Last Updated on February 1, 2023 by Obaro Alidou K.
I hate to say it, but when it comes to WordPress Hosting,….
Most people on the internet are liars, and most hosting companies are cheaters.
Some people write reviews on products or services they don’t even know. I call it unethical behavior. They recommend WordPress Hosting services without caring about what really matters and what doesn’t.
As a profane WordPress user, they can’t even explain the basics behind WordPress Hosting like….
- What is the difference between Standard Hosting and WordPress Hosting?
- What are the most important features to consider when choosing a WordPress hosting provider?
- Which WordPress Hosting companies are worth trying and why?
- Which WordPress Hosting companies are the most reliable? Why?
- Which are the really cheap options on the long term side?
Most disappointing, some people don’t know the difference between “poor” and “cheap” hosting. They never consider the quality of service provided while judging a WordPress hosting offer. They even fail in defining “WordPress Hosting” properly.
Sorry…sad truth.
That is why I decided to share with you in this article, the secrets behind WordPress Hosting. Keep reading…..
WordPress Hosting Secrets: The Shocking Truth You Should Know Right Now (Save your time & money)
I’m going to reveal the truth behind WordPress Hosting. Eager to get started? Let’s go!
Most Good Reviews on the Internet are Paid for
It is no secret that every blogger who recommends you a hosting service receives a commission when you click on links in his review, and purchase. And yes, that includes me.
What Makes Me Different Though?
I’m honest and I don’t hide anything. I spread FastComet (for beginners), and A2 Hosting (for advanced users and developers) words loudly, and I’m proud of doing so. I’m a proud and happy partner because I tested each of them thoroughly and trust them. I recommend them to my closest friends, and even my own family members are using them.
I only recommend services I think will satisfy your needs at a high level without the necessity of breaking your bank account. You are more important to me than a commission. Your trust is gold to my eyes. My main goal is to save you time, frustration, and money.
I’m not just trying to get commissions from each and every single web hosting company out there.
And that’s “NOT TRUE” for many other bloggers
Most are just trying to grab as many commissions as possible without thinking about your needs or budget. Some even don’t know anything about the services they are recommending.
One of the best proofs is they’ll recommend you tons of web hosts owned by the same awful company (EIG)…
When I see people recommending only HostGator or BlueHost, it is ok, there is no real problem. But, at the same time, they also recommend iPage, Arvixe, Site5, FatCow, A Small Orange (to name just a few) on the same blog,…..
I call it BIASED.
Why? Because they are recommending the same system using different names.
All these web hosting providers are owned by the same dream killer company called EIG (Endurance International Group). So, when Bluehost deceives you and you switch to HostGator or iPage, you have done nothing yet because your website is still on the same system (same datacenters).
In case you are not aware — EIG is one of the biggest players in the web hosting industry. They started as BizLand in 1996 and are Head Quartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.
What they do is they buy smaller web hosting companies to grow their business. They own and operate some of the most popular web hosting companies including HostGator, Bluehost, iPage, Arvixe, JustHost, and Site5…etc.
What Happens When EIG Buys A Web Hosting Company?
When they buy a web hosting company, they perform some killer modifications like changing the control panels and the hardware.
The worst thing is, they even change data center locations, the existing support staff, and start moving customers to their own network.
HostGator was one of the best web hosts in the market. But, after it has been bought off, customers’ accounts have been moved from SoftLayer to the EIG datacenter in Provo.
As a result, customer satisfaction decreases significantly. That is why you’ll notice people complaining more and more about BlueHost and HostGator (speed, and customer support). And, the bad experience only started after they had been bought by EIG.
BlueHost and HostGator were really great players in the hosting industry. But, with dying technical support today, there are high chances they deceive you.
The Bad News– is it hard to stay out of EIG’s Network today, because they own more than 80 web hosting companies around the world.
Even if your web host provides you bad service and you decide to move to another one, I bet 99% that you might still fall on a web host owned by EIG (it is sad).
To help you, here is a full list of…
Web Hosting Companies Owned By EIG—Be Aware
After EIG purchases a hosting company, only one thing happens—the company is put on its last legs. If your business is really important to you, stay far from EIG Network.
Here is the list.
