Discover the importance of specialized WooCommerce hosting and dive deep into WP Engine’s managed WooCommerce hosting features. From high-performing live cart functionalities to Stripe Connect integration and advanced caching, WP Engine offers a comprehensive solution for eCommerce stores. Learn about its unique features, the benefits of managed hosting, and get an inside look at the user-friendly dashboard. Whether you’re starting a new store or looking to optimize an existing one, WP Engine provides the tools and support needed for a successful online business.
Establishing a robust online presence is crucial for any business to reach a global audience and make more sales. However, it might be difficult to pick the best web hosting service for your needs with so many choices available. To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 web […]
Choosing between WP Engine and GoDaddy for your WordPress hosting? Dive into our comprehensive comparison of their core features, performance, security, and pricing. Discover the pros and cons of each platform, real-time speed data, and insights into their hosting dashboards. Whether you prioritize budget, speed, or security, our review will guide you to the best choice for your unique WordPress needs. Ready to make an informed decision? Let’s explore WP Engine vs. GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting.
Media Temple (MT) is closing its doors after 24 years in the hosting industry, with the brand now retired and customers fully migrated to GoDaddy. In 2013, GoDaddy acquired MT “to win the hearts and minds of developers,” as then-CEO Blake Irving told VentureBeat at the time. When it was purchased, the highly regarded brand was focusing on advanced technical services that GoDaddy had not yet adapted, and the plan was to have MT operate independently with no changes for employees or customers.
Thanks for allowing us to serve you for 24 years. The time has come to say goodbye. We will miss you. Keep building amazing things!
The year following the acquisition, Media Temple launched its managed WordPress hosting product, joining the ranks of Flywheel, Page.ly, WordPress.com, WP Engine, and a handful of other companies that were working to elevate the hosting experience for WordPress users.
In December 2022, MT announced it would be retiring the Media Temple brand and transitioning accounts to GoDaddy, while subtly acknowledging the sentimental place MT holds in many of its customers’ hearts:
Since joining GoDaddy, we worked hand-in-hand with them to incorporate the best of Media Temple into offerings, including improving GoDaddy’s customer experience and leveraging Media Temple’s unique expertise on what it truly means to run a world-class hosting organization. If you closely examine GoDaddy’s hosting offerings, you will find Media Temple’s fingerprints all around. From specialized teams who deal with complex hosting issues to programs like GoDaddy Pro specifically targeting creatives, Media Temple made its mark on GoDaddy.
Fans bid the brand farewell on Twitter, as its retirement marks the end of a chapter in web hosting history.
Basically the entire design community was sponsored by Media Temple back in the day.
In February 2023, Media Temple began migrating accounts to GoDaddy, with no action required from customers. Many of the products and services were already fulfilled through GoDaddy, decreasing the number needing to be migrated.
Now that the process is complete, the brand will discontinue operations and move current resources into supporting customers inside GoDaddy. The company assured former MT customers that they will retain their current products and pricing for equivalent products with access to more tools.
Explore our in-depth WP Engine review to uncover the advantages of choosing this top-tier managed WordPress hosting solution. From unparalleled speed and robust security to 24/7 expert support, WP Engine stands out as a premier choice for WordPress websites. Dive into real-time performance data, exclusive features, and see why WP Engine is a game-changer in the hosting world.
Kevin Ohashi from Review Signal has published his 2023 WordPress and WooCommerce hosting performance benchmarks. This is his 10th round of capturing performance data from hosting companies that opt into the testing. Ohashi’s methodology tests two metrics through a variety of methods: peak performance and consistency.
The benchmarks include a LoadStorm test designed to simulate real users visiting the site, logging in, and browsing (uncached performance). They also test cached performance, SSL, WP queries per second, performance on some computational and database operations, and a WebPageTest that fully loads the homepage and records how long it takes from 12 different locations around the world. As part of the consistency testing, Ohashi also measures uptime using HetrixTools and Uptime Robot for a minimum of three months.
Participants pay a standard, publicly documented fee, based on the price tier of the product being tested, to cover the costs. Ohashi does not accept sponsorships for the tests, and has become one of the most trusted sources for unbiased performance reviews of WordPress hosting plans.
In 2023, Ohashi tested 31 companies across 72 plans and seven pricing tiers, with tests nearly identical to previous years. He made minimal adjustments to the LoadStorm test script to improve performance and make it compatible with newer versions of k6.
The website makes it easy to review results at a glance by using a star system. Hosts that achieve “Top Tier” status receive a full star:
This is awarded to companies who maintain 99.9% uptime throughout the entire testing and show little to no performance degradation during load testing, primarily focused on error rate and consistent response times. Error rates above 0.1% and response times above 1000ms* will keep a company away from achieving Top Tier marks.
