Managed WordPress hosting companies tailor plans for busy websites and build services around more ambitious, enterprise-level needs.
This premium type of hosting commands a higher price primarily due to the provision of dedicated resources and optimised server configurations designed specifically for WordPress websites. Unlike shared hosting environments where resources are distributed among multiple users, managed WordPress hosting allocates dedicated RAM and CPU to each website, ensuring consistent performance and preventing resource contention.
There’s a valid point to be made about the term “managed” in Managed WordPress Hosting. While it implies a hands-off experience, website owners still have some responsibilities. You’ll typically need to handle theme and plugin updates yourself, ensuring compatibility and maintaining security. Additionally, content management and site customisation remain under your control.
However, Managed WordPress Hosting offers significant benefits in other areas. It takes care of crucial technical tasks like server security, performance optimisation, automatic backups, and WordPress core updates. This frees you from managing complex technical aspects and allows you to focus on your website’s core purpose.
Think of it this way: Managed WordPress Hosting doesn’t manage everything, but it manages the critical behind-the-scenes infrastructure that keeps your WordPress site secure, fast, and functioning smoothly.
Below is a list of some of the best managed WordPress hosting companies in the business. All offer high-performance, scalable cloud-based WordPress hosting. These companies include valuable features such as free SSL certificates, CDN integration, staging environments, malware removal, DDoS protection, and free migrations.
Best Managed WordPress Hosting
Kinsta, founded in 2013, is a managed WordPress hosting company headquartered in the United States.
Kinsta has established itself as one of the world’s leading managed WordPress hosting companies, currently serving over 21,500 websites.
Kinsta has built its infrastructure on the Google Cloud Platform and includes features such as DDoS protection, staging areas, backups, free SSL, and CDN.
Kinsta’s plans start at $30 per month.
Read our Kinsta WordPress hosting review
WPEngine was among the first companies to offer this service. Today, they support over 120,000 customers across 150 countries.
WPEngine builds its infrastructure on the Google Cloud Platform, known for its reliability and security. Their features focus on user experience, offering tools to streamline your workflow. These features include site cloning for easy development and testing, staging environments for seamless updates, free SSL certificates for enhanced security, and a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for fast website loading times.
WPEngine offers a range of plans to suit your needs, with prices starting at £20 per month.
Flywheel, now a WPEngine company, caters specifically to web designers and agencies seeking managed WordPress hosting solutions.
Their focus lies on simplifying collaboration, offering features that benefit both teams and clients. Notably, this includes a built-in billing suite, streamlining the financial aspects of project management.
Flywheel’s plans start at a competitive price point of $15 per month.
Cloudways, acquired by DigitalOcean, offers a unique managed cloud hosting service. Unlike others, Cloudways allows you to choose your preferred cloud provider from a selection including DigitalOcean, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud. This flexibility caters to users with specific preferences or existing accounts with these providers.
Cloudways itself provides valuable features like free SSL certificates, free website migrations to their platform, auto-healing technology to automatically fix server issues, and automated backups for added security.
Their plans start at a budget-friendly $14 per month.
Established in 2004, SiteGround has become a leading provider of managed WordPress hosting solutions.
Their focus on WordPress translates to features and expertise specifically designed for this platform. SiteGround boasts automatic updates for WordPress core and plugins, simplifying maintenance. They also provide user-friendly tools like staging environments for development and testing, a WordPress Migrator plugin for hassle-free website transfers, and performance and security optimisation tools. Additionally, SiteGround offers 24/7 support from a team with advanced WordPress knowledge to address any issues you encounter.
Their plans start at £17 per month.
20i has pivoted from shared web hosting to managed cloud hosting, offering a unique hybrid approach. This means you can choose to host your WordPress site on their own cloud infrastructure, Google Cloud, or Amazon AWS.
20i complements this flexibility with a comprehensive suite of WordPress-specific features. These features include staging environments, automated backups, free SSL certificates, a Content Delivery Network (CDN), and integrated email services. This combination makes 20i a strong contender for those seeking a feature-rich managed cloud hosting solution for their WordPress website.
Read our 20i hosting review
Wordify offers managed WordPress hosting that uses the combined power of Amazon AWS and Google Cloud for their server infrastructure. This ensures high performance and scalability for your website. With servers strategically located in the US, UK, and Australia, Wordify provides excellent global coverage to ensure fast loading times for your visitors.
