I’ve written my fair share of in-depth hosting reviews but this is my guide to the best WordPress hosting providers — I look at their unique features, performance data with uptime/speed statistics.
Web hosting is essential for any website. Without web hosting, you don’t have a place to store your website’s files. However, many people struggle to find the best WordPress web hosting whilst maintaining a balance between speed, affordability, and customer support.
My aim is to help you find the best WordPress hosting – I’ve signed up to each and every one of the web hosts listed here to give you a true representation of them.
I’ve gone through each WordPress web host with a fine-tooth comb, comparing their performance and speed, uptime, reliability, and pricing.
I’ve monitored real data so that you can trust my judgment and make your own decision as to who the best WordPress web host is for you.
recommended WordPress web hosts:
also great
If you, like many others, are considering building your website with WordPress, read on to find out which WordPress hosting provider is the best.
Check out my guide below!
Inside This Article...
1. Hostinger
Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
Hostinger Pros:
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Great, responsive customer support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Hostinger Cons:
- No free domain
- No free SSL
Hostinger provides web hosting for over 1.5 million users worldwide. They estimate they have around 15,000 new signups each day – that’s quite impressive! Hostinger was born in 2011 and has been rapidly growing ever since. Hostinger’s idea is to provide web hosting for everyone around the world, making hosting more accessible, which I believe they’ve achieved through their affordable pricing.
Speed & Performance
Hostinger offers the cheapest pricing in our list of the best WordPress hosting. Because of this, I was a little dubious of how their servers would perform. Perhaps it’s wrong to think this way, but if you’re not paying much for a service, you’re not going to get a lot in return. Of course, I had to put this to the test, so I signed up for Hostinger’s WordPress Starter plan and begun to monitor my WordPress website with UptimeRobot.
Hostinger offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, but in the last 7 days my uptime has averaged out at 99.74% and in the last 30 days it was 99.939%. Hostinger has met their SLAs but the results aren’t as good as what we’ve seen with other hosts.
Hostinger’s server response time has resulted in an average of 1247.41ms which is just over 1 second. Again, in the grand scheme of things, not bad results, but it’s certainly nowhere near SiteGround or BlueHost. I was a little disappointed in Hostinger’s server speed, so I decided to test with Bitcatcha, as I noticed some spikes over the period I had been monitoring.
UptimeRobot’s server response results are based on a 24 hour period, however, Bitcatcha’s results are performed instantly and tell us how the server is performing at the time of the test. Needless to say, the results were pretty good. I altered the data center I was using with Hostinger to a U.K. one to see what would happen, as we can see, London’s response time is a mere 8ms! Even with the U.K. location, US (W) was 143ms, US (E) 83ms, and Canada just 94ms.
Pricing
| Single | Starter | Business | PRO | |
| Websites | 1 | 100 | 100 | 300 |
| Storage | 50GB SSD | 100GB SSD | 200GB SSD | 200GB SSD |
| Bandwidth | 100GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Automated Backups | Weekly | Weekly | Daily | Daily |
| Jetpack | Free | Free | Personal | Premium |
| Price | $1.99/mo | $2.99/mo | $3.99/mo | $9.99/mo |
Hostinger are famous for their low prices, so it’s no surprise that they’re receiving 15,000 sign ups each day! Even their renewal prices aren’t as steep as some web hosts. Their pricing plans are catered to a wide audience, starting from just $2.15 per month.
Starter: Ideal for personal websites or small websites, with fast SSD hard drives to get you started on your web journey.
Premium: Perfect for growing websites or small businesses, offering daily automated backups for your peace of mind.
Business: If you’re ready to take the next step for your business or start an online store, the Business plan will get you on the right track.
Features
Hostinger’s WordPress hosting plans are designed to make your WordPress site more accessible and easier to use. They focus on speed, security, and usability, which can be seen across the following features they offer on all their WordPress hosting plans:
- WordPress Staging Tool
- WordPress PRO features
- Automatic WordPress updates
Hostinger Pros:
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Great, responsive customer support
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Hostinger Cons:
- No free domain for Single WordPress plan
2. BlueHost
Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
BlueHost Pros:
- Recommended by WordPress
- Reliable and well-known web host
- Free SSL certificate
BlueHost Cons:
- Limited storage
- Marketing credits only available to U.S. and Canada
BlueHost is recommended by WordPress, so naturally, their WordPress hosting is pretty bang on. Of all the websites that use EIG, 21.5% use BlueHost, coming a close 2nd after HostGator with 35.7%. They offer plenty of WordPress-related features that mean your website won’t just work, it will work amazingly in terms of speed and reliability.