Hand-picked post: EIG Full 80+ Hosting Brands: Plus Why They are So Terrible
This was just a parenthesis. Let’s now jump on our today’s subject.
What is WordPress Hosting?
In short, WordPress Hosting is a pre-configured hosting service designed to run WordPress powered websites powerfully.
The fact is that WordPress software has its own way to use resources and the first objective of WordPress Hosting is to provide dedicated resources to execute your WordPress site with speed and in a secured environment.
Different Types Of WordPress Hosting
There are two types of WordPress hosting but with different levels: DIY (usually called shared) or cheap WordPress hosting and concierge service WordPress hosting also known as managed WordPress hosting.
Both types have three levels: shared, VPS, and Dedicated server (more on that further below). To make it simple, this guide will focus on the secrets behind shared WordPress hosting. For concierge service one, check this complete unbiased managed WordPress hosting guide.
What is the Difference Between Standard Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting?
Every web hosting company offers WordPress Hosting Plans these days. That is good news. But the bad part is that many of them will charge you extra fees to give you access to their WP Hosting.
Is that necessary?
Before I answer the question, I want you to know that WordPress software runs fine on standard web hosting. You don’t need a special WordPress Hosting Plan to run your WordPress website.
You just need Linux Hosting that supports PHP and MySQL. If it sounds techy, it is what nearly all the hosting companies offer today.
Let’s now go back to our question….
Should You Pay Extra Fees For Cheap WordPress Hosting?
Well, today, WordPress Hosting is nothing more than a headline change.
Companies that really care about WordPress and have a dedicated team of WordPress technicians AT HAND will not charge you extra fees for their shared WordPress hosting plans. Their standard shared hosting and WordPress hosting is the same. They offer the same features and then only change the headline just to let customers know that they support WordPress software.
Companies like A2 Hosting and FastComet for instance, fully support WordPress application and most other CMSs or eCommerce software (Drupal, Joomla, OpenCart, Magento, etc.). WordPress runs fine on each of the products they offer.
They have simply implemented the WordPress hosting page to show their customers they are specialised and have a team of experienced technicians who can troubleshoot and assist with any technical inquiries. As such, their standard web hosting highly targets WordPress.
That is why, most of the time, their standard web hosting performs the same or far better than most of hosting companies’ WordPress Hosting.
So my answer is you should not pay extra charges for cheap WordPress Hosting.
What are the Different levels of WordPress Hosting?
Levels are not specific to WordPress Hosting only. They also apply to Standard Web Hosting. Even if you are running Drupal or an eCommerce with OpenCart, there are three different levels of web hosting.
The first one is Shared Hosting. With shared hosting, you share the same server with other customers. It is the most used level because of its price (cheap).
Secondly, after your website grows, shared hosting becomes tiny, and you then need a VPS (Virtual Private Server). With VPS hosting, the server is divided into smaller parts. Each part operates in its own container to give you private space, which leads to more power and stability for your website.
Now it is time to move on to the last and highest level which is Dedicated Server. A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a private fragment of a server. But, a dedicated server is a whole server. If you purchase a dedicated server hosting account, you are given an entire server for your only needs. It provides you the highest power for speed and stability, and it is also the priciest level.
To sum up, most online business owners first start with shared/cheap WordPress hosting. After they grow, they move to VPS, and finally to a Dedicated Server or managed WordPress hosting.
Which is the Right WordPress Hosting level to go for?
If you are just starting a fresh website or a blog, shared hosting is the right bet. I also recommend it even if you already have a blog, but with small traffic (lower than 100,000 visits/month).
Shared hosting is not the best hosting level, but, it is the most worthwhile when you are just starting.
As you can see from the screenshot, shared hosting is the best value for a new website. VPS and Dedicated servers can cost up to 100x more. Plus they are complicated to run and even more, to optimize.
PLEASE use shared hosting for WordPress as long as you get less than 100K visitors per month. The more you keep it simple, the better it is. Then, when you grow, you can think of VPS, Dedicated Server, or most efficiently, managed WordPress Hosting.
How To Get The Right Website Hosting for WordPress?
That is the question I get hundreds of times in my inbox. And honestly, there is no single secret to getting the best WordPress hosting. I don’t even think that is the actual question—the great question should be…
What Are The Most Important Features For WordPress Hosting?
