If you’re considering building a website, you’ve probably heard about WordPress, one of the most popular content management systems for creating and managing websites. A massive 43.3% of all websites use WordPress, and you can use it for any kind of website, from a hobby blog to a massive e-commerce store, without using code. Many web hosting companies now offer specialized hosting plans with guided WordPress installation and automated core CMS updates to simplify working with this platform. I’ve researched and tested the most popular WordPress hosts to help you find the best WordPress hosting service for your needs.
WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com
Before we get into the listings, it’s important to understand the two types of WordPress: WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
WordPress.org is the not-for-profit organization dedicated to maintaining, updating and improving the original WordPress content management system. This software helps people create, maintain and organize website content like blog posts and landing pages without code. WordPress.org tech is open-source, meaning anyone can work on it or build tools — like themes and plugins (extensions) — for it. WordPress.org can also be installed on any web host’s servers. All of the hosting companies covered in this article provide plans for WordPress.org tech.
WordPress.com is a for-profit web hosting service owned by Automattic, a company created by the original WordPress.org founder, Matt Mullenweg. This service uses the WordPress.org tech as a base, but has made modifications to bring its functionality more in line with visual website builders. There are some advantages to using WordPress.com for a personal blog, including a free hosting plan, but the paid plans are unreasonably expensive and customer service can be poor. Moreover, you can’t install WordPress.com tech on another hosting company’s servers. As such, we don’t recommend WordPress.com for more users and we won’t be discussing it in this article.
Best WordPress hosting services
Pros
- Guided WordPress installation and site assistant make setup easy for first timers.
- AI content generation tools available on higher-tier plans.
- Great security, including a specialized WordPress vulnerabilities scanner.
- Automated backups (weekly on lower-tier plans, daily on higher-tier plans).
- Excellent uptime and site speed.
Cons
- Customer service is only available via live chat, not phone or email.
- Customer support live chat is AI-powered and it can take 30+ minutes to reach a human representative.
- The best introductory discount is only available through a four-year contract, longer than alternatives.
Hostinger is the best WordPress host overall thanks to its incredibly intuitive tools for site creation and excellent server performance. Its range of hosting types and plans makes it suitable for everything from small portfolio sites and blogs to large online businesses — and allows your site to experience significant growth before you’re forced to switch hosts.
Who it’s best for
Hostinger is the best WordPress host for most folks, from small business owners and long-term hobbyists to bloggers, as you can get a major discount by signing a four-year contract. I especially appreciated Hostinger’s guided setup process and site assistant, as they make it easy for first-time website owners to learn how to use the CMS. First-time users (and experienced users who want to minimize time spent on site maintenance) will also enjoy the auto-updates provided for the core WordPress software.
Hostinger can also be a good choice if you’re multipassionate and hoping to build more than one website, as it lets you create up to 25 sites even on the lowest-tier plan. The storage and bandwidth limits mean you’ll need to keep those sites small, but most other hosts I’ve tested don’t let you create multiple sites on lower-tier plans, giving Hostinger a notable edge. Moreover, Hostinger offers various types of web hosting, including virtual private server (VPS) and cloud hosting, so you can grow your site without switching hosting companies.
Small business owners looking to increase audience engagement through web apps without investing in a developer may also want to consider Hostinger for its recently launched Hostinger Horizons app. Horizons lets you easily create simple web applications and connect them to your Hostinger website. For example, if you’re a personal trainer, you might publish an app visitors can use to track their workouts.
However, you may want to avoid Hostinger if you’re deliberately creating a temporary website or you’re uncertain how long you want to run your site for, as the best discounts are only available on four-year contracts. You can get a discount for a shorter term (as short as one year), but it won’t be as good as the four-year discount. You’ll also want to skip Hostinger if you prefer phone or email support, as it only offers customer service through live chat.
Why we like it
Hostinger offers several tools for WordPress users, including a guided setup process and a site assistant that helps you navigate the admin dashboard. After configuration, you’ll benefit from LiteSpeed acceleration that boosts site loading speeds and WordPress-specialized security features, including a vulnerabilities scanner and auto-updates to the core CMS. Many budget web hosts restrict these features to higher-tier plans — or don’t offer them at all — making their inclusion in the lowest-cost Hostinger plans noteworthy.
In terms of security, Hostinger goes beyond the standard SSL certification and firewall protection with DDoS protection and a vulnerability scanner for WordPress users. If malware gets through these protective layers (or you run into issues with, say, a botched WordPress update), you can quickly restore your site using the automated weekly backups (daily backups if you’re on a higher-tier plan). These features — especially the automated backups — aren’t always offered by budget hosts or even regular web hosts like GoDaddy, giving Hostinger an edge over the competition.
