Best Web Hosting for WordPress in 2020

WordPress is one of the most popular website platforms in the world. The content management system powers huge websites, including those for The Walt Disney Company, Vogue, BBC America and Microsoft’s News Center. Unsurprisingly, powering big brands like that requires the best web hosting, and we’re here to guide you down that path. 

A look at WordPress’s showcased websites shows you’re in good company, but if you’re not using the best web hosting for WordPress, your website will likely fall flat. Though the platform offers a lot of flexibility, ensuring your content can be delivered quickly and securely should be the first step in building your website. 

We’re going to give five recommendations, and one honorable mention, for WordPress web hosting. We’ve tested almost 30 providers for speed, security, ease of use, features and more, and the choices below are the cream of the crop for WordPress. Before getting to that, though, let’s look at how we made our selections. 

Also, if you’re new to WordPress and want to learn about the platform, be sure to check out our WordPress guide series:

• Beginner’s guide to using WordPress
• Intermediate guide to using WordPress
• Advanced guide to using WordPress

Best Web Hosting for WordPress 2020

Choosing the Best Web Hosting for WordPress

When we say WordPress web hosting, we’re referring to managed hosting. While shopping around, you’ll likely see services that claim to offer “WordPress hosting” when, in reality, they’re just reskinned shared plans (read our GoDaddy review for an example). Those plans don’t offer WordPress-specific features, but are labeled that for ease of navigation and search results. 

If you’re unfamiliar with shared hosting, read our hosting types overview. Many WordPress plans still use shared hosting, but they come fully managed. That means WordPress core and plugin updates will be rolled to your website automatically, ensuring that you’re protected from the latest cybercrime and you can use the most recent features. 

There are two exceptions to that rule, and that’s mainly because of speed, which we’ll touch on in a minute. In addition to managed hosting, WordPress-specific features are important. Bluehost, for example, has a dashboard that integrates well with WordPress, but it won’t be making this guide for other reasons (read our Bluehost review).

WordPress Speed

Above all that, though, speed is the most important factor when looking for WordPress web hosting. WordPress is an open-source CMS that’s based on PHP and MySQL, and given that flexibility, it allows you to build your website in almost any way you want. Though minimal coding knowledge is recommended, it isn’t required. 

You can build your website using custom themes, plugins and more, but though that ensures you have a beautiful and functional website, it can take a massive toll of your website speed. As you can see in our how to improve website loading times guide, there’s a lot you can do, but some of the speed is in the hands of the web host. 

That makes speed a huge factor for WordPress because you’re often requiring your website to dig through dense databases to find data while simultaneously loading images and dynamic content. WordPress is great for its flexibility, but that frequently leads to a lot of bloat, which means slower loading times.

As for judging speed, there are a lot of things the web host can do, but it generally starts with the architecture in which your website is hosted. Kinsta, for example, showcases the power of cloud hosting for WordPress, while Hostinger proves that Apache isn’t the best choice for server software. 

Combined with that, multiple layers of caching are important because having them will allow you to serve content stored in memory rather than going through the database again. A content delivery network such as Cloudflare helps, too, and as you can read in our what is Cloudflare guide, there’s a free plan that any website can use. 

Now that you understand how we made our picks and what’s important for WordPress, it’s time to dive into our list. There are a lot of options out there, so it was a tough battle, but the five we came up with deliver excellent performance for WordPress at a decent price and a lot of features, to boot. 

1. The Best Web Hosting for WordPress: Kinsta

A quick glance at our Kinsta review will show that it’s one of the more expensive options we’ve looked at. Though child’s play compared to Pagely, Kinsta still costs about twice as much as competing WordPress plans. That means you’ll be paying more, but the upsides in features and speed are too big to ignore.

Unlike some options, Kinsta is exclusively a cloud hosting provider, harnessing the power of Google Cloud to deliver your content around the globe. As mentioned, speed is important for WordPress, and having dedicated resources is part of ensuring your website stays fast. With Kinsta, that isn’t a concern.

Plus, it’s one of the few services that are dedicated to WordPress. Though we docked it points in flexibility during our review, the dedication to WordPress is all upside here. Your plan is fully managed, meaning core and plugin updates are a non-issue. 

Some quality of life features are included, too, such as WordPress staging and an in-house caching plugin for WordPress. Plus, you get a CDN built for HTTP/2 and IPv6, as well as full solid-state drive storage and support for multi-website networks. All that combined leads to impressive performance, especially compared to GreenGeeks (read our GreenGeeks review).

Other Reasons We Like Kinsta

Though the WordPress features are most impressive, Kinsta is no slouch when it comes to the essentials. Your plan comes with a free SSL/TLS certificate, automatic daily backups, distributed denial-of-service attack protection and constant uptime monitoring. The privacy policy isn’t bad, either, which is increasingly rare (read our HostGator review for more on that). 

