As the world’s most widely-used content management system (CMS), WordPress is the backbone of over 450 million websites in operation today. From occasional bloggers to multinational corporations, users all over the world run their websites on WordPress — owing to its ease-of-use, its flexibility, and its extensive library of pre-built themes and plugins.
But whatever your motivation for using WordPress, before you can even think about growing your organic traffic, securing new sales leads, or maximizing your cart value, you can’t afford to overlook one fundamental element of running a WordPress site: your hosting solution. Hosting may be seen by some as a necessary yet trivial concern, but in reality the success of any website is dependent on it being backed by a reliable and powerful hosting platform.
With that in mind, we’re going to explore the best hosting solutions for any WordPress website.
What should you look for in a WordPress hosting provider?
Your WordPress hosting requirements will naturally depend on the nature and the purpose of your website: if you’re a blogger or a budding solopreneur, for example, you might not be as discerning (or as financially flexible) as a large global enterprise when it comes to choosing a hosting platform. That said, there are a few areas that are essential when choosing any WordPress hosting provider; such as:
- Affordable pricing: Of course, before you opt for a WordPress hosting solution you need to know you can comfortably afford it. Will you be charged a flat monthly fee? Or will your bill be based on usage? Make sure you know beforehand so you’re not caught out.
- Storage and bandwidth: These are essential elements of any hosting provider. The last thing you’ll want to discover further down the line is that your host doesn’t offer sufficient storage space, or that bandwidth limitations are putting a strain on your website’s availability.
- Speed and performance: Any online business can live and die by the reliability of its website, so it’s essential that your hosting solution can offer quick speeds and consistent performance. Look for a provider with a near-100% uptime guarantee (one which includes a built-in CDN will help to speed up content delivery, too).
- Scalability: Your hosting solution may be perfectly suitable right now, but what if your business grows significantly in the next 12 months? Does your hosting provider offer the flexibility to scale resources such as RAM and CPU when traffic to your site inevitably increases?
- Security: Cybersecurity is too often an afterthought, but you can’t afford to overlook its importance when choosing a hosting provider. Most will offer a range of security features (such as SSL certificates and firewalls), but ensure you know what level of protection you’re getting before you sign up.
- Support: Hosting can be complex, so you’ll inevitably need some support from time to time. Will your hosting provider be there to answer queries and resolve issues when you need them? Opt for a provider that offers 24/7 support through a range of communication channels (phone, email, or live chat, for example).
So, now you know what you should be looking for in a WordPress host (although, this should not be treated as an exhaustive list, since every website and business will have unique needs), let’s examine some of the best WordPress hosting providers out there right now.
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Cloudways
A powerful cloud-based hosting solution, WordPress hosting by Cloudways is one of the fastest and most secure options on the market. Through a choice of cloud infrastructure providers (including Amazon Web Services, Digital Ocean, and Google Cloud), Cloudways’ users can benefit from near-100% availability, optimal performance and enterprise-grade security. One of its chief advantages is its capacity to help your business grow, as it enables seamless scalability at the click of a button. Plus, with 24/7/365 support, Cloudways’ managed hosting plans eliminate server-related concerns so you focus on growing your business.
Recommended for: Growing agencies and ecommerce businesses
Hostinger
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With close to 30 million users over the world, Hostinger is undoubtedly one of the most popular WordPress hosting solutions — and with good reason. Suitable for seasoned WordPress developers as well as complete beginners, Hostinger offers a range of affordable pricing plans, with one-click WordPress installation and a customized LiteSpeed Cache to optimize speed and performance. There’s also multiple security features and a choice of location-specific data centers, although perhaps Hostinger’s primary selling point is its dedicated customer support, with 24/7 live chat in over 20 languages.
Recommended for: Anyone, but especially beginners due its great support.
WP Engine
As the hosting provider to over half a million websites, WP Engine is a solid choice for WordPress hosting — principally because it’s a WordPress-specific platform, meaning all of its features and functions are built squarely with WordPress in mind. Its MO is helping businesses to grow faster, with WP Engine’s users benefiting from speed in more ways than one: it reportedly hosts the highest percentage of top WordPress sites that load under 200ms. There are a number of flexible plans built for SMEs, large enterprises, ecommerce stores, agencies, and freelancers.
Recommended for: Businesses that want to grow quickly.
Bluehost
Launched over 25 years ago, Bluehost is one of the longest-established WordPress hosting providers currently on the market. It comes officially recommended by WordPress, too, so in that sense it's a pretty safe bet. It’s typically a great choice for small businesses looking for a reliable yet relatively low-cost hosting provider, with a range of affordable plans, dependable support, and a very user-friendly interface. When it comes to website performance and availability, Bluehost can be relied upon to resolve the majority of server-related issues within 15 minutes.
Recommended for: Beginners, such as small businesses and startups.
SiteGround
Another provider which has been officially endorsed by WordPress, WordPress hosting from SiteGround comes with in-built, WordPress-specific speed and security features to ensure maximum performance and robust protection. Utilizing Google Cloud-powered servers, SiteGround’s WordPress hosting packages include a free CDN, free email, and automatic WordPress updates. It’s not the most affordable solution around, but its support is considered to be among the best in the hosting industry.
Recommended for: Inexperienced users who need extra support.
InMotion
With a dizzying number of features for managing and optimizing a WordPress site, InMotion is one of the best WordPress hosting options when it comes to flexibility. With InMotion you can host an unlimited number of websites even on its entry-level plans, and it’s pretty rare to get that kind of scope for such an affordable price. With WordPress coming pre-installed, InMotion also includes a drag-and-drop page builder and unlimited professional email accounts (again, this doesn’t come as standard with all providers).
Recommended for: Users or agencies with several websites to manage.
AccuWeb
Boasting over 20 years’ hosting experience, AccuWeb WordPress hosting offers generous bandwidth and storage limits (compared to many other providers) and speedy support: with a 7-second average response to live queries and most tickets resolved within 11 minutes, you’ll never be left hanging by AccuWeb if you have an issue. Like InMotion, AccuWeb allows unlimited WordPress sites on all plans, with its Starter package enabling up to 100,000 monthly visits. You’ll also get up to 150 free email accounts, to boot.
Recommended for: Websites with high monthly traffic.
HostGator
While HostGator isn’t a dedicated WordPress hosting solution, it currently hosts around 10 million global websites. One of the main reasons for its popularity is its eminent affordability, with even its more fully-featured Business plan offered a surprisingly low cost. The other is likely its simplicity: its own website boasts that HostGator is “awesomely easy” to use, so it's ideal for those with little experience or expertise. HostGator is also great for ecommerce businesses, as it includes (as standard) a range of dedicated ecommerce tools.
Recommended for: Ecommerce stores.