Choosing a hosting provider is one of the most important choices you can make for your website. Sites that are slow, insecure, and break easily don’t often have repeat traffic. Websites depend on traffic and the hosting company plays a crucial role in obtaining and keeping that traffic.
Choosing a host can be confusing. There is a lot of information available, but it’s often misleading or overwhelming. In this article, we’ll cover how to choose a hosting provider for your website to make the task as easy as possible.
What to Look for in a Hosting
There are lots of hosting companies that have great affiliate programs. Because of this, those are often the hosts you see written about, regardless of their quality. A good hosting company will have a good reputation with users. Look for quality over quantity. Look for support, speed, security, uptime, ability to scale your website, SSL, a hosting plan that actually fits your needs, and great reviews from real users.
How to Choose Your Perfect Hosting?
Look at the needs of your website and your knowledge of running a website. Estimate the amount of traffic you will have and the amount of storage space you will need. Choose a hosting plan that works well for your site and can be upgraded as your site grows. Decide if you want to handle the site maintenance yourself. If the host provides a domain name, make sure that you have the option to own it instead of the hosting company owning it.
Shared, Managed or Cloud Hosting?
Shared, Managed, and Cloud are the most popular types of hosting. The one you need depends on the type of traffic, storage, and control you need.
With shared hosting, all of the websites on a server share the resources of that server. If one site gets more traffic or uses more storage, those resources are not available for your website to use. It’s the least expensive and it’s ideal for small websites.
Managed hosting handles all of the server settings and maintenance tasks for you. You don’t have to deal with security, updates, backups, etc. It’s more expensive than shared hosting, but the servers are optimized for WordPress.
With cloud hosting, your website is placed on multiple servers, usually creating a virtual private server (VPS) or a dedicated server, and then serves the site from the servers with the most resources available. Your site has its own resources, so you don’t have to share resources with other websites. It’s the most expensive, but it’s the most stable and has the best resources for larger websites.
Ranking based on customer reviews
| Rank | Host | Average Customer Rating |
| 1 | Kinsta | 4.8 |
| 2 | WPX Hosting | 4.7 |
| 3 | Cloudways | 4.7 |
| 4 | Liquid Web | 4.6 |
| 5 | SiteGround | 4.5 |
| 6 | GreenGeeks | 4.5 |
| 7 | A2 Hosting | 4.4 |
| 8 | DreamHost | 4.2 |
| 9 | WP Engine | 4.1 |
| 10 | Flywheel | 3.9 |
Review Source
Rather than using individual reviews by reviewers that don’t have a lot of experience with a host, or reviews that are only written to push an affiliate sale, we’re using trusted sources that contain user reviews. These are reviews of actual users that have real-world experiences.
Our sources are:
SiteGround (Shared hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.7
Based on 5053 reviews
G2 Review 4.1
Based on 94 reviews
WIHT Review 4.8
Based on 2903 reviews
SiteGround is one of the highest-ranking and most reviewed host for WordPress. Plans include shared, managed, and cloud, so there are a lot of options to choose from. It’s often the top choice for budget hosting. Plans include free SSL, email, and CDN.
SiteGround Hosting Plans
StartUp plan – for $3.95 for one website, and include 10 GB of space and 10,000 monthly visitors.
GrowBig plan – Unlimited websites with 20GB of space and 25,000 monthly visitors, on-demand backups, speed-boosting, staging, and collaborators start at $5.95 per month.
GoGeek plan – 40,000 GB of space and 100,000 visitors, Git, white labeling, the highest tier of resources, and priority support start at $11.95 per month.
Cloud hosting starts at $80 per month and goes to $240 per month. Plans include 2-8 CPU cores, 4-10GB memory, 40-120GB SSD storage, and 5TB data transfer.
Pros and Cons of SiteGround
Pros – SiteGround has great technical support and customer service. It’s optimized for speed. Their optimization plugin does more than most hosts’ plugins. Transferring WordPress websites with subdomains is easy. It has a free CDN. Excellent value for WordPress hosting of any size.