YES! Here is the smart question and I’m going to answer as detailed as possible…
I have seen so many bad reviews, so many unhappy website owners, and even some entire businesses broken by the wrong hosting service.
Don’t believe me?
A friend of mine who is a web designer lost his entire business in one single day. Here is what happened:
He bought a reseller account from a hosting provider and had 57 clients hosted there. For security purposes, he hosted only one client per cPanel account. What he didn’t check before buying the reseller account is the actual hosting infrastructure and that was the biggest mistake of his career.
One day, the host servers went down for 6 hours. And, when things were back online, clients’ websites loading time was damn slow. Within that single day, he lost 52 clients out of 57. What intrigued me is that he is really good at building websites but he went with the wrong hosting provider.
With so many offers on the internet, choosing the right WordPress host can be tricky and time-consuming. Most people get attracted by advertising waffles like unlimited space, bandwidth, RAM, CPUs, and the cheapest price. While these must be looked at, they are not the most important when shopping for WordPress hosting.
Sure, they play an important role—I know SSD storage, for example, runs up to 300% faster than old HDD, and having more RAM and CPUs can increase site stability but, these are not the point of the spear when it comes to WordPress Hosting.
If you own a small/medium-sized website or you are just starting a blog, tech specs are the last things you should care about. You can even ignore them. Instead, focus on…
#1. Software
The software is what helps to configure and optimize the server. Even the poorest server can run WordPress smoothly if it has the best software.
For WordPress Hosting, software is the Server Technology (NGINX or LiteSpeed Web Server), Database Server (MariaDB), MySQL, and PHP Caching systems (Memcache, Varnish, and OPcache or APC). NGINX is even used by Google Cloud Platform!
Other important configurations you should consider are the latest version of PHP (PHP 7.x), and also the latest network protocol for significantly faster page loads in-browser (HTTP/2) which makes your application load faster as stated by Google.
In many cases, you may not directly see MariaDB on a hosting company’s website. Also, OPcache or APC are included in PHP since the release of PHP 5.5.
So, if your hosting provider offers PHP7, don’t torture yourself for OPcache or APC.
Let me summarize things for you. The must-have server technologies a good WordPress Host should offer are:
- NGINX or LiteSpeed Web Server
- MySQL caching through Memcached
- PHP7 and HTTP/2 support
Bottom line:
The Software matters more than the Hardware When it comes to WordPress HostingClick To TweetIf a web host misses one of the features listed above, don’t buy the service. Just look around, there are plenty of other companies ready for WordPress (more on that further below).
As you now know the configuration you should consider for WordPress hosting, let’s move on to another important factor which is…
#2. Security and Reliability
WordPress websites are the most targeted by hackers, viruses, and malware.
A research held by Sucuri showed that 74% of infected websites in 2016 were running on WordPress. That number rose to 83% in 2017.
Another study conducted by WebARX has shown that 18,729 websites were hacked in the USA, 4,679 websites for Indonesia, 4,441 in South Africa, and 1,268 for Germany in February 2018 only.
Statistically, around 90% of the hacked websites were running on WordPress.
So, security is the most important factor to consider after server configuration. When searching for WordPress Hosting, then make sure your hosting company offers high-security protection and at no extra cost.
WordPress Security Features to Consider
Here are the exact marketing jargons to look for on a hosting company’s website:
- Free Web Application Firewall
- Free Network Firewall
- Redundant Network
- Free SSL Certificates
Let’s explain each of them:
Web Application Firewall protects your website from malicious attacks like SQL injection, XML-RPC, DDoS Attack, etc.
Network Firewall, On the other hand, Network Firewall protects your website’s home (datacenter) from malicious attacks.
Network redundancy is crucial. If your hosting provider does not have a redundant network, your websites will most of the time be crashing.
SSL Certificates are now hitting websites’ SEO (Search Engine Optimization). They have already become a key ranking factor as stated by Google. A good web host should offer you SSL Certificates for free.
Remember this: The two Firewalls are important and should be free. If a web host charges a special fee for them, just leave.
An excellent WordPress hosting company will even go further more and provide Free Malware removal and additional security through BitNinja (with FastComet), Imunify360 (ChemiCloud), or Free HackScan (as with A2 Hosting).
