installed WP-CLI so that you can install themes and plugins easily from the command line.
If you want to transfer your WordPress site to SiteGround, you can do it easily with the SiteGround migrator WordPress plugin. It is free, and you can use it in any plan!
SiteGround offers these WordPress hosting plans:
- The StartUp – free SSL, free email, free CloudFlare CDN, free daily backups, 10 GB SSD disk space, and unmetered bandwidth for $3.95 per month.
- The GrowBig plan – advanced on-demand backups, unlimited websites, and 20 GB SSD disk space for $5.95 per month
- The GoGeek plan – all of the previous features, with the addition of advanced priority WordPress support, better server power, and pre-installed GIT all for $11.95 per month
However, those prices come with setup fee if you buy the monthly plans. The setup fee costs $14.95 for the StartUp plan and costs $24.95 for both GrowBig and GoGeek plans. You can avoid it only by purchasing the annual plan.
If you need any help, you can contact their customer support team 24/7 via live chat, phone, and ticket service.
The Good
- WordPress specific features
- Scalable plans
- Great speed and security features
The Bad
- Setup fee in the monthly plans
The Verdict
SiteGround provides specific WordPress features that will enhance your site in terms of speed and security. It is a good deal considering that you can scale your site up easily with this provider as well.
4. A2Hosting
This provider can be a great alternative if you look for WordPress hosting with excellent speed performance and terrific security features.
Aside from having unlimited SSD RAID-10 storage, free SSL certificate, and free site migration, they also offer A2 Optimized plugin in every plan. It is an exclusively made plugin to bring the best speed performance with high-security settings. It consists of features such as built-in caching systems, unique login URL, and ReCaptcha.
If you subscribe to the Turbo plan, your site will also get A2 Optimized Site Accelerator. A2Hosting itself states that will make your page load 20 times faster.
The site accelerator consists of Turbo Cache, OPCache, and Memcached. Three of them can help you serve HTML contents without running PHP, cut PHP page response in half, and increase the speed of MySQL database.
Aside from using an SSL certificate, unique login URL and ReCaptcha, A2Hosting also provides free HackScan and Anti-DDoS for extra protection. They also offer offsite backup via DropMySite to prevent data loss.
They offer three WordPress shared hosting plans:
- The Lite plan – unmetered SSD RAID-10 storage, unmetered bandwidth limit, free SSL, and A2Hosting Optimized plugin for $3.92 per month.
- The Swift plan – unlimited websites, unlimited subdomains, parked domains, and unlimited databases for $4.90 per month.
- The Turbo plan – provides all of the previous features. Your site will get much faster with this plan because it will be supported with A2 Optimized Site Accelerator and Cloudflare Plus. All for $9.31 per month.
In addition to all of the features, they also assist with their customer support team available 24/7 via live chat, email, phone, and ticket service.
The Good
- A2 Optimized plugin on every plan
- Great security features
- Unmetered SSD RAID-10 storage
- A lot of customer support options
The Bad
- No free domain registration option
The Verdict
If you need WordPress hosting provider which able to bring fantastic speed performance, A2Hosting can be a great choice. On top of that, they provide a lot of customer support options and excellent security features.
5. HostGator
HostGator is another popular choice for WordPress hosting. They got plenty of features which made them worth considering.
For starters, they have unmetered disk space and unmetered bandwidth on every plan. However, please note that you should not use 25% or more of the system resources for more than 90 seconds. Otherwise, you will get an email containing a suggestion to reduce the usage of resources.
For ease of use, they provide the latest cPanel. Thus, you can easily manage each component of your site – such as domain management and database management. You can also install your WordPress site quickly with the one-click installer feature.
They provide free SSL certificate for site security. If you upgrade to the Business plan, you will also get a free upgrade to Comodo Positive SSL, which grants high-level security with 2048-bit SSL certificate and $10.000 relying on party warranty.
Their WordPress hosting plans provide support from SiteLock and CodeGuard as well. You will get SiteLock’s Find plan and CodeGuard’s Basic plan for free. Having both tools can prevent malware attacks and protect your data simultaneously.
Aside from that, they offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, unlimited subdomains, unlimited MySQL accounts, and unlimited FTP accounts.
HostGator offers three options for WordPress shared hosting:
- The Hatchling plan – unmetered bandwidth, unmetered disk space, free SSL certificate, and a single domain for $2.75 per month.
- The Baby plan – its features are not too different from the Hatching plan, but you will get unlimited domains for $3.95 per month.