Speed & Performance
But, don’t just take my word for it, let’s take a look at the results I logged after signing up to BlueHost. I started monitoring my site with UptimeRobot which checks uptime and response time at regular intervals (I’ve set mine to 5 minutes).
During the last 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days, my website has had a solid uptime of 100%. You can’t ask for much more than that, as it’s an absolutely perfect score.
Server response time tells us how quickly BlueHost’s WordPress hosting servers respond to data requests. The smaller this figure is, the better, as speed really matters when it comes to websites. What do you know? BlueHost’s server response time has averaged out at a stunning 141.32ms over the last 30 days which is amazing! That’s nowhere even close to 1 second, making it into the 20% of the best websites in terms of response time.
I didn’t feel it was right to test BlueHost’s hosting using just one tool. I popped over to Bitcatcha to find out a more detailed analysis of my servers response time, as well as the performance grade awarded.
BlueHost, you continue to amaze me! Across all test locations, my website performed exceptionally well, being awarded a performance grade A+. Whether my website visitors are located in the U.S., Europe, Asia, or Australia, none of the results exceeded 240ms. It’s hard to put into words just how great these results are.
Pricing
| Basic | Plus | Choice Plus | |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Free SSL | Included | Included | Included |
| Storage | 50GB SSD | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Domain | Free for 1 year | Free for 1 year | Free for 1 year |
| Parked domains | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Subdomains | 25 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Marketing Credit | $200 | $200 | $200 |
| Office 365 Mailbox | No | Free 30 days | Free 30 days |
| Codeguard | No | No | Yes |
| Price | $2.95/mo | $5.45/mo | $5.45/mo |
BlueHost is known for their reliability and WordPress hosting, but they are also recognised because of their affordable prices. $2.95 can barely buy you a coffee, and that’s how much their Basic plan costs per month.
Basic: Ideal for starter websites or individuals who want to host a WordPress website. Great for beginners and includes a free SSL and domain for 1 year.
Plus: Perfect for growing websites or small businesses, with hosting for unlimited websites. $200 marketing credits are great to get a new business going.
Choice Plus: At the same price as the Plus plan, Choice Plus offers all the benefits of their other WordPress plans, along with the bonus of CodeGuard basic backup.
Features
Many web hosts claim to offer WordPress hosting, but it often turns out to be shared web hosting with the ability to install WordPress onto their servers. BlueHost is different because they truly offer WordPress hosting. Included in their WordPress hosting plans, you’ll be able to enjoy the following features:
- Automatic WordPress installation to the latest version of WordPress
- Automatic WordPress updates to keep your website secure
- Configuration of login details upon account creation
- 24/7 WordPress hosting support
- Free SSL and free domain
BlueHost Pros:
- Recommended by WordPress
- Reliable and well-known web host
- Free SSL certificate
BlueHost Cons:
- Limited storage
- Marketing credits only available to U.S. and Canada
3. SiteGround
Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
SiteGround Pros:
- Awesome WordPress support
- Great uptime and performance
- Multiple data centers worldwide
SiteGround Cons:
- Limited storage
- No free domain
Like BlueHost, SiteGround is also recommended by WordPress, which is quite the badge to wear. It’s an extremely popular web host and is well known for its awesome hosting speeds and performance. SiteGround have developed their own in-house tools for security and speed, which earns them a top spot for me.
Speed & Performance
Because SiteGround are recognized for their speed and performance, I signed up to their StartUp plan and started monitoring my WordPress website. Their WordPress hosting plans come with a free installation of WordPress, so this is what I went with.
SiteGround offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, so it was important I looked at the results of my website’s uptime over the past 30 days. I did this using UptimeRobot, which gave me a clear understanding of any downtime my website experienced.
I was really pleased to see that my overall uptime over the past 30 days was 99.998%. UptimeRobot recorded a mere 1-minute downtime which in the grand scheme of things is pretty impressive. In the last 7 days, my website has been online 100% of the time. I hope you’re starting to see why I love SiteGround so much!
