
Many people have asked me over the years what I believe is the best WordPress hosting service. My answer is: It depends.
There is no one-size-fits all web hosting company.
The place you are on your blog journey should be the deciding factor.
You will need different hosting requirements if you are just starting a blog and have zero visitors than a blogger with more than 500,000 unique visitors each month.
You may be wondering, “Why should I listen to this Sezmi guy?” He doesn’t have any experience with web hosting. He is just another blogger who writes a “best-of” article about web hosting for affiliate commissions.
You would be wrong if you believed so.
I was able to build a web hosting business from scratch and managed it for over twenty years. Over fifty hosting companies have been part of my experience in helping clients. I am an industry expert and know all the major players.
Select Your WordPress Hosting… Carefully
One thing is certain: WordPress hosts are not all created equal.
Your WordPress hosting is an essential part of your business. Choose carefully.
A good host can make blogging a joy. You can live a miserable life with the wrong host.
Web hosting is one those services you don’t notice when things are working but think about when they go wrong.
This list of recommended WordPress providers does not include a complete comparison of all available web hosting and WordPress hosting providers. There are too many hosting providers available to compare and review. This list was created to help you choose the best place to host your WordPress blog.
Another thing to mention is that almost every hosting provider offers an affiliate program. Web hosting is by far the most popular category in affiliate marketing. This list is based on my belief that they are the best WordPress hosts.
Comparison of the Best WordPress Hosting Services
Here’s a quick summary of all the web hosting companies I recommend for WordPress.
- Bluehost is the best beginner host
- Best Intermediate Host — WordPress Engine
- Linode — Linode is the best advanced host
Other Top Rated Ratings
Best web hosting | Best WordPress Hosting | Best Website Builder | Best Domain Registrar |
Three Factors to Consider When Selecting a WordPress Hosting Provider
Based on my experience, there are three key factors that you should consider when choosing the best WordPress host.
- Speed — How quickly does your website load? Slow hosts can have negative effects on SEO and lead to lost revenue.
- Customer Support — How fast does customer support respond to you? And, more importantly, how quickly can the team solve your problem?
- Reliability — A website that isn’t accessible to visitors can result in lost revenue of hundreds or even thousands. Is there an uptime guarantee from the hosting provider?
Is there something missing? The price was not mentioned. WordPress hosting is a commodity, especially in today’s highly competitive market. Hosting is quite affordable compared to the quality of the service you receive. Sometimes, monthly hosting costs less than a cup of Starbucks coffee.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on web hosting. When starting a blog, the Latte Factor applies.
Web Hosting Secrets:
Psst… I’ll tell you a little-known secret about web hosting.
Hosting is highly competitive. Hosting providers are in an arms race to be the best.
Web hosting is a commodity, with margins that are razor thin. Marketing is often based on gimmicks. This is something to keep in mind as you choose which hosting provider you want to sign up for.
You might see offers for “unlimited”, this or that.
There is no unlimited disk space. All shared hosting services, which is what most companies are on this list, oversubscribe hardware they manage. Although they might offer large or unlimited amounts of resources, you can still use this space.
This is not a new or uncommon practice. It is not limited to web hosting. It is a common practice among cellphone service providers. It’s obvious that if everyone made a call simultaneously, the system wouldn’t be able to support it.
Before you sign up, make sure that you fully understand the provider’s definitions of “unlimited”.
What should you instead look for? You want a blog that loads quickly.
More sales are possible when pages load faster. Google considers page load time a key metric. Ensure you get the best host possible for the money you pay.
One rule of thumb is that the more you pay, you get more dedicated server resources.
While beginners bloggers do not require a lot of resources, a well-known website will.
Bluehost — The Best Host for Beginners
Our Take
Bluehost is the best choice for anyone just starting out in web hosting. Bluehost gives you a domain name free of charge for the first year. They also offer a quick WordPress installation. In no time, you’ll have your blog up and running.
Bluehost Review
9.5
Ten out of 10.
Price | $2.95 – $13.95 per month |
Annual Discount | Yes |
Promotion | Start at $2.95/mo |
Find out More
The Key Features
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Free domain name registration for the first year
- Secure your website with an SSL certificate
- WordPress installation in one click
- For the lowest plan, 50GB of disk space
You’re now a blogger. Congrats! This is a lucrative business that can be easily done as a side hustle.
In my article How to Start a Blog and Make Money, I outline the steps needed to get started.
WordPress is a great platform to start a blog if you are just starting out. WordPress is the most widely used blogging platform. It offers many options to create a beautiful and functional website.
Bluehost is my personal favorite WordPress hosting company.
Bluehost prices start at $2.95 per Month. Bluehost hosts over 2 million accounts making it one the largest web hosting companies. Bluehost is part of a conglomerate called Newfold Digital. This company also owns more than 80 other companies such as HostGator and Domain.com.
