Are you looking for the best managed WordPress hosting service?
WordPress is massive. In fact, WordPress powers 43.3% of the internet. If you have a large website with a lot of traffic, a managed WordPress host may be helpful for your business.
Because of the platform’s popularity, there are many WordPress-dedicated hosting options. But finding the best WordPress hosting company can be exhausting and daunting.
In this article, I’ll explain managed WordPress hosting, share its pros and cons, and show WordPress users what to look for in a host. Plus, I’ll compare the best managed WordPress hosting options.
- What Is Managed WordPress Hosting?
- Pros and Cons of Managed WordPress Hosting
- What to Look for in a Managed WordPress Host
- Best WordPress Managed Hosting Comparison
- What Is the Best Managed WordPress Hosting Plan?
- FAQs
What Is Managed WordPress Hosting?
Managed WordPress Hosting is a specialized hosting service tailored specifically for WordPress websites. A managed WordPress hosting service handles all the technical aspects of running a WordPress site, allowing website owners to focus on content creation and business operations.
It provides optimized server configurations for running WordPress and offers a range of services that streamline the website management process.
Key features often include:
- Automatic Updates: The hosting provider ensures that your WordPress core, themes, and plugins are always up-to-date.
- Enhanced Security: They provide WordPress secure hosting, offering advanced security measures, including regular malware scans, firewalls, and intrusion detection.
- Daily Backups: Your website is regularly backed up and stored automatically, allowing for quick restoration if needed.
- Performance Optimization: Servers are fine-tuned for WordPress to ensure faster loading times and overall improved site performance.
- Expert Support: Access to WordPress-knowledgeable support teams to assist with any issues or queries.
- Staging Environments: Some WordPress hosting providers offer staging sites to test changes before pushing them live.
In short, managed WordPress hosting removes a lot of the hassle of website management, as you outsource those tasks to your hosting company.
Pros and Cons of Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting isn’t for everyone. Let’s look at some pros and cons of managed WordPress web hosting to see if it’s right for you.
Pros of Managed WordPress Hosting
- Lightning Fast and No Downtime: Hosts can handle high traffic without downtime.
- Security and Backups: WordPress hosting providers have robust security and daily backups in place.
- Expert Support: WordPress hosting providers can help you solve problems faster because they’re WordPress experts.
- Automatic Updates: Your site, theme, and plugin are updated to the latest versions.
- Daily Backups: Work on your site with confidence. WordPress hosts back up your site daily to always have recent restore points.
All those advantages sound pretty nice. However, even the best managed WordPress hosting services have downsides.
Cons of Managed WordPress Hosting
- Cost: Managed WordPress hosting can be pricey due to all the perks.
- Less Control: The host handles technical aspects, so making changes can be challenging.
- App and Builder Limits: You can only host WordPress websites on a managed WordPress host. That limits what builders and apps you can have on your site.
Now, I’ll go over what I look for when comparing WordPress managed hosts.
What to Look for in a Managed WordPress Host
When looking for the best managed WordPress hosting, ask yourself:
- Does the hosting provider offer speed, reliability, and security?
- Does the provider perform daily backups?
- Do they provide a free SSL and CDN (Content Delivery Network)?
- Does the provider have an outstanding customer support team?
The answer to all questions should be “yes.” If they’re not, move on to the next possible WordPress host.
Now, I’ll jump into our list of the best managed WP hosting options.
Best WordPress Managed Hosting Comparison
This section discusses the best WordPress hosting services. I’ve tested and researched each entry and have included a speed test, a list of features, and pricing information for each host. Plus, I’ll give my own opinion on what I like and dislike about each service.
1. SiteGround
SiteGround is a popular and highly-rated hosting cloud platform for small businesses. Over 3 million domains currently use SiteGround for WordPress hosting.
They offer shared and managed WordPress hosting and provide access to the technology to keep your site fast and secure. They also offer 1-click staging, automatic updates, free SSL certificates, Cloudflare CDN, and more.
SiteGround Speed Test
My colleagues over at WPBeginner recently ran a speed test for SiteGround using the Bitcatcha tool. Here is what they found.
The server response time in the U.S. was under 1/20th of a second. Even its slowest time in Mumbai came in at under 1/4 of a second.
SiteGround Features
- Ultra-fast, free migration for your site
- 10+ GB of space
- eCommerce ready
- Collaboration tools
- High-performing security
- Multiple data centers (USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia)
- Ultrafast PHP
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features may vary by plan.
Why We Like SiteGround
SiteGround is my top recommendation for managed WordPress hosting. I found the site migration to be lightning-fast, the dashboard to be easy to use, and the customer support to be quick, helpful, and thorough.
Downside: The pricing tiers are based partly on the number of monthly visitors. After the introductory pricing has expired, plans can get pricey as your website grows.
SiteGround Pricing
All quoted prices are billed annually:
- StartUp Plan (1 website, 10GB web space, ~10,000 monthly visits): $2.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $17.99 per month.
- GrowBig Plan (Unlimited websites, 20GB web space, ~100,000 monthly visitors): $4.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $29.99 per month.