Hostinger also had excellent server performance during my week of hands-on testing, exceeding its 99.9% uptime guarantee and providing the second-fastest server speed of any host I’ve tested. This spectacular uptime and server performance ensure that visitors can access your site quickly at any time of day or night.
My only disappointment was with Hostinger’s customer service. Live chat is the only option for most inquiries (with dedicated email addresses for specific things like accessing a lost account) and it’s AI-powered, so you’ll be speaking to a bot unless you ask to talk to a person. I also waited a full half hour to speak to someone, longer than I’ve waited on most other hosting platforms.
Pricing
Hostinger’s WordPress hosting cost ranges from $3 a month to $16 a month, with renewal prices ranging from $8 to $35 a month. These prices are highly affordable compared to other companies’ WordPress hosting plans, but they’re also only available through a four-year contract — longer than the one- to three-year contracts required by other web hosts. However, you can still get a solid discount — $4 a month instead of $3 for the lowest-tier plan — on a one-year plan, so Hostinger can work as a budget host for a short-term website.
Hobbyists, small-time bloggers and small business owners can get by on the Premium WordPress Hosting plan, which costs $3 per month for the first four years and $8 per month on renewal. This plan provides enough storage for at least 250 pages (or 2,500 small pages like blog posts) and enough bandwidth for 25,000 monthly visitors.
WooCommerce hosting — WordPress hosting specialized with WooCommerce, a popular e-commerce plugin — from Hostinger ranges from $4 to $16 per month with renewal costs of $9 to $35 a month (based on a four-year contract). You can learn more about Hostinger’s WooCommerce hosting, and WooCommerce hosting in general, in our guide to the best web hosting for e-commerce.
Pros
- Lowest-tier plan doesn’t have a significant price increase on renewal, and doesn’t change at all on the annual plan.
- LiteSpeed-enhanced servers for improved site speed.
- Daily backups so you can quickly restore your site.
Cons
- Lowest tier plan has minimal storage, so it’s only useful for small websites.
AccuWeb is the best budget WordPress hosting service. Despite these low prices — starting at just $2 a month — AccuWeb Hosting plans are jam-packed with features for improving server performance and security, making it the best cheap web host.
Who it’s best for
AccuWeb Hosting’s low-cost plans make it the best budget WordPress host, perfect for building a hobby site or a small business website without much money. Notably, the lowest-tier annual plan doesn’t have increased renewal pricing, so you can keep the $2.75 a month rate as long as your site stays within the plan’s storage and bandwidth limits. AccuWeb Hosting offers the same rate for the month-to-month version of this plan, so it’s also great for a temporary website. At the other end of the time spectrum, you’ll pay $2 per month for the first three years and just $2.50 a month on renewal.
Bloggers with an established following and larger businesses can take advantage of AccuWeb Hosting’s range of higher-tier WordPress hosting plans, shared hosting plans and VPS hosting plans. Most of these options are still more affordable than comparable plans from other hosting companies like Hosting.com (previously A2 Hosting), allowing you to grow your site without maxing out your budget. You can even get dedicated server hosting from AccuWeb if your site grows beyond the resources provided by the other hosting types.
Unfortunately, AccuWeb Hosting doesn’t offer automated WordPress updates, making it less beginner-friendly than Hostinger or Hosting.com. This also makes AccuWeb Hosting a poor choice if you’re looking for a solution that won’t require you to perform CMS management yourself. AccuWeb doesn’t offer phone support on weekends either, making it an imperfect choice if you prefer to work with customer service via phone.
Why we like it
AccuWeb packs a lot into its highly affordable plans, starting with pre-installed WordPress and the option to pre-install plugins to assist you with various tasks like SEO. Furthermore, every AccuWeb plan includes a full roster of speed-enhancing tools like LiteSpeed servers, a content delivery network (CDN) and automated image optimization, all of which may improve page loading times. These are tools you won’t get from most other budget hosts or even the lower-tier plans of regular web hosting companies.
AccuWeb Hosting sites are secured with the standard SSL certification and firewall protection, plus DDoS protection and malware scanning. You’ll also get daily backups on all plans, which is better than the weekly backups offered by other budget hosts like Hostinger.
WordPress customer support is available 24/7 by live chat and ticket submission. Phone service is also available 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday. This is pretty solid compared to other budget hosts, which often don’t offer phone service at all, but may be an issue if you prefer phone support.
Pricing
Starting prices for WordPress hosting from AccuWeb range from $2.75 a month to $8 per month. Notably, the lowest-tier plan doesn’t become more expensive on renewal, making its long-term cost lower than any other host on this list. You can also get the $2.75 price on a month-to-month plan, something that’s typically more expensive with other hosts (and even other AccuWeb plans). However, this plan is only suitable for small websites, so be prepared to switch plans if your site experiences significant growth.
