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9 Of The Best Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Give Your Site A Great Home 🏡
I bet you are seeing the post title and thinking – oh no, yet another “N Best WordPress Hostings” post! 😫 Come on, there are already so many of them! When enough is enough? 😩😤😆
Well, let me tell you that this is not your regular rehashed article where BlueHost takes the 1st spot because they pay the biggest affiliate commissions 🙊😂
This is my own research I conducted based on the recommendations in the niche website Facebook groups I am following. These hosting platforms were recommended by people who make thousands of dollars per month from their websites.
Not sure about you but for me, it’s one of the best recommendations a service can get!
And you won’t find BlueHost on this list 😉😆
I did this research for myself, primarily. As I mentioned earlier in one of my income reports, I wanted to move away from BlueHost to something faster and more reliable.
So, here are nine best managed WordPress hosting providers recommended by some of the most successful niche site webmasters.
What WP hosting provider did I choose?
Aaand which one did I choose?… 🤔🙃
I chose Cloudways ☁
My 🦄 Website is already hosted on it so I know well what they offer. I really, really like the amount of control you can have over your servers on Cloudways 😻 Also, this hosting provider is quite popular among the Facebook group members with very positive feedback.
However initially, I almost chose WPX, a hosting provider that got the People’s Choice award on the forums 🥇
The reason was the price. To host 5 websites, I’d pay only $25 on WPX (monthly payments). Meanwhile, having five cheapest servers on Cloudways would cost me $50 😲
Ouch 😬
Then, I saw that on WPX, each staging site counts as a new site. And I love having staging sites for testing purposes – it’s just super convenient! 🥰 This meant I’d immediately exceeded their cheapest plan limit and would go to the next tier that costs $45 😩
At the same time, I realized that on Cloudways, I probably do not need a separate server machine per site 🤓 Some of my sites are small with light traffic so I might be able to fit more some of them on the same server (spoiler alert: and I did! 😅)
Thus, I did the math ➕➖➗ and saw that both of the hosting services would cost me the same. However, I would have much more control, flexibility, and easier scaling with Cloudways 🤷♀️ Hence my choice.
Of course, Cloudways and WPX are not the only good hosting out there – and maybe for you, some other platform will be a better choice 🤷♀️
So, dive into my review and see for yourself what’s the best managed WordPress hosting.
Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers
Let’s start with shared hosting.
1st Runner Up: WPX
WPX is one of the most widely acclaimed shared hosting services out there – with dozens of glowing reviews about its support, performance, and features 🤩 Its popularity would certainly earn it the People’s Choice Award in the Facebook groups I belong to 👏
They offer everything from the very basic to the most complex services – and they deliver them well. With WPX hosting, you can expect good speed and automatic boosts to your site’s performance.
They don’t have a limit to site migrations, SSL features, automatic and manual backup services, malware protection, or automatic upgrades. They also have a guaranteed service uptime of 99.95%, which means that your audience can pretty much always look forward to visiting your site 😀
However, just this year, WPX’s services seemed to have taken a dip, and one issue even made it on the Doug Cunnington podcast. The most common complaints are about limited bandwidth due to shared hosting and limited storage offered.
I found that storing the content elsewhere, such as on Amazon S3, could help solve the problem. However, this isn’t ideal for everyone since doing so does complicate VA workflow for post formatting. I tried it myself and it did not work for me 🤷♀️
Nevertheless, WPX has a 30-day money-back warranty policy if you have unresolvable issues.
Pros:
- Fast, reliable, and stable service
- Inexpensive
- Good customer support
Cons:
- Minimal bandwidth and storage
- Offers only shared hosting
- Staging sites are counted as a website
Check out WPX right here!
2nd Runner Up: Siteground
Siteground is another popular shared hosting provider thanks to their powerfully optimized WordPress servers at the pretty affordable rates. As of this writing, it’s also one of the few hosting services that WordPress itself officially recommends⭐
At its core, Siteground is a great service that offers seamless installation and set-up, optimal response time and uptime, and fast loading times.
Some of its more expensive packages also come with additional perks, such as advanced and custom-built caching, wildcard certificates for premium SSLs, staging services, and much more. Lastly, the company prides itself on its excellent, multi-platform support that is reachable via social media, chat, email, or phone.
