Best WordPress Hosting 2023 : 8 Reliable Hosting Companies for Guaranteed Uptime
WordPress is one of the most widely used content management systems (CMS) to develop a website. Since its launch in 2003, WordPress has become a fast-growing, completely customizable solution for various businesses, from bloggers to e-commerce companies. Its SEO-friendly system sets WordPress apart from other CMS providers.
Despite its rising popularity, not all website builders offer WordPress hosting. Here, we’ve narrowed down where you can find a WordPress hosting website builder and where you will get the best bang for your buck.
What is the Best WordPress Hosting Money Can Buy?
- WP Engine – Best overall
- Bluehost – Best value for money
- Kinsta – Great for customer service
- Flywheel – Great for beginners
- GoDaddy – Best on-the-go service
- HostGator – Great for US-based customers
- DreamHost – Great for developersÂ
- SiteGround – Great boutique-style solution
WordPress Hosting Comparison
Here’s a quick overview of everything that these services have to offer.
Free Plan/Trial? | Starting Plan (/month) | Templates | Apps | 24/7 Support | |
WP Engine | Yes | $30 | 35+ | N | Y |
Bluehost | Yes | $2.95 | 1,100 | N | Y |
Kinsta | No | $30 | 25+ | N | Y |
Flywheel | Yes | $15 | 150+ | N | Y |
GoDaddy | Yes | $5 | 230+ | Y | Y |
HostGator | No | $2.75 | 4,000+ | N | Y |
DreamHost | No | $4.95 | 200 | N | Y |
SiteGround | No | $6.99 | 55 | N | Y |
1. WP Engine
Best Overall WordPress Hosting
WP Engine is at the top of many WordPress hosting lists for its exceptional capabilities and ease of use. It only offers WordPress hosting, so they have fine-tuned their platform to optimize it for WordPress. This service also boasts excellent uptimes, daily backups, and increased security, including real-time threat detection.Â
WP Engine has plans for businesses ranging from individuals and blogs to mid-sized companies to large-scale corporate solutions that can support millions of visitors per month.
Pros
- No long-term commitment required
- Access to free StudioPress themes
- Backup and restore data for free
Cons
- One of the most expensive options on this list
- Additional charges for exceeding the set number of storage and visitorsÂ
Ease of Use
While WP Engine has features and plugins to lessen the burden of setup, it can still be a lot for someone just starting. We recommend WP Engine for experienced developers or experienced WordPress users looking to transfer to a new hosting site.
WP Engine’s features cater more to developers and users who understand backend processes. However, this is not to say new users cannot use WP Engine. They’ve streamlined their setup to make it as user-friendly as possible, and all of their fees are very upfront. They do not add hidden costs to your migration or setup.
Features
WP Engine offers helpful features to migrate your data and build your website.
Automated Migration: Working with partners BlogVault, WP Engine provides an automated, user-friendly WordPress migration plugin. You do not have to be a web developer to transfer your domain and import your database.
StudioPress Themes: Choose one of 36 StudioPress themes to personalize and brand your website. Themes are mobile responsive and optimized for SEO. Enhanced security features allow visitors peace of mind when shopping or browsing.
Account Activity Log: Businesses with multiple users will benefit from the account activity log. You can view all account actions and environment changes from one dashboard.
GeoTarget: Use the GeoTarget plugin to personalize your content to different markets.
Help and Support
WP Engine boasts award-winning support for its customer service. If you run into an issue, help is available 24/7 to get you the assistance you need. Users can log in for chat, phone, or email support.
You can find articles for everything from setup to general account information to features to WordPress-specific questions.
Value for Money
While WP Engine is one of the most expensive WordPress hosting services on this list, but you get a lot for your money. Your account allows you to take advantage of WP Engine’s award-winning customer support and user-friendly migration.
By subscribing annually, you can bank additional savings from monthly plans. Choosing the basic plan at an annual rate will save you $60 per year.
User Review
Ann Marie W. (Trustpilot)
Outstanding Customer Support – Very Attentive
“You don’t know what you don’t know, and I’m so glad to have found WPEngine about 3.5 years ago.
I had been using very cheap hosting, before switching to WPE. My previous host had an extremely severe internal server problem that was so severe that I had to move and rebuild my sites.
Instead of making any rash decisions, I had called on several hosting companies, but I did not call the “SALES” department. I would call the TECHNICAL department.
In addition to making my choice, I went to all of the social media channels of all of the hosting companies that I was looking at. In fact, what I was looking for was the commonality of any problems, response times on social media, and if everyone had the same issues/complaints.