The half star indicates “Honorable Mention” status, which is given to companies that came close to Top Tier but fell just short, such as struggling slightly on a load test.
Among budget hosts in the <$25/month category, the majority of hosts (16/21) rang in at the Top Tier level. Those who did not earn Top Tier status were held back by inferior performance on the the LoadStorm test for the most part, even though several still took top scores in other aspects of the testing.
There are fewer participants at the $25-50 plan (and other more expensive plans) but the results are similar to the budget hosts, with A2 Hosting, Cloudways, and Stromonic edged out of contention for Top Tier. All three failed to achieve Top Tier for any of the plans tested this year.
In the Enterprise tier ($500+), the majority of participants handled the LoadStorm test without issue. When testing cached performance, Ohashi found that the overall field of participants is getting faster:
Excluding Seravo, every company was 33ms average or below and 43ms p95 or below. Compared to last year where the fastest average was 6.4 ms and p95 was 20ms. There are four companies this year below both of those levels. The performance at the Enterprise tier is mind bogglingly fast and getting even faster which is hard to comprehend when last year’s 6.4ms was beaten by 4 plans this year.
Most of the entrants in the WooCommerce category earned Top Tier status, with the exception of Blallo and Cloudways, both of which stumbled on the LoadStorm test. The hosting plans tested range from $25.95/month – $99/month. The WooCommerce-specific tests collect average response times, total requests, errors, and other metrics across four different profiles:
Profile 1 (20%): Buyer – Homepage, add item to cart, go to cart, checkout (doesn’t submit order)
A more detailed breakdown is available on the WooCommerce benchmarks results page.
It’s important to note that the tests do not clearly identify a winner or top performer. They also don’t take into account other aspects of the WordPress hosting experience, like reviews, support, and features. Ohashi tests the defaults for all of these plans, but if there are more optimization features that can be customized for sites (which are not clearly outlined in the initial setup) then those are also not taken into account. The methodology simply focuses on performance, so it’s just one factor of hosting, albeit a very important one.
“As far as surprising results, I keep thinking ‘Are we nearing the point that we won’t see much improvement?’ and each year the whole field gets faster and faster,” Ohashi said. “Even improving on sub 10ms times between years. For example, in the <$25/month tier, in 2022 there were 3 companies with <50ms average response time on the Static k6 test. This year there are 10. I also saw 100ms+ improvements from the other (slower) side bringing up the whole field a meaningful amount. Everyone is getting faster and faster.”
Why Are Some Managed WordPress Hosting Companies Missing?
There are many leading WordPress managed hosts that are notably absent from Ohashi’s benchmarks, whose inclusion would be helpful for a deeper understanding of market. I asked him about a handful of them and he reported that WP Engine, Dreamhost, and Kinsta declined to participate this year, to name a few. GoDaddy took a year off but may be back next year.
The major reasons for hosts not wanting to participate fall into a few categories, and bad performance is chief among them.
“Some companies perform poorly or poorly relative to price and don’t want to participate anymore,” Ohashi said. “They usually talk about other ‘intangible’ values that you can’t measure. I think good performance should be a default for every hosting company, and good companies shouldn’t be afraid of bad results – if they actually plan on improving their services.
“But some would probably rather spend fortunes on marketing instead of better engineering, and bad results aren’t going to help their marketing. I personally love seeing companies who participate year after year despite mixed results. I respect the companies who consistently earn Top Tier are doing a great job. But there’s something special about companies willing to put themselves out there regardless of the results, because it’s a public and open commitment to improving.”
Ohashi said that occasionally the timing doesn’t work out where a host is going through a major engineering overhaul during the testing and doesn’t want the platform benchmarked when they are about to release a new one. In this case some opt to skip a year.
The costs of the benchmarking can also be prohibitive for some smaller hosting companies. Ohashi raised prices by $250 across all tiers this year (eg. $100->$350, $500->$750) to cover his costs. Although this doesn’t seem like much for a hosting company, they also have to pay for the servers for four months, and have the staff/resources available to work with Ohashi on organizing, executing, and debugging issues. 20i, Krystal Hosting, Nexcess, and Pressable agreed to sponsor upstart companies in the space for 2023.
Another reason some hosts don’t participate is a lack of interest or value. They don’t see how they can use the benchmark results to their advantage.
“Some companies don’t get as much value from the benchmarks as others,” Ohashi said. “Performance across the board has gone way up. It’s harder and harder to stand out.
“I think some companies may view it as an instant validation and reason for customers to come busting down the doors. But there are a lot of great companies offering great performance. Earning Top Tier status means you’ve got a performant hosting platform. It’s great, and it can help validate some customer needs/desires in the decision making funnel, but it won’t magically generate tons of sales.”
Ohashi said he has put together notes for hosting companies that earned Top Tier status to help them leverage more value this year from a marketing perspective, based on what he has seen some companies do with their results. Creating more value for participating companies is something he is actively working to improve upon.
Although Review Signal had approximately 35,000 people visit in the past year, Ohashi doesn’t think the traffic captures the full value of the benchmarks very well. The people who dig into these metrics are those who have a large impact on where their WordPress clients host their websites.
“The people who care about the benchmarks are seriously into WordPress / hosting / performance,” Ohashi said. “It’s a lot of agencies, developers, large website owners and hosting people. One way I’ve measured impact is by going to the major WordCamps (EU/Asia/US) and talking to people. The number of folks who are aware of the benchmarks there was surprisingly high to me. The people who are interested enough to spend time at WordCamps are the same folks interested in reading the benchmarks. It’s not the largest number of people who read them, but it is the largest impact people who read and value them.”
Choosing the right web host is one of the most important steps when launching a site. If you plan on using WordPress, you’ll want to opt for a service that’s tailored to this platform.
Fortunately, there are many companies that offer top-notch managed WordPress hosting. When you sign up for this service, the web host will handle all essential tasks for you, including updates and software configuration. This leaves you with more time to work on your passion.
In this article, we’ll go through a managed WordPress hosting comparison and the service works. We’ll also show you how to pick the right web host and review some of the best providers on the market. Let’s get started!
What is managed WordPress hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting is a service that’s designed to offer a VIP experience. With this plan, the provider takes care of tasks that are typically handled by the website owner.
Some hosting providers focus specifically on WordPress websites. This means they provide features that are unique to the content management system (CMS).
Typically, they offer some or all of the following services:
Increased security. Your hosting provider will handle some aspects of WordPress security to ensure that your site is protected from hackers and malware. This can include scanning for vulnerabilities and providing regular updates and patches.
Performance optimization. Managed hosting providers tend to use server-level caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to enhance website performance.
Managed updates. Some providers take care of WordPress updates for you. This ensures that the site is always running the latest and most secure versions of software.
Automatic and on-demand backups. Most managed hosts will create backups of your site on a regular basis.
Expert WordPress technical support. This type of hosting usually comes with access to premium support from WordPress experts. They can assist with technical issues and provide guidance on best practices for WordPress sites.
Access to staging environments. Many managed hosting providers offer staging environments where you can test changes or updates to your site before they go live.
Increased scalability. Managed hosts typically handle traffic spikes better than unmanaged hosts. Depending on the plan you choose, you might get access to a virtual private server (VPS) or a dedicated server. That means that you’ll either share resources with fewer websites, or even have them all to yourself.
The primary goal of the best managed WordPress hosting companies is to offer a hassle-free server environment. This enables you to focus on growing your business. It’s an ideal choice if you want to offload technical site tasks.
The importance of choosing the best WordPress managed hosting provider
If you don’t research web hosting providers, you might end up stuck with a poor hosting service. Of course, you could always migrate to a new web host, but this can be a time-consuming process.
When it comes to choosing a WordPress hosting provider, you’ll want to look at as many reviews as possible. While doing so, try to pay special attention to the following:
Server performance. Site speed is critical to your website’s success. Your web host should offer top-of-the-line performance.
Uptime guarantee. These days, any decent web host offers near-perfect uptime. That means that uptime averages above 99% and, typically, close to 100%.
Security practices and tools. You’ll want to choose a provider that offers a variety of security measures to help protect your site against common threats.
Backups and recovery solutions. Your managed hosting provider should offer automated and on-demand backups. Moreover, you should be able to restore your website from a backup directly from your hosting account.
Expert WordPress support. If you use a managed web host that specializes in WordPress, their support system should reflect that. Agents need to be trained in the CMS, so they can help you troubleshoot any technical issues that may arise.
Scalability. The web host should have several plans you can upgrade to as your site grows. Managed web hosts tend to cater to sites with higher performance needs.
Price is also an important factor when choosing a hosting provider. With that in mind, we decided to review managed WordPress hosting options that offer great plans at decent starting prices.
The best managed WordPress hosting providers (10 options)
Now, let’s look at some of the best managed WordPress hosting companies on the market. We’ll discuss the key features, pros and cons, and pricing of each one.