What stands out most is the user experience, though. Kinsta is a joy to use from checkout to hosting management. It employs a proprietary control panel that doesn’t get in the way of what you’re looking to do. Unlike LunarPages, Kinsta built its control panel with WordPress users in mind (read our LunarPages review).

The system is so fluid that it took us less than five minutes to choose a plan and get our website up and running. Though a lot of WordPress hosts drag their feet getting you set up — read our JustHost review for an example — Kinsta gets your website live almost immediately. The price is higher, but at least there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on.

Kinsta Review

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2. SiteGround

For the more budget-conscious SiteGround is an excellent choice. Compared to other managed WordPress hosts, the plans are standard: you get WordPress caching, update management, daily backups and staging. What makes SiteGround shine, though, is that it offers all that at a low price. 

You’d be forgiven for thinking SiteGround simply reskinned its shared plans for WordPress because the prices and even the names are the same. That said, there are enough WordPress-specific features to make the lineup stand on its own. That includes up to three layers of SuperCacher, WP-CLI being preinstalled and one-click WordPress staging.

As with Kinsta, your plan is set up immediately, too, which means you don’t have to futz with the Softaculous app installer. If you’re coming from another web host, SiteGround offers free WordPress transfer, as well. 

That said, the ceiling is lower for SiteGround. It can’t accommodate the types of websites Kinsta can, topping out with a plan that supports around 100,000 visits per month. If you’re just getting your website off the ground, though, SiteGround can provide all the essential WordPress features at a reasonable price.

Other Reasons We Like SiteGround

SiteGround isn’t just for newbies. The plan lineup is dense, starting with shared hosting that accommodate around 10,000 users and moving up to cloud hosting, which comes with its own set of dedicated resources. You can use the cloud plans for WordPress, too, so an upgrade path is available if you want it. 

What really sells SiteGround, though, is its features. Everything is accounted for, including daily backups, multiple caching layers, a free SSL/TLS certificate and unlimited email addresses at your domain. If you’re not using WordPress, you can take advantage of the Weebly website builder, too, which is one of the best website builders (read our Weebly review). 

The speed is excellent, as well, with SiteGround nearing the performance of Kinsta on a plan that costs half as much. Though the user experience suffers because of a dated cPanel version, everything else about SiteGround is top-notch. You can try it with its 30-day refund window or read our SiteGround review to learn more.

SiteGround Review

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3. DreamHost

When it comes to speed, features and value, DreamHost sits alongside SiteGround. That said, DreamHost has more powerful WordPress hosting through its DreamPress plans, which start at the monthly traffic limit where SiteGround’s plans end.

There are basic managed WordPress plans, too, and they’re around the same price as SiteGround, but we’re more impressed with DreamPress. Like Kinsta, DreamHost uses cloud hosting for its DreamPress plans, which offers better redundancy in case of an outage and faster speed. 

The most basic plan can handle 100,000 visits, while the most expensive Pro plan can accommodate 1 million. DreamHost doesn’t monitor or cap your traffic, though. Resources that are served from the cache, which DreamHost includes, don’t count toward the traffic limit, and considering that’s enabled by default, it’s as good as not having a traffic limit.

All the WordPress essentials are there, too, including managed updates, automatic backups, one-click staging and an unlimited CDN. DreamHost also includes a paid version of Jetpack with your plan, which allows you to use a long list of premium WordPress themes and scan your website for malware.

Other Reasons We Like DreamHost

DreamHost’s no-nonsense approach to web hosting makes it attractive. On each product page, you can toggle the monthly and yearly price so there are no surprises at checkout — read our Arvixe review to learn about a service that does surprise you — and there are no egregious add-ons or fees to get started. 

More importantly, DreamHost has a dedication to security and privacy that’s seldom seen from web hosting services. All domains include free domain privacy, which we’ve only seen from a handful of providers (read our WestHost review and Midphase review to see those). Plus, DreamHost defended one of its customers in court against the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Its speed isn’t bad, either, but our testing shows it’s slower than Kinsta and SiteGround. Even so, DreamHost offers a lot of value for little money, and considering there’s a 97-day money-back guarantee, there’s little risk in giving it a shot. You can learn more in our DreamHost review. 

Dreamhost Review

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4. Hostinger

Hostinger is the best web hosting service we’ve reviewed. That said, it takes the fourth spot on this list because it doesn’t offer managed WordPress hosting. Still, the price, speed and features are perfect for WordPress, even if that means you’ll need to keep your core and plugins up to date yourself. 

That’s because Hostinger uses LiteSpeed servers. Most web hosts use Apache server software because it’s open source and customizable. LiteSpeed is an alternative software that also integrates with tools such as ModSecurity, but it does so with less overhead. 

Less overhead means faster speed on shared plans, and given Hostinger’s low price, that’s a combo we can get behind. Whether you’re looking at the most inexpensive shared package, which can be had for less than a dollar per month, or something beefier, such as a cloud plan, Hostinger delivers excellent speed.

