4 Best Hosting for WordPress 2023 (Experts Choice)

For anyone looking for an affordable web hosting service that offers simple user navigation, Bluehost is an excellent option. The WordPress hosting provider has options for casual users, professional business people, and anyone in between. 

One of the reasons Bluehost stands as one of the best WordPress hosting services is its new website builder with WordPress integration for flexible content management.

Bluehost has everything you’d need to get your WordPress site up and running, including:

• Web design templates

• Marketing tools

• Analytics tools

• Automated security updates

• 24/7 customer support

• Guaranteed reliability

• Shared hosting

• VPS hosting

• Dedicated hosting

The host features a standard cPanel dashboard that’s easy to use. However, it also includes a one-click WordPress installation, which Mojo Marketplace handles. Though Mojo Marketplace usage is not without the occasional issue, it allows for easy WordPress installations, and the support staff is right there to assist you at any time for any reason through live chats and phone calls.

Bluehost offers several web hosting options beyond WordPress hosting, including:

Bluehost doesn’t have cloud hosting, though, which allows you to store website data across multiple servers to prevent downtime should the server go down. However, Bluehost has reliable uptime, which is why it’s one of the best WordPress hosting companies.

Bluehost is also one of the cheapest WordPress hosting providers available, with a $2.95 basic WordPress hosting plan including one website, one free domain name, and 50 GB of space with unmetered bandwidth. However, it doesn’t feature monthly web hosting options. Instead, users can sign up for one-, two-, or three-year commitments.

A one-year contract at $6.95 will get you the Bluehost Plus Package, including an anti-spam tool and unlimited websites, emails, and storage. Another Bluehost option is the Choice Plus package at $6.95 per month for a 12-month contract. This option gets you everything within the Plus Package in addition to domain privacy and free automated backup for the duration of your contract.

2. SiteGround: Fast, Secure, and ReliableSimple WordPress installation

SiteGround is one of the web hosting services that WordPress specifically recommends people use. Its platform has exceptional benefits, including WordPress-optimized servers and cheap WordPress hosting for sites of any size and type. The web hosting provider also features simple-to-use tools to make it easy to set up your WordPress website on the platform.

Other notable features of SiteGround for WordPress web hosting are:

• Free site migration between two website hosts

• WordPress SuperCacher to cache your website within three levels to improve loading times

• One-click WordPress staging to develop a staged copy of your site for editing before going live

• SiteGround Optimizer plugin for superior optimizations and WordPress performance

• Free Secure Socket Layers (SSL) certificate

• Support for staging websites

• Easy and free migrations from your previous host

• Lots of performance tracking and diagnostic tools

• Page performance tool to test websites and generate suggestions for improvements

• GeoTarget add-on to optimize sites for specific locations

SiteGround has WordPress hosting plans for everyone, using a tiered pricing system. Depending on the features you want, you may need to choose a higher-tier web hosting option. Below is a breakdown of the WordPress hosting solutions SiteGround offers:

StartUp: This plan is ideal for small businesses and startups with one WordPress website with anticipated web traffic of less than 10,000 monthly visitors. The StartUp plan is only $3.99 a month.

GrowBig: At $6.99 a month, this web hosting plan is best for medium to large organizations that may have more than one website to accommodate up to 25,000 monthly visitors.

GoGeek: The GoGeek plan is $10.69 a month. As the most expensive plan this WordPress host offers, it’s the ideal choice for large businesses with close to 100,000 monthly visitors.

SiteGround’s customer support is some of the best assistance you could get. The SiteGround support team is well-trained and can assist you with WordPress, WordPress hosting issues, and more. You can speak to knowledgeable representatives by phone, online chat, and social media.

3 WP Engine: Best for managed WP hosting

Though WP Engine is one of the more expensive WordPress hosting providers on this list, it’s still a popular web hosting provider that solely features WordPress websites. 

Because WP Engine is a WordPress-only platform, the company has top-tier mastery of WordPress and its abilities, parameters, and customer needs.

WP Engine offers WordPress-managed plans that boast optimal website security, fast loading speed, and more. Some of the top features include:

• Free WordPress migrations for any plan

• Multiple WordPress themes through Mojo Marketplace

• Single-click restoration and auto-backup services

• Free SSL certificates

• Free domain name

• WordPress SuperCache plugin

WP Engine is an ideal WordPress hosting provider for large-scale businesses that rely on cloud hosting flexibility, site security to protect against loss of sensitive data, and daily backups to preserve company information. That doesn’t mean WP Engine isn’t without downsides, though. For instance, the WordPress hosting service doesn’t include an email address or free domain name, so you’d have to get them from another company.

Though many web hosting platforms offer managed WordPress hosting, that service is WP Engine’s specialty. The managed WordPress hosting is the base service WP Engine provides, and its four WordPress hosting plans build from there.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the WP Engine managed WordPress hosting plans:

Startup: At $20 a month, this entry-level plan is best for sites with up to 25,000 monthly visitors. With this option, you get one website, a free SSL certificate, 10 GB of storage, and 50 GB of bandwidth.

Professional: The Professional plan runs about $39.33 a month and allows users to build a maximum of three WordPress websites for up to 75,000 monthly visitors. Storage space increases to 15 GB.

