WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems, mainly thanks to its flexibility. With a few simple adaptations, it can be modified to suit various objectives. There are numerous plugins designed to add extensions to the basic software, to integrate social media and to optimize the site SEO. Since WordPress has become so prevalent, dedicated WordPress hosting solutions started appearing, giving WordPress sites the rich hosting environment they need. However, although all WordPress-friendly web-host companies meet the basic WP requirements, there are many distinctions between them that may influence both your site’s activity and your budget.
When looking for a WordPress hosting company for your site, there are a few things you should define first:
- What is the size of your site?
- Do you have only one site or a few?
- How much traffic does your site produce?
- How fast do you want it to be?
- Do you need a managed WordPress hosting?
- What is your budget?
After answering the above questions, you can use the table below to examine different WordPress hosting companies by comparing their main features.
| DreamHost | Bluehost | WPEngine | Hostgator | ZippyKid | WPWebHost | Synthesis | Page.ly | |
| Bandwidth | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 5GB/unlimited | 50GB + | unlimited | 10GB/50GB/ 100GB |
| Storage | unlimited | unlimited | 10GB/20GB/ 30GB |
unlimited | 5GB/unlimited | 50GB + | 3GB/40GB/ 80GB/160GB |
5GB/15GB/ 35GB |
| Traffic (monthly) | not mentioned | not mentioned | 25K/100K/ 400K |
not mentioned | 5K-100K | 30K/50K/ 150K |
2.5K/20K/ 85K/300K |
25K/200K/ 700K |
| Features | E-mail support; $75 Google Adwords credits; 2-week free trial; one-click WordPress installation; $60 off coupon |
Phone, E-mail, chat support; $100 Google Adwords credits; anytime money back guarantee; cPanel; shared hosting only |
Fast; E-mail support; WP experts; high level security; dedicated hardware and IPs; 60 days money back guarantee; staging area; daily backups |
cPanel; 45 days money back guarantee; 24/7 phone and E-mail support; $100 Google Adwords |
Fast; E-mail and Phone support; free hosting package; free trial period; daily backups |
cPanel; friendly E-mail support; WordPress oriented; 30 days money back guarantee ; freedom plan (the first one) is good for up to 10K |
WP experts; money back guarantee; dedicated VPS; Daily backups |
Fast, automatic upgrades; advanced real-time security; extendable; cPanel; WP experts |
| Price (per month) | $8.95/$15/$99 | $6.95 | $29/$99/ $249 |
$7.16/$7.96/ $11.96 |
$25 | $4.95/ $44.95/$199 |
$27/$97/ $147/$300 |
$24/$49/ $149 |
| Free Domain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/unlimited | 1 | 50/unlimited | 1/2/5 | 1 |
| Managed Hosting | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
One last tip for the road:
The internet is full of web-hosting reviews, critics and recommendations; some are honest opinions, based on research or personal experience and others are motivated by personal or financial interest. The problem is, it is hard to tell the difference between them. When choosing the WordPress hosting service to suit your needs, make sure:
- You read all the small letters – this is where companies tend to note their real services limitations.
- You deal with reliable companies – there are plenty of web-hosting companies that have a long history and a great reputation.
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