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting providers. The company offers a large selection of hosting plans, ranging from shared to dedicated options. You can also use Bluehost to register domains, host your email account, and find web design and development professionals to help you with your projects.
On top of its regular plans, Bluehost offers a variety of WordPress-specific options. You have basic WordPress shared hosting, hosting for WooCommerce sites, and managed plans.
If you sign up for a long-term contract, you’ll benefit from very good prices. This is a common practice among hosting providers, but Bluehost offers some of the best deals on the market.
Bluehost’s managed WordPress plans come with a free content delivery network, a collection of professionally-built WordPress themes, automatic updates, round-the-clock phone support, and free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. Some of these plans also include automatic daily backups and malware-scanning tools.
Key Features
Support for multiple websites (on some plans)
Free CDN integration
Free SSL certificate (limited to one year free for the Basic managed plan)
Around-the-clock phone support
Automatic daily backups (not available on all plans)
Malware scanning tools (not available on all plans)
Bundled premium WordPress themes
Bundled ecommerce plugins (with the Online Store plan)
Free WordPress migration
Pros and cons
Bluehost’s main selling point as a managed WordPress hosting company is its prices. Depending on the length of your contract, you can end up paying as little as a couple of dollars per month for hosting (due annually). Plus, you’ll get freebies like bundled premium WordPress themes and ecommerce plugins.
On the other hand, its managed hosting features can feel pretty basic. If you’ve just launched a website, this may not be an issue for now. But if you want top-of-the-line performance or advanced security, you may need to look at other options.
Bluehost is one of the few web hosts on the market that offers real, around-the-clock phone support. If you want to be able to get someone on the phone at any time, this can be a good option for you.
Pricing
With Bluehost, you can get some of the best managed WordPress hosting deals, with plans starting at just $2.95 per month. The downside is that you only get these low prices if you lock yourself into a multi-year hosting contract.
2. DreamHost
DreamHost’s line of managed WordPress hosting plans is called DreamPress, and it offers three options. In terms of pricing, DreamHost is in the middle of the pack, neither a budget option nor a super-expensive one.
Every DreamPress plan comes with a trove of WordPress features. You’ll get a free domain, a pre-installed SSL certificate, unlimited email hosting, on-demand backups, and staging functionality. DreamPress will also set up Jetpack on your WordPress website.
If you plan on using a website builder, DreamHost offers its own custom solution. It also comes with a massive library of ready-to-go themes that you can use for your website.
In terms of support, DreamPress enables you to talk to agents through chat or email. The highest tier of DreamPress plans also offers priority support, which means faster responses.
Key Features
Support for one website (on all plans)
One-click staging sites
Built-in caching
CDN integration
Free WordPress migrations
Custom drag-and-drop builder
Free SSL certificate
Free domain registration
Automatic WordPress updates
Free Jetpack integration
Automated and on-demand backups
SFTP, SSH, and WP-CLI support
Pros and cons
DreamPress offers a comprehensive set of features with its managed WordPress plans. If you want a host that comes with plenty of site templates and integrations, DreamPress is one of the few providers that offer these tools.
There are a few downsides to using DreamPress. First, you don’t get access to phone support (although callbacks are available).
Additionally, the basic tier doesn’t offer CDN integration, and some Jetpack Security features, like malware scanning, are only available with the more expensive plans.
Finally, each plan is limited to a single website. This means DreamPress can be an expensive option if you’re looking to host multiple sites.
Pricing
DreamPress plans start at $19.95 per month and go down a bit if you pay yearly. There’s also a big difference in price between the Plus and Pro plans.
The DreamPress Plus plan offers the best value for money. It gives you access to all managed hosting features. This starts at $24.95 per month when paid yearly.
3. A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting offers almost every type of hosting plan imaginable. The company’s managed hosting service is among the best in the industry in terms of features and price-to-performance ratio.
Although A2 Hosting’s plans aren’t exactly budget-oriented, they’re still among the best you can find. Moreover, some of these plans support unlimited websites.
With A2 Hosting’s managed WordPress plans, you get automated daily backups, Jetpack integration, around-the-clock support, automatic updates, site staging, and more. When it comes to support, A2 Hosting offers phone, chat, and email access to specialized agents.
Key Features
Support for one or more websites
Jetpack integration (with more advanced tools available on the higher plans)
Support via phone, chat, and email
Daily website backups
Daily malware scans (available through the Jetpack integration)
Staging sites
Automatic WordPress updates
Pros and cons
One of the main advantages of using A2 Hosting is that you’ll find managed plans for nearly every price point. Moreover, the web host is very generous about the number of websites you can host on a single plan.