- GoGeek Plan (Unlimited websites, 40GB web space, ~400,000 monthly visitors): $7.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $44.99 per month.
If you’d like to upgrade to one of SiteGround’s cloud hosting plans, the cost ranges from $100-$400 per month.
2. Bluehost Cloud Hosting
Bluehost has retired its traditional managed WordPress hosting service. Now, the functions of managed hosting are only available with one of their brand new Cloud Hosting plans.
Already have a WordPress site? Bluehost offers free site migration to their platform.
Bluehost includes free SSL encryption, daily backups, and malware detection and removal services.
Bluehost Speed Test
As you can see, Bluehost servers perform especially fast in the United States, and the speed is still just a fraction of a second even in its slowest geographic regions.
Bluehost Managed WordPress Hosting Features
- 10+ GB storage
- Automatic daily backups
- Staging – see your site before publishing
- SSL certificate
- Jetpack site analytics
- Malware detection and removal
- Yoast SEO tools to help you improve search rankings
- 24/7 priority support through voice or chat
Why We Like Bluehost
Bluehost is an excellent choice for beginners. I like its clean dashboard and have had great experiences with its customer support. Its server response time is also among the fastest available. Plus, because it’s cloud-based, Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting provides faster speeds without the cost of dedicated hosting.
Downside: Cost. Bluehost’s managed WordPress services are only available on its Cloud plans, so it’s much pricier than SiteGround.
Bluehost Pricing
Bluehost’s pricing for shared hosting starts at $2.75 per month (billed annually). However, here are their pricing tiers for their cloud-based managed WordPress hosting:
- Cloud 1 (1 website & 10GB storage): $29.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $79.99 per month.
- Cloud 10 (10 websites & 125GB storage): $49.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $109.99.
- Cloud 25 (25 websites & 175GB storage): $89.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $169.99.
- Cloud 50 (50 websites & 225GB storage): $109.99 per month for the first year. Renews at $249.99.
All prices are for a 12-month term.
3. Hostinger
Hostinger is another popular managed WordPress web hosting provider, used by over 1,278,620 site owners, that offers reliable managed WordPress hosting.
Its fully managed WordPress hosting comes with 1-click WordPress installation, a user-friendly control panel, pre-installed WordPress performance plugins, and automatic WordPress updates.
This hosting service also uses LiteSpeed servers to ensure your page load time is super fast.
Hostinger Speed Test
The fastest server response times were in London and Germany. Those clock in at under 1/100 of a second! This makes sense as Hostinger is based in Europe. Even the slowest time, Singapore, remains under 1/4 of a second.
Hostinger Features
- Automated backups
- Great SSD storage
- eCommerce optimization
- Anti-DDoS protection
- WordPress staging tool
- 24/7 expert support
- Free SSL certificates
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Multiple data centers (USA, Europe, Asia, and South America)
Features may vary by plan.
Why We Like Hostinger
Hostinger offers excellent value for its reasonable pricing and is significantly less expensive than SiteGround after the first year. I love its intuitive dashboard, and it’s been so easy to use that I haven’t needed to use its customer support. It’s also an especially good choice for developers and agencies because even the cheapest plan allows for up to 100 websites and 100GB of storage.
Downside: The site migration process is a little clunkier than SiteGround’s. I had some hiccups because of the size of some of the files I was migrating. However, that didn’t prevent me from successfully migrating my site.
Hostinger Managed WordPress Hosting Pricing
Hostinger offers extremely discounted prices for customers willing to pay for the first 48 months in advance:
- Hostinger Premium (100 websites, 100GB storage, ~25K monthly visits): $2.99 per month for 48 months. Renews at $7.99 per month.
- Hostinger Business (100 websites, 200GB storage, ~100K monthly visits): $3.99 per month for 48 months. Renews at $8.99 per month.
- Hostinger Cloud Startup (300 websites, 200GB storage, ~200K monthly visits): $8.99 per month for 48 months. Renews at $19.99 per month.
4. WP Engine
WP Engine is fast, reliable, and hassle-free. As a result, it’s one of the best managed WordPress hosts.
This premium WordPress hosting solution has daily backups, SSL certificates, updates, security features, and more.
With WP Engine, you also get the Genesis Framework, which provides a suite of site-building tools for building custom Gutenberg blocks, as well as 10 premium StudioPress themes. That makes it an excellent option for busy business owners running an online store.
WP Engine Speed Test
WPBeginner’s speed tests show that WP Engine boasts strong server response times, especially in the US and Canada:
WP Engine Features
- Development, staging, production, and hosting environments
- Real-time, page-level reporting, and analytics
- Site-building tools with Genesis
- StudioPress themes
- GeoTargeting add-on available
- Caching
- Woocommerce hosting available
Features may vary by plan.
Why We Like WP Engine
I’ve found that WP Engine offers more advanced security features than most other hosting options. The included site-building tools and themes increase the value of the product, as well.
Downside: The cost is higher than other non-cloud managed WordPress hosting options, especially in the first year.
WP Engine Managed WordPress Hosting Pricing
- Startup (1 site, 10GB storage, 25K monthly visits): $20 per month for the first year. Renews at $30 per month.
