How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting in 2023 (Compared)
Web hosting is one of the key components of every successful website. Choosing the best WordPress hosting for your needs can improve your SEO and increase sales. There are various different types of WordPress hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting. In this guide, we will help you choose the best WordPress hosting for your website.
WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site that receives millions of pageviews per month. Having helped 400,000+ users and years of experience with WordPress hosting companies, we know the importance of choosing the best WordPress hosting company.
Our goal with this guide is to share our 15+ years of experience and insights on things you need to consider when choosing a hosting company for your business.
To help you make the right decision, we have also done a side-by-side comparison of the top WordPress hosting companies including speed tests, uptime tests, and reliability tests (scroll or click here to see the full comparison).
If you’re in a rush, then you can simply see the table below with our hand-picked list of the best WordPress hosting companies. These companies are consistently the top WordPress hosting companies in the industry when it comes to quality and service.
Best WordPress Hosting Comparison (2023)
Now after browsing through the top WordPress hosting companies listed above, you might still be wondering which one is best for your business?
To help you choose the best WordPress hosting, we have created a few additional resources for you:
- WordPress Hosting Quiz
- Detailed WordPress Hosting Performance Comparison
- Side-by-Side WordPress Hosting Feature Comparison
- WordPress Hosting (Infographic)
- WordPress Hosting Video Tutorial
- WordPress Hosting FAQs
Our goal is to help you make the right decision because choosing the wrong provider can have a negative impact on your website’s SEO, speed, and sales.
WordPress Hosting Quiz
It’s quite easy to get overwhelmed with all the information overload. Often users read this guide, and then email us asking for personalized recommendations on which WordPress hosting is best for their needs.
To help expedite this, we have created a WordPress hosting recommendation engine that can help you decide which is the best WordPress hosting for you based on your needs.
All you have to do is accurately answer the questions in the widget below:
If you still want personalized WordPress expert help in choosing the best WordPress hosting provider, then please send us a message using our contact form. One of our team members will respond within 24 hours.
Detailed WordPress Hosting Performance Comparison
One of the reasons why WPBeginner is the most-trusted WordPress resource site among WordPress users is because our reviews are based on actual data and experience.
Unlike other WordPress hosting review sites that just steal words straight from press releases of respected hosting companies, we actually sign up with each individual WordPress hosting provider and thoroughly test their services.
We use independent third-party tools like Pingdom, LoadImpact, and Bitcatcha to test the performance and reliability of each company, so we can help you choose the best WordPress hosting for your business.
To accurately measure performance across all WordPress hosting companies, we create a sample WordPress site on each hosting provider and install the default WordPress theme.
Next, we import dummy content including images and media so our test resembles an average user website.
After that, we use Pingdom, an industry-leading website speed test service, to measure our sample website speed across multiple hosting companies.
We also use Load Impact (k6) service to send virtual users (VU) to each website to see how the hosting server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once. This helps us see how the individual WordPress hosting company would perform during peak traffic times and whether it’s scalable or not.
Last but not least, we use Bitcatcha service to test server response times across numerous geographical locations including the United States, London, Singapore, Sao Paulo, India, Sydney, and Japan. This helps us decide which hosting company is best for which geographical location.
Now that you know our testing process, let’s compare the performance of the best WordPress hosting companies to see which is the fastest WordPress hosting company in the market.
Bluehost WordPress Hosting
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies on the planet, and they are an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider. Their hosting packages come pre-installed with WordPress by default.
Here are the results from our Bluehost performance tests:
As you can see, our test site loaded in less than two seconds. That’s faster than 85% of all tested websites. Considering the fact that our sample website wasn’t using any caching plugins or speed optimization tips, this result is very good.
After the speed test, we ran the Load Impact test on Bluehost servers. We gradually built up to 100 simultaneous, unique visitors to see how the server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
Here is the result screenshot:
The green line is the number of active virtual users on the site, and the blue line is the server load time. As you can see the server load remained stable throughout the test even at high traffic.
After the load impact test, we used Bitcatcha to test more accurate server response time from various geographical locations.