The average server response time recorded was 140.76ms for my SiteGround website, which was only marginally better than BlueHost’s, which puts my SiteGround website into the best 20% of websites for server speed. These two hosts may have their differences, but they certainly share awesome speed and performance.
BitCatcha’s results were just as great. For a website that is targetting a U.S. audience, you couldn’t wish for better response times – 57ms in US (W) and 33ms in US (E) is outstanding! To be honest, with SiteGround’s WordPress hosting, it doesn’t seem to matter where your audience is located. I chose a U.S. data center and people across the world wouldn’t experience more than 244ms server response time.
Pricing
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek | |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 10GB | 20GB | 30GB |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Backup | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free CDN | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Email | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WP-CLI and SSH | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Databases | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Dynamic Caching | No | Yes | Yes |
| On-demand backup copies | No | Yes | Yes |
| Free Site Transfer | No | Yes | Yes |
| Staging | No | Yes | Yes |
| Collaborators | No | Yes | Yes |
| Git | No | No | Yes |
| White-label clients | No | No | Yes |
| Support | Standard | Standard | Priority |
| Price | $3.95/mo | $5.95/mo | $11.95/mo |
Currently, SiteGround is offering its StartUp plan for just $0.33 per month for the first 3 months. However, their usual monthly price is just $3.95 per month and includes a free WordPress installation, free SSL, and free CDN.
StartUp: Perfect for individuals or small websites with up to 10,000 website visitors per month. All plans include a free SSL, CDN, and free email.
GrowBig: Ideal for growing websites or businesses that expect up to 25,000 monthly visitors, along with unlimited databases and dynamic caching.
GoGeek: If you’re considering an eCommerce site, I’d recommend the GoGeek plan. You’ll get lots of free extras as well as staging + git, and priority support.
Features
SiteGround is recommended by WordPress and therefore boasts some awesome features on their WordPress hosting plans. All of their plans include the following features, absolutely free, so it’s no wonder their a great choice:
- 24/7 WordPress support via phone, live chat and ticket
- Automated WordPress installation with WP Starter
- Free WordPress website transfers
- Managed security and WordPress updates
- SG Optimizer plugin and free CDN
SiteGround Pros:
- Awesome WordPress support
- Great uptime and performance
- Multiple data centers worldwide
SiteGround Cons:
- Limited storage
- No free domain
4. HostGator
Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
HostGator Pros:
- Fast and reliable web hosting
- Cheap prices
- Free site migration
HostGator Cons:
- Renewal fees are steep
Read our full review
HostGator is top of the table in terms of EIG market share and is used by 2% of all the websites on the internet. HostGator is a popular choice for people looking for affordable web hosting that packs a punch. All of their WordPress hosting plans include a free domain for 1 year and a free SSL certificate, making them a great choice for beginners or people with larger websites.
Speed & Performance
HostGator offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee, which is more than what a lot of web hosts offer. This gives me confidence that they know they can offer a reliable service, something which I wish more hosts would take into consideration.
When I signed up for HostGator, I chose their Starter plan. Their WordPress hosting page advertises 2.5x speed. I started monitoring my HostGator WordPress website with UptimeRobot to see if their promises of a 99.99% uptime would come to fruition.
Whilst it wasn’t a match for BlueHost or SiteGround, HostGator still performed very well in my tests. An overall uptime of 99.993% over the last 30 days was recorded. Not only have HostGator delivered on their promises, but they’ve also offered up an impressive server response time of 136.05ms.
That figure of 136.05ms is even better than BlueHost and SiteGround. I knew that HostGator was good but I didn’t realize they were that good! With a response time like that, it was time to head over to Bitcatcha to see if their results would be as great as what we saw on UptimeRobot.
Wow! These results are absolutely knock out. A 1ms server response time from US (E) and 3ms from US (W). It’s very clear that if you want an insanely fast server, you should go to HostGator. Wherever you are in the world, you’re not going to get better than this, surely! 1ms in Germany, 3ms all the way over in Japan, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Way to go HostGator!
Pricing
| Starter | Standard | Business | |
| Websites | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Visits per month | 100,000 | 200,000 | 500,000 |
| Storage | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Free Migration | 1 website | 2 websites | 3 websites |
| Automatic Malware Removal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Google Adwords Credit | $100 | $100 | $100 |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backup | 1GB | 2GB | 3GB |
| Price | $5.95/mo | $7.95/mo | $9.95/mo |
HostGator’s WordPress plans are pretty competitive, but they’re not as cheap as the other web hosts we’ve reviewed so far. However, you do get a free domain, free SSL, and up to 100,000 visitors per month on their Starter plan.