- The Business plan – provides additional features such as a free upgrade to Positive SSL, and free dedicated IP for $5.95 per month.
If you need assistance, you can contact their customer support team 24/7 via live chat, phone, or ticket system. You can also visit their online support portal, which contains over 500 video tutorials and over 680 help articles.
The Good
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Great server security
- Free HostGator site builder
The Bad
- Lack of speed features
The Verdict
HostGator can provide convenience through the features they offer, such as free SSL certificate, free HostGator site builder, unmetered disk space, and unmetered bandwidth. Moreover, your WordPress site can get extra protection from both SiteLock and CodeGuard.
6. InMotion
InMotion plans can accommodate the needs of a site with monthly visits from 20.000 visitors to 1.200.000 visitors.
First off, they provide SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, free domain registration, free SSL, CDN support, and pre-installed WordPress on any plans.
InMotion is the official host of BoldGrid, which is a great page builder. You can drag, drop, and resize your content easily with their visual editing tool.
One of the BoldGrid plugin features is Staging. This plugin will help you test the updates, edits, and themes on your staging site. The test will not affect your active site, but you can publish the changes with a single click.
Aside from using SSD storage to boost speed performance, InMotion also provides advanced server caching with all plans.
On top of that, they also use the specific operational infrastructure of hardware and software to optimize WordPress site speed.
For site security, they have built-in Hack and Malware protection and web application firewall to protect the site from frequent attacks.
They also provide Backup Manager tool to help you perform an automated daily backup. You can also schedule your own backup and restore the file fully or partially with a single click.
InMotion offered six WordPress hosting plans, but I will only discuss the three of them: The lowest-tier plan, the most popular one, and the highest-tier plan.
- WP-1000S – 40 GB SSD disk space, unlimited bandwidth, free domain registration, free drag-and-drop WordPress builder, Malware protection, and advanced server caching for $4.99 per month.
- WP-2000S – the basic features along with 80 GB SSD disk space and automatic offsite backups for $8.99 per month.
- WP-6000S – designed to accommodate the needs of large scale websites. It provides 240 GB of SSD disk space and supports up to 20 sites. You will also get a Professional JetPack plugin which will give you features, such as automatic security fixes, premium theme support, and real-time backups. The plan costs $114.99 per month.
If you face any issues, you can contact their customer support team. They are available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email service. You can also visit their knowledge base, which contains tutorial articles and various resources.
The Good
- Scalable plans
- Advanced server caching for higher speed performance
- Hack and malware protection
- Supported by great WordPress page builder – BoldGrid
The Bad
- Expensive when compared to other alternatives
The Verdict
You can easily scale your site up with InMotion since they provide various WordPress hosting plans which accommodates small-scale websites to large-scale websites. They also offer amazing features to support your site’s speed and security.
7. Dreamhost
If you are looking for WordPress hosting alternative which has a WordPress optimized server, then you should check DreamHost! Their server and database software is built to give a better experience to WordPress users.
Their WordPress shared hosting basic features are one-click WordPress installer, unmetered SSD disk space, unmetered bandwidth, automated WordPress updates, free privacy protection, and the server environment designed to optimize WordPress experience. You can also get a free domain for one year if you purchase the annual plan.
Instead of using cPanel, they use their own control panel called DreamHost panel.
There’s no built-in anti-malware protection, as they offer paid security service called DreamShield. It will automatically scan your site weekly to remove any threats.
DreamHost also provides developer-friendly features, such as Shell access and WP-CLI. Those features will help the users to do certain things beyond the control panel, precisely by performing tasks via the command-line interface.
Their WordPress shared hosting plan offers two options:
- The Starter plan – unlimited SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL certificate, and a free domain for one year which costs $4.95 per month.
- The Unlimited plan – has slightly different features compared to the Starter plan by adding unlimited email accounts and unlimited websites $10.95 per month.
Aside from that, DreamHost also provides a knowledge base called DreamHost Academy. It contains plenty of tutorials focused on mastering WordPress.
The Good
- Free SSD storage
- Developer-friendly features
- Built-in DreamHost control panel
- DreamHost Academy
The Bad
- Not affordable in the monthly plans
- No free malware protection
- Lack of speed features
The Verdict
DreamHost has quite exciting features for supporting beginner WordPress users, such as unmetered bandwidth and SSD disk space, free domain, and the DreamHost Academy. It also provides features for advanced users in the form of Shell access and WP-CLI.
8. GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks preserve nature in the way of converting every amperage they use with 300% in renewable energy via Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
Even though they use the energy as efficient as possible, but they still manage to bring excellent speed performance by using various features, such as LiteSpeed web server and in-house caching technology – PowerCacher.
Aside from that, they use HTTP/2 and PHP 7, which able to execute PHP better and load the page faster.
They also provide unlimited SSD-RAID 10 storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL certificate, and unlimited email accounts on any plan.
In addition to that, GreenGeeks also offer free SSL, free website transfer, and free site builder. In a nutshell, you can get plenty of features with the basic plan.
Cloudflare CDN is available with all plans. Hence, your site will load faster through the nearest data center. As for now, GreenGeeks’ data centers are spread to five locations: Toronto, Chicago, Phoenix, Montreal, and Amsterdam. Please note that you have to pay $29.95 to switch server location.
There are three alternatives you can choose from GreenGeeks shared WordPress hosting plan.:
- The Ecosite Lite – unlimited SSD disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, and free SSL which costs $2.95 per month.
- The Ecosite Pro – you can host as many websites as you want and will also get access to faster computing resources. This plan costs $5.95 per month.
- The Ecosite Premium – free Premium Wildcard SSL which contains digital seal, auto-installation and warranty, all for $11.95 per month.
However, if you purchase the monthly plan, you have to pay an extra $15 for the setup fee.
Their customer support service team is ready to solve your problems 24/7 via live chat and ticket system. You can also contact them via phone support which available from 9 AM to 12 PM EST from Monday to Friday, and from 9 AM to 8 PM EST on the weekends.
The Good
- Eco-friendly servers
- High speed features through LiteSpeed and PowerCacher
- The Account Isolation Technology
The Bad
- Setup fee on the monthly plan
The Verdict
GreenGeeks is a green hosting provider with high speed and security features, such as PowerCacher and the account isolation technology. It’s also worth mentioning that they will convert your server amperage to renewable energy.
9. iPage
If you want hassle-free WordPress hosting with simple yet valuable features, iPage can be the next alternative you might consider.
First of all, they provide unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, free one-year domain registration, and pre-installed themes and plugins with any plan.
They also use vDeck as their control panel. Its features and interface are much simpler compared to cPanel, but it still manages to perform several tasks, such as showing website statistics and managing site backups.
For site protection, they offer a free SSL certificate. If you upgrade to the essential plan, you will also get extra security from SiteLock. It will help prevent malware attacks.
Beyond that, they have a custom-built site builder called iPage Website Builder. It will allow you to create a primary 6-page site with responsive design. The site builder will also help you to implement SEO by allowing you to add keywords and metadata to your site.
Overall, iPage has two options for WordPress hosting:
- WP Starter plan – basic features such as unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, and free one-year domain registration for $3.75 per month
- WP Essential plan – offers two additional feature to the package, which is automatic malware protection with SiteLock and WordPress expert support. This plan costs $6.95 per month.
If you need any help, iPage’s customer support team is available 24/7 via phone and chat support. You can also access their online help center and ticketing system. Furthermore, you’re free to help yourself by entering the knowledge base.
The Good
- Free one-year domain registration
- iPage website builder
- SiteLock protection
The Bad
- Lack of speed features
- Non-scalable plans
- No SSD storage
The Verdict
iPage will be suitable for beginner WordPress users who only need simple features. Moreover, they provide an iPage site builder to support the process of creating and designing the site.
10. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is the market leader of the hosting industry as of now. Among their services, they also offer a reliable WordPress hosting.
They offer unmetered bandwidth, SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, and free drag-and-drop site editor on any plan. They also provide a free one-year domain registration if you purchase the annual plan.
If you already own a WordPress site and want to move to GoDaddy, you can do it easily with their auto-migration feature.
They provide SSD storage and load-balanced servers to optimize speed performance.
GoDaddy has 37.000 servers live on nine facilities around the world. They are located in Arizona, Chicago, Los Angeles, Ashburn, Virginia, Netherlands, and Singapore. Meanwhile, they lease the rest from wholesale providers.
You can worry less about your site security since they provide automatic daily malware scans performed by pre-installed Sucuri plugin. Your site will also actively monitored by their security team to detect suspicious activity and prevent DDoS attacks.
To avoid the risk of data loss, they provide free daily backups as well. So you can restore data quickly with a single click.