#3. Tech Support
Ok; every hosting provider claims to offer 24h/7 support.
Really?
No; not all the time.
The most important thing is not just having a support team available. Instead, focus on the means you get support through, and the kind of issues you get help for.
Here is what I mean:
- Do you get tech support through live chat or will you only submit tickets and have to wait for hours or even days before getting answered?
- Can you pick up your phone and talk to a real person from the support to troubleshoot and solve your issues?
- Can you chat 24h/7 with real people or will you have to wait for normal business hours?
- Is the support a dedicated WordPress technicians’ team which could help you with WordPress and its popular themes and plugins issues?
- Will the support help you migrate your websites for free? In case you need it.
- Does the company have its own WordPress technician team or is it an outsourced one?
With all this having been said, you should pay attention to the support capabilities before buying your hosting account for WordPress.
Support is frustrating and useless if you can’t talk directly to real people to get help.
Personal Web Hosting Support Experience
I will never forget my phone call with Veronica M. from FastComet. She made me feel really good and happy. The best part is, I didn’t call her; she was the one who called to help me!
Here is what clearly happened.
I had an issue with my cPanel account, and it wasn’t available anymore. When I try to access it, I have a message saying “cPanel account doesn’t exist”.
To get help, I reached out to the live chat and got Veronica M who asked for my phone number which I gave her. She then asked me to wait.
Two minutes later, nothing happened and I wrote again through the live chat. She apologized because she tried to call me but there was a network failure.
I then gave her my business phone number and she called me directly in no time. I explained my issue and she asked me to wait again.
Sometimes later, she got back to me on the live chat to let me know everything was ok now. My cPanel is back and active!
The two things I want to draw your attention to are (1). She was the one who called to assist me (2). Everything went fast. The whole process lasted for less than 5 minutes. Those two criteria are really hard to get from a company these days.
Another good time I had was with Tresden from A2Hosting Guru Crew support. This guy is damn good as a tech support representative.
#4. Specialty
By “specialty”, I mean dedicated WordPress features. This is important especially if you are a developer who uses command lines like WP-CLI or Git. Also, make sure the company provides Staging area.
Staging is helpful when you want to add new features/functionalities to your WordPress site and you are not sure whether it feats your site or not. This allows you to set up a testing environment for your WordPress site to experiment with any new feature, theme, plugin to see how it works before making it go live on your real site.
To sum up, WordPress specific features to look for include:
- WP-CLI
- Git
- Staging
Ok. Let’s now jump on the biggest question. The one you have been waiting for from the beginning….
What are The Best Cheap WordPress Hosting Companies (2020)?
I always agree with my fellows who say there is no such thing as the “best” web host. The “best” depends on who you are (beginner, experienced user, developer, professional, etc.), your project, and budget.
However, since we are talking about shared WordPress Hosting specifically, here are some of the best web hosts after a decade of experience in that field and 98+ tested hosts.
#1. A2 Hosting
Here is my top #1 recommendation for geeks, developers, and advanced users. It is also the top #1 in speed.
A2 Hosting started in 2001. That is 18+ years of experience.
They target developers first. They allow you to run things like node.js on their shared hosting which is normally reserved for VPS. You can even run all of the most popular developer programs on their shared plans.
Sure, even a beginner can use them but, be aware that they don’t offer free domain names like ChemiCloud. Instead, you’ll have the best speed for cheap WordPress hosting.
Want WP-CLI, Git, Node.js, and staging at the cheapest price? Here is your smart match. See the full A2 developer feature here.
Server Technology, Security, and Speed
In fact, A2 Hosting is made for speed and security. They use LiteSpeed web server technology and Turbo Servers to ensure your website runs like a charm. They also offer Memcached caching and Railgun Optimizer for faster page load.
Likewise, A2 Hosting also excels at server security with the latest security rules and patches. So it comes with free SSL Certificates, Dual Firewalls plus free HackScan as well to keep your website away from hackers, viruses, malware, DDoS, and other malicious attacks. PHP7.x and the latest HTTP/2 protocol are also in their arena of performance.
One of the best things about A2 Hosting is its cutting-edge feature called A2 Optimized which is an in-house plugin to configure your WordPress website for enhanced speed and security.