The Bluehost server performed exceptionally well in the United States loading under a fraction of a second. In other locations, the response was a bit higher but still less than a second.
If your target audience is in the United States, then this would hugely benefit your website.
Bluehost Speed Test Summary:
- Website Load time: 1.48s
- Server Response Time: 35ms (milliseconds)
- Server Uptime: 99.98%
In our detailed Bluehost review, we also evaluated their customer support team, features, and pricing. After our analysis, we rate Bluehost as the #1 WordPress hosting provider for small businesses to make a website.
- PROS: 63% off hosting + Free Domain + Free SSL (https://) included
- PROS: Officially recommended by WordPress
- PROS: Free Staging Site and one-click WordPress installation
- PROS: Free CDN included with unmetered bandwidth and unlimited storage
- PROS: Free WordPress themes and WordPress plugins included such as WPForms and OptinMonster.
- CONS: Sometimes support can be slow
- CONS: Does not come pre-installed with All in One SEO toolkit (here’s how you can add it).
Get Started with Bluehost
Our exclusive Bluehost coupon helps you save over 63% off their basic plan and get a free domain. All plans include access to WPForms, MonsterInsights, and OptinMonster.
SiteGround WordPress Hosting
SiteGround is one of the most popular and highest-rated hosting providers in the WordPress community. They offer premium hosting plans that are specially built to be WordPress optimized with unique in-house speed and security solutions. That’s why they’re an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider.
Note: Our WPBeginner website is also hosted on SiteGround Enterprise servers, and we love their support.
Here are the results from our SiteGround performance tests:
As you can see, our test site loaded in less than a second (491 ms to be precise) for a server in Dallas, Texas. That means our site is faster than 95% of tested sites.
Next, we ran the Load Impact test on SiteGround servers where we gradually built up to 100 unique visitors at once to see how their server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
The green line is the number of active virtual users on the site, and the blue line is the server response time. SiteGround performed consistently throughout the test without any hiccups.
After the load impact test, we used Bitcatcha to test more accurate server response time from various geographical locations.
Our SiteGround test site server performed really well in the United States, and it responded in less than a second for all other locations.
SiteGround allows you to change your server location, and you can choose a datacenter closer to your target audience for even better response times in that particular region.
SiteGround Speed Test Summary:
- Website Load time: 491ms (milliseconds)
- Server Response Time: 29ms (milliseconds)
- Server Uptime: 99.99%
In our detailed SiteGround review, we also evaluated their customer support, features, and pricing. After our analysis, we find SiteGround to be a great option for beginners because their support is incredibly helpful.
Their server infrastructure is powered by Google Cloud, and they have built high-performance optimization features like Ultrafast PHP, SG Optimizer, and more to give even an entry-level website a cloud hosting experience. Except SiteGround prices are 50% less than other popular managed WordPress hosts.
- PROS: Best WordPress support, good uptime, fast speed, and free SSL.
- PROS: Managed hosting with advanced security features running on Google Cloud platform.
- PROS: Multiple data centers across the world (USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia).
- PROS: Free Site Migration
- PROS: Staging Environment, Free CDN, and free WordPress themes.
- PROS: Includes access to powerful SEO ranking tool like AIOSEO and other helpful plugins such as WPForms, OptinMonster, and more.
- PROS: WPBeginner site is hosted on SiteGround servers.
- CONS: No free domain and pricing is a bit higher since it’s premium hosting.
For the best performance and speed, we recommend using either their GrowBig or GoGeek plan because both of those come with Ultrafast PHP which delivers 30% faster TTFB. They also offer a malware scanning tool for extra WordPress security.
Get Started with SiteGround
Hostinger WordPress Hosting
Hostinger is becoming a well-known name in the WordPress hosting industry because they offer the cheapest WordPress hosting with a robust platform and 24/7 support via live chat. Over 1.3% of all websites use Hostinger according to the web hosting statistics.
Here are the results from our Hostinger hosting performance tests:
Our test site loaded in a fraction of a second, which is great. However, this test alone does not show the full picture because our test site has no traffic at all.
That’s why we used Load Impact to test how Hostinger hosting servers would perform during peak traffic hours.
