Choose The Best WordPress Hosting in 2024 (Complete Guide With Comparison)

In order to start a website, web hosting is one of the very basic things along with a domain name.

For improving SEO and increasing sales, you should choose the best WordPress hosting. However, it is not always as easy as it should be. With the growing number of hosting providers, it is becoming harder every day to choose the right hosting provider.

The task will become even harder when you are not sure where to begin. This article will set you up on the right path for choosing the right WordPress hosting services with an in-depth guide. 

We can assure you, your skills and knowledge of web hosting will elevate to the next level as soon as you finish reading this article. So buckle up, we are going to discuss every ins and outs of web hosting. 

These are the contents that we are going to discuss in this article:

Requirements for WordPress Hosting:

Just so you know, you don’t have to worry about the requirements of web hosting. Due to the overwhelming popularity of WordPress, an easy way to install it has been figured out by the best web hosting providers.

So, you can install WordPress effortlessly without much technical knowledge. This free and open-source CMS (Content Management System) has scripted in PHP.  There are some basic requirements for WordPress hosting that are compatible with the top web hosting companies, they are –

• PHP (version 7) or even better versions
• Either MySQL or MariaDB
• Authorized SSL support (HTTPS)

Related Next: Best Plugins for WordPress

What to Consider for WordPress Hosting?

Now that you are aware of the importance of good web hosting, it’s time to know some considerations regarding WordPress hosting –

Website Loading Speed:

Gathering all the content, your website should load as fast as possible. Generally, the ideal time to load a website is 1 to 2 seconds. Abandonment rates up to 87% may occur if there is even 2 seconds delay while loading your site. If pages take more than 3 seconds to load, there is a 53% chance of dropping mobile site visits.

You may be surprised to know that it takes around half a second for Google to load. A site with a very slow loading speed may have a negative impact on Google’s ranking. This bar chart indicates a relation between page load time and bounce rate – 

Now that you have got an idea about the importance of loading speed, it’s time to give you some tips for choosing a web hosting provider that will offer better site loading speed – 

Locations of Registrar’s Data Centers:

Try to get a hosting service having data centers that are near to your target audience. Although you can mitigate this issue through a CDN, it is better to know the locations of the data centers of your hosting service providers.

Know Your Site’s Traffic:

If you think limited traffic would do for you, then you can choose one of the budget options. On the other hand, you need to pick expensive hosting when you want to generate higher traffic for your site. In this case, make sure your chosen hosting provider has performed a load impact test. Remember, when you have high traffic; your site may take more time to load than usual. Therefore, choosing higher-priced hosting will be the right thing to do.

Shared Web Hosting:

Others can consume your website’s resources when you are using shared web hosting. This has a major effect on the loading speed and it is better to avoid such steps.

External Scripts:

Try not to put too many disorganized fonts or ads on your website. This has a negative impact on the performance of your website. 

Other Factors:

Aside from the above tips, there are some factors that concern your website loading speed. If your website fails to cache pages, it may overload your server. Such a bad configuration of WordPress will eventually slow down your server and at some point, your website will crash entirely.

Make sure your website’s pages are not overcrowded with too many elements. It will take more time than usual to load each page. Do not install bad or unnecessary plugins that are poorly coded. This has a significant effect on slowing down your website.

There are some sites like IsItWP, Pingdom, Google Pagespeed Insights, and WebpageTest that may help you to judge your website’s loading time. If you want to increase the speed of your website on cellular devices such as smartphones, using AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) will offer a pleasant experience.

Security:

According to A2 Hosting, every day around 30,000 websites are being hacked. And you don’t want your website to be one of these victims. Therefore, you should look for hosting service providers that offer perpetual security measures. Almost all the hosting providers in the world propose hosting packages that include SSL certificates.

SSL certificates can assure that your website has enough security to protect your user data. However, having only an SSL certificate is just not enough for the overall security of your website, especially when you are running something big. Depending on the level of security, there are many types of SSL certificates that contain many types of validation such as extended, organization, and domain validation.

Aside from that, you need various types of protection against hacking so that hackers won’t be able to do any potential damage to your website. For example, A2 Hosting offers HackScan Protection. Moreover, a frequent kernel update will enhance the security of your website and keep it up-to-date. A2 Hosting provides the KernelCare feature, which will update the site’s kernel without rebooting.

Other security measurements like a dual-firewall, brute force defense, and dedicated DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection will keep your site secure from sophisticated DDOS attacks. As a result, your website will remain online in aggressive acute conditions.        

Support:

The quality of customer support is one of the core factors that tells a lot about the hosting provider company. You don’t want your online business to rely on poor customer support who can’t fix a particular problem properly, can’t offer instant help, can’t fix a minor problem quickly, or can’t be reached when you need help.