The cool thing is it comes preinstalled with your WordPress website or blog, and it is hands-free. Just a few clicks and everything is done.
A2 Hosting Turbo servers running LiteSpeed technology, built with the new NVMe AMD EPYC Servers w/ 40% FASTER CPU Performance, and enhanced with Railgun, deliver the fastest speed I have seen on shared WordPress hosting.
Honestly, I struggled to find any downside using A2 Hosting. Even the uptime was good with only two recorded outages within 6 months.
The first downtime was recorded on April 18, and it lasted for 1 minute. The last one occurred on June 21 and lasted for 15 minutes this time.
Number of downtimes: 2
Downtime duration: 16 minutes within 6 months
Downtime %: 0.006%
Uptime duration: 259184 minutes
So A2 Hosting totaled 99.994% Uptime!
Tech Support
Another selling point is Guru Crew Support which is a team of WordPress experts who really know what they are doing. They will migrate your website free of charge and solve issues in the blink of an eye. They act kindly and in a professional way. But sometimes, you might have to wait for 5-15 min when there is a long waiting queue on live chat.
Furthermore, the company even provides free server rewind backups allowing you up to 50GB backups.
A2 Hosting is the Fastest Shared Host for WordPress.
#2. FastComet
FastComet has built a solid reputation over the past years and continues to seduce customers with 45,000+ clients in over 170 countries worldwide. It is one of the fastest growing companies which owes its success to the quality of service provided to customers.
Server Technology, Security, and Performance
They use the latest NGINX web server technology, have 10 datacenters worldwide to choose from, and offer free Web Application and Network Firewall for security. They also have a redundant network and even provide free BitNinja Server security, Dynamic SSL, GlobalSign SSL, and free private DNS. Additionally, FastComet offers free daily offsite backups, and free Malware removal. So in case your site gets hacked or infected by worms, FastComet will clean it for free! Which, even SiteGround doesn’t.
Their top tier FastCloud Extra plan even includes 5 Special Layers of caching and speed optimizations: Memcached, Varnish, Apache Mod_LSAPI, OPcach, and APC to increase speed by boosting MySQL and PHP loading time. Their servers are also PHP7 and HTTP/2 ready to take your website to the next level.
In short: FastComet provides everything required on the server side to run WordPress smoothly.
Number of downtimes: 3
Downtime duration: 11 minutes within 6 months
Downtime %: 0.004%
Uptime duration: 259189 minutes
So FastComet has had a 99.996% Uptime! One of the best I have seen.
24h/7 Support
They provide responsive, knowledgeable, and friendly support. That is why they are my top #1 recommendation for beginners. They’ll install everything you need for free.
FastComet provides Free application installation (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, OpenCart,..). You only have to ask to be served.
Free template installation—They’ll also install any theme you want for your blog or eCommerce website and it is free.
When you ask a question like “how do I create a sub-domain through cPanel?”, the support answer is “Do you want us to do it for you?”. Just say yes and they’ll do it for free. This is their key selling point: A dedicated support you can count on 24h/7 through real Live Chat and Phone calls.
The Extra
If you are a web designer, they give you a free website builder with hundreds of templates to make a website in a few minutes.
As if it was not enough, you also get free website migration, free domain transfers and up to six months unused hosting compensation. This means that if you migrate to FastComet and still have unused months in your contract from your old hosting company, FastComet will compensate up to six of those remaining months.
FastComet is an excellent cheap WordPress host for starting blogs and designing websites.
FastComet has won the best cheap host for WordPress overall prize.
Why?
Simply because the largest part of people on the Internet are beginners, small to medium size website or eCommerce owners, and small business owners; and FastComet satisfies this level of need with excellence.
Discover why you should use FastComet here to understand how they differ.
[Claim Your 60% Discount Plus Free Domain Transfer!]
#3. ChemiCloud
I’m 99% sure you have never heard of this company before. This is proof that great things are more often hidden from the mass. I like cutting-edge server technologies and, fortunately, that is an area ChemiCloud excels at.