AccuWeb also offers WooCommerce hosting for building e-commerce sites, with starting prices ranging from $5 per month to $9 a month when you choose a three-year contract. These plans are fairly affordable when compared to other companies’ WooCommerce hosting options, but not quite as cheap as WooCommerce hosting through Hostinger. Moreover, these plans do come with increased renewal costs, ranging from $8 a month to $15 per month.
Pros
- Low renewal pricing for most plans, ensuring long-term affordability.
- Daily backups for easy restoration in case of a crash.
- Malware scanning to find viruses and other harmful software.
- AI website building tools for WordPress.
- Above-average 99.98% uptime guarantee.
Cons
- Introductory pricing is only accessible if you sign up for three-year term.
Ionos offers some of the best customer service in the industry, with agents responding almost instantly during my tests and providing helpful responses to a variety of basic questions. Its combination of affordability, top-notch customer service and ease-of-use makes it great for beginners or any folks who expect to need regular assistance.
Who it’s best for
First-time site builders can get a lot out of the guided WordPress setup, though it doesn’t offer an advanced site assistant like Hostinger or A2 Hosting. Ionos isn’t only for beginners, either — the self-managed VPS and dedicated hosting plans are built for developers, and include low-cost options you can’t get from other hosts, making Ionos a great choice for small but complex online projects.
Ionos offers VPS and dedicated hosting plans for sites that need more resources than they can get through shared hosting. However, all of these plans are unmanaged, so you’ll need to learn how to configure the server yourself, hire someone else or switch to a different host when your site grows beyond the capabilities of shared hosting.
Why we like it
While it doesn’t offer a guided installation or setup process, WordPress hosting from Ionos does include several benefits, including fully customizable auto-updates which let you choose the themes, plugins and other aspects of WordPress for Ionos to update. This means you can ensure bigger updates — like an update to your full theme — only go through when you’re around to deal with any issues they might cause.
Ionos recently introduced an AI site generation tool that can create your WordPress site in a few minutes if you tell it what your site is about and what you want to achieve with it. While many companies now offer AI-powered website builders, Ionos stands apart as one of the only web hosting companies offering a similar tool for WordPress.
Ionos offers an above-average uptime guarantee of 99.99%, meaning your site shouldn’t go down for more than two minutes per week, and it lived up to this promise with 100% uptime during my week of testing. This means your visitors will be able to reliably access your site at any time of day or night. But site speed wasn’t so great — coming in very close to the three-second maximum — but it still fell within a reasonable range, and there are many ways to improve site speed on your own.
Like other top WordPress hosts, Ionos secures your site with more than the standard SSL certification and firewall protection — the security measures provided by most average hosts. Additional security protocols include DDoS protection, malware scanning and vulnerability scanning. All Ionos WordPress Hosting plans also include daily backups — better than the weekly backups offered by similarly-priced Hostinger plans — and quick restore functions in case something goes wrong with your site.
Last but certainly not least, Ionos provides stellar customer service, available 24/7 through phone and live chat. I received fast, helpful support when reaching out through both of these channels. Ionos also has a directory of customer support numbers in 14 different countries, making it a great choice for international users.
Pricing
Starting prices for Ionos WordPress hosting range from $1 per month to $12 a month, based on an annual contract. However, the most affordable introductory rate is for Grow, a mid-tier plan that rises to $10 a month on renewal. You should choose the Start plan instead if you want the best long-term pricing. The introductory price for Start is higher, at $5 a month, but the cost only increases to $6 a month on renewal.
Ionos also offers WooCommerce hosting for e-commerce sites starting at $16 a month for the first year. This starting price — and the renewal cost of $20 per month — is significantly higher than WooCommerce hosting from companies like Hostinger and doesn’t offer much more in terms of features. If you’re building an e-commerce site and you want specialized WooCommerce hosting, I recommend Hostinger as the budget option or Nexcess if you’ve got more financial leeway.
Pros
- WordPress setup tools and site assistant to simplify website creation for first timers.
- NVMe storage for faster server performance.
- LiteSpeed-enhanced servers for faster server performance.
- Excellent security measures, including malware scanning to catch viruses and other harmful software.
Cons
- Customer service can be slow on phone and live chat.
Hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) boasts one of the best guided WordPress setup processes I’ve encountered, including an advanced WordPress site assistant, making it an excellent option for web hosting newcomers. A2 Hosting also offers a broad range of hosting types, from shared hosting all the way up to managed dedicated hosting, ensuring that it can grow with your website.
Who it’s best for
Hosting.com’s collection of streamlined WordPress tools, from its guided setup process to its automated update processes, makes it an excellent choice for first-time WordPress users. The initial costs for shared hosting are also great for hobbyists, small-time bloggers, and small businesses looking to develop an online presence. The renewal costs for regular shared hosting are also low, making Hosting.com great for long-term hosting of a low-budget website.