The company’s marketing can be a little confusing, though. All the managed plans offer what’s called “Turbo Serversâ€, but also “A2 Optimized WordPressâ€. Unless you dig into the documentation, it can be hard to understand exactly what these optimizations are and how they benefit you.
Pricing
A2 Hosting’s prices for managed WordPress hosting vary depending on the number of websites you want to set up. More expensive plans offer support for unlimited websites as well as better Jetpack integrations and site optimizations.
Plans start at $11.99 per month. You get the best value for money with the Jump plan, which supports up to five websites and costs $18.99 per month.
4. Liquid Web
Liquid Web is one of the most developer-friendly hosting providers you can find. Unlike most other web hosts that offer managed plans, Liquid Web gives you full access to the server. This means you can make any changes you want to its configuration.
This web host focuses on providing excellent performance. On top of configuring your server for optimal speed, the company also installs several plugins that can help improve your site’s performance. Among them, you have options for plugin monitoring and image optimization.
If you use WooCommerce, Liquid Web can also set up automatic daily testing for you. This feature will help you identify any issues with your store, and you can have the support team fix any problems that come up.
Aside from those features, you also get some of the basic perks you can expect from most managed web hosts, including free SSL setup, staging sites, automatic daily backups, and developer tools like WP-CLI support.
Key Features
Support for large numbers of websites (basically unlimited)
Full access to the server
Performance optimization plugins
Automatic daily testing for WooCommerce stores
Free SSL setup
Staging sites
Automatic daily backups
WP-CLI support
Pros and cons
Liquid Web is a fantastic option if you want a managed WordPress hosting service that gives you full control over the server. This can be a double-edged sword unless you have experience with server management, as you might undo some of the optimizations by mistake.
You can get the most out of Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting if you run a WooCommerce store. The company’s automated daily testing is a fantastic tool that helps ensure your store is running perfectly at all times.
Another perk is that all the plans offer the same features, aside from the amount of storage and bandwidth you get. This makes it easy to select a plan as you’re not compromising on features if you opt for a cheaper option.
Pricing
Liquid Web’s pricing is very straightforward. Plans start at $19 per month with support for one website. More expensive plans offer additional resources and provide support for more sites, but the managed features you get are the same on every plan.
5. MilesWeb
MilesWeb offers managed WordPress hosting on top of your favorite cloud service provider. The platform integrates with DigitalOcean, Vultr, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Linode. You can choose which cloud service you want to use, and MilesWeb will set it up for you, including access to a custom hosting dashboard.
Prices can vary depending on the cloud provider you want to pair with MilesWeb (although not by a lot), but you get the same features with any of them. These include staging sites, automatic backups, free SSL setup, a dedicated firewall, and support for unlimited websites.
In terms of security, MilesWeb offers a tool that enables you to check the integrity of your site’s files. This can help you detect malicious changes to core files, and if you spot any, the support team will clean up your WordPress site for you. You can reach out to them at any time via chat, email, or phone.
Key Features
Managed hosting service compatible with DigitalOcean, Vultr, AWS, and Linode
Support for unlimited websites
Staging sites
Automatic backups
Free SSL setup
A dedicated firewall
File integrity checks
Website cleanup services for hacking or malware removal
Support via chat, email, and phone
Pros and cons
If you want to use a cloud hosting service while also enjoying the benefits of a managed WordPress hosting provider, MilesWeb could be the right choice. The company offers support for most of the popular cloud hosting services on the web. Plus, it offers similar pricing for all of them.
On the other hand, if you’re not interested in the cloud stack your WordPress web host uses, you’re probably better off with another provider. This is because selecting a MilesWeb plan requires you to have an idea of the kind of resources your website will need, including the number of virtual CPUs, RAM, storage, and bandwidth.
Pricing
MilesWeb prices vary depending on which cloud provider you want to use and the resources you need. Prices start at around $52-56 per month for every provider, which puts MilesWeb among the most expensive managed WordPress hosting providers on the market.
6. EuroDNS
EuroDNS offers an eclectic combination of services, ranging from domain name system (DNS) management to domain registration and managed WordPress hosting. The company’s managed hosting services are designed to be accessible for any kind of use. It offers two main plans to make your choice simpler: Basic and Advanced.
The bulk of EuroDNS’s managed WordPress hosting perks relies on Jetpack. Thanks to its Jetpack integration, you get access to automatic backups, malware scanning, automatic WordPress updates, and CDN integration.
