WordPress Hosting Explained – Shared, Managed & Dedicated
Finding the best WordPress Hosting for your site can be a daunting job as there are countless options available and the ease of use isn’t always readily apparent.
If you’re one of the many website owners seeking reliable and affordable WordPress Hosting — don’t worry, you are not the only one.
Even seasoned WordPress users can have a hard time finding the right WordPress hosting provider.
There are so many companies that provide WordPress hosting reviews that can help you uncover what you truly need in a WordPress host. Some of these reviews are a little biased, typically you can tell by the affiliate links.
Before you go searching for a WordPress hosting partner, you should get familiar with the different WordPress hosting services available and which ones are going to make your life a LOT easier.
It is important to understand that there is no single type of web hosting that can be utilized for all types of WP websites.
Different sites require different things.
Some of the most important factors that will play into the cost of your hosting are;
• your visits per month
• bandwidth required
• staging area
Not all web hosts will ask about these factors prior to signing you up on a plan. If your web host has not factored these items in – it could really impact your site’s performance.
In this post, I’m going to explain the key types of WordPress hosting services along with their advantages and disadvantages so that you can make an informed decision. So let’s get started.
Types of WordPress Hosting
#1 Shared Hosting
If you are creating your first ever WordPress site for a small business start up or personal use, most experts will suggest you go for shared hosting.
Shared WordPress Hosting is pretty popular and can allow multiple WordPress users to utilize a single server. Each user is given a certain limit on the total amount of server resources. Since multiple users shared the same resources they share the pricing too.
And that’s why Shared hosting is the most affordable hosting solution.
You can get a basic shared hosting plans for between $2.15 to $9.99 per month just about anywhere. Shared hosting is often considered the best hosting solutions for bloggers and small websites with low-traffic.
Hosting Providers like; Godaddy, Hostgator, and SiteGround all offer very comparable and affordable solutions.
Advantages:
Cost-Effective
One of the compelling features of Shared hosting is its affordability. If your WordPress website is in the initial phase or doesn’t get a lot of traffic, resources offered by shared hosting plan will be sufficient for you.
User Friendliness
Shared hosting is designed for newbies. It comes with user-friendly hosting infrastructure. Most of the providers offer single-click WordPress installation and auto WordPress updates that make it easy to run a WP website.
Disadvantages:
Speed
In shared hosting, speed is the biggest issue most WordPress users have to deal with. Since resources are shared with multiple users, there is always a possibility for speed disturbance.
Security
Most of the website owners don’t know this, but the security of your site is directly associated to your web host.
This is a huge problem on shared hosting with providers like Godaddy:
Therefore, you should look for a shared hosting provider that implements top-notch security practices otherwise your website may get infected by other websites running on the same server.
#2 Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress Hosting is the premium form of WordPress hosting.
Managed WordPress hosting is just that… it comes with the architecture of shared hosting along with some additional features. In reality, managed hosting is a blend of powerful dedicated hosting and easy to use shared hosting. This type of hosting is a perfect choice for those users who don’t want to go into the technicalities of running WordPress websites.
Advantages:
User-Friendliness
As all the technical aspects are managed by the provider itself, you don’t need to do anything extra to deploy your website.
Performance
In managed hosting, servers are optimized dedicated to run WordPress sites. It means you will find managed hosting more faster and robust than shared hosting. Features like Content Delivery Network, load balancing and caching are also the important part of managed WordPress hosting.
Security
Unlike shared hosting, you see numerous WordPress-specific security features in managed hosting such as free SSL certificates, automatic log events, automate distributed denial-of-service mitigation, etc.
Customer Support
With managed WordPress hosting, you get a dedicated WordPress-specific support through mediums like phone, chat, email, Skype, etc.
Disadvantages:
Cost
In comparison to shared hosting, managed hosting is quite high-priced. Generally, managed hosting plans start at $20 to $50/mo.
Limitation
Sometimes, we see managed hosting providers enforce restrictions on how WP plugins and themes should be used in order to optimize the installation of WP and maintain security protocols.
#3 Dedicated Hosting
In dedicated hosting, a server is devoted to a single WordPress user. The best thing about this hosting is that your server is tailored specifically for your specific needs. With business hosting, you get a complete control over your server so that you can optimize it as per your requirements.
Advantages:
Performance
Users can optimize their dedicated server to support their demanding applications. Even you can use the server for email services.
Flexibility
As per your needs, you can make changes in server configurations without any difficulty. Tasks like adding new software, adjusting resources can be easily performed.
Cost
The cost of a dedicated hosting comes in the range of $80 to $500/mo. However, it varies as per the expansion or upgrade of your hosting service. We would say dedicated hosting is the least expensive way to get such a great amount of server resources.
Disadvantages:
Limitation-
The biggest disadvantage of dedicated hosting is its limitation. In case your website grows beyond the fixed capacity of your dedicated server, you will have to move to a new server in order to scale up your website’s performance.
Which Type of Hosting Should I Choose?
As you know one size does not fit all, you really shouldn’t take a random approach when it comes to choosing a WordPress host. All the WordPress hosting services we mentioned above are designed to cater to different requirements. You should choose your hosting provider based on your budget and requirements.
If you are a web developer, managed WordPress hosting can be a good choice for you as it offers features that let you deploy sites for your clients easily.
And if you want to administrate a server of your own, you should take a look at a dedicated hosting company. Opposed to this, if pricing is your major concern you may look for affordable shared hosting plans. While managed WordPress hosting is a perfect choice for those users who aren’t capable or prepared to manage and maintain their server, website and other technical resources.
Hopefully this breakdown of the different types of WordPress hosting services will help you make the perfect selection. I can’t stress enough how important it is to base your decision on your site’s functionality and traffic volume.
With that I’ll leave you with a great Infographic that you can bookmark for a list of the Top 10 WordPress Hosting Providers by number of reviews:
