The 8 Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers: Can You Manage Without Them?
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This article will give you all the details on the best managed WordPress hosting providers.
If you have a WordPress website, you’ll need to find hosting for it. Managed WordPress hosting is a popular choice because it comes with specialized services for WordPress sites.
Managed WordPress hosting is specifically designed to support WordPress websites, and comes packed with features to help your site succeed. From automatic updates to one-click WordPress installation, this is the ultimate hosting for WordPress users.
This makes managed WordPress hosting perfect for business sites, or any sites with high traffic. The features included, from top level support to daily backups, are designed to make running your site as easy as possible.
Of course, if you don’t have a WordPress site, this kind of hosting won’t be for you! If this is the case, take a look at VPS or dedicated hosting instead.
The good news is, managed WordPress hosting is a really popular option offered by lots of providers. The downside is, finding the best plan for your website can feel like an impossible task!
That’s why we’ve done in-depth research to find the best providers, examining everything from pricing and features to customer support and beyond.
The 8 Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers Are:
- Bluehost – Best for WordPress hosting.
- InMotion – Best for features.
- SiteGround – Best for reliability.
- HostGator – Best help and support.
- GreenGeeks – Best value for money.
- DreamHost – Best for keeping things simple.
- Hostinger – Good alternative to Bluehost
- IONOS – Best performance.
The best of the best is undoubtedly Bluehost – WordPress recommends it, and you can see why! In our research, we gave it an overall score of 4.6 out of 5 for Managed WordPress hosting. InMotion was the next best with a 4.4 out of 5 due to its impressive range of features, while SiteGround came in third place with 4.3 out of 5 because of its reliability. No matter what you’re looking for, these top eight providers should have something for everyone.
This article will break down each of our top eight managed WordPress hosting providers, giving you the lowdown on pricing, pros and cons, and what each provider is best for. By the end of our comparison, you’ll know which hosting provider is the best choice for your WordPress site.
Further Information
Best Managed WordPress Hosting
The eight best managed WordPress hosting providers all have different strengths and features to offer. Whether you’re looking for cheap prices, unlimited storage, or reliable hosting, there’s a perfect provider waiting for you.
Still, it can be hard to keep track of the nuts and bolts offered by each one, so we’ve put together a table to compare the key features of the top eight side by side.
Side-By-Side Managed WordPress Hosting Comparison
| Best Overall  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Bluehost | InMotion | SiteGround | HostGator | GreenGeeks | DreamHost | Hostinger | IONOS |
| Overall rating 4.6 | Overall rating 4.4 | Overall rating 4.3 | Overall rating 4.2 | Overall rating 4.1 | Overall rating 4.1 | Overall rating 4.1 | Overall rating 3.9 |
| Starting from $24.95 | Starting from $4.49 | Starting from $2.99 | Starting from $7.95 | Starting from $2.95 | Starting from $16.95 | Starting from $2.99 | Starting from $1 |
| Uptime 99.98% | Uptime 99.98% | Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 99.98% | Uptime 100% | Uptime 99.99% | Uptime 99.99% |
| Number of sites 1 – Unlimited | Number of sites 2 – Unlimited | Number of sites 1 – Unlimited | Number of sites 1 – 3 | Number of sites 1 – Unlimited | Number of sites 1 – Unlimited | Number of sites 1 – 300 | Number of sites 1 – 50 |
| Storage space 10GB – Unlimited | Storage space 75GB – Unlimited | Storage space 10GB – 160GB | Storage space Unmetered | Storage space 50GB – Unlimited | Storage space 50GB – Unlimited | Storage space 30GB – 200GB | Storage space 25GB – Unlimited |
| Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates | Automated WordPress Software Updates |
| Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates | Automated WordPress Plugin Updates |
The table above outlines some of the key features offered by each provider. The starting price shown here is the lowest standard price for each plan, but you will often find various discounts and promotions for new users – it’s worth shopping around!
In fact, most hosting providers offer discounts for new users, which are definitely worth taking advantage of. But remember, once the promotion is over, prices will renew at the regular rate. Make sure you always budget for long-term costs rather than flash sales.
That said, the promotional prices are often valid for a year or even more. Hosting providers will usually offer these prices in contracts up to 36 months that, when split monthly, can make the price look cheaper than it actually is! At WebsiteBuilderExpert, we show you the 12-month prices. We believe this is a better representation of the value of the plans, and it also means you aren’t locked into a long contract.