Hosting.com can also be an excellent choice for medium-sized websites and businesses, as most of its WordPress features, security features and other benefits for first-time users are also available on its managed VPS. This lets you reap the benefits of these advanced hosting types — like dedicated processing power and bandwidth — without worrying about configuring server software or hiring someone to do it for you.
Unfortunately, Hosting.com’s customer service proved inconsistent during my testing. Live chat support agents are fast and helpful, but I waited over half an hour to speak with someone on the phone and receiving a response via support ticket took around 10 hours. As such, you may want to avoid Hosting.com if you prefer receiving support via phone or email.
Why we like it
All Hosting.com plans come with some WordPress features, including a guided WordPress installation process, a WordPress site assistant and auto-updates to the core WordPress software. These tools make it easy to build the basics of your website and keep the software up-to-date (an important security measure), even if you’ve never built a WordPress site before.
Furthermore, Hosting.com’s servers are some of the fastest and most reliable I’ve tested, with perfect uptime and an average site speed well under the recommended three-second maximum during my week of testing. I ran these tests on the regular shared hosting plans when the company was called A2 Hosting, as opposed to the specialized Turbo hosting, which promised higher speeds. All Hosting.com plans are now powered by the Turbo hosting tech, so you may experience even better server performance than I did.
Every Hosting.com plan features SSL certification and several layers of proprietary firewall protection. I confirmed with customer service that Hosting.com plans also retain more advanced security features offered by A2 Hosting, including DDoS protection, malware scanning and weekly backups. This brings Hosting.com in line with other top web hosts like Hostinger.
Finally, Hosting.com offers an impressive range of hosting options, including plans powered by the industry-standard cPanel and plans using a proprietary server management system. This choice of server management software gives you more complete control over how you’ll manage your server than you’d get with a company like Hostinger, which forces all users to work with the hPanel.
Pricing
Hosting.com offers various hosting plans with starting costs ranging from $2 per month for shared hosting to $55.50 for managed VPS hosting. Most users, from first-time website builders to medium-sized business owners, can find a suitable plan on Hosting.com. However, the lack of dedicated hosting and cloud hosting means Hosting.com may not be able to meet the hosting needs of an enterprise business.
Hobbyists, for-fun bloggers and small businesses running on a tight budget can access the basic shared hosting plan for $2 a month (renews at $8 a month) when they choose a one-year contract. So, you can get the best discount without committing to multiple years, which is great if you’re not 100% certain you want to commit to long-term hosting. However, you can’t get the discount for longer terms, so you’ll have to account for a price increase in one year.
If you want more advanced WordPress features, such as preinstalled plugins, to further streamline your site creation and management process, you can choose Hosting.com’s WordPress hosting starting at $3 a month (renews at $9 a month). You can also spring for fully managed WordPress hosting priced at $12 a month (renews at $28 a month), but the features added are minimal, so these plans may not be worth the price.
Pros
- Auto-updates for WordPress, including themes and plugins.
- Excellent customer support, including access to specialized WordPress experts for full CMS guidance.
- Daily backups to simplify site restoration.
Cons
- Low storage amounts, forcing you to upgrade plans after a fairly small amount of site growth.
- Renewal pricing is significantly more expensive than most alternatives.
SiteGround is the best WordPress host for small businesses, offering excellent WordPress tools, including its guided setup process and proprietary plugins for optimizing security plus site speed. Moreover, SiteGround offers some of the most exceptional customer support I’ve experienced, and their customer service teams have even won multiple Stevie awards. The long-term costs are high for personal sites, with the lowest-tier plan rising to $18 a month on renewal, but the cost is absolutely worthwhile for business websites.
Who it’s best for
SiteGround is the best WordPress hosting for business owners — or hobbyists with significant room in their budgets — who don’t want to spend much time learning or managing WordPress. SiteGround walks you through choosing a theme, installing essential plugins and getting the basics of your site set up. After the initial setup, SiteGround simplifies your website management by performing automated WordPress updates — including plugin updates — and providing highly effective plugins for security and speed enhancement.
SiteGround is also a great choice for agencies and developers, as its cloud hosting plans make it easy for you to create and ship client websites. The only other host I’ve tested with similar tools for building client websites is WP Engine, which comes at a much higher premium.
However, you may want to avoid SiteGround if you’re on a tight budget and uncertain about how much you’ll earn from your website, as the renewal costs are quite high. There’s also no way to extend your introductory discount past the first year of hosting, which puts SiteGround at a major disadvantage when compared to companies like Hostinger that offer multi-year introductory discounts.