Bluehost will not be any different if you’re currently using Newfold’s other businesses. Bluehost is managed by Newfold, a large company that has a lot of resources.
WP Engine — Best Intermediate Hosting
Our Take
WP Engine is the web hosting company I turn to when creating a WordPress blog. WP Engine is a WordPress hosting company, unlike many other providers. If you need a host to host your email, you will have to search elsewhere. WP Engine offers many WordPress-specific features, including caching. A content delivery network (CDN), is also included automatically. WP Engine is the right choice if you are looking for reliable, fast and reliable hosting for your WordPress blog.
WP engine review
7.5
Ten out of 10
Platform | Cloud |
Price | $25 – $258+ per month |
Annual Discount | Yes |
Promotion | Get 3 Months Free (Promo Code wpe22) |
Learn More
The Key Features
- This is a WordPress-specific template.
- Website with fast loading speed and built-in caching. CDN for images, CSS and JavaScript.
- Nightly backups ensure that you never lose any file
- Over 35 SEO-friendly WordPress themes for free (StudioPress Genesis).
- You can create a development, staging, or production environment to prevent your update from going down
- SSL Certificate included for free
- 60-day money-back guarantee
You are a veteran blogger and you’re ready for a change. Bloggers make money and don’t take downtime lightly. A WordPress-focused web hosting company is what you need.
WP Engine is my top choice. It’s my favorite WordPress hosting company.
WP Engine’s prices may be more expensive than other web hosting options but there are many key features included in the service. WP Engine offers nightly backups, CDN and WordPress themes. It also provides environments for testing new plugins. These features may not be available if you are using a less expensive provider.
Linode — The Best Advanced Host
Our Take
Linode is the ideal cloud provider for DIYers with complex hosting requirements. Linode has been my cloud provider for over eight years. I currently host all of my content using the service. There has been very little downtime. Linode provides basic virtual private servers, such as VPSs, load balancers and block storage. With their premade images, it is easy to get up and running quickly with a new virtual private server. Linode is worth a look.
9.0
Ten out of 10
Platform | Cloud, Linux |
Price | $5 – $4,000 per month |
Annual Discount | No |
Find out More
The Key Features
- NodeBalancer allows you to manage more visitors on your WordPress site
- Block storage that can be moved from one VPS server to another easily
- You get free DNS, so you don’t need to use a third-party provider
If you are like me, and you love PHP code and shell scripting as your breakfast, then a VPS hosting provider is the best choice.
Linode is the right choice, as it runs this website.
Although I do have Amazon’s AWS services, I can’t recommend them for WordPress bloggers. AWS can be expensive and the service can be confusing for even the most advanced techies.
Cloud hosting options that are simple and direct appeal to me. Linode is the best VPS host provider and fits this bill. Linode isn’t new to the market – it has been in existence since 2003.
Cloud hosting services offer the advantage of allowing you to build your own setup. You can build your infrastructure quickly with a cloud hosting service. I recommend the webserver LiteSpeed. It is not only the fastest web server but also understands Apache configuration files.
Unfortunately, most WordPress hosts don’t use it.
Linode offers all the services that a blogger requires to scale their website. Linode has pre-built images for all of your favorite Linux distributions. It can be up and running in minutes.
Linode offers load balancing, block storage and monitoring. It also provides backup options. Linode also has data centers all over the globe, including in Texas, New Jersey and Georgia, California, Germany. Singapore, England, England, and Japan.
Other WordPress Hosting
These three aren’t the only web hosts in town. There are many other web hosting providers. You can find a number of other web hosting companies that offer WordPress hosting or have managed WordPress hosting.
Review | My Rating | Website |
BigScoots | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
Bluehost | 9.5/10 | Find out More |
Cloudways | 8.5/10 | Find out More |
DreamHost | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
FastComet | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
Flywheel | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
GoDaddy | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
GreenGeeks | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
HostGator | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
Hostinger | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
HostPapa | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
InMotion Hosting | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
IONOS by 1&1 | 7.0/10 | Find out More |
iPage | 7.5/10 | Find out More |
Kinsta | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
Liquid Web | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
Namecheap | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
SiteGround | 8.5/10 | Find out More |
Web.com | 7.5/10 | Find out More |
WordPress.com | 8.0/10 | Find out More |
WP Engine | 7.5/10 | Find out More |
WPMU Dev | 7.5/10 | Find out More |
WPX | 9.0/10 | Find out More |
Summary
Bluehost is the best WordPress blogging platform for beginners. As you become more successful and earn more money, WP Engine is the best choice. Linode is the best choice for the advanced blogger who has multiple websites.
Readers: If you have any questions about web hosting, please comment below.