We gradually built up to 100 unique visitors at the same time to see how their server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
The blue line represents page load time and the green line represents the number of users on the site.
As you can see Hostinger performed really well on this test. As we increased virtual users, the response time remained steady.
What this means is that if you have a small business website, an online store, or a growing blog, your website can easily handle sudden traffic spikes.
After the load impact test, we used Bitcatcha to test more accurate server response time from various geographical locations.
For all locations, Hostinger hosting responded in under a second. The response time was great across the board, particularly in Europe and North America.
This makes sense because Hostinger offers seven different data centers to choose from located in various parts of the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America.
If the majority of your target audience is located in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, then Hostinger is extremely fast and reliable.
Hostinger Speed Test Summary:
- Website Load time: 181ms (milliseconds)
- Server Response Time: 10ms (milliseconds)
- Server Uptime: 99.99%
Note: We ran our speed test on their lower plans, and we believe the loading speed would probably be much faster on their Business WordPress plan which includes premium Cloudflare CDN for free.
In our detailed Hostinger Hosting review, we also evaluated their customer service, features, and pricing. After our analysis, we find Hostinger Hosting to be an excellent option for small businesses who value fast and hassle-free WordPress hosting. Their plans grow as your business grows, but they make it affordable to get started.
- PROS: Fast speed, free domain, free SSL, and free email.
- PROS: Cheapest WordPress plans starting at $1.99 / month and include 30 GB of hosting disk space.
- PROS: 30-day money back guarantee
- PROS: WordPress acceleration and managed auto-updates built-in
- PROS: Ability to choose from multiple datacenter locations (in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America).
- PROS: Includes free access to powerful SEO tools like AIOSEO as well as other marketing tools like WPForms, OptinMonster, and MonsterInsights.
- CONS: Renewal fees are higher.
Get Started with Hostinger Hosting
Use our exclusive Hostinger coupon to save over 80% off Hostinger. All plans include access to AIOSEO, WPForms, MonsterInsights, OptinMonster, and other success tools built-in.
DreamHost WordPress Hosting
DreamHost has been around for 18 years and is known for their reliable web hosting. They offer one-click install for WordPress, and they are also an official WordPress.org recommended hosting provider.
Here are the results from our DreamHost performance tests:
As you can see our test site loaded in just under a second for a server in New York City. That’s faster than 93% of all tested sites.
After the speed test, we ran the Load Impact test on DreamHost servers to see how it would perform during peak traffic hours. We gradually built up to 100 unique visitors to see how the server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
Here is the result screenshot:
The blue line is the number of active virtual users on the site, and the green line is the server load time. As you can see the server load remained stable throughout the test even at peak traffic.
After the load impact test, we used Bitcatcha to test more accurate server response time from various geographical locations.
The DreamHost server performed well in the US loading under a fraction of a second, and the response time was pretty good across the world.
Overall, DreamHost is a great host for websites in any geographical location.
DreamHost Speed Test Summary:
- Website Load time: 335ms (milliseconds)
- Server Response Time: 18ms (milliseconds)
- Server Uptime: 99.99%
In our detailed DreamHost review, we also evaluated their customer support, features, and pricing. After our analysis, we find that DreamHost delivers superior website performance thanks to their fast SSD storage and optimization features.
DreamHost is a great option for businesses who value privacy. Their hosting offer includes free domain privacy with each of their domains. They also recently fought the U.S. Department of Justice to protect the privacy of one of their customer’s websites.
- PROS: Good speed, free SSL, free domain with privacy protection, and 1-click WordPress install.
- PROS: Officially recommended by WordPress
- PROS: Free Web Application Firewall Included
- PROS: Free automated WordPress migration included
- PROS: Includes access to powerful SEO tools like AIOSEO and other WordPress growth tools like WPForms, and more.
- PROS: Shared unlimited plan also includes unlimited email accounts @ your domain.
- CONS: Hosting control panel is a bit outdated.
Get Started with DreamHost
HostGator WordPress Hosting
HostGator is a popular web hosting company that hosts over 8 million domains. Similar to Bluehost, they offer specialized WordPress-specific hosting services.