That said, there’s no such thing as a perfect WordPress hosting service. One of the issues Siteground faces is that users reach their traffic limit too quickly, even if they have the more expensive plans 😫
This is mainly because, like WPX, Siteground only offers shared hosting, regardless of the plan. Unregulated bot traffic that gets accounted into your bandwidth is also another unsolved issue 😒
Pros:
- Affordable
- Great customer support
- Fine-tuned for WordPress hosting
- Official WordPress endorsement
Cons:
- Low bandwidth limit
- Shared hosting services
- Unregulated bot traffic
Take a closer look at Siteground.
BigScoots
One of the old names in web hosting, BigScoots was founded in Chicago back in 2010 and has been offering fast and reliable service ever since. It offers fully managed WordPress hosting, with robust technical support and speedy performance 👍
This hosting service is certainly a decent choice for anyone, with its high-quality hosting, round-the-clock support, website optimization, speedy performance, and security features. BigScoots also provides free migration features for those who want to move their hosting service over from their old one.
That said, plans are priced slightly higher than their competition 😬 it is also shared hosting, like WPX and SiteGround.
In addition, large web enterprises are probably better off choosing another hosting service provider since BigScoots’ more expensive plans are only by the month, rather than annually, which translates to no savings for staying with the same plan longer 🙄
Pros:
- Reliable
- Strong customer service
- High resource limits
Cons:
- Not optimal for large web enterprises
- Slightly higher prices
Head over to Bigscoots to find out more!
The rest of the hosting providers on my list are cloud hosting.
Winner: Cloudways
Cloudways is one of the best-managed WordPress cloud hosting services you can find on the market today.
Due to its robust features, it’s very popular with a wide variety of users, such as freelance bloggers, businesses, and even dedicated FB groups. Many webmasters use Cloudways for their niche sites, I am among them as well 🤗
Regardless of which plan you choose, you get access to a smooth and incredibly user-friendly interface, with great operational speed.
Cloudways’ customer support is also noteworthy, with dozens of knowledgeable and accommodating live agents that you can reach out to at any time of the day. I have already had to use the support when my 🦄 Website was down 😟 so I can vouch for it 👍
As for its main downside, Cloudways is a bit too expensive, considering it doesn’t offer offsite backups or email addresses for free 😒
Also, some webmasters consider it to be more on a DIY side compared to other platforms. For example, I often use SSH access to monitor the server performance and to install extra features such as PHPMyAdmin.
Also, all their servers are paid only by the month (or by the hour), rather than annually, which translates to no savings for staying with the same plan longer 🙄
Want to know more? Read my detailed review!
Pros:
- Stand-alone servers
- Easy and convenient setup
- Reliable and powerful
- Top-notch customer support
Cons:
- Quite expensive
- Offsite backups aren’t free
- Email addresses aren’t free
- DIY kind of hosting
- Only monthly or hourly payments; there is no way to save money by switching to annual payments
Start your newest website with Cloudways now!
Serverpilot
Serverpilot is also one of the best WordPress cloud hosting services available on the market right now. Just like Cloudways, Serverpilot is also a managed service wrapper around “raw” hosting, such as Digital Ocean 🌊 and Vultr.
As the industry standard, Serverpilot offers fast and easy setup with clear and simple documentation and a user-friendly dashboard. Serverpilot even offers free SSL for the cheaper packages and free API for the upgraded accounts, making the whole process of maintaining, optimizing, and accessing your website is quick and convenient 🙂
Downsides include pricing, which is a bit on the high side, and lack of flexibility if you have multiple servers because Serverpilot doesn’t allow users to have servers with different plans 🤷♀️
In addition to this, complete beginners may have some trouble at first, especially when it comes to installing additional security and other features like PHPMyAdmin, because some technical knowledge is needed to set it up 👷♀️👷♂️
Pros:
- One-click server installation
- Great API features with ready-to-use PHP SDK
- Helpful customer support
Cons:
- Not for complete beginners
- Lack of flexibility with plans
- A little expensive
Take a look at Serverpilot here!
Kinsta
Kinsta is one of the best cloud hosting providers specialized in WordPress. It has headquarters in London and Los Angeles and prides itself in the reliability and performance of its services. Kinsta is touted to be straightforward, user-friendly, developer-friendly, and easily scalable 👍
Not only is it fast, but it also offers robust security and privacy features with its constant uptime monitoring for distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, and frequent malware scans 🔐
It also includes migration services free of charge, making it easy for website owners to switch hosts. Customer support is available through its 24/7 live chat 💬
However, Kinsta may not be for everyone, as the price tag is a little limiting. However, its high price allows for high-quality service and features, such as better SEO optimization – but you may not like it if you are working with a tight budget 💸
It’s also not suitable for platforms other than WordPress.