Hosting Features Explained
Researching your hosting provider can be a headache because of all the technical jargon that starts popping up. To clear up any confusion, let’s quickly break down the features mentioned in our table.
Storage (or disk space) is how much storage space you have for your website on the server. This is where all your site’s content gets stored, including images, web pages, and files. It’s very important to make sure your plan gives you enough storage so that you don’t run out of room!
Uptime refers to how much of the time a server is guaranteed to be up and running. It’s usually shown as a percentage – for example, 99.98% is a great uptime score. You want this figure to be as close to 100% as possible, because that means your website will be online almost all of the time.
Amount of sites pretty much speaks for itself – this is the number of websites supported by your hosting plan. Basic plans will usually grant you one website, and allow you to unlock more as you upgrade.
Software updates is a feature specific to WordPress hosting. WordPress often releases updates to its platform, which you need to keep up with and install yourself – if you don’t, your software becomes outdated and vulnerable to bugs, hackers, and other nasties. Thankfully, with automatic software updates, your provider updates your site for you!
#1: Bluehost
Best for WordPress Hosting
Bluehost Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Recommended by WordPress as the best WordPress hosting provider Free migrations with expert advice | Fairly pricey plans when compared with competitors Plugins aren’t automatically updated |
Bluehost is the best of the bunch when it comes to WordPress hosting. It’s the number one recommended provider by WordPress itself, and has three managed WordPress hosting plans for you to choose from.
All plans include:
- Unlimited domains and subdomains
- No limits on your traffic
- Free SSL (secure sockets layer) security
- Staging environment (for testing changes)
- Instant WordPress installation
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Spam protection
- Free backups
- Free domain (on yearly plans)
Bluehost uses SSD (solid-state drive) storage, which means your website will load much faster than if it used traditional HDD (hard disk drive) storage. All plans – even the cheapest one – support an unlimited number of websites.
So what do you pay for all these shiny features? The cheapest plan is the $24.95 per month Build plan, which gives you all the basics you need to run a professional website. It’s great for getting started, and it includes a marketing center, 100 free quality themes, and domain privacy on top of all the regular features. However, you do only get one website plus 10GB of storage. If you think your site might be bigger, it’s best to move onto its recommended plan.
The recommended Grow plan costs $34.95 per month and, as the name suggests, is meant for building your site and its audience. Although a little bit on the pricey side than other competitors, you get everything from the Build plan, plus business review tools, SEO tools, JetPack Premium, and more.
The top plan is the $54.95 per month Scale plan, which comes with advanced features, including JetPack Pro, unlimited backups and restores, and PayPal integration, plus everything from the Grow plan.
If you want security, speed, and stellar WordPress performance, Bluehost is your top choice.
Further Information
- Read our Bluehost Review to find out if it’s the perfect provider for you
- Read more about Bluehost’s strengths in our review of the Best WordPress Hosting Provider
- Find details on Bluehost’s plans in our Bluehost Pricing Review
- See how Bluehost compares to its competitors:
#2: InMotion
Best for Features
InMotion Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Best range of features on the market Get your site pre-installed by an expert | Performance isn’t the best Advanced plans become expensive |
Bluehost may be the best all-around provider for WordPress hosting, but InMotion puts up a tough fight for second place. Both it and Bluehost score 4.4 out of 5 for managed WordPress features in our research, with InMotion just taking the lead thanks to having a higher storage allowance on its starter plan than Bluehost. Let’s take a look at why it did so well:
You have six plans to choose from, all of which include:
- A free domain
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Automatic updates for both software and plugins
- SSL security for life
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free backups
You even get your site pre-installed by an expert, so it’s ready to go in minutes!
The cheapest plan is the Server Level 4 plan, which starts at $16.66 per month. With it, you get 3TB of bandwidth and access to the new InMotion Central dashboard, so you can easily manage your WordPress sites
The research shows that its best value plan is the $25 per month Server Level 5 plan. This gives you access to InMotion’s Premium Tools, including total upkeep, free SSL and dedicated IP, and remote storage options.
The features continue to grow more advanced as you move up through InMotion’s managed WordPress hosting plans. You have lots of room for choice and growth, meaning you can find the best plan for your needs.