Plus, it includes multiple caching layers, which, as mentioned, is important for WordPress. If Hostinger offered a managed WordPress plan, it’d easily beat Kinsta. While it’s unfortunate that one isn’t offered, the performance, features and price of Hostinger are undeniable, making it an excellent choice for WordPress. 

Other Reasons We Like Hostinger

Hostinger stands out from the crowd because it doesn’t have rough edges. Though A2 Hosting delivers exceptional performance, getting set up can be difficult, and though 1&1 IONOS offers quality hosting on a budget, many of its features feel half-baked (read our A2 Hosting review and 1&1 IONOS review). 

That’s not the case with Hostinger. The speed, price and features are excellent, and so is the user experience. Unlike most of our best web hosting with cPanel picks, Hostinger takes the familiar web hosting interface and builds on it. It’s just as easy to manage your files and databases, but with the addition of a built-in marketplace and hosting account management. 

Hostinger gets a lot right, and though it isn’t the perfect choice for WordPress, it’s a damn good one. You’ll need to deal with installing WordPress updates yourself, but given how much Hostinger offers and at what price, the trade-off is worth it. You can learn more in our Hostinger review or try it with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Hostinger Review

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5. MDDHosting

Like Hostinger, MDDHosting doesn’t offer managed WordPress plans. There are other managed providers that could’ve made this list, such as InMotion Hosting, but as you can read in our InMotion Hosting review, there are many speed problems with that service. Here, we’re prioritizing speed, features, value and security over automatic updates. 

That’s not to say you’ll be left out in the cold if something goes wrong with your WordPress website. MDDHosting offers 24/7 ticket-based support, and though we’d like to see live chat, the rep we spoke with was helpful throughout our testing period. 

What makes MDDHosting great for WordPress, though, is that it exclusively offers cloud hosting. As mentioned, that’s perfect for WordPress because the often bloated and occasionally unstable cores of WordPress websites can be taken offline easily when hosted on a shared server. 

Plus, MDDHosting offers cloud hosting cheaply. Plans start at just a few dollars per month, while still providing features like daily backups, LiteSpeed server software and Cloudflare Railgun. Given that it’s cloud hosting, your service is scalable, too, meaning your hosting package can grow as your website does. 

Other Reasons We Like MDDHosting

While MDDHosting doesn’t have a dense lineup, it proves that it’s better to be a master of one trade than a jack of them all. The cloud plans are awash with features, all of which are implemented to ensure your website is fast and secure. 

The LiteSpeed servers are the start of the show, but MDDHosting goes beyond that and includes the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress, too. That plugin communicates with the LiteSpeed server to decrease load times. Because the tools are built for each other, there are many other optimization options in the plugin, too.

MDDHosting is an official Cloudflare Railgun partner, as well. Railgun accelerates your website’s speed by serving data from caches stored around the world. That decreases the distance data has to travel and, as such, improves loading times. 

You can learn more about Railgun, and MDDHosting’s other features, in our MDDHosting review or try the web host with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

MDDHosting Review

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Honorable Mention: Pagely

If price was no object, Pagely would take first place. When it comes to full-service WordPress hosting that appeals to clients like Disney and Visa, no web host is quite like Pagely. That said, the astronomical price tag is infeasible for most people because Pagely can cost upwards of $30,000 per month. 

It can cost as little as $200 per month, too, but the rough edges of the service at that tier are too big to ignore. Even so, you’re getting an incredible range of WordPress-specific features and the best performance we’ve seen from a hosting provider, so though the price is high, Pagely pays you for it.

That said, it’s past the point of diminishing returns. Those who can pay the inflated price likely need the niche features Pagely offers, but most users will be fine with an option such as Kinsta or SiteGround. Those providers get 90 percent of the way there, but do so at a much lower price point. 

If Pagely sounds like it might be an option for you, read our Pagely review. There’s a lot to like about the service, especially considering how fast it is, but that all needs to be balanced in the context of price.

Pagely Review

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Final Thoughts 

There are a lot of options when it comes to web hosting, but many disappoint more than they impress. The race to the top is even tougher when it comes to WordPress because the web host needs to provide features that can handle the increased workload while keeping the price low. 

Thankfully, there are services that meet that challenge. Any of the options above will get your website started on the right foot, but for most people, Kinsta is the best choice. If you’re just beginning or don’t need the features Kinsta offers, SiteGround is a solid option, too. 

Which web hosting provider are you using for your WordPress website? Why did you go with it? Let us know in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.

Kinsta Review

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Best Web Hosting for WordPress FAQ

What Is WordPress Web Hosting?

WordPress doesn’t require a specific type of hosting. The term “WordPress hosting,” though, generally refers to managed hosting, which means the web hosting service manages updates for your WordPress website. 

What Is the Difference Between Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting?

Technically, there’s no difference between web hosting and WordPress hosting. That said, WordPress hosting is generally managed and comes with features such as staging and caching. 

What Is the Best Web Hosting for WordPress?

That largely depends on your website’s traffic, but for the majority of mid-sized websites, Kinsta is the best choice for WordPress.