In my 3.5 years with WPEngine, I can share that I have only had about 2 or 3 tickets that needed more attention than their chat can handle.
One of the most important aspects of RELIABLE HOSTING is RELIABLE SUPPORT.
In my professional opinion, and personal experience WPEngine yearly fees are worth every penny because they have always been and are very attentive while providing outstanding customer support.
That is priceless and worth every penny.
I use their chat support 99% of the time, and it’s great that they do offer phone support, however, I have rarely ever needed to use it.
I highly recommend them.”
2. BlueHost
Best Value for Money
BlueHost is the most inexpensive paid option on this list, but still competitive with the services and features. Try BlueHost out for a reduced price during your first year, and buy with confidence with their 30-day money-back guarantee.
BlueHost is one of only three hosts endorsed by WordPress to seamlessly migrate your WordPress account to BlueHost. Choose from personal or professional WordPress hosting.
Pros
- The introductory year is inexpensive. Although you will renew at a higher rate after your first year
- Uptime is reliable
- All of their shared hosting plans offer substantial storage
- They do not limit the amount of traffic your website can get
Cons
- Despite the inexpensive plans, they often try to upsell you on a lot of their extra features
- All servers are US-based, so visitors from other countries can have sluggish speeds
- Unlike competitors, there is no free migration option
- The free backup option is limited
Ease of Use
Their recently updated cPanel makes BlueHose easy and intuitive for beginners to use. Through this simplified dashboard panel, you can manage your business and website, including email addresses and blogs.
Once you’ve figured out what works best for your business, you can customize your cPanel to match your needs. You can move or delete certain features based on your preferences.
If you are just getting started with BlueHost, they offer a one-click WordPress installation that seamlessly connects your WordPress account to BlueHost. While this is a very user-friendly process, they also provide articles and information on installing your WordPress account to BlueHost hosting.
Features
BlueHost offers many features and plugins that help you build your website and support your business.
SSL: BlueHost provides a free SSL certificate with every hosting plan option. This is especially helpful if you plan on collecting visitor or customer information. Having an SSL certificate assures ecommerce customers that your website is safe for them to make a purchase.
Additional Security: BlueHost also provides standard anti-spam filters to detect unsolicited and virus-infected ads that can breach your website and CDN services, rare for a website host to offer its clients.
Add-ons: You can choose from a wide variety of add-ons to keep all of your business tools under one account. BlueHost offers a lot of marketing add-ons like SEO support and Constant Contact, which allows you to maintain a database of contact information on easily send email and ad campaigns.
Advertising: BlueHost provides $100 in Google Ads credits once you spend $25. Google Ads help increase your visibility when customers search for products, services, or information similar to what you offer.
Help and Support
If you run into any problems, BlueHost has 24/7 phone or chat support. You can also troubleshoot your issues on your own on their Help page.
Value for Money
BlueHost offers a very affordable introductory price, and then competitive pricing after your first year. You can get a basic package for $2.95 per month for the first year, which comes with a free domain and free SSL certificate.
After your first year, a basic package increases to $7.99 per month, which is still competitive with other WordPress hosting platforms.
3. Kinsta
Great for Customer Service
Kinsta made the right partnerships in their hosting services. This WordPress host uses Google cloud server hosting instead of traditional shared or dedicated hosting for increased speed, scalability, flexibility, and reliability. As a Google Cloud Premium Tier user, Kinsta taps into some of the highest fiber network speeds, reaching up to 10,000 TB per second in some areas.
For WordPress hosting, the MyKinsta dashboard is made specifically with WordPress in mind. You will find WordPress features that you may not find with a traditional cPanel dashboard.
Pros
- Automatic backups can be set for as frequently as hourly and are saved for 14-30 days
- An excellent customer service team
- Uses Google cloud server hosting for increased speed
Cons
- The basic plan does not come with multi-site support
- Does not have email hosting, but recommends G Suite
Ease of Use
Kinsta eliminates the need for cPanel with its intuitive, user-friendly dashboard. Beginners and experienced web developers will benefit from this easy to understand dashboard panel.
However, some have experienced issues with establishing their domain. Kinsta provides a guide for configuring your domain and DNS settings, but it is not very user-friendly if you have no experience resolving this issue.
Features
High Security: Kinsta’s increased security monitors and blocks malicious attacks. Its 24/7 security helps you and your visitors feel at ease.
- DDoS detection
- Hardware firewalls
- Uptime monitoring
- SSL support
- Hack fix guarantee
Google Cloud Platform: Using the Google cloud platform allows Kinsta users access to its 24 global data centers for optimal speed. Google will also securely store and transport your data.