Growth: At $76.67 a month, the Growth plan increases traffic accommodations to 100,000 visitors and 10 websites. It also comes with extra resources like 24/7 customer support and SSL imports.

Scale: This plan costs $193.33 a month and resembles the Growth plan. However, it has more resources for up to 30 websites and support for up to 400,000 monthly visitors.

Premium and Enterprise: You can build a custom WordPress hosting plan with WP Engine at varying prices. You can receive many resources and support tools, and your shared WordPress hosting will shift to dedicated servers.

4 HostGator: Reliable Hosting With 99.9% Uptime Guarantee

As one of the most prominent web hosting companies, HostGator has years of experience providing a platform and superior services to WordPress users. HostGator has a reputation for having affordable WordPress hosting prices and excellent uptime records. It also offers regular and cloud hosting plans as part of its managed WordPress hosting services for small businesses and bloggers.

Some of HostGator’s notable features include:

HostGator’s WordPress features and resources are lighter than some of the best WordPress hosting providers. However, the host makes up for it with free resources, fast loading speed, and excellent uptime. The platform also features a simplified control panel that makes it easy to set up a website because the service comes installed on your hosting account.

HostGator is another WordPress web host provider to consider if you’re looking for reasonable pricing. The company offers three managed WordPress hosting plans, with the cheapest option starting at $5.95 a month. Below are additional details about each option:

Starter: At $5.95 a month, the basic HostGator plan includes one website accommodating up to 25,000 monthly visitors and 50 GB of storage. It’s ideal for casual blogs and small e-commerce or business websites.

Standard: This plan starts at $7.95 a month to host two websites and 200,000 cumulative visitors a month. Modest service sites and online sellers may benefit from the standard plan with 150 GB of disk space.

Business: The business plan price is $9.95 a month, and it’s suitable for large e-commerce sites and established organizations. You can use the plan to build up to three websites to accommodate 500,000 visitors a month with unlimited storage.

HostGator also has a reputation for its exemplary customer support. The company has a team of web hosting specialists available 24/7 by phone, online chat, direct mail, and fax. Though you may have to wait several minutes to connect with a live support team member, the team does a good job directing customers to problem-solving resources.

What to Look for in the Top WordPress Hosting Providers

Even with our list of the best hosting services, it can be tricky determining which WordPress hosts to consider for a website. Be sure to shop around and pay attention to what web hosting providers offer, whether you intend to move an existing site to a new host or build your WordPress website directly on the server. The right hosting company will make a difference in your WordPress user experience and your site’s performance.

Here are some of the essential features to consider when looking for a WordPress hosting company that meets all your needs.

Free Site Migration

Manually migrating an existing WordPress site from one hosting service to another is not as easy as you may think, especially if you’re a WordPress novice. Instead of risking future issues with your website, consider website hosts that offer free migration. With free migration tools and protocols, you can quickly transfer your site to a new server without putting your existing site at risk.

Free SSL Certificates

Joining a website hosting company with free SSL certificates is the best way to secure your website without an additional expense. SSL certificates are what will activate your HTTPS protocol.

HTTPS ensures that information moving from a web browser to your website will have encryptions. It adds a layer of protection for data transfers and makes your site more secure and credible to visitors. It’s imperative to have SSL certificates for websites that feature sensitive data like bank account logins and credit card details for purchases.

Excellent Customer Support

Even if you have moderate or advanced computer skills, you never know when you’ll have a WordPress hosting question or concern. If that happens, you want to ensure that you have access to the hosting platform’s support staff.

Not all customer support is equal or ideal. Some teams don’t have prompt response times or may not know about common WordPress or hosting issues. For that reason, it’s best to go for a WordPress hosting service that puts optimal effort into providing multiple ways for customers to reach customer care.

Some of the best WordPress hosting providers will also feature guides, how-to lists, and other resources for customers to help them troubleshoot issues alone. However, they can always contact a live agent through a phone call or live chat.

Speed and Uptime

When guests visit your website, they don’t want to see an error warning because the website can’t load or wait a long time for pages to load. If your website goes down when people try to access it, it can negatively affect its standing with search engines like Google, resulting in poor search engine rankings.

All of the hosting platforms on our list have at least a 99% uptime rating, which means that the hosting provider has fewer risks of crashing your site.

Site speed also affects search engine rankings, reducing your website’s online visibility. People prefer to browse pages that load quickly, so it’s a good idea to consider hosting features that improve speed and site performance, such as free SSL certificates.

Bandwidth and Disk Space Limits

Before settling on a WordPress host, consider the provider’s bandwidth and disk space limits. Bandwidth refers to web traffic visiting your site, while disk space refers to the amount of storage a hosting platform allocates to websites on a server.

The more sophisticated and complex your website, the more disk space and bandwidth you’ll likely need. Unlimited storage and bandwidth are attractive features, but a simple website likely won’t need them.

One-Click WordPress Installation

One-click WordPress installation is a simplified way to install WordPress automatically. The feature takes about a minute to complete and prevents you from spending time manually installing the software. Manual WordPress installation is a tedious process consisting of these steps:

• Downloading the WordPress package to a computer

• Uploading WordPress to a hosting account

• Creating a database and user profile

• Configuring settings

• Running and completing the installation

Final Thoughts