In the digital age, one website is a must needed thing for a small or big business. So everyone not having a handy amount of money to develop a custom website. The simple and versatile solution is to go with the worlds famous CMS, WordPress.
It provides a beginner-friendly platform to develop and manage without having vast knowledge in coding. To host your WordPress based website, you have to have a good hosting also. So you may be searching for the best WordPress hosting providers in the market.
But the fact is the world is full of hosting service provider and the list is increasing day by day. How you can decide which is the best WordPress hosting provider among them?
To choose a right host is not easy that people think. You cannot judge a WordPress hosting provider just by seeing the plan chart. Don’t worry. You don’t have to go here and there and search for the best. I have collected and list out some of the best WordPress hosting providers out there. So let’s get started.
What is WordPress hosting?
Before going to discuss anything long on this topic let’s start from the query what is WordPress hosting? We know already that WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) platform. WordPress hosting is nothing but a type of hosting that is specially optimized for WordPress based websites to get better performance and security.
To make the complete set-up process easy and keep it simple for beginners, the host provides one-click WordPress installation. Some hosting provider provides automatic WordPress update that automatically updates your existing WordPress version to the latest released version when needed. This ensures that you will never miss any update unknowingly.
Is the WordPress hosting is needed to run a WordPress based website or blog?
The simple answer is no. To run a WordPress website the minimum requirements are PHP version 5.2.4 or higher and MySQL 5.0.15 or higher. So, every host can capable to run a WordPress website on their server.
Now, you may have the doubt that why should buy WordPress hosting separately instead of buying any shared hosting?
Yes, you can run a WordPress based website on shared or any type of hosting. But the normal hosting plans is different from WordPress hosting. The servers that are used in WordPress hosting, is specially tuned for this purposes. As a WordPress a website owner, you can expect better performance.
Types of WordPress hosting
WordPress hosting is mainly two types. One is shared WordPress hosting and managed WordPress hosting.
Shared WordPress hosting
Shared WordPress hosting is normally called as “WordPress hosting”.
As the name suggests, your website will “share” with other websites on the same server. Your server is still specially optimized for performance, but you just won’t have it all to yourself.
The shared hosting plans usually start at $3-4 per month.
Managed WordPress hosting
As the name suggests, in managed WordPress hosting the hosting provider will manage everything related to your site. You do not need to worry about the server configuration, server monitoring, uptime, security settings etc.
If shared WordPress hosting is considered as a 3-star hotel, the managed WordPress hosting is like a beachfront view 5-star resort.
Usually, manage WordPress hosting is costly than shared WordPress hosting. In the cost of some extra dollars, you will get faster speed, better server-side caching, better security features, staging site to test and lot more.
Things to look for
There are hundreds of hosting providers that are providing WordPress hosting service. I do not conform to the number of host present right now. However, before going to choose any host, don’t forget to consider these things first.
Pricing: As you are going with WordPress based website, the reason maybe you are a beginner and don’t want to invest any money upfront. It is obvious as well. If you compared a shared hosting plan and a WordPress hosting plan you will observe that the WordPress hosting plan will be costly. Because the hardware used in the server and the server management is quite costly as well. In return, you can expect better performance as well. So, if you are getting extra benefits by spending some extra dollars, don’t hesitate to do so.
Speed and performance: Next to the pricing factor, speed and performance are also important for any hosting. Google has also included the page loading speed as a ranking factor as well. It swipes out your website if it is slow. If you have a bit technical knowledge, then you can check the hardware components used in the server (if the host is ready to provide the complete hardware information).
Security: Website security may be the number one priority in this online world. So your web host has to prepare for the harmful cyber attacks, data theft, and malware. The host should take a regular backup which ensures that there will be no data loss due to this.
Additional features: Who don’t want some extra features in the same budget? So, make sure that your hosting provider should provide some extra features with the necessary requirements.
Support: Good customer support is a consideration factor when you are going to choose the best WordPress hosting provider. If you ever need any support from the hosting service provider end, they should be ready for that. Not only ready but also provide the necessary help.
These are some consideration factor you should check before going to choose any host.
Best WordPress hosting providers
Based on the above criteria, we have tested hundreds of hosting providers and make a list. Here is a selected list of best WordPress hosting providers. Let’s get started.
#01 Bluehost
Bluehost is one the best WordPress hosting provider. The company claims that it powers 2 million websites worldwide. It is also the official hosting recommendation of WordPress.org.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.99% and the page load time is 406ms. This means they have only 1 hour of downtime per year. So you can imagine the service they will provide.
Most people know Bluehost for its budget plans. Their Basic plans cost $3.95 per month. It includes 50GB website space, Free Domain for one year, 5 parked domain, 25 subdomains, free SSL etc. After choosing Bluehost as your host, and buy a WordPress hosting plan, Bluehost automatically installs the latest version of WordPress.
Bluehost offer high-end server setups specially optimized for WordPress with custom PHP-FPM and NGINX configurations under the hood. They also provide security via Sitelock.
It has 24/7 customer support team are experienced and solve your queries. They also provide unmanaged WordPress hosting (WP Pro) that costs some extra dollars.
#02 SiteGround
SiteGround is also a well-known name in the hosting industry and also the best WordPress hosting provider out there.