- Professional (3 sites, 15GB storage, 75K monthly visits): $40 per month for the first year. Renews at $60 per month.
- Growth (10 sites, 20GB storage, 100K monthly visits): $77 per month for the first year. Renews at $115 per month.
- Scale (30 sites, 50GB storage, 400K monthly visits): $194 per month for the first year. Renews at $290 per month.
5. DreamPress by DreamHost
DreamPress is the managed WordPress hosting service from web host giant DreamHost.
This host provides 1-click WordPress installation, automatic updates, a custom dashboard, and SSDs.
DreamPress Speed Test
The western US is the fastest, as that’s where this company is located. Response time increases to just over 1/4 second in Mumbai and Sydney.
DreamPress Features
- 30+ GB storage
- SSL certificate
- Daily backups
- Automated migrations
- CDN
- Built-in caching system
Features may vary by plan.
What We Like About DreamPress
In my research, I’ve seen time and time again that customers boast about DreamPress’s top-notch customer support team. If you have a problem, you can expect to get a response and solution quickly.
Downsides: DreamPress only offers a small introductory discount, so you won’t get as fantastic of a deal as you can with some of the other hosting options. Also, none of their base pricing includes multiple websites, so you’ll also need to factor that into your decision.
DreamPress Pricing
- DreamPress (1 site, 30GB storage, ~100k monthly visitors): $16.95 per month for the first year. Renews at $19.99 per month.
- DreamPress Plus (1 Site, 60GB storage, ~300K monthly visitors): $24.95 per month for the first year. Renews at $28.99 per month.
- DreamPress Pro (1 site, 120GB storage, ~1M monthly visitors): $71.95 per month for the first year. Renews at $74.99 per month.
All prices billed annually.
6. HostGator
HostGator has an easy-to-understand dashboard so you can manage your site. It also offers cPanel to manage your email, domains, and more.
You can choose HostGator without worries as they offer a 45-day money-back guarantee.
HostGator Speed Test
HostGator is a nice middle-of-the-pack option for speed.
HostGator Features
- 1-year free domain name registration
- 99.9% uptime
- Automatic website updates
- 24/7/365 hosting server monitoring
- SSL certificate
Features may vary by plan.
Why We Like HostGator
HostGator doesn’t limit the number of website visitors for any of its price tiers, unlike many of its competitors. Their site provides this guide to website traffic limits to help you determine how much traffic your site can handle.
Downsides: Hostgator used to be a great choice for website owners needing inexpensive managed WordPress hosting. Hostinger is now more affordable, however, and it offers better features and performance.
HostGator Pricing
- Baby Plan (2 sites, 20GB storage): $4.50 per month for the first 3 years. Renews at $14.90 per month.
- Business Plan (3 sites, 40GB storage): $6.25 per month for the 3 first years. Renews at $19.99 per month.
- Pro Plan (5 sites, 100GB storage): $13.95 per month for the first 3 years. Renews at $26.99 per month.
What Is the Best Managed WordPress Hosting Plan?
I’ve evaluated numerous prominent managed WP hosting services, including but not limited to: Flywheel, Kinsta, Cloudways, Pagely, GoDaddy, InMotion Hosting, Pantheon, NameCheap, Pressable, HostGator, Amazon (AWS), and others.
Our selected list highlights the hosting companies offering the most valuable features at competitive prices.
After comparing the features of the best WordPress hosting plans, we recommend SiteGround. It has everything you need for a hassle-free fully managed WordPress hosting solution. If SiteGround is too pricey, you also can’t go wrong with Hostinger, which offers phenomenal prices when you pay upfront.
Managed WordPress Hosting FAQs
1) Do I have to have WordPress hosting to start my website?
No, you don’t need a managed WordPress hosting plan to start a site. If you are getting started, check out your host’s options for shared hosting. If you later need managed hosting, you can upgrade.
2) How much does managed WordPress hosting cost?
Managed WordPress hosting costs vary by company and plan. We’ve created a guide about how much it costs to start a website. It includes advice about cost control.
3) What if I have a domain but need a managed WordPress host?
You can use your domain with any hosting company. All you have to do is change your domain settings and point your site’s DNS to your chosen host. The best managed WordPress hosts offer migration services, too.
4) Can I change my managed WordPress host?
Yes, you can change managed WordPress hosts. Most hosting companies offer migration services to help you make the switch.
After Choosing a WordPress Host
Now that you have your managed hosting plan all figured out, you’re ready to run a successful website.
OptinMonster, a premium WordPress plugin, helps ensure your site runs even more smoothly. After you’ve chosen the best managed WordPress
host for you, we can help you with customer conversion.
For instance, if you want to get started on building your email list, sign up for OptinMonster now!
We also offer a ton of free resources, like the ones below.
- 17 Proven Methods to Get More Email Subscribers Today
- 7 Best Scroll Popup WordPress Plugins to Personalize Offers
- How to Generate More Leads From Your Website: 9 Expert Tips
If we’ve piqued your interest, contact us at OptinMonster today.
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