So before purchasing hosting from a hosting provider, make sure it has a very good reputation for customer care. A good hosting company should include multiple ways to contact customers. They may have customer support over the phone, they may help customers through emails and they may also have live chat support. Above all, they should have a support team that remains stand-by 24/7.     

Performance:

No matter where you purchase hosting, it won’t be of much use if the package doesn’t include your desired features. So, it’s not only about the hosting provider but also the scale and features of the package. You will regret your purchase if the hosting package includes some unnecessary features that you don’t need.

As a result, you will end up purchasing the required features with additional costs. Try to get the package that has most of the relevant features for running your business. Therefore, make a list of features first that you will be using frequently.

With the basic features, if there are some additional features that can help you with your business; then it will be beneficial for you as you don’t have to spend extra money to get those features. Here are some tips that will help you get a suitable hosting package –

1. Determine, whether you want to maintain multiple WordPress websites.
2. Whether the package includes an SSL certificate or supports HTTPS.
3. Decide, will you be needing a separate domain or subdomain. Your decision can be based on the present condition or the future. However, experts will suggest you take this decision depending on the future. 
4. Make sure the hosting provider is using the version of PHP or MySQL, which is compatible with WordPress.
5. Check whether the hosting provider comes with any migration tool or service.
6. You should check whether the package includes unlimited or multiple domains or subdomains. However, it is not mandatory if you are a starter running a small business or blog.
7. Decide whether you are willing to pay extra money for backup services.
8. Decide, whether you want to stick to a free domain or a paid domain. You will need a premium domain in most cases no matter if your website is small or large.
9. Every web hosting company has some ethics or regulations. Check if you like these ethics or you are okay with their terms and conditions. 

Setup Process:

Several setup processes are being followed by many hosting companies. Hosting companies follow their own WordPress setup-related methods. There is a one-click setup process that is followed by many reputed hosting providers. Providers like ‘GreenGeeks’, ‘SiteGround’ offer hosting packages where you can install WordPress with just one click.

Along with the installation, you can also manage to host and interfere with your website’s panel with just a single click. This is the advantage of the one-click installation method. It makes your job a lot easier for building a website and will take a couple of minutes to complete. 

Although the name is “one-click”, it may take 2 or 3 clicks in total to finish the whole process. We are going to explain the one-click installation process of DreamHost –

• After purchasing a hosting package from DreamHost, go to the control panel. 
• Sign in with the email address that will be used for your website. Your account and password will be linked to this email.  You can also go for Google’s sign-in method.
• They will send a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) code to the email address. Enter it and access the dash panel.

• Click on ‘WordPress’, which is under Domains.

• Now, you just need to fill up some credentials. Select the site’s domain for which you are hosting. You will see the domain that you have purchased from them. If that is not the case, then you may need to transfer your domain.
• Unless you want to use an existing database, you may need to leave the rest of the fields as it is and click on “Install it for me now”. That’s it! Your job is done.

The pre-installed package is even better. You even don’t have to click to install WordPress. They will do everything for you with pre-installed WordPress. However, some people want to set up a few things manually.

If your website needs additional features or if it contains an existing database, then the “one-click” method will be better than the pre-installed method. Both of these methods don’t require much technical knowledge. Hence, it is better to choose a package that comes with preinstalled WordPress if you are completely a beginner.

Price:

The price can be the primary concern for many users. The main fact here is to go for the cheapest offer. Now, it may seem reasonable but it is often not the best move to take. There is a saying, “You get what you paid for”. Various web hosting features various numbers of factors, depending on which the price may vary. In this case, you should also check the quality of customer support and if the servers have better health compared to other providers. 

A powerful hosting plan will be needed when you are running serious business as your website will be generating more traffic. You will definitely need a premium solution then. There are no providers in the world that can provide top-class hosting just for $1 a month. On the other hand, you don’t need to pay a huge sum of money when you think a basic hosting plan would do the job for you. We often notice that a hosting plan costing around $3 to $30 a month is perfect for those who are running a small business or blog, generating almost no income.

On the contrary, those who run a large business like an e-commerce website or online shop, need a hosting plan costing around $100 a month. Some web hosting providers may come up with attractive offers like “unlimited everything and all that” at very cheap prices. Do not fall for such traps, it is just a method to lure in customers. Nothing is really unlimited in this world. Yet, it may not be that bad when you want to start a simple blog website.

Various Types of WordPress Hosting:                   

WordPress hosting can be categorized into 4 types. They are – 

• Managed Hosting
• Shared Hosting
• VPS Hosting
• Dedicated Hosting. 