EuroDNS offers support through phone and email. Your account also entitles you to priority support from Jetpack if you experience any issues.
Key Features
Support for one website
Jetpack integration
Automatic backups
Malware scanning
Automatic WordPress updates
CDN integration
Support via phone or email
Pros and cons
EuroDNS makes your life easy by only offering two managed WordPress hosting plans. The downside is that the WordPress Basic plan offers a meager 1GB of storage, which is not enough for many sites.
The main draw of using EuroDNS is its integration with Jetpack. If you’re a fan of Jetpack and its many features, EuroDNS enables you to get hosting for a cost that’s similar to a premium Jetpack license.
Pricing
As you might guess from the name, EuroDNS prices are in Euros. Prices start at €5.99 per month for the WordPress Basic plan, but you’re better off paying for the Advanced plan if you want more features and storage. This will cost €11.99 per month.
7. IONOS
IONOS is one of the cheapest managed WordPress web hosts on the market, with prices starting at $1-2 per month. On top of that, IONOS offers a unique onboarding experience.
When you sign up for an IONOS account, the company’s WP Assistant will guide you through a series of questions to help you find the right theme and connect your domain and email with the service. This works because IONOS provides free domain registration and email hosting with all its accounts.
With IONOS, you get to enjoy backups through Jetpack. Plans come with 12 free months of Jetpack Complete, which includes backups, daily malware scanning, CDN integration, and many other features.
Depending on the plan you choose, you’ll also get access to a caching plugin and repairs in case of malware infections. If you find yourself in a technical bind, you can contact IONOS support through phone, chat, or email.
Key Features
Support for one website
Jetpack integration with access to the entire suite of tools and a one-year free subscription
Automatic backups
Malware scanning and cleanup (the latter is only available with the Boost plan)
Free domain registration
Website configuration wizard
A caching plugin
Support through chat, email, and phone
Pros and cons
Low prices are the company’s main selling point. Few web hosts can compete with the kind of pricing IONOS offers.
Like many providers, IONOS offers promotional pricing during the initial contract, then raises the fees upon renewal. But even the renewal prices are competitive. When you add the complimentary domain to the mix, you get a real bargain.
The IONOS WP Assistant tool is also a big plus if you’re working on your first WordPress project. The assistant will walk you through some of the most difficult parts of setting up a website.
IONOS doesn’t offer many perks outside of the many features available through the integration with Jetpack.
Pricing
As we mentioned earlier, IONOS prices are incredibly reasonable. The basic plan starts at $2 per month and goes up to $4 after the initial contract. Meanwhile, the Grow option costs $1 per month and goes up to $8 after that contract expires.
8. Pressable
In terms of performance, few hosting providers can match Pressable. This managed WordPress host focuses on providing the best possible service and combines top-of-the-line security and advanced WordPress features.
This hosting platform is owned by Automattic (the people behind WordPress.com). When it comes to features, Pressable offers just about anything you expect from a managed service, including free SSL certificates, automatic backups and updates, a web application firewall (WAF), malware scanning, hack recovery assistance, and more.Â
Pressable also integrates with Jetpack Security. This gives your site protection against brute force attacks and spam.
Additionally, Pressable is very flexible in terms of pricing. You can choose your plan based on the number of sites you need to host, or how many visitors you expect to receive.
Key Features
Support for as many websites as you need
A free SSL certificate
Automatic backups
A web application firewall
Malware scanning
Hack recovery assistance
Integration with Jetpack Security
Pros and cons
Pressable is possibly the best managed WordPress hosting company if you want to get the best possible performance for your website. The web host offers a fantastic collection of managed features and some of the best support in the business.
The only downside of using Pressable is that it’s not the best option for small projects. The pricing is flexible, but it’s geared toward websites with high traffic and is priced accordingly.
Pricing
Pressable offers a broad range of plans. Prices start at $19 per month for one website with support for up to 5,000 visitors per month. The company also offers custom options for those who have very specific needs.
9. InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting offers all kinds of plans, including managed WordPress hosting options. These are designed to provide the best possible performance and offer many developer-friendly features.
One of the company’s standout features is the option to create WordPress “snapsâ€. These are blueprints of plugin and theme combinations that you can reuse across different websites. This is particularly useful if you want to deploy multiple WordPress projects with similar functionality.
InMotion Hosting comes with automatic daily backups, staging functionality, and a custom WordPress hosting dashboard that makes it easy to manage multiple websites. Additionally, the managed plans offer direct billing to customers. If you run an agency and use InMotion Hosting to create and host WordPress websites, you can have clients pay for their hosting directly.