Why we like it
The best thing about SiteGround is its impressive customer support, which starts with an extensive collection of tutorials for building and troubleshooting websites. If the tutorials can’t answer your questions, the customer support team can help you, often in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, SiteGround’s support staff are trained extensively in WordPress; I was impressed by their ability to provide WordPress-specific solutions to various minor issues. If you want someone to build things for you, SiteGround offers paid services for many site setup tasks.
You don’t need expert assistance to get started with SiteGround, though; the guided setup process helps you choose a theme and plugins to suit your site’s purpose. The site assistant isn’t quite as advanced as similar tools offered by Hostinger and Hosting.com, but it directs you to essential areas like the page creator so you can start building your site right away.
SiteGround’s server performance was pretty solid during my week of testing, with 100% uptime and an average site speed comfortably within the recommended maximum of three seconds. Furthermore, SiteGround offers a Speed Optimizer plugin which can enable multiple types of caching, image compression and code minification to improve your site speed. This built-in plugin is one of the best things about SiteGround, as you’d typically have to install third-party software for access to these features.
All SiteGround sites are secured with SSL certification and a custom firewall, plus a proprietary anti-bot system that claims to block millions of daily threats. SiteGround also includes a Security Optimizer plugin, which simplifies the implementation of advanced security strategies. This saves you the trouble of installing a third-party security plugin and sets SiteGround apart from other top WordPress hosts — Nexcess is the only competitor with a similar plugin. If something goes wrong, you can restore your site quickly with the automated daily backups.
Pricing
SiteGround offers three WordPress hosting options with starting prices ranging from $3 a month to $8 a month, based on a one-year contract. However, these plans increase significantly on renewal, with the lowest-tier plan going up to $18 a month and the highest-tier plan going all the way up to $45 a month. You also can’t get the discount for longer than one year. This makes SiteGround’s long-term costs significantly higher than most WordPress hosts, though they are in line with premium WordPress hosting companies like Nexcess.
SiteGround has a separate page for WooCommerce hosting, but a close look shows that these plans are identical to the regular WordPress hosting. This makes both hosting types effective for e-commerce sites.
Pros
- Advanced tools for SEO and marketing through Yoast and HubSpot integrations.
- Advanced caching protocols and image optimization tools for improved site speed.
- Plugin performance monitor to ensure fast, reliable performance.
- Excellent security, including Solid Security Pro plugin.
- Above-average uptime guarantee of 99.99%.
Cons
- High prices are inaccessible for many users.
- There’s no introductory discount for new users.
- Data storage on base plan is fairly low, forcing an expensive upgrade after minimal site growth.
Nexcess is the best WordPress hosting service for businesses looking to maximize site performance thanks to its built-in caching systems, image optimization protocols and Plugin Performance Monitor.
Who it’s best for
Nexcess offers fully managed WordPress hosting for business owners, with premium prices and an impressive array of premium features — like a built-in Plugin Performance Monitor — to match. Automated updates to the core CMS and plugins further help business owners by reducing the amount of time required for site maintenance.
E-commerce site owners can also benefit greatly from Nexcess, as the WooCommerce plans include a Sales Performance Monitor and WooCommerce Automated Testing to ensure fast, reliable store performance. Most Nexcess WooCommerce hosting plans also include specialized tools for improving product pages and listings.
Unfortunately, Nexcess isn’t suitable for hobbyists or for-fun bloggers — or even small businesses on a tight budget — as Nexcess plans are expensive compared to many other top WordPress hosts, like Hostinger and Hosting.com.
Why we like it
Nexcess makes it easy to build your WordPress site with pre-installed WordPress, plus automated updates to plugins. Page builders (visual site design tools similar to website builders) further simplify both the initial setup and long-term maintenance. Additionally, built-in tools for SEO and marketing allow you to start building your audience right away, with no need to install additional tools.
Nexcess also provides speed-enhancing tools usually only available through third-party plugins, such as the Plugin Performance Monitor, image compression, image lazy load, caching and a CDN. These tools outmatch the SiteGround Site Optimizer plugin and put Nexcess miles ahead of the other hosts on this list, like Hostinger and AccuWeb. Nexcess also offers an above-average uptime guarantee of 99.99%, something only matched by Ionos.
Nexcess secures sites on its servers with SSL certification, extensive firewall protection, basic DDoS protection and automated daily backups — most of the security features you’d expect from a premium WordPress host. The Solid Security Pro plugin (valued at $99) provides more advanced security features like brute force protection and a vulnerabilities scanner. Again, this puts Nexcess at a slight advantage over SiteGround, and way ahead of other WordPress hosts on this list.
Nexcess also offers customer support 24/7 by phone, chat and email, making it a solid choice regardless of your preferred communication method. You can also submit a ticket for more support. The 24/7 telephone lines have numbers for the Americas, Australia and the UK.