Here are the results from our HostGator performance tests:
As you can see, our test site loaded in 1.03 seconds. That’s faster than 94% of all tested sites.
However, this is a new website with no traffic at all, so a speed test alone is not the best way to judge its performance. We wanted to see how it would perform under peak traffic.
We ran the Load Impact test on HostGator servers where we gradually built up to 100 unique visitors at once to see how the server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at once.
The blue line in the chart is page load time and the green line shows the number of users on the site. As you can see, our test site performed really well throughout the test with an average response time of 203 milliseconds.
These results are particularly good for a shared hosting account because you share server resources with other sites hosted on the same server. As your site grows, you need to move up to VPS hosting or even managed WordPress hosting.
After the load impact test, we used Bitcatcha to test more accurate server response time from various geographical locations.
Our HostGator review site performed really well. The server response time remained less than a second. In the United States, it was merely 26 ms.
HostGator Speed Test Summary:
- Website Load time: 1.03s
- Server Response Time: 26ms (milliseconds)
- Server Uptime: 99.90%
In our detailed HostGator review, we also evaluated their customer support, features, and pricing. After our analysis, we find HostGator to be a great option for growing businesses because they offer plans that grow with your business.
- PROS: Fast and Reliable Hosting with good 24/7 support
- PROS: Cheap Intro Prices for the first year and Free Site Migration
- PROS: Free Domain and Free SSL Included
- CONS: Renewal fees are higher
Get Started with HostGator
Use the HostGator coupon: “wpbeginner” when checking out, and you will get the best HostGator price.
Best WordPress Hosting (Quick Recap)
Now that you have seen the performance comparison of the top WordPress hosting companies, it’s time to decide which is the best for your business.
For your convenience, we have created a table with a side-by-side feature list, so you can easily compare the best WordPress hosting companies.
HostingCostFree DomainFree SSL1-Click WP Bluehost$2.75/moYesYesYes SiteGround$3.99/moNoYesYes Hostinger$2.69/moYesYesYes DreamHost$2.59/moYesYesYes HostGator$2.56/moYesYesYes
In our in-depth WordPress hosting review, we came to the conclusion that if you are looking to start a blog, then you cannot go wrong with Bluehost. The fact that they offer you a free domain and free SSL for the price of $2.75 per month, it’s very hard to beat.
But truly, you can’t go wrong with any of the top WordPress hosting companies that we have mentioned above. They all offer great uptime, fast servers, quality support, and extremely low prices.
Choose the Best WordPress Hosting (Infographic)
Often WordPress developers and agencies recommend WPBeginner’s WordPress hosting guide to their clients because it clearly explains the difference between various types of hosting options, and why they are important.
This is why we have created an easy-to-follow infographic that you can share with your clients or readers to explain why choosing the best WordPress hosting is important for their online business.
Please make sure to credit the source: WPBeginner WordPress Hosting Guide when sharing the infographic.
Best WordPress Hosting (Video Tutorial)
WordPress Hosting FAQs
Having helped over 400,000+ users start their websites, we have answered quite a lot of questions. Below are some of the answers to the most frequently asked questions about WordPress hosting.
Do I need WordPress hosting to start a website?
If you want to build a WordPress website, then you need web hosting. Your hosting server is where your website files are stored. Every website that you see online uses a web hosting provider.
Are there any free WordPress hosting providers?
Yes, there are several free website hosting companies out there, but we highly recommend that you stay away from them. In most cases, free WordPress hosting providers put advertisements on your website. They may even distribute malware to your users. Last but not least, they can shut down your website at any time without any notification. Avoid anyone who offers to give you free WordPress hosting, especially if you are serious about your site. Here are 36 reasons why having a “free website” is a bad idea.
How much does it cost to build a WordPress site?
The cost to build a WordPress website varies based on your needs. It can range from $100 to as high as $30,000. We have created a detailed guide explaining how much it really costs to build a WordPress website.
WordPress, as a content management system software, is open source and free to use. However, you’ll have to pay for hosting and a domain name. Additionally, your costs may increase if you choose to use other paid add-ons, themes, or plugins.