Their plans are ideal for small agencies and freelancers who require a reliable and secure platform to build and manage their WordPress websites. Wordify’s pricing starts at $29 per month.
Rocket.net, a US-based managed WordPress host for small agencies and freelancers, sets itself apart with a free Cloudflare Enterprise CDN included in all plans, alongside free SSL, backups, staging areas, and malware removal.
Plans start at $30 per month.
Templ offers high-performance WordPress hosting powered by Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Templ provides essential features like staging environments for development, automatic backups for security, free SSL certificates for secure connections, and auto-scaling technology to handle traffic spikes.
Plans start at an affordable $15 per month.
Closte offers a unique approach to managed WordPress hosting. Powered by Google Cloud Platform and LiteSpeed enterprise technology, Closte provides a scalable and high-performance environment for your website.
Unlike traditional plans, Closte uses a pay-as-you-go model, so you only pay for the resources your website uses. This makes Closte ideal for sites with fluctuating traffic.
Closte includes valuable features like Google Cloud DNS for efficient routing, Google Cloud CDN for fast global delivery, free SSL certificates for security, and automated backups and staging areas for development.
WPX is a European-managed WordPress hosting firm.
The company has data centres in the UK, US, and Australia and offers one-click WordPress installation, staging areas, free migrations, DDOS protection, CDN and malware removal.
WPX’s plans start at $24.99.
Convesio is a US-based managed WordPress host that uses auto-scaling with docker containers and is powered by Amazon AWS and the Google Cloud Platform.
Convesio features include free SSL, backups, staging areas, DDOS protection and malware removal.
Convesio’s plans start at $150 per month.
WPMUDev, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, is an all-in-one WordPress management platform for freelancers and agencies.
Their plans start at $15 per month, offering a suite of plugins for security, performance, SEO, backups, and more. They also provide site management tools for efficient updates across multiple websites.
Pressable, now part of Automattic, offers managed WordPress hosting built on the same infrastructure as WordPress.com and WordPress VIP. This means you get the reliability and performance of these trusted platforms.
Pressable sweetens the deal with free website migrations, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster loading times, automatic backups, staging areas for testing changes, and even access to premium features from Jetpack. All this starts at just $15.83 per month.
Despite being a smaller player in the WordPress hosting world, BigScoots offers big benefits.
Their plans start at $34.95 per month and include essential features like DDoS protection to shield your website from attacks, automatic backups to ensure you never lose data, free SSL certificates to encrypt your information, and staging areas to test changes before they impact your live site.
Pressidium tackles the challenges of high-traffic websites with their UK-based, enterprise-grade managed WordPress hosting.
They provide essential features like automatic backups, secure auto-updates, malware removal for peace of mind, load balancing for smooth performance, free SSL and CDN for security and speed, staging areas to test changes safely, and even free website migrations to ease your transition.
Plans start at $42 per month.
Pagely tackles the hosting needs of large organizations with its enterprise-grade managed WordPress hosting. Built on the trusted Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform, Pagely delivers high performance, security, and scalability.
Major companies like Warner Brothers, Cisco, Disney, and Experian rely on Pagely which offers a premium solution for businesses with demanding needs.
Plans start at $499 per month.
Pantheon streamlines collaboration between marketers and developers with its WebOps platform, designed to accelerate website performance and growth. Trusted by high-profile clients like DocuSign, IBM, Google, and Yale, Pantheon powers over 300,000 websites.
Plans start at $500 per month.
Exclusive to high-traffic websites and global brands, WordPress VIP offers a premium managed WordPress service.
They provide enterprise-grade hosting, expert support, and bespoke website management, ensuring optimal performance and security for mission-critical sites. Trusted by industry leaders like The Sun, SalesForce, TechCrunch, NASA, Facebook, New York Post, and News Corp, WordPress VIP delivers a tailored solution for businesses with demanding needs.
Plans start at $2,000 per month.
The Takeaway
The managed WordPress hosting market is bursting with options, so you can find the ideal solution for your website’s specific needs. Don’t get bogged down by the choices! Many providers use the reliable infrastructure of Google Cloud Platform or Amazon AWS. But what truly sets them apart is how well they optimise for speed and security, along with the quality of their customer support.
If budget is a primary concern, SiteGround and Cloudways are strong contenders. However, I recommend you explore all other providers and compare features before making your decision.