Pricing
Both WordPress and WooCommerce plans from Nexcess range from $17.60 per month to $899.80 per month, based on an annual contract. Nexcess doesn’t offer the steep introductory discounts you’ll get from other web hosting companies, but you also won’t have to worry about the price increasing on renewal, which can simplify long-term budgeting. Moreover, Nexcess runs several sales each year, allowing you to lock into a lower introductory rate if you’re willing to wait for the sale to come around.
If you’re intent on using Nexcess, I recommend choosing the WooCommerce plans unless you’re 100% certain you’ll never sell products. These plans aren’t more expensive than regular WordPress hosting and they come with some WooCommerce-specific features you’ll love if you decide to build an e-commerce store in the future.
WordPress hosting providers compared
Hostinger | SiteGround | Ionos | A2 Hosting | HostPapa | Nexcess | Accuweb Hosting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starting price for WordPress hosting, per month | $3 | $3 | $1 | $2 | $3 | $17.50 | $2.75 |
Uptime promise | 99.90% | 99.90% | 99.90% | 99.90% | 99.90% | 99.99% | 99.90% |
Customer service | Live chat | Live chat, phone and support ticket | Phone, live chat and email | Phone, live chat and email | Phone, live chat and email | Phone, live chat, email and ticket submission | Phone, live chat and ticket submission |
Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days for shared hosting, 14 days for cloud hosting | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
Factors to consider when choosing WordPress hosting
WordPress features
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All WordPress hosting plans include pre-installed WordPress or an auto-install option. Some include guided setup processes that install essential plugins and themes for you, often based on the type of site you’re trying to build. WordPress hosting companies may also employ WordPress experts on their customer support teams to give you advanced guidance.
Managed WordPress plans also include auto-updates to the core WordPress software. Some extend these auto-updates to cover themes and plugins.
Storage
Storage space dictates the number of files (like images and videos) your site can host and the number of web pages you can create. Generally, each gigabyte of storage is enough for 10 large web pages (like image-heavy product pages) or 100 small web pages (like blog posts with only one or two images). Some sites even say you can fit up to 1,000 small web pages on 1GB, but I prefer to stick with the smaller estimates, as it’s better to have too much storage than to run out and be forced to upgrade your hosting plan before you’re ready.
You can either use the above estimates to figure out how much storage you’ll need for the type of website you’re trying to build or just go for the highest-storage plan you can afford.
Bandwidth/data transfer
Technically, bandwidth is a speed measurement that shows how much data your web server can send per second. However, most web hosting companies use the term bandwidth to represent data transfer, the total amount of data your website can send in a month. This determines the number of monthly visitors your site can handle. Some companies, like SiteGround, list this limit as a specific number of monthly visitors — typically between 10,000 and 400,000 — to make things easier for you.
Many WordPress hosting plans offer unmetered bandwidth, allowing your site to accommodate traffic spikes without issue. Others offer «unlimited» bandwidth. These plans do technically have bandwidth limits, but they’re high enough that hosting companies don’t expect most sites to grow beyond them. You can find these limits by either reading the terms of service or asking customer service.
Security
All WordPress hosting services should include secure socket layer — SSL — certification, a protocol for encrypting data sent to and from your website. SSL certification also signals that your site is safe — some browsers and VPNs won’t open a site without it — and firewall protection to keep malware out of your site.
Some WordPress hosting plans also include things like distributed denial of service — DDoS — protection to keep your site from being overwhelmed by malicious traffic and automated backups to help you restore your site quickly if it goes down.
Scalability
Look for a hosting company with tiered plans that can accommodate your site as it grows. This helps you avoid the hassle of transferring a site to a new host.
Uptime
Uptime is the amount of time your site spends online and accessible to visitors. The industry-standard uptime of 99.9% or higher ensures your site won’t go down for more than 4.21 minutes a month, so you keep losses of readers and sales to a minimum. All of the web hosts on this list have a 99.9% uptime guarantee unless a higher guarantee is specified.
Site speed
The number of seconds it takes for your site to load. Most experts recommend aiming for the lowest site speed possible, with an absolute maximum of three seconds, as bounce rate — the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page — decreases by 32% when site speed goes from three seconds to one second.
Your website’s themes, plugins and layout have a huge impact on your site speed, but your host can improve server speed — which influences your base site speed — by using top of the line server hardware. Hosting companies can also boost site speed with tools like caching, which stores your data in specialized «caches» that can be accessed more quickly than traditional storage methods.
Some hosting companies also use a content delivery network (CDN), which stores your data in servers spread across the globe so users’ devices can pull from the server closest to their location, which can be faster than retrieving data from a server on the other side of the globe. This is less common than caching protocols, but most companies allow you to install a CDN yourself to boost site speed.