Free Site Migrations: Based on your account, you will have access to a certain amount of free site migrations. An expert from Kinsta’s migration team will move your data to a temporary domain to ensure that everything is as it should be before going live on your active domain.
Help and Support
Kinsta supports its customers with 24/7 chat support. Some users report its chat support has quicker response times than GoDaddy or WP Engine.
If you are looking to troubleshoot on your own, Kinsta also has a plethora of information to make your transition seamless. You can read deep dive guides on learning WordPress, troubleshoot with peers in the knowledge base, subscribe to Kinsta’s blog, and take advantage of free updates. Plus, Kinsta sometimes offers free migrations from select web hosts to take that stress off of your plate.
Value for Money
Despite Kinsta not offering a free trial, they provide a 30-day money-back guarantee on their services, including their WordPress hosting. The plan you choose is also very transparent. Each plan tells you how many monthly visitors it supports, how much free storage you are entitled to, how long your backup retention is available, and more.
Like other services, Kinsta also runs discount specials for those who purchase annual plans instead of monthly. Choosing a yearly plan will get you two months of service for free in savings.
4. Flywheel
Great for Beginners
If you are new to WordPress hosting or do not have a developer platform, you can still easily transfer over your WordPress data and create a professional, modern website through Flywheel. Flywheel offers many features that benefit beginners like free migration support, website staging, automated backups, and free demo sites.
Like others on this list, Flywheel utilizes the Google cloud platform for their hosting infrastructure. This provides a stable hosting environment as well as faster loading speeds.
Pros
- Clean, user-friendly interface
- Migrate your existing website for free
- All sites have a dedicated IP addresses
Cons
- Does not sell domains, so you’ll need to purchase your domain through another service
- You cannot get email hosting through Flywheel
Ease of Use
Flywheel offers easy to understand features to help streamline your development process.
- Modern, intuitive dashboard
- Packaged themes and plugins
- One-click local development
WordPress hosting novices will benefit from Flywheel’s free WordPress migration and optimization. You don’t need to be an experienced web developer to set up an account, migrate your data over, and create a visually appealing website through Flywheel.
Features
Demo sites: Flywheel offers free demo sites to new users looking to try out their service. You can create multiple password-protected demo sites to get a feel for the system without having to provide your billing information.
Managed hosting: Flywheel is a WordPress exclusive host, and as such, they have mastered migration, support, and technical updates to provide a seamless transition of your WordPress data. You will also benefit from the increased security and cached data and performance optimization from Flywheel’s managed service.
Website staging: Utilize your test environment to make changes to your website before going live to your followers and visitors without additional servers or plugins.
Help and Support
Flywheel’s live chat service is available 24/7/365, as is the email ticket support desk. Telephone customer service is only available for plans at $250 per month or more.
To troubleshoot on your own, look at the video tutorials, blog entries, eBooks, and help documents that Flywheel continues to release.
Value for Money
Flywheel is one of the midrange WordPress hosts on this list, and you can try it for free for 14 days. If you are an individual or small business with one WordPress page, you will be fine with the Tiny or Starter packages, which start at $15 per month.
However, if you are a larger business or need to host multiple WordPress pages, you will need a Freelance or Agency package, which starts at $115 per month. Like with some of the other options on our list, you can save two months by purchasing annually instead of monthly.
The moneyback guarantee window is shorter with Flywheel than with other WordPress hosts. Monthly users only have three days to claim a refund for dissatisfaction, whereas annual subscribers have 30 days.
5. GoDaddy
Best On-The-Go Service
GoDaddy may be best known as a domain registrar, but its services expand far beyond establishing a website domain. Create a GoDaddy account to take advantage of their web security, website building, email hosting, and WordPress hosting services.
Being one of the most established WordPress hosts on this list, GoDaddy offers certain features that you won’t find anywhere else. GoDaddy is the only WordPress host on this list that has an app so you can manage your website from your phone or tablet.
Pros
- Download mobile app for on-the-go website management
- You can choose between Windows and Linux hosting
- Most plans offer unlimited websites
Cons
- Customer support can sometimes be inconsistent
- You may run into some upsells at checkout or find that certain discounts are only applied when you meet specific criteria
Ease of Use
Users who reviewed GoDaddy remarked at its ease of use. It is excellent for beginners looking for WordPress hosting. However, more experienced users may find the lack of creative control limiting.
Features
GoDaddy is a full-service WordPress host that offers many different features. However, some may be at an additional cost.