Key Features
Unlimited WordPress websites
Free SSL setup
Automatic backups
Staging environment
DDoS protection
A web application firewall
Customizable WordPress updates
“Snaps†of themes and plugins for re-use on other sites
Caching plugin integration
Direct client billing
Pros and cons
InMotion Hosting offers one of the only managed WordPress hosting services geared towards agencies. If you run an agency or work with clients on WordPress websites, this can be a fantastic option for you.
Meanwhile, the service can be a bit much for small or hobbyist websites. Most of its features are geared towards agencies and developers. If you run a personal website, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
Pricing
InMotion Hosting offers yearly and monthly pricing plans. Prices don’t vary whether you pay by month or by year, which is a welcome bonus.Â
Plans start at $15 per month, and they vary in terms of the resources you get. But they all provide access to the same set of managed WordPress features.
10. WPWebHost
WPWebHost bills itself as a beginner-friendly managed WordPress web host, and that label holds true. The company offers a simple selection of managed plans, all at reasonable prices and with most of the features you expect from this kind of service.
With WPWebHost, you get automatic daily and on-demand backups, support for multiple websites (on some plans), staging sites, automatic update management tools, DDoS protection, malware scanning, and more.
A lot of these features are powered by Jetpack Personal and Professional, which come for free with most of the WPWebHost plans. You also get a free domain with no upkeep costs for as long as you maintain your WPWebHost subscription.
Key Features
Support for multiple WordPress websites (on some plans)
Jetpack integration (Personal or Professional plans)
Automatic backups
Staging functionality
WordPress update management
Malware scanning
DDoS protection
A free lifetime domain (as long as your WPWebHost subscription is active)
Pros and cons
WPWebHost is a relatively budget-friendly managed WordPress option. The company caters to beginners with simple WordPress projects, but it still offers a solid selection of managed hosting plans.
Just like with IONOS, most of WPWebHost’s perks come from its Jetpack integration. This means you get a good bargain if you sign up for one of its cheapest plans.
Pricing
WPWebHost plans start at $3 per month and those numbers don’t go up upon renewal, which is great news. If you want the Jetpack integration, you’ll need to sign up for the WP Lite plan or above, which costs $7 per month. This plan comes with a Jetpack Personal license.
Comparison of the top managed WordPress hosting providers
Bluehost
DreamHost
A2 Hosting
Liquid Web
MilesWeb
EuroDNS
IONOS
Pressable
InMotion
WPWebHost
Number of websites
Multiple (on some plans)
One website
Multiple (on some plans)
Multiple websites
Unlimited websites
One website
One website
Multiple (on some plans)
Unlimited
Multiple (on some plans)
Starting prices per month
$2.95
$19.96
$11.99
$19
$52-56
€5.99
$1
$19
$15
$3
Automatic backups
On some plans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Free SSL certificate
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Jetpack integration
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Automatic WordPress updates
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes (for plugins)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CDN integration
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Staging functionality
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Firewall and DDoS protection
No
Yes
Yes (on some plans)
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Malware scanning
On some plans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Support options
Phone
Email and chat
Phone, chat, and email
Phone, chat, and email
Phone, chat, and email
Phone or email
Phone, chat, and email
Chat
Phone, chat, and email
Email
Frequently asked questions
Do you still have questions after reading this managed WordPress hosting comparison? Let’s answer some of them.
Is managed WordPress hosting worth it?
Whether managed WordPress hosting is worth it or not depends on your budget and technical expertise. If you don’t mind troubleshooting technical issues, optimizing website performance, and tinkering with security settings, you don’t need managed hosting.
If you don’t want to deal with WordPress site maintenance tasks on your own, managed WordPress hosting can be worth it. With this type of hosting, you’re paying a premium for a more VIP level of service.
Managed hosting is also a smart investment if you can do these tasks on your own but want to spend your time focusing on other aspects of your website. WordPress maintenance and security can eat up a decent amount of time, so there’s no shame in delegating that work if you have the budget for it.
How does managed WordPress hosting differ from regular shared or VPS hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting plans don’t have anything to do with the kind of server setup that you get. Some managed providers might offer plans on shared servers (although this is very uncommon), a virtual private server (VPS), or even dedicated hardware.
What sets managed hosting apart is the level of service and additional features that you get. Typically, when you pay for a hosting plan, you’re just about on your own. With managed hosting, you can get access to a better support system and have several maintenance and security tasks taken care of for you.
If a hosting provider offers both managed and unmanaged plans, we recommend comparing the features they offer. You’re likely to find that the managed option includes a lot more perks.
Do managed WordPress hosting providers keep backups of my site?