Customer support
Customer service should be available 24/7, quick to respond and knowledgeable enough to help you with a variety of issues. Most of the best WordPress hosting services offer customer service via live chat, email and phone, though some limit phone availability to certain hours or higher-tier plans.
How we test the best WordPress hosting services
My testing process starts with an extensive analysis of popular web hosting companies’ plans. I consider whether WordPress features are offered on the basic shared hosting plans, what features are added in the dedicated WordPress hosting plans and how much these plans cost. I also check Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau to get a feel for the company’s overall reputation.
Next, I purchase a plan from each host to walk through the user-facing checkout process and assess how easy it is to pick a plan, how obvious the renewal pricing is and how many intrusive upsells there are.
After that, I build a website to evaluate how intuitive its account management and site creation processes are. I spend one week monitoring my test site’s uptime and running speed tests to determine server performance. During this week, I contact customer service via every available channel — live chat, email and phone — to determine how fast and helpful it is. I also assess the security features (like SSL certificates, malware scanners and DDoS protection) available on the lowest-tier plan and compare the plan as a whole to other popular web hosts to determine its value.
Other WordPress hosting services we tested
Some of these services don’t offer as much customer support as the best services, don’t offer as many security features or lack an uptime guarantee. You still might find a service that works for you.
HostPapa
HostPapa is a Canadian web hosting company with plans available in numerous currencies, including CAD, Euros and the Australian dollar. In fact, the option to pay in Canadian dollars is one of the primary reasons I chose HostPapa — it’s the company I’ve used for my personal websites since 2019, and I’ve had an overall positive experience working with its user dashboard and customer service agents. I also appreciate the availability of Canadian servers through HostPapa. However, there’s only one server in Europe and none in Asia or Australia, so HostPapa’s not an ideal choice for other international users.
HostPapa offers robust WordPress hosting plans with features like pre-installed WordPress and Jetpack (a popular plugin for optimizing your site). The WordPress installer helps you select a theme and plugins suitable for your site during initial setup and, once you’re set up, HostPapa will conduct updates to the core CMS — and plugins on certain plans — for you.
HostPapa sites are secured with SSL certification, firewall protection and DDoS protection. However, HostPapa limits automated backups and malware scanning to higher-tier plans; this is common among average web hosts, but is a major drawback when compared to our top WordPress hosts.
Overall, HostPapa offers a good service, but doesn’t stand out enough to earn a spot in our main list of the best WordPress hosting companies.
Prices start at $3 a month, based on a three-year contract.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers three managed WordPress hosting plans with pre-installed WordPress. Higher-tier managed WordPress plans also include automated WordPress updates. All GoDaddy WordPress plans use NVMe storage to improve site speed and include an Airo Optimizer to help you identify other ways to speed up your site.
Each plan includes an SSL certificate and at least weekly backups. There’s also malware scanning and a firewall, but when I spoke to customer service, they said this was «one time only,» so if you want to keep your site protected after its first encounter with malware, you’ll need to subscribe to an additional security service.
Our hands-on GoDaddy review found that GoDaddy is fairly easy to use, with excellent server performance and good customer service. However, the high prices and lack of permanent firewall protection prevent it from earning a spot in our main list of WordPress hosting recommendations.
Prices start at $7 a month (based on a three-year contract).
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is a green energy web hosting provider, and it makes a 300% green energy match for each hosting plan. It also works with the nonprofit One Tree Planted to plant a tree with each hosting plan signup. If you are new to WordPress hosting, or migrating from another service, GreenGeeks offers free WordPress installation and free site migration so you can get started fast. GreenGeeks offers three-tiered WordPress plans, and security features include SSL certificates and DDoS protections. GreenGeeks also has an industry standard 99.9% uptime. Customer support is available 24/7 by email and chat, but phone support is only available 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. PT. While chat and email support are good, being able to talk through an issue or have a person explain in detail how to fix something at any time can be beneficial to resolving issues.
Prices start at $3 a month.
MochaHost
MochaHost offers competitive prices for its four WordPress hosting plans. These plans include automated WordPress updates and security features like an SSL certificate, automatic backups plus malware and spam monitors. MochaHost’s 99.9% uptime is industry standard, and customer support is available by email or chat 24/7. You can also call customer support, but you have to leave a message and wait for a call back each time. This hurts MochaHost’s rating because if I call with an issue, I want someone to help me now, not at some point in the future.
Prices start at $3.18 a month.
WebHostingPad
WebHostingPad’s three tiered WordPress plans offer unlimited hosting space, bandwidth and business email accounts. Plans come with a one-click WordPress installer. It offers a 99.9% uptime, security features like an SSL certificate and malware scans and removals. Customer support is available 24/7 by chat or email, and phone support is available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT. If you have an issue with your site on the weekend, you can’t call its support, and its security features aren’t as robust as some other services.
Prices start at $3 a month.