GoDaddy offers four WordPress hosting plans:
- The Basic plan – comprises of 10 GB SSD disk storage, free daily backups, pre-installed Sucuri plugin, and free one-year domain registration for $6.99 per month
- The Deluxe plan – aside from features on the Basic plan, it includes 15 GB SSD disk space and built-in SEO wizard. It also has a one-click staging site feature to help users test changes to the site all for $9.99 per month.
- The Ultimate plan – additional 30 GB SSD disk space and a free one year SSL certificate for $12.99 per month.
- The Pro 5+ – 200 GB SSD storage, free site-maintenance tools powered by ManageWP, uptime monitoring, and automated client reports $29.99 per month.
If you encounter any problems, you can get assistance by contacting their customer support team 24/7 via live chat and phone support. If you want to fix it yourself, there’s knowledge base containing walkthroughs and WordPress tutorial videos.
The Good
- Free auto-migration feature
- SSD storage and PHP 7 for better speed performance
- Free daily backups
The Bad
- Rather expensive plans
- Prices increase after renewal
The Verdict
GoDaddy provides some great features to support site speed and security, such as load-balanced servers, SSD storage, pre-installed Sucuri plugin, and free daily backups. It is especially recommended for WordPress users with extra budget.
What Value Should You Expect?
Aside from its technical features, WordPress hosting often offers WordPress centered support to minimize hassle when the users encounter a problem.
Besides considering the WordPress-specified features offered, you should also keep the universal values of hosting in mind. These are the values you need to examine:
Uptime
WordPress hosting providers often offer an uptime guarantee. However, what does it mean?
Uptime is the amount of time when the server is up and running. It is when visitors can access your site. It’s important because it shows that the server is working correctly.
If the hosting provider can’t provide a reasonable uptime rate, it will negatively affect your site and your SEO ranking since the search engine will find your site unreliable.
The ideal uptime rate is 100% since it means that your site will never stop running. There are a lot of factors affecting the uptime rate, such as the network equipment, storage systems and devices, and the performance of the IT operation staff.
Great 24/7 Support
There are a lot of ways to help users in solving their problems, such as providing live chat support, email support, and phone support.
Above all, the users need to be able to access those support whenever they want – 24/7.
Moreover, the customer support team should be friendly and thoroughly helpful. For instance, it will be better if the support can give an applicable answer instead of directing the users to another page.
In addition to that, the provider can facilitate the users to solve their problems by providing a knowledge base. It might contain guides, articles, videos, or walkthroughs. Aside from educating users, it can introduce features offered by the provider.
Amazing Speed Performance
Having features supporting your site’s speed performance is also essential. One of the common ways usually used by providers is using SSD storage since it uses less power and generates lower access time.
Since WordPress runs on MySQL and PHP, it’s vital for the providers to use the latest version of PHP and MySQL. As an addition, they can also use the combination of Apache and NGINX web server for more efficient usage of server resources which can affect speed performance.
Another great thing you can get by great speed performance is the probability of improving SEO rank. Google even stated that improving site speed will bring a better user experience.
Thus, choosing a WordPress hosting provider with great speed features will give you an advantage.
Great Security Features
No matter what your site is, it needs to have high security to prevent external threats such as malware attacks and breach of sensitive information.
Some hosting providers offer free SSL certificate for their users. It can perform HTTPS encryption to your site, so information thieves can’t hijack the connection. Your visitors will also feel safer since the certificate ensures that they are in a secure network.
That’s not all, even Google said that HTTPS sites will rank better on the search engine results page.
Another security features usually provided are the anti-malware and anti-DDoS protection, which often come in the form of plugins. It will scan your site and remove any threats detected.
Sometimes the providers offer automated backup systems. Some of them need to be upgraded to get daily backups, while the others provide it on the basic plan. Nonetheless, it’s an excellent feature for the users to avoid the risk of losing data.
Recapping the Best WordPress Hosting List
Each WordPress hosting provider has its strengths and weaknesses.
Let’s recap on the best providers on the market:
- Hostinger – has robust features at an affordable price
- Bluehost – offers free SSL and Cloudflare with the basic plan
- SiteGround – provides scalable plans
- A2Hosting – has great speed performance with A2 Optimized Site Accelerator
- HostGator – provides a free site builder
- InMotion – offers advanced server caching and free malware protection
- DreamHost – provides developer-friendly features
- GreenGeeks – supports your site with eco-friendly servers
- iPage – has their site builder with pre-installed themes and plugins
- GoDaddy – has free auto-migration feature and free daily backups
So, which WordPress hosting is your choice? Let me know in the comment section below!
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