The hosting type can be specified according to your business and also depend on how much money you can spend. For instance, Shared Hosting will be an ideal choice for those who are under a tight budget and want to do small business. On the other hand, a managed hosting is becoming a growing concept.

Managed Hosting:

Compared to other types of WordPress hosting, Managed hosting is the newer concept. There is no hassle in managing the technical details in such a type of hosting. Along with optimized server configuration, this type of hosting will back you up with automatic updates, backups, and security.

Furthermore, keep your website from the threats of hacking with regular monetization and free restoration. A large scale of enterprises from small to large-scale online blogging sites use this type of hosting managing thousands of visitors per month. 

Shared Hosting:

Being the cheapest hosting option, Shared hosting is becoming the most popular option. This is a great choice for starters who just started their websites. In this case, you will be sharing the resources like memory and computational power with other users who are using the same server. Therefore, the expenses become minimum both for you and the hosting provider.

However, you need to remember that good service comes at a higher price. There are some drawbacks to using Shared hosting. You will get limited control over the resources as you will be getting crude space. So, at the time your site will become popular; it will generate more traffic. As a result, it will eventually require more resources and space. Typically, small eCommerce sites, blogging sites, young design agencies, and individual freelancers are used to Shared hosting plans.

VPS Hosting:

Unlike Shared hosting, VPN (Virtual Private Server) hosting allows you to have your own space on a server where you can reserve a particular amount of memory and computational power. Therefore, your website is unlikely to be affected by other users who are suddenly demanding a potential space on the server.

Moreover, you will have enough freedom to change or customize any peripherals of your website such as power and memory usage because you will have root access. VPS hosting is a reliable choice for online businesses or websites that are growing typically faster. 

Dedicated Hosting

It is the hosting plan for those who want a dedicated server fully running for their websites. Dedicated hosting ensures a constant high performance of your website with exclusive memory and computational power. So, you may have guessed by now that it is a premium hosting plan with top-class service.

Consequently, this type of hosting comes with a higher price that can reach hundreds or even cross thousands of dollars sometimes. Also, you need to have extensive knowledge to set up this type of WordPress hosting as it is hard to scale and deals with a predefined amount of computational power. Established online businesses with decades of professional experience can go for VPS hosting. 

Managed vs Traditional WordPress WordPress Hosting:

Is Managed WordPress Hosting the Right Choice? Generally, Traditional WordPress hosting allocates shared web server space for you offering decent support.

For marketing purposes, the hosting providers won’t talk about the responsibilities of running a WordPress website. Although you may run your website, it’s quite a hassle to set up the environment. 

On the other hand, Managing WordPress hosting keeps you away from the hassle of doing all these things. This is very effective when you do not have much technical knowledge. This comparison table will reveal the factors that need to be done manually in Traditional hosting –

Best WordPress Hosting Providers in 2024:

We’ve already covered a lot about WordPress hosting. Now, it’s for the main part, which is about the best WordPress Hosting providers. We are going to inform you about 8 WordPress hosting providers that are in this sector for many years. We have listed these providers in terms of service, features, advantages, and disadvantages.

1. SiteGround

SiteGround is probably the legitimate WordPress hosting provider. They have been doing business for a while and the WordPress.org community recommends them. Exceptionally, you can change your data center location either in Europe or the USA.

This makes SiteGround a remarkable option if you are dealing with European customers. 

Moreover, they offer you the opportunity of transferring your WordPress site for free, with CDN. They will make your website load within a few seconds with incredible image optimization features and we can assure you that you will be pleased with their customer support. This image will give you an idea about their starting package, though we suggest you go for the GrowBig or GoGeek plan.  

2. A2 Hosting

Although A2 Hosting might be a new name compared to other leading hosting service providers, they have almost 10 years of relevant experience. They are becoming popular day by day for their low-cost packages and satisfying performance.

All of their plans are very attractive and include pre-installed WordPress, free SSL, Cloudflare CDN, unlimited bandwidth, and SSD storage up to 100GB. 

They will guarantee that their service is 20 times faster than your current hosting.

However, we are not certain about that. Surprisingly, they have data centers in Singapore, the Netherlands, and the USA. Just like SiteGround, they allow you to change your current server location. Although their customer support is 24/7 available, you may have to wait for them to reply. We recommend you to go for their Turbo Boost plan and this is the view of their Startup plan. 

3. Bluehost

Bluehost might be a convenient solution for small business owners and bloggers. Their packages come pre-organized including one-click installation for WordPress. This makes their hosting plans so easy to use. WordPress approves Bluehost as they literally don’t have any performance issues. Because of their strong load time and uptime, your website will load faster than ever.

The cheapest package costs around $2.75/month, which will continue for 36 months. The minimum time to continue their hosting service is for 12 months.