HostGator
HostGator offers three tiered WordPress hosting plans with pre-installed WordPress and a 99.9% uptime guarantee, SSL certification for at least one year, firewall and DDoS protections. You’ll also get a built-in content delivery network — CDN — from Cloudflare, a tool that stores your site data in various locations around the world so international users can experience faster loading times.
Customers theoretically get access to 24/7 customer support via live chat, email or phone. However, when I tested HostGator customer support during my HostGator review I never got a response via email at all. When I scheduled a call with the WordPress team, I never received the call at all and ended up troubleshooting the issues on my own. This suggests that HostGator customer support is inconsistent across channels.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s WonderSuite was created to help you learn the ins and outs of WordPress. The team of experts can help you set up your site or help with plug-ins. Bluehost has four tiered WordPress hosting plans, and security features include an SSL certificate for your first year and two-factor authentication. On top of the Blue Flash team, you can reach customer support 24/7 by call or chat. Bluehost’s lack of an uptime guarantee is concerning. Its uptime agreement says it will resolve most issues within 15 minutes, but it doesn’t say how often you should expect service to potentially go down. If your site goes down for 15 minutes daily, that means your site is down for over three days in one year. The industry standard 99.9% uptime means your site will potentially be down for almost 9 hours in one year.
Prices start at $3 a month.
Hostwinds
Hostwinds offers unlimited storage, bandwidth and business email accounts with each WordPress plan. You can also pay for your hosting plan with BitCoin and other cryptocurrency. It offers three tiered WordPress hosting options. Each plan includes an SSL certificate, a 99.99% uptime guarantee and 24/7 chat, email, ticket and phone support. Some security features, like two-factor authentication, need to be manually installed, but Hostwinds has a database of tutorials with step-by-step instructions. It’s unclear how long contracts are for the prices shown, though. I tried to go to checkout to see how long the contracts were, but I was asked to create an account before I could go further. Having to create an account before knowing how long a contract lasts is annoying. Its introductory price is also noticeably higher than others. The renewal price might not be as much as some other services, but it’s hard to tell without knowing how long the contracts are and they could change before your renewal time.
Prices start at $5.24 a month.
Web Hosting Hub
Web Hosting Hub has a 90-day money-back guarantee and a free domain name if you sign up for WordPress hosting. WordPress comes preinstalled with each plan. It offers three tiered WordPress hosting options and each plan includes SSL certificate and an industry-standard 99.9% uptime guarantee. Customer support is available 24/7 by phone, chat and email. A customer support center also offers a range of tutorials to help you set up your site, and you also get a personal onboarding call if you sign up. Other features that come standard with other services, like backups, cost extra. It’s this lack of security features for all plans that hurt Web Hosting Hub’s ranking.
Prices start at $6 a month.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting offers four tiered, standard WordPress plans, with starting prices ranging from $3.19 to $10 a month. The WP Core plan comes with two websites, 100GB of storage and 10 business email addresses. All other plans remove limits on websites, data storage and email accounts. You can also access cloud hosting optimized for WordPress via InMotion Hosting, an option not provided by most hosts. This service starts at $11.67 a month
All InMotion Hosting plans include an SSL certificate, web application firewalls and hack and malware protection.
Unfortunately, InMotion Hosting performed poorly during our tests, with over 1 hour of downtime in one week and slow server speeds. Customer service also proved impossible to reach despite options for both live chat and support ticket being listed.
Kinsta
Kinsta offers tiered single-site and multi-site managed WordPress hosting options. All plans include SSL certification, firewall protection and malware detection/removal included.
Kinsta has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and customer support is available 24/7 by phone, email and text. Prices start at $30 a month.
WP Engine
WP Engine offers a variety of managed WordPress hosting plans for both regular users and agencies. All WP Engine plans include SSL certification, firewall protection and threat blocking tools.
WP Engine offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee for regular users and 99.99% uptime for enterprise users. Customer support from WordPress experts is available 24/7 via phone and live chat.
NameCheap
NameCheap offers extremely affordable unmanaged WordPress hosting starting at just $2.91 a month. These plans come with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, free SSL certification and a free CDN.
Namecheap customer service is available 24/7 via live chat and support ticket. There is no phone support.
For more on web hosting, check out CNET’s best web hosting services and best website builders.
What to look forward to in 2025
The biggest change in web hosting is the increased integration of AI. While this has mostly been concentrated on the website builder space — with numerous AI website builders cropping up in the past few years — it has also begun to penetrate WordPress hosting. One of our top WordPress hosts, Ionos, has introduced a full AI website generator for WordPress, while other companies like Hostinger have AI content generation tools that can be used to create images and text for individual web pages. We expect to see more WordPress hosting companies launching AI tools in the coming months.
WordPress hosting FAQ