Free domain: Once GoDaddy’s bread and butter, your domain is now included in any WordPress hosted website for a savings of $34.99 per year.
Website backup: You can backup your data for up to 90 days when you enable GoDaddy’s backup restore feature. While they are not automated, you have the option to schedule backups, create on-demand, or download your data.
Security: Your account entitles you to an automatic Sucuri plugin, which provides automatic daily malware scanning to protect your site from malicious attacks.Â
Help and Support
GoDaddy offers 24/7 phone and chat support for its customers. Search their global directory for customer service phone numbers within and outside of the United States. GoDaddy currently has customer service support numbers for over 50 countries worldwide.
Visit the Help Center to search common issues by topic. You will find help documents on everything from getting set up to marketing to adding appointments, events, or products.
Value for Money
GoDaddy is frequently offering discounts and special offers on their packages. Currently, they are slashing their $9.99 basic WordPress hosting plan to $5. However, this only applies to new hosting plans, and packages renew at standard pricing.
If you are looking to add email hosting to your GoDaddy website, you will pay an additional monthly fee. Email hosting plans are free for the first year but then transfer to a paid subscription. You also cannot get free SSL for your website unless you purchase the Ultimate plan or higher.
All of your purchases are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.
6. HostGator
Great for US-based Customers
HostGator is a fast, reliable WordPress host for US-based individuals, blogs, and businesses. Unfortunately, their data centers are only located within the United States, but they provide a fast and stable platform.
Pros
- Provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Offer unlimited storage space
- Extended 45-day guarantee
Cons
- Slower response times from customer support team than competitors
- Must pay an additional fee to restore data from backups
Ease of Use
HostGator is easier to navigate than others on this list. The cPanel dashboard is very user friendly and provides all of the necessary account, billing, hosting, domain, and support tabs and icons without becoming overwhelming.
Features
You can create WordPress hosting sites through Windows and Linux with each offering various features to enhance your experience.
Free migration: Even beginners can transfer their existing WordPress website to HostGator with the help of their WordPress customer support experts, and this is included with any package.
Email hosting: HostGator uses G Suite to host your email at no additional cost to you. Create unlimited email addresses at your domain with this professional and convenient service.
Increased website performance: HostGator allows more visitors to visit your website each month than its competitors. Even the starter plan allows for up to 100k visitors per month.
Help and Support
HostGator provides its customers with 24/7/365 live chat and phone support. You can also troubleshoot or search answers to your questions in their knowledge base, which has extensive information on advanced troubleshooting, cPanel, domains, hosting products, and more.
Value for Money
If you are new to WordPress hosting, and looking to try out different services, take advantage of HostGator’s low introductory rates. However, these rates do jump after your first year.Â
All plans come with free Let’s Encrypt SSL security support, and you can build your business with a $100 credit for Google AdWords after you spend your first $25 through HostGator. If you are not satisfied with HostGator, you have 45 days to claim your money-back guarantee, which is longer than most competitors.
7. DreamHost
Great for DevelopersÂ
While DreamHost may not be the household name that BlueHost or GoDaddy is, it has become a cult favorite for developers and designers. WordPress also endorses them as a reliable hosting platform.
Pros
- Provide one-click software installation
- You can host unlimited sites and unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited bandwidth
Cons
- Less user-friendly control panel than competitors
- Many features, including optimized WordPress hosting, costs extra
Ease of Use
While DreamHost’s control panel boasts a clean, modern design, it may not be intuitive for all users, especially those used to cPanel dashboards.
If you are an experienced web developer, you may appreciate the advanced customization you can do with DreamHost, but this may become daunting if you are a beginner.
Features
Unlimited bandwidth and storage: DreamHost does not cap your limit on disk space with its shared hosting.
Domain hosting: While they may not be as well known as other domain hosts, you have access to a free domain with your DreamHost subscription.
Instant WordPress setup: For hosting plans that support multiple websites, DreamHost offers their one-click installer to install WordPress within seconds.
Help and Support
As a DreamHost customer, you can access support through their website or directly on your control panel. They provide 24/7 chat support with a tech as well as a knowledge base and discussion forums where you can talk with peers who may have encountered the same issue as you.
Value for Money
DreamHost is less expensive than some competitors, but even its introductory rates only last three months. The basic WordPress hosting plan starts at $4.95 per month, then increases to $6.99 per month after your first three months. If you prepay a longer-term plan, you can benefit from additional savings.
