Deciding on what hosting solution to use is a decision that can make or break your website’s success. In this article, we discuss the top managed WordPress hosting solutions, factors to consider when choosing a hosting solution, and answer some frequently asked questions.
What is managed WordPress hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting is a hosting solution specifically designed for WordPress websites. It typically offers features to enhance performance, improve security and help with website management.
The key elements of managed WordPress hosting tend to include:
- Automatic updates and maintenance, sometimes also including plugin updates automatically.
- Enhanced security with measures like malware scanning, threat detection and automatic backups.
- Optimised performance, with features such as server-level caching and content delivery network (CDN) integration.
- Support from experts for troubleshooting and getting the most out of your website.
- Other benefits may include features such as one-click staging, backups and additional tools.
With managed website hosting, the hosting provider deals with the back-end and administrative aspects of the website such as software updates, WordPress installation, security, backups and more. Other aspects such as SEO, marketing and technical aspects are managed by the website owner.
What is managed vs. unmanaged hosting?
With managed web hosting, the hosting company will maintain a web server for your website. With unmanaged web hosting, you’ll be responsible for the technical work of maintaining a web server for your website.
Is managed WordPress hosting recommended?
Yes, managed hosting can be an excellent option, as you don’t need to worry about the technical aspects of server management for your website. It often provides enhanced security, performance, reliability, as well as time and resource savings.
WordPress hosting reviews
In this article, we have analysed the highest ranking articles, and paired this with our industry expertise to select four of the best WordPress managed hosting options.
Don’t have long to compare? Here are the Trustpilot ratings of four of the most popular WordPress managed hosting options (however, other popular options are available).
| Host | Trustpilot rating |
| Pressable | 4.9 |
| Hostinger | 4.6 |
| DreamHost | 4.7 |
| WP Engine | 4.7 |
These are just a selection of the best managed WordPress hosting solutions, other solutions such as Krystal may be a better fit for your business’ specific requirements. Speak to our web design experts today for more information on solutions that will be the best fit for your business.
Best managed WordPress hosting: Comparison table
| Feature | Pressable | Hostinger | DreamPress by DreamHost | WP Engine |
| Starting Price | $20.83/month (yearly plan) | £3.79/month | $16.95/month | £16/month |
| Uptime Guarantee | 100% uptime | 99.9% | Not specified | 99.9% (Core plan) |
| Storage | Not specified | 200 GB NVWe | 30GB | 10 GB (Startup plan) |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unlimited | Unmetered | 75 GB (Startup plan) |
| Global CDN | Yes (28+ data centres across 6 continents) | Yes | Not specified | Yes |
| SSL Certificate | Free (with Jetpack Security) | Free | Free (pre-installed) | Free |
| Caching | Not specified | LiteSpeed Web Server | Built-in caching | Yes |
| Backups | Real-time, automated with Jetpack Security | On-demand, automated | On-demand, automated | Daily, on-demand |
| Staging Environment | Yes (with syncing tools) | Yes | Yes (1-click staging) | Yes |
| Security Features | DDoS, WAF, 2FA, compromised password scanning | Malware scanner, IP & country blocking | Free priority site migration, SSL pre-installed | Threat detection, platform-level protection |
| Domain Registration | Not specified | Free | Free | Not specified |
| Support | 24/7 WordPress engineer support | 24/7 WordPress support | 24/7 ticket support | 24/7 support |
| Website Migration | Free | Free | Free priority site migration | Free |
| Additional Tools | Jetpack Security, activity log, syncing tools | Object Cache, LiteSpeed Web Servers | AI website builder, business advisor tools | Managed WP, PHP, and MySQL updates |
Four of the best managed hosting options explained
Pressable
Pressable’s benefits include a 100% uptime service level guarantee, real-time backups and single click restore as well as unmetered bandwidth and page views. Pressable uses real-time site replication at a second data centre, ensuring maximum uptime.
Pressable offers fast page speeds through a global network of 28+ data centres across 6 continents. If your site experiences a traffic spike, their customer resource management systems can scale at speed to over 100 PHP workers. Pressable boasts a 5.2 milliseconds static performance test responsive time and 12 milliseconds P95 performance test response time.
In terms of security, Pressable uses DDOF and WAF protection to block malicious hacking attempts, provides a real time activity log and user account security with built-in two-factor authentication and compromised password scanning. Your plan also comes with free Jetpack Security for automated backups.
Other features available include unlimited WordPress site migrations and full staging environments with syncing tools.
Pressbale also offers 24/7 support from WordPress engineers, meaning you can rest assured any issues with your website can be dealt with quickly.
All this comes at a cost however. Pressable is more expensive than the other options, with costs starting from $20.83 per month for a yearly plan.
Hostinger
With managed WordPress hosting starting from £3.79 a month, Hostinger offers free domain registration and website migration, unlimited free SSL certificates and more. It offers security features including a malware scanner, and IP and country blocking with Hostinger CDN. In terms of performance, NVMe storage provides low latency and fast data transfers while the in-house CDN, ObjectCache and LiteSpeed Web Server technologies deliver a seamless user experience. All plans also come with unlimited bandwidth and Hostinger also offers scalable web hosting so you can upgrade or downgrade your plan as needed. 24/7 WordPress support is also available.
DreamPress by DreamHost
DreamPress by DreamHost offers high speed with built-in caching, tools including staging and backups, free priority site migration and 24/7 support. Plans start from $16.95 per month, so this is one of the more expensive options. This includes a free domain, unmetered bandwidth, 30GB SSD storage, a WordPress installer, SSL certificate pre-installed as well as AI website builder and business advisor tools. Also offered is free priority site migration, on-demand backups and 1-click restore, 1-click staging, and 24/7 WordPress support.
WP Engine
WP Engine isn’t an official WordPress recommended provider, however features on several ‘best’ lists. This hosting option offers threat detection and blocking, daily backups, caching to improve page speeds, regular WordPress updates and more. Free SSL and platform-level protection is offered, as well as one-click staging and 24/7 support. This is a slightly pricer option, with plans starting from £16 a month, including edge content delivery with global CDN, managed WP, PHP and MySQL updates and more.
Managed WordPress Hosting Use Cases
For value and affordability, Hostinger is a good option as it offers competitive pricing as well as WordPress specific features.
If you’re looking for performance and premium features, WP Engine is renowned for its performance and services offered, however it’s more expensive than the other options.
For WordPress endorsement and reliability DreamHost is a good option.
For scalability, Pressable offers unique advantages due to it being built on the WP Cloud platform by Automattic.
How to choose the right managed WordPress hosting for your website
When looking at choosing a managed WordPress hosting provider for your website, take the following factors into account:
- Server reliability
- Website file storage
- Traffic management
- Customer service
- Setup process
- Scalability
- Security
- Additional features
- Pricing
- User feedback
Overall choosing a WordPress managed hosting option depends on your budget and requirements.
Yellowball has an award-winning team of WordPress website designers to get your ideal WordPress website up and running. Visit our portfolio to see some of the amazing things we’ve been able to achieve with WordPress. Have a vision for your website? Talk to us! We’ll make it a reality.
Find out more about managing your WordPress website in our guides: Best WordPress Plugins and Tools, Best WordPress Themes and Best Membership Plugins for WordPress.