Cons – Some beginners find it difficult to use unless they spend enough time to learn. A few users had issues with migration errors. The SSL certificate is free but has to be incorporated manually. Some have been confused by pricing changes after a period of time, saying that it was not clear it was a promotional price. Some problems can be difficult to solve through chat. Some feel the prices are too high.
Pros
- Starts from $3.95/month
- Partnered with Divi
- Recommended by WordPress
- Free SSL, email, CDN, & backups
- Speed-boosting Caching
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Higher Renewal Price
GreenGeeks (Shared hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.7
Based on 298 reviews
G2 Review 4.5
Based on 12 reviews
WIHT Review 4.5
Based on 351 reviews
GreenGeeks provides environment-friendly web hosting with green energy. They place 3 times the power they consume back into the grid. They have a no-waste of resources mindset. Hosting is as energy-efficient as possible.
Hosting options include shared and VPS server options. They also have a reseller program. Their servers are fast, secure, and scalable. WordPress updates are automatic. Support is 24/7. Plans include caching and free migration.
GreenGeeks Hosting Plans
The lite plan – includes 1 website, unlimited space, unlimited data, a wildcard SSL, standard performance, LSCache, and a domain name for one year for $2.95 per month.
The pro plan – has unlimited websites and 2x performance for $5.95 per month.
The premium plan – was designed for business and includes a dedicated IP and 4x speed for $11.95 per month.
VPS hosting – starts at $39.95 per month and goes up to $109.95. Plans include 50-150GB SSD, 10TB transfer, and 4 or 6 vCPU cores.
Pros and Cons of GreenGeeks
Pros – They have excellent support. Bandwidth and resources are fast. Email is easy to use. Their energy usage is a plus for sustainable energy clients. Uptime and security are exceptional. Automatic backups protect your content.
Cons – Due to the increased cost of cPanel, they no longer have managed VPS. Firewall and IP blocking rules are too strict for resellers. Some have seen performance issues with backups and plugin updates. Usage policies contain hidden clauses. Some users have gotten errors with payments.
Pros
- Starts from $2.95/month
- SSD storage for all plans
- Eco-friendly data centers
- Free domain registration
- Power Cacher
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Higher Renewal Price
- Setup & domain fees aren’t refundable
DreamHost (Shared hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.6
Based on 1136 reviews
G2 Review 4.0
Based on 64 reviews
WIHT Review 4.0
Based on 276 reviews
DreamHost was rated number 1 by PC Magazine for 3 years in a row. They provide lots of high-performance hosting plans to choose from for different budgets and needs. They have secure servers with excellent uptime, a high-level commitment to customer service and privacy. Hosting plans include both shared and managed options.
DreamHost Hosting Plans
WordPress Basic for $4.95 per month and includes 1 website, unlimited traffic, free domain, free automated migration, free builder, 50GB SSD, and free SSL.
WordPress Unlimited for $10.95 per month and includes unlimited websites, more storage, and email.
VPS plan for $10.00 (only first 3 months, after 19,95) and goes to $80 per month and includes 1-8GB of RAM, 30-240GB SSD, unlimited websites and traffic, free SSL, and unlimited email.
Pros and Cons of DreamHost
Pros – It’s easy to upgrade and add new features such as speed options. Dreamhost can help you with web design if you need it. Prices are low compared to other hosts. Transferring files and creating databases is easy and fast. Servers are fast. Excellent tech support.
Cons – Some have found their dashboard to be confusing. Information is in multiple places rather than in one place. Migration isn’t included for free. Shared servers can be slow. It does not include free phone support. Chat support is limited in hours.
Pros
- Starts from $4.95/month
- Free SSD storage
- Free SSL & CloudFlare CDN
- 97-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Limited Live Chat Support
- No phone support
- No free migration
A2 Hosting (Shared hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.2
Based on 977 reviews
G2 Review 4.4
Based on 131 reviews
WIHT Review 4.5
Based on 261 reviews
A2 Hosting has finely tuned servers with a 20x speed option to get you the fastest loading times possible. Plans include shared, VPS, and dedicated servers. They have a 99.9% uptime guarantee and 24/7, 365 support. They also have a reseller program.