That does also mean that the price grows in accordance with these features. At the top Server Level 7 plan, you can be paying up to $800 per year! Don’t stress, as InMotion also offers a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Further Information
- Read our full InMotion Hosting Review to find out if this is the best choice for you
- Find out where InMotion sits in our review of the Best Web Hosts for Small Businesses
- How does InMotion perform overall? Find out in our review of the Best Web Hosting Providers around!
- Discover how InMotion performs against its competitors in our in-depth comparisons:
#3: SiteGround
Best for Reliability
SiteGround Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great range of WordPress hosting features Excellent knowledge base pages to provide support | Low disk space No email support |
SiteGround sits alongside Bluehost in WordPress’s good books. Why? The answer lies in SiteGround’s features – say hello to one-click installs, automatic updates for software and plugins, expert support, and free migration. Siteground got our highest customer satisfaction score in our market analysis research with a 4.4 out of 5, making it our most reliable provider. However, do be warned that for help and support, there’s no email.
All of SiteGround’s plans include its ‘Essential WordPress Features’, such as free daily backups, automatic updates, and free SSL security.
SiteGround keeps it simple with three managed WordPress hosting plans, starting with the $2.99 per month StartUp plan. This comes with all the essential WordPress features, plus 10GB storage and one website, making it most suitable for sites with 10,000 monthly visits.
The GrowBig plan costs $4.99 per month and boosts your resources massively. Alongside the essential WordPress features, you get priority technical support and free, professional WordPress transfer. Throw in 20GB storage and unlimited websites, and your site really will be growing big time!
If your WordPress site gets around 100,000 monthly visits, then you’ll need the GoGeek plan for $7.99 per month. It comes with everything from the GrowBig plan, but increases your storage to 40GB and adds a range of upgraded features to make your site run smoothly.
Further Information
- Discover all the details on SiteGround in our full SiteGround Review
- Find out how Siteground compares against other leading providers:
#4: HostGator
Best Help and Support
HostGator Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Unmetered storage on all plans Best help and support of all providers on this list | Slow server response time Limited number of websites |
HostGator comes in fourth place on our list thanks to its great help and support. With a 4.8 out of 5 in this category, HostGator provides support on all channels, from 24/7 email, live chat, and telephone service to a robust knowledge base and community center! If you’re a beginner to hosting and WordPress and think you’ll need a lot of help, HostGator is the provider for you.
HostGator’s Starter plan begins at a reasonable $7.95 and includes 100k site visits per month, 1GB of daily backups, and unlimited storage. In fact, unlimited storage is available across all of HostGator’s managed WordPress plans, so you’ll never have to worry about hitting a limit for content on your site.
The next plan is its Standard plan, which is also HostGator’s recommended plan. This begins at $9.95 and gets you double the number of visits per month (200k), 2GB of daily backups, and the option to have two WordPress sites to your name.
Sadly, the number of websites you can have only goes up to three with the Business plan, which is a real shame. This plan begins at $11.95 per month and includes a whopping 500k visits per month and 3GB of daily backups, on top of having three websites.
If you want more sites, during checkout you can select the Pro plan option, which gives you 10 or 20 sites to play with. The Pro plan begins at $24.95 per month.
Further Information
- See how HostGator holds up in our full HostGator Review
- Find out more about HostGator’s plans with our HostGator Pricing Review
- Learn How to Install WordPress With HostGator | 7 Simple Steps
- See which hosting provider is better:
#5: GreenGeeks
Best Value for Money
GreenGeeks Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Environmentally sustainable Best value for money score in our research | No community center Low performance scores |
If keeping the cost low is the most important factor for you in your search for managed WordPress hosting, then GreenGeeks should definitely be high on your list. Its starter plan, Lite, begins at a budget-friendly $2.95 per month. In our research, GreenGeeks has the highest value for money score on our list for managed WordPress hosting, with 3.9 out of 4. This is because it comes with a great set of features for such a low price.
- 50GB storage
- Unmetered transfers
- 50 email accounts
- Free WordPress install, migration, and auto-updates
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain name for 1st Year
- Free backups and CDN
- WP-CLI & SSH Access
- Built-in caching and unlimited databases
If this still doesn’t sound like it’s enough, the upgraded Pro plan ($4.95 per month) gives you unlimited storage and unlimited websites to work with. Its Premium plan ($8.95) gives you all the above and a free dedicated IP and AlphaSSL certificate, which is valued at nearly $150! If you want bang for your buck, look no further than GreenGeeks.