Do I need to have my domain and WordPress hosting from the same provider?
No. You can purchase your domain from a domain name registrar like Domain.com, GoDaddy, etc, and use one of the WordPress hosting providers listed above. However, if you don’t have a domain already, then it’s easier to use the same provider (especially since many are offering a free domain with hosting).
Can I use these WordPress hosting providers for an eCommerce site?
Yes, you absolutely can. All WordPress hosting companies that we recommend above offer SSL certificates which is what you need for running an eCommerce website. If you’re looking for specialized eCommerce web hosting, then you may want to look at our comparison of the best WooCommerce hosting.
How to secure my WordPress hosting account?
Your web hosting account is where your website files are stored. So it’s very important that you secure it. The best way to secure your WordPress hosting account is to use a strong password and avoid logging in from public locations (unless you’re using a VPN). We also recommend that you follow our ultimate WordPress security guide to protect your site.
How do I install WordPress on my WordPress hosting account?
Every WordPress hosting provider that we recommend comes with 1-click WordPress install. You can follow our step-by-step guide on how to install WordPress on your host.
Do I need cPanel WordPress hosting?
cPanel is a type of control panel that a lot of WordPress hosting companies use. No, you do not need cPanel, but it does make things easier in terms of installation, managing email accounts, etc.
With that said, a lot of hosting companies are now building their own custom hosting platform dashboards to make overall site management easier, and offer a managed hosting-like WordPress experience for startups.
This allows them to offer better web hosting services with improved functionality and a user-friendly experience
How much traffic can these WordPress hosting companies handle?
These WordPress hosting companies handle billions of impressions a month.
The amount of traffic your website can handle really depends on the WordPress hosting plan that you’re on. Most shared hosting plans can comfortably handle 1000 to 2000 visitors per day as long as your website is optimized for performance.
As your website grows, your WordPress hosting provider may ask you to upgrade to either VPS hosting (virtual private server), dedicated server, or managed WordPress hosting plans.
If you’re just getting started with blogging or creating a new website, then you can literally go with any of the WordPress hosting companies in our list, and their lowest plan will be able to handle your website traffic.
For more details on this topic, see our beginner’s guide on how much traffic can WordPress handle along with expert scaling tips.
Can I switch my WordPress hosting provider later?
Yes, you can absolutely switch if you’re unhappy with your WordPress hosting company. Most WordPress hosting companies offer free migration services which makes the process fairly smooth. However, if you want to do the migration yourself, then you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to move WordPress to a new host with no downtime.
Which WordPress hosting is better for beginners- GoDaddy or Bluehost?
We recommend Bluehost because it is the most beginner-friendly WordPress hosting company on the market. GoDaddy is also a good option, but their hosting can be more complex to use. You can read more here: Bluehost vs Godaddy hosting (Honest comparison)
Does my WordPress hosting datacenter location matter?
Some of the WordPress hosting companies that we recommend give you the option to choose your data center. The location of your data center does make a difference for your website performance in specific geographic locations.
If the majority of your audience is in the United States, then you want to choose a data center in the US. If a large portion of your audience is in Europe, then you should choose a data center in Europe.
If you are not sure, then just choose US for now. You can always use a WordPress CDN to speed up your site for various geographic location.
Should I purchase monthly WordPress hosting plans or commit long-term?
You will notice that almost every WordPress hosting company offers huge discounts for choosing long-term plans. If you are serious about your website, then you will likely keep it for more than a month.
We always recommend against choosing monthly WordPress hosting plans because they cost almost twice as much. It’s a better deal if you choose a 12- or 24-month plan.
Do I need any WordPress hosting addons?
Often WordPress hosting companies will try to upsell you on a wide variety of services such as drag-and-drop website builder, professional email, SEO tools, etc. You really don’t need these services when you’re starting out.
We recommend that you uncheck everything in the order process and only purchase what you really need: WordPress hosting.
You can buy these WordPress hosting addons if you need them in the future, but often there are free alternatives available for most of those features.
To see the alternatives, here is our list of must-have WordPress plugins (most have free versions).
Do WordPress hosting companies offer professional branded email address?