A2 Hosting Plans
Start Up plan – for $2.99 and includes turbo servers with 20x speed, free migration, 1 website, and 100GB SSD.
Drive plan – for $4.99 per month plan adds unlimited websites and storage.
Turbo Boost plan – for $9.99 plan adds NVMe storage, A2 optimized site accelerator, performance plus, turbo servers (up to 20X faster).
Turbo Max plan – for $14.99 plan adds more physical memory and cores.
Managed VPS hosting – ranges from $25-$50 and includes 4-8GB RAM, 75-150GB storage, 2-4TB transfer, 4-8 cores, and free SSL, SSD, cPanel, and root access.
Pros and Cons of A2 Hosting
Pros – Servers are extremely fast. Many users say their sites are twice as fast as other VPS’s they’ve used. Tech support is excellent. Most users have had excellent uptime. Automatic backups. Free SSL.
Cons – Prices are higher than the competition. Some migration is handled manually. Some have had downtime and stability issues, and have had trouble getting support for those issues. No ETA for support requests. No free domain.
Pros
- Starts from $2.99/month
- Turbo Servers – 20x faster loading pages
- Free SSD storage
- Staging
- Free SSL & CloudFlare CDN
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Only the Turbo plan comes with 20x faster loading pages
- Prices are higher than competitors
- No daily backup with Start Up package
Kinsta (Managed hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.8
Based on 262 reviews
G2 Review 4.8
Based on 210 reviews
WIHT Review 4.9
Based on 46 reviews
Kinsta provides managed hosting powered by Google Cloud Platform’s premium tier network. All plans are geared toward WordPress. Many consider them the best option for WordPress. They have over 20 data centers from around the globe that you can choose from. They have auto-scaling and container technology that allows for complete isolation of resources to keep your website secure.
Kinsta Hosting Plans
Starter plan – for $30 per month and include one website, 20,000 visits, 10GB of storage, and free SSL and CDN.
Pro plan – for $60 per month includes 2 websites, 40,000 visits, and 20GB of storage.
Business plan – start at $100 per month, which includes 5 websites, 100,000 visits, and 30GB of storage, and go to $400 per month with 40 websites, 600,000 visits, and 60GB of storage.
Enterprise plans – ranges from $600-$1500 and includes 60-150 websites, 1-3 million visits, and 100-250GB of storage.
Pros and Cons of Kinsta
Pros – They emphasize site speed, so their servers and WordPress installation are highly optimized. Plans are scalable, so you can upgrade at any time. They also have excellent 24/7 support, high-quality security, and free migration.
Cons – The price is a little higher than the others. They don’t include free email. They have a large list of banned plugins. This makes sense considering that they manage the site and use their own optimization tools, but it can be a problem if you need any of those plugins. They bill extra for increased traffic.
Pros
- Powered by Google Cloud Platform
- WordPress centric security (DDoS detection, hardware firewalls + more)
- Free SSL and CDN (KeyCDN integration)
- Free backups, server-side caching and staging
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- No email hosting
Visit KinstaThis is the hosting I use for this website.
WPX Hosting (Managed hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.7
Based on 355 reviews
G2 Review 4.8
Based on 49 reviews
WIHT Review
No reviews
WPX Hosting provides managed WordPress hosting that focuses on speed and customer service. Plans are geared toward business and are ideal for entrepreneurs and small businesses. They also provide a high level of security and even remove malware for you. They provide a staging area.
WPX Hosting Plans
Business plan – for $20.83 per month and includes 5 websites, 10GB of storage, 100GB of bandwidth, and free migrations, CDN, SSL, staging area, email, backups, DDoS protection, and malware removal.
Professional plan – for $41.58 per month and includes 15 websites, 20GB of storage, and 200GB of bandwidth.
Elite plan – for is $83.25 per month and includes 35 websites, 40GB of storage, and unlimited bandwidth.