Server Security, Support, and Performance
The most attractive aspects of ChemiCloud are server technology, support, and quality of service. With a cloud network of 8 secured datacenters strategically located around the globe, ChemiCloud provides one of the most reliable WordPress hosting infrastructures built with:
- Advanced Firewall Protection
- Account Isolation
- Free Unlimited SSL
- Redundant network
- Reliable Cloud Platform
- Proactive Server Monitoring
- Imunify360 Proactive Defense
- Web Application Firewall
- Malware Detection
Their servers also come with the latest PHP7.x, HTTP/2 protocol, OPcache/APC, Memcached, QUIC protocol, RailGun Optimizer, and more…
All these naturally lead to blazing fast loading time.
ChemiCloud has delivered the best uptime with two outages of 2 and 3 minutes.
Number of downtimes: 2
Downtime Duration: 5 minutes within 6 months
Downtime %: 0.001%
Uptime duration: 259195 minutes
It recorded a 99.999% Uptime! That is nearly 100% which grants ChemiCloud the Best Uptime WordPress Hosting Prize.
Finally, when it comes to getting help, the support staff from ChemiCloud is available 24h a day, 7 days a week, and is one of the most helpful in the industry. There is zero waiting time; you get instant live chat help whenever you need it.
Just starting? ChemiCloud offers a free domain name for life and free website migration as well to reduce your pains.
[Get ChemiCloud 60% OFF + Free Domain For Life!]
#4. InterServer
They started in 1999. They have 20+ years of experience. No, I would even say 20+ years of hosting excellence.
InterServer is one of the cheapest web hosting providers for WordPress. It is my top #2 recommendation for beginners and also the top #2 in speed from our tests.
Server Configuration and Performance
InterServer looks a bit like A2 Hosting. They also use LiteSpeed web server technology for their shared WordPress hosting.
That is good news because LiteSpeed performs better than NGINX in terms of speed, and it is really a gift to have it at no extra cost; especially for a cheap hosting deal ($5/month). They even support PHP7, OPCache, APC, and HTTP/2 protocol.
When it comes to performance, I have been surprised by how fast InterServer loads despite its cheap price. This proves that LiteSpeed is a great server tech.
As far as uptime is concerned, you can see in the screenshot that there have been 5 downtimes recorded over a period of six months. The first lasted for 7 mins, the second for 5 mins, the third for 1 min, the fourth for 1 min as well, and the last one lasted for 8 mins. So over six months, I have recorded a total of 22 minutes of downtime. That is incredible for a cheap web hosting server. If we do the math, that is 99.99% uptime!
Number of downtimes: 5
Downtime duration: 22 minutes within 6 months
Downtime %: 0.008%
Uptime duration: 259178 minutes
InterServer has been up for 99.992%!
Security & Support
InterServer offers everything needed for a secure WordPress Hosting environment. From free firewalls to malware removal, they have got you covered. What draws my attention the most is their in-house InterShield Security that scans, blocks, tracks, and destroys any malicious attack before it even finds your site. The best part, it is free.
Interserver Intershield Security
Other than that, InterServer also provides two other security features called Inter-Insurance and Inter-Proxy Caching which make your WordPress blog unreachable to malicious programs. Furthermore, InterServer provides you with free unlimited website migration and SSL Certificates.
They also supply excellent support through live chat, tickets, and Phone. Most of the time, you’ll get answered through live chat in less than 15 minutes. The support staff is knowledgeable, expert, and friendly.
InterServer Tech Support Options
Reliability, Price, and the Extra
InterServer uses OpenStack to create redundancy in their system. So each hosting account comes with free weekly backups. They even go further and keep three copies of each backup for 60 days! That is good in case an unforeseen event occurs.
One of the InterServer selling points I really appreciate is the price model. The package costs $5/mo ($4.5 if paid yearly) with a price-lock guarantee meaning the price you pay today is the price you’ll be paying forever. No gimmicks, no surprises.
If you are a beginner, InterServer offers a discounted domain name at only $1.99/year and gives you free $100 in ad credits to promote your new blog/website! (Conditions may apply).
If you are about to start a WordPress blog, and the cost is your biggest worry, then, InterServer is your best bet.
InterServer is the Best Cheap Unlimited WordPress Hosting Provider.
[Get $0.01 First month + 10% Discount + free $100 in ad credits!]