Most managed WordPress hosting providers offer automatic backups. Plus, a lot of them handle backups through their hosting control panels. This means you have access to these copies even if you get locked out of WordPress.
The frequency of backups will vary depending on which hosting provider you choose. Some might also offer on-demand backups, which you can use to create copies of your WordPress site before making significant changes to it.
Top WordPress experts agree, however, that you should keep off-site backups in addition to those stored by your host. This protects your site in case an issue spurs from the host itself.
What should I look for when choosing a managed WordPress hosting provider?
The perks you get will depend on the web host you choose. Not all of them offer the same level of features. Moreover, prices can vary a lot from one web host to another.
Your choice should be based on your budget and the features you want. Before settling on a provider, you should compare multiple hosting companies and look for an option that fits your specific needs.
It’s important to make sure that your chosen provider can perform regular backups for you (preferably in real-time). You’ll also want to choose a company that takes security seriously. For example, it should provide features like malware scanning and protection against brute-force attacks.
Switch to managed WordPress hosting
If you use WordPress, you might want to consider opting for managed hosting. There are a lot of managed WordPress hosting providers that offer competitive prices and give you access to a much better quality of service than with most non-managed options.
With managed hosting, your web host will take care of a variety of security and performance tasks, so you can focus on growing your website.
Many reputable WordPress providers will automatically install Jetpack to help boost security on your website. Learn more about Jetpack Security!
WordPress.com is now selling a 100-year plan, one of the longest available in the industry, for a one-time payment of $38,000. It includes managed WordPress hosting (whatever that looks like in 100 years), multiple backups across geographically distributed data centers, submission to the Internet Archive if the site is public, 24/7 dedicated support, and a domain that doesn’t need to be renewed by the customer for a century.
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, limits domain registration to a maximum of 10 years. Auto-renewing after this time requires the customer to renew on time and keep their payment method updated. A 100-year plan removes these uncertainties but still hinges on the registrar staying in business into the next century.
Customers who buy into the plan will need to have superior confidence in WordPress.com, coupled with the belief that domain names will still be important to the fundamental architecture of the web decades from now.
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg commented on the difficulties in pricing the 100-year plan during his presentation at WordCamp US 2023, while simultaneously discouraging WordPress product owners from offering lifetime licenses. The distinction here is that the 100-year plan has a finite length of time, even if its future support seems unfathomable at the moment.
“It also got me thinking about lifetime licenses, which I think we should stop doing in the WordPress world,” Mullenweg said.
“If you’ve ever worked with an accountant or an acquirer they don’t like when you have those because it’s essentially an open ended commitment, including often with support. How do you recognize that revenue? Offer a 20 year plan or something. I think when you’re saying ‘lifetime,’ it sort of cheapens the word. If we’re really thinking long-term, what promises we’re making to our customers, I think we should re-examine those practices.”
Mullenweg also said he was inspired by the Long Now Foundation, a non-profit established to foster long term thinking. The organization’s first project is the “Clock of the Long Now,” a mechanical monument designed to keep accurate time for the next 10,000 years:
It is still being assembled deep inside a mountain in west Texas. The Clock provides a rare invitation to think and engineer at the timescale of civilization. It offers an enduring symbol of our personal connection to the distant future.
WordPress.com is building something parallel to this in the digital world, enabling people to create their own virtual, lasting monuments and preserve their homes on the web.
Embedded in the new offering is also a poignant reminder that WordPress.com is a domain registrar, as the company recently made a bid to capture Google Domain customers ahead of their domains being sold off to Squarespace. Even if the new 100-year hosting plan is too expensive for 99.9% of prospective customers, it gives the impression that the company is capable of hosting entrusted domains for the long term.
Nobody, not even WordPress.com, knows what that will look like in 50 years, but it’s an ambitious, thought-provoking offering. What resources will a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) point to 50 years from now? Or will URLs be discarded into the scrap pile of obsolete building blocks as soon as there’s a better, more efficient way to identify web addresses? What does longevity look like in the digital world?
Web hosting is a fundamental aspect of web development, enabling visitors to access your site online. Therefore, it is important to choose the best hosting solution for your WordPress website’s needs. Among the most popular web hosting options are shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting. The main difference is that managed WordPress hosting is designed […]
Many web hosting services offer great features and benefits for WordPress site owners. Managed WordPress hosting is especially popular for optimizing websites built on WordPress. A managed WordPress hosting service typically offers easy WordPress installation, built-in optimization plugins, and a malware scanner. The web hosts also handle all technical aspects, including security updates, backups, and […]