Pros and Cons of WPX Hosting
Pros – Support responds quickly and offers to perform tasks for you. Support is more impressive than most web hosts and is mentioned more than any other feature in the reviews. Documentation is easy to follow. Cloud distribution is included and it’s fast.
Cons – Some have had server connection and speed issues. Some have found the support to not be as helpful as they’d like. The staging area only includes one-stage copying. The memory-allowance isn’t clearly specified and can cause issues for certain builder plugins.
Pros
- Malware Scanning & Removal
- DDoS Protection
- WPX Cloud CDN
- Unlimited SSLs
- Staging area
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- No single website option
- No phone support
Flywheel (Managed hosting)
TrustPilot Review 3.2
Based on 14 reviews
G2 Review 4.6
Based on 21 reviews
WIHT Review
No reviews
Flywheel is based on the needs of web designers and developers that work with WordPress. Their goal is to make web hosting simple for designers so they can focus on creating websites and content for their clients. Plans are aimed at individual designers and web design agencies. Plans include SSL and CDN.
Flywheel Hosting Plans
Tiny plan – for $13 per month for one website and include 5,000 monthly visits, 5GB of storage, and 20GB of bandwidth.
Starter plan – for $25 per month, you get one website, 25,000 visits, 10GB of storage, and 50GB of bandwidth.
Freelance plan – for $96 per month and includes 10 websites, 100,000 visits, 20GB of storage, and 200GB of bandwidth.
Agency plan – for $242 and includes 30 websites, 400,000 visits, 50GB of storage, and 500GB of bandwidth.
Pros and Cons of Flywheel
Pros – Customer service is usually fast and knowledgeable. The dashboard is easy to use. They have lots of hosting options. Taking a website from the staging site to live is easy. Daily backups. They care about the success of small businesses.
Cons – Prices are higher than most competitors. Pricing options are not geared toward smaller websites. Prices are expansive for eCommerce sites that need a lot of traffic. Bulk image resizing can be slow
Pros
- Partnered with Divi
- Recommended by WordPress
- Free SSL, CDN, & backups
- FlyCache
- 2 months free
Cons
- Higher pricing than competitors
- No email hosting
WP Engine (Managed hosting)
TrustPilot Review 3.8
Based on 84 reviews
G2 Review 4.6
Based on 130 reviews
WIHT Review 4.0
Based on 43 reviews
WP Engine specializes in managed WordPress hosting. Servers are optimized for WordPress, so they’re fast and secure. They’re ideal for big brands with big needs. Plans include free SSL, daily backups, and excellent service.
WP Engine Hosting Plans?
StartUp plan – for $25 per month. The basic plan includes 1 website, 25,000 visits per month, 10GB of storage, and 50GB of bandwidth.
Growth plan – for $95.83 per month, you get the growing business plan, which includes 10 websites, 100,000 visits, 20GB of storage, and 200GB of bandwidth.
Scale plan – for $241.67 and includes 30 sites, 400,000 visits, 50GB of storage, and 500GB of bandwidth.
Custom plans – 30 sites, millions of visits, up to 1TB of storage, and 400GB or more of bandwidth.
Pros and Cons of WP Engine
Pros – Servers are fast. Support is 24/7. Backups include instant recovery. The account tools are intuitive and easy to use. Updates are streamlined. Includes analytics for visitors and website performance data.
Cons – Higher prices than basic hosting plans. The built-in analytics and site performance isn’t as useful for marketers. It’s not open-ended for advanced development and design needs. Some have had bad experiences with support. Prices increase dramatically with traffic increases.
Pros
- Enterprise-grade WordPress security (DDoS detection, hardware firewalls + more)
- Free SSL and CDN (StackPath integration)
- Free backups & built-in EverCache caching (no need for separate caching plugins)
- Built-in development, staging & production environments
- Free access to Genesis Framework and 35+ StudioPress themes
- 60-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- High tier prices
- No email hosting
Liquid Web (Managed hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.7
Based on 406 reviews
G2 Review 4.7
Based on 57 reviews
WIHT Review 4.5
Based on 87 reviews
Liquid Web offers managed dedicated WordPress hosting with your choice of Linux or Windows, and 1, 2, or 4 core processors. Sites are monitored 24/7 with Proactive Sonar Monitoring to keep your website safe. Plans include unlimited email accounts, 30-day backups, iThemes Security Pro, and iThemes Sync. They also have managed WooCommerce hosting. They have a 100% uptime guarantee.