Another important feature that makes GreenGeeks special is its devotion to minimizing the environmental impact of hosting. Servers use up a lot of electricity to keep running, so GreenGeeks promises a 300% green energy match and that a tree will be planted for all plan purchases.
#6: DreamHost
Best for Keeping it Simple
DreamHost Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Recommended by WordPress – decent range of features Second best performance score in our research | Lack of help and support options Limited number of websites available on plans |
DreamHost may be near the end of our list, but it’s not one to be overlooked as this is the third and last host on our list to be officially recommended by WordPress.
While it does have its issues, such as no phone help and support, it does have shiny hosting features to support your site and offers decent value for money. It also offers the second-best performance score for managed WordPress hosting (4.3 out of 5) and it has a 100% uptime guarantee. If this seems too good to be true, DreamHost promises to compensate for any loss. Win-win!
You have three managed plans to choose from, all of which include unmetered bandwidth, 24/7 support, SSL security, daily backups, a free domain, and automatic software updates. However, the managed plans only support one website.
The $16.95 per month DreamPress plan gives you all of the above, plus 30GB SSD storage and Jetpack Free pre-installed. DreamPress Plus costs $24.95 and gives you 60GB SSD storage, unlimited CDN, and an upgrade to Jetpack Professional. You also have a whopping 97-day money-back guarantee.
The DreamPress Pro plan has the highest price tag for DreamHost at $71.95 per month. It includes everything from the DreamPress Plus plan and increases your SSD storage to 120GB.
#7: Hostinger
Good Alternative to Bluehost
Hostinger Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Decent range of prices and plans Improved features | Poor help and support Lowest performance score on this list |
Hostinger offers itself up as a great alternative to Bluehost for those looking for something different. Since our most recent round of testing, Hostinger’s feature score for managed WordPress shot up dramatically, going from a 2.7 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5! We think this improvement is really emblematic of Hostinger as a whole, and definitely a provider to watch.
Hostinger offers four plans, with its starter plan, Single WordPress, which will cost you $2.99 per month. Admittedly, this plan is a little bare on features, allowing for one website with 0.75GB RAM, 50GB of storage, and no free domain (you have to pay $9.99 for it).
However, the WordPress Starter plan is more reasonable, giving you a free domain as well as 100 websites, 100GB of storage, and unlimited bandwidth. All of this is for the same price as its opening plan at $2.99 per month!
The following plan, the Business WordPress, starts at $3.99 per month and gives you 100 websites but 100GB of storage to play with.
WordPress Pro, for $9.99 per month, improves the features with 300 websites and 200GB of storage on offer.
However, Hostinger is not without its flaws. It has the lowest performance score for managed WordPress on this list (3.4 out of 5), and only has a 99.90% uptime percentage, meaning your website will be down for approximately 8.7 hours over a year. It also has poor help and support, with no phone or community center support across any of its plans.
Despite its flaws, Hostinger remains a solid alternative and definitely a hosting provider to keep an eye on, as track records show it’s only improving by the year.
Further Information
- Read our full Hostinger hosting review to find out more
- Get a full breakdown in our Hostinger Pricing review
- See how Hostingers squares off in our Hostinger vs Bluehost article
#8: 1&1 IONOS
Best Performance
1&1 IONOS Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good value for money, with scalable pricing Best performance and site speed | Lacking in help and support – no live chat Features don’t match top competitors like Bluehost |
IONOS is a safe and standard choice for your WordPress hosting needs. It doesn’t stand out in most areas we tested, apart from performance, where it knocked our socks off with its score in our research of 4.9 out of 5! It has an uptime of 99.99% and a server response time of 286.11. For context, Bluehost has a server response time of 825.375.
All IONOS WordPress plans include a free domain, automatic software updates, free SSL security, and free backups.
The discounted $1 per month Essential plan includes 25GB SSD storage, 10 email accounts, and one website. The Business plan also costs $1 per month and includes 100GB SSD storage, 100 email accounts, and two sites. The Pro plan is the same price and increases your storage to 200GB. It also gives you 500 email accounts, five sites, SiteLock malware protection, and access to the RailGun content delivery network. This plan is designed to boost both security and performance.