#5. GreenGeeks
It’s a green powerhouse for WordPress users. That is how I call them.
GreenGeeks is funded by Trey Gardner, an expert from the hosting industry. He used his experience to build something that really stands out, and I like saying “it is a success”.
Server Technology & Performance
GreenGeeks is a great cheap host for WordPress with a solid server configuration. One of its selling points is how genuinely it manages servers to run beyond the industry average speed (550ms). But, that is no surprise because…
GreenGeeks was one of the first to adopt PHP7 and provides the latest HTTP/2 protocol for faster In-browser Load Times. They use LiteSpeed web server, and the fastest Database server (MARIADB) to deliver blazing fast data read/write.
Like A2 Hosting with its A2 Optimized, GreenGeeks has an in-house caching technology called PowerCacher that allows them to serve your WordPress Website efficiently and reliably.
The PowerCacher tool combined with the latest software and SSD servers, I was expecting something amazing regarding speed from GreenGeeks. And, fortunately, I have been pleased.
Number of downtimes: 5
Downtime Duration: 21 minutes within 6 months
Downtime %: 0.008%
Uptime duration: 259179 minutes (1 min more than InterServer)
So GreenGeeks has had a 99.992% Uptime!
GreenGeeks Server Security, Support, and Price
GreenGeeks provides Firewalls, SSL Certs and other stuff like that. However, this is not what impressed me the most.
In fact, the best thing about GreenGeeks is their Linux Secure vFS system. It is a virtualized File System that isolates each hosting account in its own container as if you were using a VPS. The system prevents an account from accessing another and helps protect customers against malware and other malicious attacks.
Like I said, the person behind GreenGeeks is an experienced guy. Since then it has been easy for him to build a team of WordPress experts to help customers with any potential issue related to WordPress and its ecosystem.
Support is available 24h/7 via Live Chat and phone calls as well.
If you are just starting out, they will give you a free domain name for the first year. But, keep in mind that Privacy protection costs $9.95/year. However, you are not bound to pay for it. You can just take the free domain name and uncheck the “privacy protection” during your buying process (if you don’t mind).
Want more power, higher security, and a concierge service? Take a look at the world’s best managed WordPress hosting.
Best Shared WordPress Hosting Uptime Comparison
| Downtime duration | Downtime % | Uptime % | ||
| A2 Hosting | 16 mins | 0.006% | 99.994% | Learn More |
| FastComet | 11 mins | 0.004% | 99.996% | Learn More |
| ChemiCloud | 21 mins | 0.008% | 99.992% | Learn More |
| InterServer | 22 mins | 0.008% | 99.992% | Learn More |
| GreenGeeks | 5 mins | 0.001% | 99.999% | Learn More |
You may be wondering….
What About SiteGround, InMotion, And DreamHost?
Here is my answer:
SiteGround vs. A2 Hosting
SiteGround is a really good Hosting provider. It is even one of the best for WordPress. I even recommend them despite the fact that I don’t earn a penny from them because I know they are good.
They offer almost every feature A2 Hosting claims. They both offer WP-CLI, Staging features, etc.
But, A2 Hosting is a far better deal than SiteGround in my opinion.
Why?
The first reason is the server limitations.
SiteGround limits your account to 10,000 visits/month for their entry-level plan while you get unlimited bandwidth with A2 Hosting. You can get 50k visits/month on the A2 Hosting STARTUP plan without worrying about upgrading.
SiteGround (see in-depth comparison) also allows you 150,000 inodes while A2 offers 600,000 inodes!
Hand-picked post: Inode in Web Hosting: The Server Limitation That Hurts
The second reason is speed.
SiteGround server speed is beyond the industry average (780ms) and that is really good. However, A2 Hosting tends to offer deeper speed optimization, especially through their A2 Optimized in-house plugin.
On top of all, SiteGround uses NGINX while A2 Hosting uses the LiteSpeed web server which is faster than NGINX.
Hand-picked post: A2 Hosting vs. SiteGround: The #14 Facts You Didn’t Know
DreamHost vs. FastComet
DreamHost really hurts me. While even new players like FastComet provide Free Firewalls+ additional security features, DreamHost will charge you a whopping $36/year ($3/month) to monitor and remove viruses and Malware from your website. That is sad. But keep reading to find the worst.