Starter: Perfect for beginners or small businesses who want to get a foot in the ground, starting off with a free domain and free SSL.
Standard: With no bandwidth or storage limits, the Standard plan offers room to grow and is perfect for medium-sized businesses or websites.
Business: The Business plan grants you up to 500,000 website visits per month, as well as 3GB of backups and $100 Google Adwords credits.
Features
HostGator’s plans might be more expensive, but they certainly offer some pretty nifty features at no extra cost. All of their WordPress hosting plans come with 2.5x faster load times, with CDN, dynamic content and cloud hosting services all optimized for WordPress. They also include the following benefits:
- WordPress Cloud Interface
- Free website migration
- Advanced security with control over usage
- Includes CodeGuard, SiteLock and a free SSL
HostGator Pros:
- Fast and reliable web hosting
- Cheap prices
- Free site migration
HostGator Cons:
- Renewal fees are steep
5. DreamHost
Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
DreamHost Pros:
- Solid speeds
- Free SSL and free domain with privacy protection
- Recommended by WordPress
DreamHost Cons:
- Control panel is a bit of a pain
Read our full review
DreamHost has been part of the hosting market for almost 20 years, offering reliable web hosting and solid customer support. Like BlueHost and SiteGround, DreamHost is officially recommended by WordPress, which is always a reassuring thing considering this is a review for the best WordPress hosting!
Speed & Performance
DreamHost offers a staggering 100% uptime guarantee, as well as a 97-day money-back guarantee, so it’s clear to see they have a lot of confidence in what they offer. This is reassuring for WordPress customers and if you’re looking for a great WordPress host, you don’t have to look far to find one here.
Given DreamHost’s bold promises, I signed up to their WordPress basic plan and started monitoring my WordPress website. I was expecting good things, and at this point, the competition was already high from the likes of BlueHost and SiteGround. Here’s what I found over the last 30 days.
Needless to say, DreamHost’s uptime was 100% in the last 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days. In fact, I’ve been monitoring this website since the beginning of January, so it’s been online and offering 100% uptime for 4 months.
However, the server response time was a little disappointing compared to the other hosts I signed up to. The average server response time was 787.41ms, which isn’t the best, but it’s not terrible either. If you think about it, that’s still less than 1 second, it’s just not as good in comparison. I noticed there were quite a few spikes, so I decided to check out the current server response time against multiple locations using Bitcatcha.
The server response times from Bitcatcha were much better than UptimeRobot. My WordPress website with DreamHost was awarded a performance grade of A+, with a 186ms response time in US (W), 118ms in US (E), and an awesome 37ms in Germany. In fact, the longest response time was Sydney at 286ms. Any doubts I had about my server’s response time have certainly been washed away.
Pricing
| Starter | Unlimited | |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited |
| Domain | Free | Free |
| Traffic | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| WordPress | Pre-installed | Pre-installed |
| Free Automated WordPress migrations | Included | Included |
| WP Website Builder | Included | Included |
| Storage | 50GB | Unlimited |
| Free SSL | Included | Included |
| Price | $2.59/mo | $3.95/mo |
DreamHost offer several types of packages for WordPress hosting, including WordPress Basic, DreamPress, and VPS WordPress. For the purpose of this review, I’ve been looking at WordPress Basic, which is ideal for beginners or those with small or growing websites. If you’re not interested in having your WordPress hosting managed, WordPress Basic is ideal.
DreamPress is a more advanced set of plans, offering 1-click staging, daily backups, Jetpack, and other cool features. If you’ve got around 100,000 monthly visitors, it’s definitely worth considering DreamPress which starts at $16.95 per month.
Features
DreamHost’s pricing plans are packed full of WordPress features. Their more advanced plans take that even further, but for now, let’s take a look at what’s included in all of DreamHost’s WordPress Basic plans:
- WordPress Site Builder
- Pre-installed WordPress
- Free privacy protection and free domain
- Instant WordPress setup and automated backups
DreamHost Pros:
- Solid speeds
- Free SSL and free domain with privacy protection
- Recommended by WordPress
DreamHost Cons:
- Control panel is a bit of a pain