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Which is the best WordPress hosting out there?

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Which is the best WordPress hosting out there?

UPDATE: For a complete guide for learning WordPress (from Zero to Hero), please check out our newly released tutorial on Teachable: https://coderevolution.teachable.com/p/basic-wordpress-tutorial-from-zero-to-hero.

WordPress is a CMS that isn’t really much demanding when talking about server resources, but definitely requires some attentions on that part. That line, however, have been changing lately. The system started to consume more and more resources from the servers so a good hosting is a must nowadays, especially for bigger sites. Bellow there are some explanations and a list of good hosting sites for your WordPress custom installation.

For starting your blog, or if your blog have a small number of access, any simple shared hosting would do the job, the only problem is after you site start reaching something like 1000+ access daily. Thats when things can get nasty.

You could say, “it’s all about start using cache”. You would be right if everybody though that way, but most of the time the problem with the shared hosts isn’t with your site, it’s someone else site that could be wreaking havoc in the server, and you site goes down because of this (that was what happened most of the time with me). So , when I talk about that 1000+ access daily, im also talking about the trust of a site.

When your blog start’s to grow the least thing you want is it going offline, any downtime of your site represents less access, which in return turns to a smaller grow and less money (less advertisers shown, etc). Also, you problem would do worst in the SERPs (site ranking in search).

But how do you know what is the best WordPress host?

Disclosure: I tried to make the reviews as professional as possible. In my reviews I included companies from which I receive compensation for the products I review. I tested each product thoroughly and gave high marks to only the very best. I am independent  and the opinions expressed here are my own.

Whichever host you’re going to choose, keep in mind the 3 most important factors of a WordPress hosting:

  • Speed – also known as “load time”
  • Uptime – needs to be at least 99.94%
  • Customer Support – they should help you with WordPress related questions.

1. Bluehost (www.bluehost.com)

Bluehost is one of the popular hosting services along small business owners and bloggers. Hence the reason, I’m recommending Bluehost for people who want to create their website using WordPress.

They’re hosting more than 2 million websites and they also part of EIG who also own HostGator.

How did Bluehost compare? Turns out quite good:

Their last 12-month average uptime is >99.99% and load time 419ms. Surely a strong top 1 host.

BlueHost has 24/7 customer service available for any questions you may have regarding website setup. They’re not cheap, though. Prices start at $3.95 per month, but they throw in a free domain name plus site migration for new accounts, too.

2. HostGator (www.HostGator.com)

HostGator was founded back in 2003 by Brent Oxley and later sold to Endurance International Group (EIG).

According to their website, they host more than 10 million domains making them one of the most popular web hosting providers on the planet.

And for a reason.

Their last 10-month average load time is 462ms and uptime 99.96%. This means they’re the most reliable web hosting with only 1 hour of downtime per year. Plus, they were the third fastest web hosting, only beaten by A2 Hosting (which avg. uptime is lower).

To give you a better overview of HostGator Cloud performance, take a look at the graph below (last 10 months):

Keep in mind that this isn’t the regular, HostGator shared hosting option. It’s the new and improved cloud hosting. They come with a pricey cost – $13.99/mo, but they’re currently discounted to $2.75/mo

3. SiteGround (www.siteground.com)

Since 2004, SightGround has grown to a large network of over 800,000 domain names around the world. Most of their staff relies in Bulgaria, but they’ve servers worldwide.

In this example, the “Start Up Plan” (cheapest) is being used to monitor uptime and average load time.

In terms of uptime, SiteGround maintained an average uptime of 99.98% followed by a strong load time of 722ms.

We also tested out their customer support by connecting with their live chat and asked several questions to evaluate their support team. They were friendly and helpful, answering questions quickly.

Additionally, SiteGround offer free transfers for existing website and they’re officially recommended by WordPress.

4. WPEngine (www.wpengine.com)

Over time, WP Engine has grown into an extremely popular WordPress hosting. Various new features were added as technology advances, the company is funded by a large group of investors including Automattic (the folks behind WordPress.com), and many bloggers and WP experts regard them as one of the best managed WordPress hosting.

5. A2 Hosting (www.a2hosting.com)

A2 Hosting is quite new in the WordPress hosting niche (founded in 2001), but only lately become more popular.

They claim to be 20x faster than their competitors. Somehow, they managed to achieve faster load time than SiteGround or HostGator.

They averaged 475ms in a period of 3 months. That is basically instant page loading, making impatient people happy because they won’t have to wait for pages to load. A2 Hosting implements caching, which stores data in a visitor’s browser, so they won’t have to request information from your website every time someone tries to access it.

Unfortunately, their uptime has slipped over the past few months to an average of 99.90% (currently 2 hours of downtime over a period of 3 months).

A2 offers 24/7 customer support through their live chat, email, phone, and ticketing systems. I checked this out by contacting their live support and they responded instantly with easy-to-understand responses.

6. iPage (www.iPage.com)

  • Uptime: 99.98%
  • Load Time: 868ms
  • Support: 7/10
  • Website: www.ipage.com

iPage was started in 1998 and has since grown to serve over one million websites. They’re owned by the Endurance International Group (EIG) brand, and with a big company comes some misleading advertisements and disappointing facts.

I gave iPage Hosting a chance since they, too, call themselves as WordPress hosting. Luckily, form HostingFacts.com I was able to get access to their last 3-month uptime and speed data.

During this time they’ve managed to deliver 99.98% uptime.

The average loading time is 868ms. It’s not bad, but it’s well below the competition’s average.

iPage is cheap, though. They’re one of the cheapest hosting options I saw (behind one other hosting option) at $1.99 a month. This is the rate for 12-36 months, so you would technically be locked into a super long term deal to get that price. And, as you can see, you get what you pay for with speed and performance.

iPage is probably not the best option in hosting WordPress. Although the customer support and prices are nice, you don’t want to struggle with their slow speed and average uptime.

7. Hostinger (www.hostinger.com)

The next WordPress hosting site that I looked at was Hostinger, who has another huge network of over 1.5 million sites (they’ve also been around since 1996).

They claim to be “Award-winning Web & WordPress Hosting” despite being under DDOS attack (in August) and providing data on anti-Trump website with considerable court oversight.

Best WordPress Hosting? Quick Recap

There you have it.

In my in-depth WordPress hosting review, I came to a conclusion that you can’t go wrong with HostGator, SiteGround or Bluehost. They all offer strong uptime, fast page loading times, great customer support, and unbeatably low prices.

Some of them offer free site transfer, too.

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Szabi Kisded

Hey there, I'm Szabi. At 30 years old, I quit my IT job and started my own business and became a full time WordPress plugin developer, blogger and stay-at-home dad. Here I'm documenting my journey earning an online (semi)passive income. Read more

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