Liquid Web Hosting Plans
Spark plan – for $19 per month and include 1 site, 15GB of storage, and 2TB of bandwidth.
Maker plan – for $79 per month, you get 5 websites, 40GB of storage, and 3TB of bandwidth.
Designer plan – for $109 per month, you get 10 websites, 60GB of storage, and 4TB of bandwidth.
Builder plan – for $149 per month, you get 25 sites, 100GB of storage, and 5TB of bandwidth.
VPS plan – ranges from $59-189 and includes 2-8 cores and 10TB of bandwidth. Storage ranges from 40-200GB. You have your choice of backend admin panels.
Pros and Cons of Liquid Web
Pros – Sites are fast and uptime is excellent. Service is fast. Most users have had an outstanding experience with tech support. Most users like the pricing structures. Migration is free. Plans have lots of bandwidth. There are a lot of plans to choose from.
Cons – A few users that migrated from WireTree (bought out by Liquid Web) have complained about prices and the level of service for smaller websites. The admin area can be a little difficult to use. No shared hosting option.
Pros
- Starts at $19/month
- Fully managed hosting infrastructure
- 100% uptime guarantee, or they will credit you
- GlobalSign SSL certificates included in all plans.
Cons
- US/Europe centric (no data centers in Asia-Pacific)
Cloudways (Cloud hosting)
TrustPilot Review 4.7
Based on 344 reviews
G2 Review 4.8
Based on 59 reviews
WIHT Review 4.5
Based on 96 reviews
Cloudways was designed with developers in mind and are known for their managed cloud hosting. Plans are designed for individuals and agencies. Plans are scalable and you can pay for the resources you need when you need them. They emphasize performance and simplicity. Plans include free and paid SSL, CDN, staging, team management, dedicated firewalls, automated backups, auto-healing, and more.
Cloudways Hosting Plans
DigitalOceans Plans – start at $10 and include 1GB of RAM, 1 core, 25GB of storage, and 1TB of bandwidth. $22 per month gets you 2GB of RAM, 50GB of storage, and 2TB of bandwidth. $42 per month includes 4GB of RAM, 2 cores, 80GB of storage, and 4TB of bandwidth. $80 per month includes 8GB of RAM, 4 cores, 160GB of storage, and 5TB of bandwidth.
For larger businesses, prices range from $135-1035 per month. RAM ranges from 16GB to 192GB, cores range from 12-32, storage ranges from 320-3840GB, and bandwidth ranges from 6-12TB.
Pros and Cons of Cloudways
Pros – Plans let you pay as you go and you can monitor your resources in real-time. Free SSL. Servers are fast. It’s easy to move between plans and servers. Adding staging sites and cloning sites is easy. Full access to manage the server. Intuitive console. Migration is easy. Even the lowest plan has lots of bandwidth.
Cons – Some have mentioned that support can be slow and that there is room for improvement. They only support the PHP stack, so users are unable to use Node or Python. Scaling can be expensive.
Pros
- Starts at $10/month
- Choose From 5 Cloud Hosting Services
- SSD hosting, Nginx/Apache servers, Varnish/Memcached caching, PHP7, HTTP/2, Redis support
- Free site migration service, free automated backups, SSL certificate, CDN & dedicated IP
- Pay-as-you-go pricing with no locked in contracts
Cons
- No email hosting
Final Thoughts
That’s our look at how to choose a hosting partner for your WordPress website. We also looked at the 10 best WordPress hosts to help you decide which host is best for your WordPress needs. Choosing a hosting company is one of the most crucial decisions you can make for your website. This guide will help provide the information you need to make the best choice for your WordPress website.