The worst thing about DreamHost at the beginning blogger side is website migration.
All the companies I listed will give you not only a free Firewall, but they will also migrate your website for free.
Instead, DreamHost will charge you $99 to migrate your website ($99!)—be aware.
So, if you buy a hosting account from them, and you already have a blog you want to transfer to your new server, they’ll charge you $99 to perform it for you. What a shame!
DreamHost doesn’t also offer cPanel as most hosting providers. As a substitute, you’ll get their custom panel that is a bit dull in my opinion.
In short, not only DreamHost charges for Firewall (which you normally get for free with FastComet), you’ll also have to pay $99! to have your website migrated to their servers.
InMotion vs. FastComet
The biggest problem with InMotion hosting is what I call “The Big Brand Syndrome”. Many successful companies end up ignoring customers who bring them to the point they are. When starting, they are excellent and this attracts hundreds of thousands of clients. Then, when they grow, they start neglecting the existing clients, decreasing the quality of service, which leads to a huge reputation strike. This is the case with InMotion.
In 2001 InMotion was a top provider; ten years later, when they had exceptionally grown, they started falling to the 8/10 mark. Today, they are not that better than HostGator (4/10).
If I won’t personally use them, then why would I recommend them to deceive my readers?
Well, the competition is so rude that I can’t manage to find a real selling point from InMotion Hosting.
Normally, every hosting company has its selling point. It’s something they are best at, and that makes them stand out. I don’t really see or feel any buying magnets from InMotion. I don’t see where they stand out from the competition.
You now know why SiteGround, InMotion, and DreamHost are not on my list.
And yeah, that is just my opinion as a paying customer like you and a hosting snooper.
Best Cheap WordPress Hosting Features and Pricing Table
| A2 Hosting | FastComet | ChemiCloud | InterServer | GreenGeeks | |
| Server tech | LiteSpeed | NGINX | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed |
| PHP 7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HTTP/2 | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Free CDN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Virus, DDoS, Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free SSL | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Live Chat & Phone support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inodes limit | 600K | 250K-500K | 100K-300K | 250K | 150K-450K |
| Entry Process limit | 15-100 | 20-40 | 10-30 | 25-50 | 100-150 |
| Staging Area | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| WP-CLI | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Git | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Node.js | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Overall Speed | ~380ms | ~668ms | ~617ms | ~433ms | ~550ms |
| Price/month | $3.92 | $3.95 | $3.95 | $5 | $2.95 |
| Guarantee | Anytime | 45 days | 45 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| View Details | View Details | View Details | View Details | View Details |
Remember: “Best” depends on your expertise, needs, and budget.
A lot of things in your head today? Let’s cut it down to a few lines.
To get the best deal for WordPress Hosting, here are the most important facts to keep in mind:
The #10 Must-Know Things to Get the Best WordPress Hosting
- Avoid EIG companies as much as you can.
- For a website with fewer than 100,000 visitors per month, just go for shared WordPress hosting.
- The server configuration is way more important than the Tech specs: look for NGINX / LiteSpeed, Memcached/Varnish, PHP7, and HTTP/2 support.
- A good WordPress host should be security conscious and offer free Web Application and Network Firewalls
- Free SSL Certificates are mandatory.
- For support, look for 24h/7 live chat and/or phone
- Don’t pay extra fees for shared WordPress Hosting
- A Good WordPress host should have a Redundant Network
- WP-CLI and Git might not be important to you but staging would be of great help.
- If you can’t go through the pains of digging into companies’ blueprints, just choose one hosting company from the list above.
>> Check A2 Hosting >> Go To FastComet Check ChemiCloud
Anyways, only choose the one you think suits your actual needs and budget. Be a smart buyer.
Conclusion
When it comes to WordPress hosting, server configuration, security, and support are the most important factors. Tech specs come next. Save yourself tons of time, headaches and money; choose one company from the list above.
However, the final decision is yours. I just wanted you to be smart while choosing.
I will be updating this guide each time there is something valuable to add. Keep an eye on your mailbox. If you hadn’t subscribed yet to my newsletter, just do it right now below or in the sidebar to get updates directly in your inbox.
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Cheers!
Obaro