Hence, we invoke you to go for the longer service periods as they guarantee a full refund within 30 days if you don’t like their service. A free domain name along with one year SSL service are the compliments of the package. Furthermore, your friendly customer support will make you relax at the time of solving an issue. Take a look at this image to know about the features of their basic plan.

4. Namecheap

Namecheap is not only popular for domain registration but also for providing cheap hosting plans. It is a very good platform for purchasing WordPress hosting services, especially for beginners who are planning to create their own websites.

At competitive prices, Namecheap has been providing hosting services for many developers, web designers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. You can completely rely on them for their scalable servers, 24/7 customer support, and satisfactory performance. 

Namecheap will do the critical jobs for you through EasyWP. Their packages are cheap and they probably have the fastest server load time, which is almost 0.7 seconds. Their hosting plan is capable of bringing in up to 50,000 visitors per month.

They guarantee 99.9% uptime to keep your website always live and they strongly claim that their service is 3 times faster than traditional shared WordPress hosting. Take a look at their starting “EasyWP Starter” package.

5. WP Engine

WP Engine is highly recommended by experts for managed WordPress hosting. Because of their dedicated customer support and excellent uptime, they have managed to establish a high reputation for WordPress hosting around the world. You contact their customer support for any help via chat and helpdesk. And they are available on the phone when you opt for a higher plan. 

Their entry-level package costs $22.50 for 12 months. The package allows you to install WordPress for one site with 10GB of free space. This package can handle 250000 visitors a month. Survey respondents show that WP Engine has a rating of 4.5 out of 5. Perhaps, this image will help you out to judge their packages –

6. Kinsta

Kinsta is a renowned platform providing top-notch Shared WordPress hosting. Although the packages are slightly more expensive than other providers, they are more optimized. Like WP Engine, their starter plan will allow you to generate 25,000 visitors per month.

For excellent scalability, new and growing websites are becoming their usual customers. The packages are sure to deliver substantial performance. With just one click, Kinsta installs WordPress for your website and relieves you from the hard task.

Kinsta has the privilege of the Google Cloud Platform. Therefore, your website security will be strengthened with Google infrastructure. Their 24/7 customer support is accessible via chat and ticket. Aside from any WordPress-related issue, you don’t even need to contact them as you will barely deal with cPanel. Kinsta can be your long-time partner that will evolve with your business. This is what their starter pack looks like.

7. Hostinger

Now, we all have heard about Hostinger when it comes to Shared WordPress hosting. It is a European hosting company having data centers in 8 locations (UK, US, Singapore, Netherlands, Indonesia, India, Brazil, and Lithuania) around the world.

As a result, you can migrate your server location from Europe to any of these locations that suits you the best. Their load time is pretty good but beaten by A2 Hosting. Aside from load time, their uptime is also remarkable. 

A handful of WordPress features will come with their packages that can help beginners a lot. However, the included WordPress website builder isn’t a big deal. With affordable WordPress hosting plans, they have been providing hosting services with a good reputation. You will be happy with their 24-hour customer support.

Because of having a live chat function, it is very easy to contact them for any WordPress-related inquiries. It will only take $0.99 per month to get started with Hostinger.

8. Dream Host

Just like Bluehost and SiteGround, Dream host is one of the popular hosting service providers, suggested by WordPress. More than 340,000 users from the US alone are using their service. All of their WordPress hosting plans (Managed, Shared, VPS) are proven to be reliable, fast, and optimized. Dream host’s fast SSD servers will give your website excellent load time and uptime.

Now the question is – why did we put it in the last section, despite having so many qualities? Just so you know, Dream host lags far behind compared to the other providers on our list. First of all, it will cost around $99 to transfer a website unless you are using their DreamPress plan, which will cut $16.95 every month.

Being a US-based company, their customer service can be hard to reach. Although they have a live chat option, it is only available from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM Pacific time. However, there is no restriction for support tickets, you can submit an online support ticket anytime you want. Here is a screenshot of their basic Managed WordPress hosting plan – 

Now, it’s up to you which hosting provider should you choose for your website. Perhaps, this comparison table might help you to make this decision a little bit easier.     

Our Final Words:

Getting the right hosting service for your new website can admittedly be a confusing task. There are plenty of options to choose from and the options are rising day by day as new hosting providers are initiating their businesses. We hope reading this article has been beneficial for you when you are starting out with the best WordPress web hosting. Among all the hosting service providers, We would suggest –

• Dream Host – for their unlimited local storage feature
• Namecheap – for cheap pricing
• SiteGround – considering overall features.

With that being said, it doesn’t mean that other hosting providers on our list are flimsy in any way. Thank you for your patience and leave a comment below if you have any queries.