WordPress is the most popular web-based content management system (CMS) in the world. It feeds more than 30 percent of the top 10 million Internet sites.
The WordPress software (which should not be confused with WordPress.com hosting) is open source, incredibly easy to configure and completely free to use. All you need is a domain name and a managed WordPress hosting plan. Here are seven of the best WordPress managed hosting providers.
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is possibly the most recognizable name in the world of WordPress web hosting; The company has been around since 1996. In fact, WordPress actively recommends Bluehost on its site and has done so since 2005.
If you are creating a website for the first time, you probably do not have much traffic to start with. In that case, the shared hosting plan of the company will be sufficient. It offers 50 GB of space, unmetered bandwidth and five email accounts. Bluehost has an average activity time of> 99.99% and average load times of 419 ms.
The plan costs $ 7.99 per month. However, there are significant discounts available for new customers, making it one of the most affordable WordPress hosting plans.
If you need something with a little more power, check the VPS plans (virtual private server). For $ 19.99 per month, you get 2GB of RAM, 30GB of SSD storage, two cores and free SSL.
2. InMotion Hosting
Unusually, InMotion Hosting offers six dedicated WordPress hosting plans. Most companies only offer a couple.
The cheapest plan is WP-1000S. It will cost you $ 8.99 per month and is suitable for up to 20,000 monthly visitors. It includes unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts and 40 GB of SSD storage space.
At the other end of the scale is the WP-6000S plan. It costs $ 119.99 per month and is suitable for up to 1.2 million page views per month.
The three most expensive plans include a dedicated IP address and a free subscription to Jetpack Professional.
Regardless of the plan you choose, WordPress comes pre-installed; you will not need to play with third-party installers. You can also decide if you want to optimize your site for traffic from the eastern or western hemisphere.
InMotion uptime runs at 99.97%. Your average load time is 752 ms.
3. WordPlus
None of the big companies offers free WordPress hosting, but that does not mean there are no free web hosting services.
Of course, you can go to WordPress.com. Its servers are powerful enough to handle any traffic you throw at it. But there are some compensations, for example, you can only install your own add-ons and run Jetpack if you pay a monthly fee. The free version is limited to 3 GB of space and you can not show your own ads.
Instead, check out WordPlus. The free flavor gives you 128MB of space in SSD, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, free CDN and access to cPanel. You can also use all the best WordPress plugins.
If that does not cover your needs, other popular free WordPress hosting providers include 000webhost, HostAwesome and Byet. The four providers have very different characteristics and capabilities, so be sure to do your research before choosing.
4. SiteGround
In addition to entry-level shared web hosting plans, many companies also offer managed WordPress hosting.
Normally, managed WordPress hosting is more expensive than its shared hosting counterpart, although the list of features is usually very similar.
The difference comes in the level of support you receive. If you are not technically inclined and prefer to concentrate on producing content instead of managing the back-end of a website, a managed WordPress hosting plan could be for you.
The hosting provider will manage all things behind the scenes, including security, speed optimization, updates and backups. Security support is perhaps the most important, it is easy to overlook when you start a new website.
On the downside, you can only run WordPress. If you decide to convert to a different CMS in the future, you must migrate your entire site to a new plan. You can also find that your host will block some add-ons that reduce performance.
If you want a managed hosting plan for WordPress, check out SiteGround. With an activity time of 99.98% and a loading time of 722 ms, it is one of the servers with the best performance in this list.
It is the most economical managed hosting plan, called StartUp, costs 11.95 $ per month. It is suitable for 10,000 monthly visits and offers 10 GB of space.
5. A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is a company that I can personally answer. I use it to host four websites and I’ve never had any problems.
When I first migrated to A2 Hosting from my previous provider, the company quickly resolved the technical problems that arose as a result of the transfer, although it was later learned that the problems were caused by the previous host and were not A2.
Since then, every time I open a support ticket, A2 responds quickly and accurately. I have lost the notion of the number of times that the representatives in the live chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, have solved my problems in the middle of the night.
As for the plans, A2 offers shared accommodation, VPS accommodation and dedicated accommodation. The initial level shared hosting plan includes 25 email addresses, a 2.1 GHz core, five databases and a server with 64 GB of guaranteed RAM. Regardless of the plan you choose, you can easily install WordPress using Softaculous.
Interestingly, A2 Hosting has compiled two of their own WordPress plugins that are worth using. A2 Fixed W3 Total Cache is a modified version of the popular W3 Total Cache plugin, while A2 Optimized WP offers performance improvements such as file and page minification, GZIP compression, image compression and security enhancements.
Finally, with an activity time of 99.90% and an average load time of 413 ms, A2 Hosting is undoubtedly one of the best WordPress hosting providers.
6. GoDaddy
Another provider of managed WordPress hosting that is worth considering is GoDaddy.
The company is more commonly associated with domain names instead of hosting plans, but its managed plan can compete comfortably with the offers of other companies in both price and features.
The most economical GoDaddy WordPress hosting plan costs $ 8.99 per month. It is suitable for up to 25,000 visitors per month. It offers 10 GB of storage and 99.99% uptime.
Because the plan is managed, you can expect nightly backups, automatic malware scanning and deletion, a test environment to test changes, and automatic DDoS protection.
7. HostGator
Our final recommendation is HostGator. Like Bluehost, it is a well-established name in the industry and supports more than 10 million sites.
The entry-level cloud plan $ 9.95 per month. You will get two CPU cores, 2 GB of RAM, free SSL and unlimited bandwidth and storage. It can handle 100,000 visits per month.
If you need more power, consult the business plan instead. For $ 22.95 per month, you’ll get 6GB of RAM, six CPU cores and a dedicated IP address. You can also have an unlimited number of parked domains. It is suitable for 500,000 visits per month.
Finally, HostGator has some of the most impressive performance statistics on this list. It has an activity time of 99.96% and a load time of 462 ms.
Make the right choice of WordPress hosting
The world of WordPress hosting is a competitive place. There is not a big difference between any of the main providers; all offer similar characteristics for a similar price.
The most important decision you should make is whether to buy a managed WordPress hosting or a regular hosting. Your level of technical experience and willingness to learn should guide your thinking process.