Pros:
- Intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard
- Fast performance on load impact tests
- Malware detection and removal
- Features everyday backups
- Provides SSL/TLS certificate for free
- Content-delivery network that is free of charge
Cons:
- A little pricier than the competitors
- Only for WordPress
- Only offers cloud hosting
Interested in Kinsta? Check it out today!
WP Engine
One of the few cloud hosting providers carefully tuned for hosting WordPress sites, WP Engine is a straightforward and simple choice for managed hosting. The automatic installation of WordPress upon initial signup is seamless and quick 🏃♀️💨
WP Engine offers solid customer support, accessible through live chat or the help desk 💬 If you’ve subscribed to the pricier plans, you’ll also gain access to phone support ☎ Agents are knowledgeable and helpful, and every concern is met with nothing but positive responses.
Its uptime record is near-perfect and it has an impressive site response time, averaging 150ms for a trial that lasted over three months 💨
Despite this, WP Engine also has some downsides.
For one, it’s quite expensive compared to competitors, especially if you consider that it has limited storage and minimal traffic allotment, particularly with the cheaper packages. Some of the webmasters even think it is overpriced for no reason 🤷♀️
It also doesn’t offer features that other hosting services have, like specialized emails or domain names 😣
Pros:
- No monthly limits on data transfers
- Daily back ups
- Constant malware detection and protection
- Useful and effective staging area
Cons:
- A bit overpriced
- Limited storage
- Minimal traffic allotment
- No phone support with cheaper packages
- Doesn’t have specialized email
- Does not sell domain names
Be sure to visit WP Engine to learn more!
Scala Hosting
Scala offers four kinds of hosting services:
- reseller hosting
- cloud hosting – that’s what we’ll talk about here
- email hosting
- WordPress hosting.
It’s one of the best web hosting choices if you’re looking for optimal security and fast performance.
Scala also comes with plenty of features, such as one-click ease of installation for WordPress, free migration, CDN, SSL certificates, WordPress tutorials, and malware scans. Although it doesn’t offer free SEO analysis, it has built-in SEO tools on the dashboard 🤨
However, despite the relatively high price point, Scala, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a free domain name. This is puzzling considering that most other hosting services offer free domains as a bare minimum nowadays 🙄
Pros:
- Offers shield protection on every package
- Cloud, dedicated, and shared hosting options
- Secure and protected hosting services
- 24/7 customer support
Cons:
- Pricier than the competition
- No free domain name
Head over to Scala now to start!
Servebolt
Servebolt is a cloud hosting service that is very similar to, and perhaps even easier to use than Cloudways 😅 It prides itself on its speedy performance, with claims that it’s up to six times faster than its competitors.
Aside from this, Servebolt also has other made-for-speed features that improve processor speed and allow for faster loading times, even with multiple, simultaneous operations. It also features faster data transfers between computer networks for the best web hosting experience ⚡
The company guarantees maximum speed with all levels of the Servebolt Cloud, with its own PHP and MariaDB builds 🤨 to further enhance the performance of your WordPress site. Unlimited bandwidth is also available to all users.
The only downside I could find is its price, which is significantly higher than any of its competitors.
Pros:
- Super fast hosting services
- Free migration features, even with trial accounts
- Guaranteed 99.99% uptime
- You can choose your preferred PHP version
- Off site, daily backups for no extra charge
- Customized control panel for ease of use
Cons:
- Significantly more expensive than competitors with similar services
Check out Servebolt here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Choosing The Best Managed WordPress Hosting
Overall, the top choice for me is Cloudways, followed closely by WPX and Siteground. These three are your best picks if you’re looking for something with plenty of features and good value 👍
That said, choosing the best managed WordPress hosting service can be a tricky decision. Once I started my research, I immediately got overwhelmed by all the comparison articles with performance, user reviews, speed tests, and other measures.
If you’re not careful, you can easily be suckered into a web hosting service that isn’t the right fit for you and is too pricey, to boot. I wanted to avoid it for myself and that’s why I went to the Facebook groups to read what the others say 😏
I hope this list of the best web hosting services has made it easier for you to evaluate and finally make your final decision! Did you like this list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I will receive a small fee if you choose to buy after clicking on any of these links. Thank you if you do! 🤗