While the discounted prices seem the cheapest, be warned that they all renew after a year, with the Essential renewing at $9, the Business at $11, and the Pro at $15 per month. Another factor to keep in mind is that while the discounted price is $1, that doesn’t necessarily mean the value for money is better. Ionos has a feature score of 2.7 out of 5, meaning its features aren’t the same quality as, say, Bluehost’s.
IONOS didn’t score too highly in our testing for its help and support, having no live chat or email support. But with great performance – and its highest plan at only $15 per month – it’s still an attractive choice.
Further Information
- Read our full IONOS Hosting Review to find out more
- IONOS is a top cloud hosting provider – find out more in our review of the Best Cloud Hosting Providers
How Do You Choose a Managed WordPress Hosting Provider?
With so many hosting providers all jostling for your attention and boasting impressive features, how are you meant to know which one to choose? Do you need all those tools? What do they even mean?
It’s easy to get lost amongst all the acronyms and promotional prices. Here’s a quick list of top tips to keep you on the right track:
- Get back to basics
- Make time for uptime
- Value for money
- Help and support
- Don’t get bogged down!
Get Back to Basics
Make a list of the core features your website needs, and make sure the provider you choose has these included in its plans. The basic features to look out for are automatic updates, SSL security, storage, bandwidth, and free backups. Throw in a free domain too if you don’t already have one!
Make Time for Uptime
It really is that important! Nobody will be able to visit your website if your host’s servers are down all the time. High uptime is an absolute must – otherwise, you’re just paying for a site nobody can see.
Value for Money
Make sure you’re getting a high quality service without blowing your whole budget. Definitely shop around for a great sales price – we focus on regular prices in this article, but a lot of providers offer discounts for new customers.
Don’t get drawn in by just the price, though! Look at what you’ll be paying once the promotional period is over, and at just what you’re getting for your money.
Help and Support
Look after yourself as well as your website! Take a look at the range of support options on offer, and have a browse to see if they have the answers you need. Firstly, is it expert WordPress support, or just general?
Next, give it a go! Try out the live chat, read the help articles, and find out if support is available 24/7 or just Monday to Friday.
Don’t Get Bogged Down
If you’re new to it, then hosting can be confusing. There’s lots of letters and tech-speak going on, and offers of unlimited this and that.
Do your research, but don’t panic. The truth is, your website probably won’t need unlimited disk space – so don’t feel like you have to pay for it!
The most important thing is to find a provider which will support your WordPress site, and keep it fast and secure. Any of the providers in our list will do that job, so it’s up to you to pick the best one for you!
Further Information
- Make sure you choose the best for your website – check out our research-based reviews:
Best Managed WordPress Hosting: Summary
This article has given you the eight best managed WordPress providers around, and looked into each of them to give you an idea of which is the best choice for your WordPress site. We’ve looked at their features, prices, and how they performed in our research.
By now, you know the best providers around, and how to choose between them. Here’s a quick recap:
8 Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers: Rundown
- Bluehost – Best for WordPress hosting
- InMotion – Best for features
- SiteGround – Best for reliability
- HostGator – Best help and support
- GreenGeeks – Best value for money
- DreamHost – Best for keeping things simple
- Hostinger – Good alternative to Bluehost
- IONOS – Best performance
Forget hours of scrolling, hundreds of tabs, and countless headaches – these are the best eight providers for managed WordPress hosting. We did the scrolling, testing, and comparing for you, so now all you need to do is pick one!
To reiterate, we think Bluehost is the best for managed WordPress hosting. It has really great value plans for how many features you get. Another plus is that it’s recommended by WordPress itself. In second place is InMotion, with its extremely generous plans, and in third is SiteGround, known as the most reliable by both our researchers and others on the web.
Think about what type of site you have, and what essential features it needs. Look out for these really important ones: uptime, disk space, bandwidth, and value for money. Make sure your provider suits your needs, and you’ll be good to go.
Best Managed WordPress hosting: FAQs
Take a look at our review of the Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses for an idea of which one is best for your website.
Just getting started? Read our Best Shared Hosting Services Review to find out more about the cheapest type of hosting. Or, check out our review of the Best VPS Hosting Providers to see what it’s all about.
Read our review of the Best WordPress Hosting Provider to see which is the best overall.
Read our InMotion Review to find out if it’s the best provider for you. Or, head over to our review of the Best Cheap Web Hosting Providers for deals, steals, and more low prices.
Website Builder Expert aims to provide you with honest data. That’s why we conduct our own research and obtain direct, personal insight.
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