8. SiteGround
Great Boutique-Style Solution
Because it is less known than some of the major WordPress hosts, SiteGround still provides a small, boutique feel to web development. It provides a custom solution at a reasonable price for your blog, business, or store. The well-trained staff provides expert, personalized support to get your website up and running.
Pros
- Managed WordPress host providing exclusive support and one-click staging
- Automated, free daily backups
- Access to six data centers located around the world
Cons
- Not a lot of SSD space for each plan
- Introductory price is low, but all plans renew at higher prices
Ease of Use
SiteGround has an intuitive backend interface that you can customize based on your preferences. The dashboard is a clean, modern design that is easy to follow and doesn’t overwhelm you with too many pages or information.
Features
Daily restores: Even its most basic account has free daily backups to protect your data. If you need something that was removed, you can take advantage of the one-click restore feature.
100% energy match: environmentally-conscious customers will appreciate SiteGround’s 100% energy match. SiteGround works with Google Cloud, their site partner, to match 100% of the energy consumed by its global operations with renewable energy to maintain a commitment to carbon neutrality.
Managed WordPress: All SiteGround plans can take advantage of free WordPress migration. SiteGround also provides customers with a WordPress site building wizard, automated updates, expert support, a staging tool, and more.
Help and Support
All GoGeek and higher plans provide advanced priority support to customers. Advanced support customers are assigned a support agent, and your support tickets are given priority response.
Value for Money
SiteGround is currently $6.99 per month for the StartUp package, but it is normally $14.99 per month. With this basic package, you get free SSL, email, managed WordPress, backups, and more. SiteGround provides a 30-Days Money-Back guarantee to provide customer peace of mind.
How to Choose a WordPress Host
Like with other web development, you should consider which features and design elements matter the most to you when choosing a WordPress host.
Ease of Use
If you are new to WordPress hosting and are looking for an easy-to-build template, you should consider Flywheel or Bluehost. They have extensive libraries of templates that will make your page stand out.
Features and Plugins
All of the WordPress hosts on this list offer various apps and plugins to give you an integrated experience that simplifies your website development. Some of these plugins are paid while others are free. Consider which options are worth the money and whether they come standard through other packages.
GoDaddy offers many features that you can add to your website to enhance the user experience.
Value for Money
Free services often seem most appealing, but some can be limiting regarding the features they offer or the number of templates you can access.
Most mid-range WordPress hosting services will help you get the best return on your investment.
Help and Support
24/7 support is ideal when you run into an issue. Still, many WordPress hosting services also allow you access to community forums, FAQ pages, demo pages, and other tutorials to enable you to build your best website.
Can You Use a Free WordPress Host?
Some of the hosting websites on this list provide a free WordPress option. There are also other WordPress hosting options that do not have all of the features of these top picks but offer a free choice if you cannot budget for a paid subscription.
8 Best WordPress Hosting Roundup
Here is a quick snapshot of the top WordPress Hosting websites.
Best WordPress Hosting
- WP Engine – Best overall
- Bluehost – Best value for money
- Kinsta – Great for customer service
- Flywheel – Great for beginners
- GoDaddy – Best on-the-go service
- HostGator – Great for US-based customers
- DreamHost – Great for developersÂ
- SiteGround – Great boutique-style solution
Conclusion
While WordPress was initially designed to support blogs, it has grown to accommodate ecommerce and other businesses. Its user-friendly platform makes it great for beginners and less time consuming for website professionals.
Choosing a WordPress host will allow you to access customizable templates and features to set your website apart. Most WordPress hosts integrate smoothly with WordPress and provide user-friendly interfaces that you can operate with little or no web support staff.
FAQs
If you’re still unsure which WordPress host is best for you or your business, consider these frequently asked questions.
What is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting provides a stable platform for your website that improves SEO and provides increased security. While additional features may vary based on the host, they are all usually equipped for one-click installation to easily integrate with WordPress. In general, hosting WordPress through another platform allows for enhanced security like SSL features and improved performance.
There are two different kinds of WordPress hosting.
- Shared hosting: Least expensive option
- Managed hosting: A more expensive option, but allows for higher website speeds and more secure access
How Does WordPress Benefit You?
If you are looking to optimize your search results, WordPress uses SEO tools to allow your website to show up in more search results. WordPress hosts often have their own SEO coding that allows for a cleaner website with increased SEO.
Can You Use WordPress Hosting Without A WordPress Website?
While managed WordPress hosting is only available for WordPress users, it is sometimes allowable through shared hosting. Shared hosting is mostly done with WordPress as the plugin, so you can opt not to include that plugin when building your website.