Since 2004, SightGround has grown rapidly and have made a large network of over 800,000 domain names. It is also the official hosting recommendation of WordPress.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.99% and the page load time is 714ms. This means they have only 1 hour of downtime per year. So you can expect the best level of service.
The StartUp plan allows you to host 1 website and provides 10 GB web space costs $3.95 per month. It includes some features like free Cloudflare CDN, free SSL certificate, free WP migrator, 30-day money back guaranty etc.
The customer support team is very responsive. You can communicate via call, live chat, and email tickets.
#03 iPage
iPage is little unknown in the hosting industry but the service they offer for the WordPress hosting is very impressive. It is also known for its cheap WordPress hosting plans.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.98% and the page load time is 820ms. This means they have only 2 hours of downtime per year. The page loading speed is a little bit high also.
The WP starter is capable to host 1 website and costs $3.75 per month. It includes features like unlimited storage, a free domain for one year, unlimited bandwidth, customized control panel, pre-installed themes & plugins etc. The higher plan includes the same feature as the WP starter. In addition to that, it provides WordPress expert support, siteLock professional security, automatic malware removal.
Their customer support team provides medium level support. You can contact them via call or email.
#04 HostGator
HostGator is one of the famous and best WordPress hosting providers. HostGator has a huge customer base and it owns 10 million domains around the world.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.97% and the page load time is 421ms. This means they have only 3 hours of downtime per year. The page loading speed Is too high as compared to other hosts. Due to their specially designed supercharged cloud architecture allow your site to load 2.5X faster. Faster page loading means better customer satisfaction.
The Starter Plan can host 1 website and costs $5.95 per month. It provides 1 GB web space and capable to handle 100k visits per month. They won’t specify an exact bandwidth. With all the plans of HostGator includes free SSL certificate, $100 Google Adwords credits and some additional tools for security purposes. Google Adwords credit may help you to run your campaign.
Their customer support team is very responsive and provides 24/7 round the clock support. You can contact them via call, live chat or email tickets.
#05 A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is a new member in the hosting industry but getting popular in no time. One of the reasons behind popularity is their best performing hosting.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.91% and the page load time is 392ms. This means they have 9 hours of downtime per year. The uptime is quite low but it may be compensated by the fast load time.
A2 Hosting uses a caching technique that stores the website data in a visitor’s web browser. So they don’t have to pull the request information each time from their server because some of the data is already present in the browser.
Their 1-site managed WordPress hosting costs $11.99 per month. It includes 1 website, 10 GB SSD storage, unlimited transfer, free SSL, free CDN, turbo speed technology, staging site, automatic backups, free jetpack personal license and anytime money back guarantee.
They provide 24/7 customer support and you can contact them via call, email, or live chat.
#06 InMotion Hosting
Inmotion is also an old member in this list and owns 3,00,000 domains. It is also the best WordPress hosting provider.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.94% and the page load time is 803ms. This means they have 6 hours of downtime per year. The uptime and page loading speed is low as compared to other members in the list.
If you are outside the US, they don’t provide an instant account. They have such a rule for international customers. They take some time to verify a new account.
They provide many WordPress hosting plans in the different price range. The starting plan WP-1000S capable to host 1 website and costs $7.26 per month. It includes 40 GB SSD storage, a free domain, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts etc.
Their customer support which is not very good but not worst and you can contact them via call, email, or live chat.
#07 GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is also a well-known name in hosting space for its renewable energy. The company claims that it uses 300% renewable energy.
Their last 12-month average uptime is 99.92% and the page load time is 530ms. This means they have 8 hours of downtime per year. The uptime is quite low and page loading speed is low as fast also.
GreenGeeks also provide cheap WordPress hosting plan. Their Ecosite Starter plan costs $2.95 per month. It includes unlimited SSD disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited E-mail accounts, unlimited domain hosting, FREE domains, Let’s Encrypt Wildcard SSL, FREE site builder, FREE website transfer etc.
They provide 24/7 customer support and it is fare. You can contact them via call, email and live chat.
Best WordPress hosting comparison
We have listed the best WordPress hosting above. Let’s compare this side by side.
|
No |
Hosting Company |
Cost |
Load Time |
Uptime |
Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bluehost | $3.95/mo | 409ms | 99.99% | 5/5 |
| 02 | SiteGround | $3.95/mo | 714ms | 99.99% | 5/5 |
| 03 | iPage | $3.75/mo | 831ms | 99.98% | 4/5 |
| 04 | HostGator | $5.95/mo | 421ms | 99.97% | 5/5 |
| 05 | A2 Hosting | $3.99/mo | 392ms | 99.91% | 4/5 |
| 06 | InMotion Hosting | $7.26/mo | 803ms | 99.94% | 4/5 |
| 07 | GreenGeeks | $2.95/mo | 724ms | 99.92% | 4/5 |
Hosting experts recommends to choose a web host whose up time is 99.95% and higher, and the load time less than 700ms.
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Conclusion
So these are the best WordPress hosting providers. The order of this list does not mean that the last number is the worst. WordPress provides a great way to build and manage websites for beginners. So choosing to host that takes special care for WordPress base site is also a smart move.
We hope this article helped you to find out Best and Powerful WordPress Hosting. You may also want to see – Best Cloud Hosting Providers.