Yes, most WordPress hosting companies will give you the ability to create a free business email address. However, we recommend that you use Google Apps (also known as GSuite) because it’s more reliable. See our step-by-step guide on how to setup a professional email address with Google apps.
Do these WordPress hosting companies offer website backups?
Yes, every WordPress hosting company claims to keep daily backups of your website. However, from our experience, we advise our users to install a WordPress backup plugin to keep their own backups because you can never be too safe.
What is wp-cli that’s offered as part of my WordPress hosting?
WP-CLI is a command line interface for WordPress that allows you to update plugins, configure multisite installations, and much more, without using a web browser.
It’s a developer tool that most beginners don’t need, but it’s good to have in case you plan to hire a developer because it will speed up their workflow.
Most reputable WordPress hosting providers include WP-CLI aong with SSH access and staging + Git tools to help improve the website development workflow.
Which is the best WordPress hosting for SEO?
Since speed and overall website performance plays an important role in SEO rankings, we believe that SiteGround and Hostinger are the best WordPress hosting for SEO due to their highly optimized servers and multiple geo-location datacenter offering.
Not to mention, both of these hosting companies along with Dreamhost all come pre-installed with the popular free All in One SEO plugin for WordPress which will help you get higher SEO rankings.
Which is the best WordPress hosting for developers?
The best WordPress hosting for developers is SiteGround. They include several powerful developer tools including WP-CLI, Staging, Git access, the ability to white-label dashboard for clients, on-demand website backup copies, free CDN, easy site migrator tool, as well as several other useful pre-built features like out-of-box caching and security.
If you’re on a budget, then Hostinger is another great fast WordPress hosting solution for developers.
If you’re looking for a truly managed WordPress hosting experience for large-scale sites where budget is not a concern, then often developers choose WP Engine.
Which is the best WordPress enterprise hosting?
The best WordPress enterprise hosting is either WP Engine or SiteGround Enterprise offering. Both providers have enterprise plans with higher security, scalability, and dedicated customer support.
Other large enterprise hosting options include WordPress.com VIP, Pagely, and Kinsta. These providers can offer custom cloud infrastructure setup on Amazon Cloud, Google Cloud, and more.
What is the best cheap WordPress hosting?
Based on our research, the best cheap WordPress hosting providers that also offer quality service are Hostinger ($1.99 per month) and Dreamhost ($2.59 per month). Both of these providers are well known and offer reliable WordPress hosting for a cheap price.
Which is the fastest WordPress hosting company?
Based on our speed test results data, Hostinger is the fastest WordPress hosting company when it comes to shared hosting. WP Engine and SiteGround also offer extremely fast WordPress hosting. Here’s our performance test result of 8 fastest WordPress hosting companies.
Are there other WordPress hosting providers that are not listed here?
Yes, there are literally thousands of WordPress hosting solutions out there, and we simply can’t list them all here because that would create more confusion and cause choice paralysis for non-techy readers.
We have tried every major WordPress hosting company in the market including many that are not in our list above such as: WP Engine, Fasthosts, Flywheel, Kinsta, Cloudways, GoDaddy, IONOS, LiquidWeb, InMotion Hosting, A2 hosting, iPage, Site5, Arvixe, Pantheon, GreenGeeks, JustHost, HostPapa, NameCheap, NameHero, WordPress.com, InterServer, Hostwinds, MochaHost, AccuWeb Hosting, and more.
The top WordPress hosting companies that we have chosen to include in our list provides the best features for the best price.
Which are the best WordPress hosting companies in your opinion?
Our top 3 choices for the best WordPress hosting companies are:
- Bluehost — Best overall WordPress hosting (great value).
- SiteGround — Best WordPress support in the industry (premium hosting).
- Hostinger — Best WordPress hosting for small businesses.
No, this last question is not a joke. We seriously get this question even after referring people to this guide.
We hope that this guide helped you choose the best WordPress hosting services for your website. If you have a WordPress hosting question that we didn’t cover in our tutorial, then please send us a message using our contact form. One of our team members will respond back within 24 hours.
Need help starting your WordPress blog? Take advantage of our free WordPress blog setup service.
