Every website needs a place to live – a host.
But with so many hosting providers out there it’s very hard to compare all of their pricing and features to know which one is best for a WordPress affiliate blog.
Usually, the most reliable information about such topics can be found on Reddit.
However, by Googling the best hosting for WordPress and adding site:reddit.com in the search phase I was surprised to find that there weren’t too many great results.
So when I needed to pick a host for this website I surfed hundreds of subreddits trying to determine the best provider.
I spent more than a week comparing the most popular choices, their features, pros, and cons and ultimately landed on Hostinger.
But the choice was hard and that’s why I decided to write this guide to help you pick the one that suits your needs best.
When starting an online business with a WordPress blog it’s important to consider the various hosting options that provide the best cost, site speed, uptime, and ease of use.
Hosting is one of the most fundamental tools that every new website needs.
This guide covers the best website hosting options for WordPress blogs based on the following:
- Price
- Features
- Server locations
- Website speed
- User-friendliness
- And more.
What Is the Best Hosting Provider for WordPress?
1. Hostinger
Best features:
- Free domain protection. Other website hosting services such as Bluehost charge separately for domain protection which costs 10€/year
- Frequent discounts (get 20% discount)
- Easy-to-use interface
- Website migration. Easy-to-use website migration tool that moves your website from your old hosting provider to Hostinger
- Online tutorials. The team at Hostinger creates free YouTube tutorials about how to solve many frequently occurring issues with your website
- Free SSL certificate
- Free domain for 1 year (available for premium web hosting plan)
- Dedicated hosting plans for WordPress
- Great customer support via live chat
- Free domain email
- 99.9% website uptime guarantee
Price:
The cheapest plan starts at $1.99/month and renews at $3.99/month after 1 year.
If you’re just starting your first WordPress blog then the cheapest Single Web Hosting plan is the way to go.
You can upgrade to a more expensive plan anytime so picking the cheapest one for your needs right now will save you some money.
What I like/dislike about it:
Tutorials:
The Hostinger team creates YouTube tutorials to help users solve various issues with their WordPress blogs.
These tutorials have helped me troubleshoot many issues with my website and they’re useful even if you don’t have Hostinger as your website host.
Website migration:
The first hosting provider that I used for my website was Bluehost but I decided to migrate over to Hostinger because of their better pricing.
The migration process was super easy with their built-in free migration tool.
Essentially, all you need to do is provide your WordPress details and in a split second your website will be moved to Hostinger.
Support speed:
I was surprised by how quickly their team replied and issued a refund for a domain transfer feature that I accidentally purchased twice.
The whole process of requesting a refund took less than 5 minutes through Hostinger’s life chat feature.
Ethics:
As one Redditor put it “web hosting companies are more corrupt than 3rd world countries”.
I looked online and read some articles and it turns out that Hostinger among some other hosting providers used to buy and make their employees write fake reviews of their services online. Also, their CEO has been caught lying to their customers. All of this took place quite a while ago but that might be one reason to stay away from Hostinger.
What Reddit thinks about Hostinger:
Get started with Hostinger.
2. Namecheap
Best features:
- Has a questionnaire to help determine the best hosting plan for your specific needs.
- Free website migration if done in the first 24 hours
- Cheapest pricing
- Eco-friendly
- No downtime
- Offers frequent promotions and discounts
- DDoS protection
- Free SSL certificate for the first year
- Twice a week website backups
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Instant 24/7 support via live chat
Price:
The cheapest shared hosting plan is $22.88 ($1.98/month) for the first year and then renews at $44.88/year.
I recommend the Stellar (cheapest) plan for a WordPress website.
If you choose to pay for hosting for 2 years through namecheap you can get a bigger discount and pay only $1.58/mo for the duration of 2 years.
What I like/dislike about it:
Support via live chat was instantaneous even when I wasn’t logged into my account.
The company has great ethics (at least from what I found) and its new data center based in The Netherlands is powered by sources that are 100% renewable.
Their interface is very user-friendly and easy to navigate even for a complete beginner that’s just starting out blogging with WordPress.
What Reddit thinks about Namecheap:
Get started with Namecheap.
3. EasyWP
Best features:
- EasyWP is Namecheap’s fast, affordable Managed WordPress Hosting solution.
- Made specifically for hosting WordPress websites
- Offers a free 1-month trial
- Hosted on Namecheap Cloud
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Offers site backups and restores in case something happens
- Easy to install in just a few minutes
- Extremely fast load times
Price:
The cheapest plan is $34.88/year and renews at $48.88/year.
I would recommend the cheapest EasyWP Started plan for someone starting a blog on WordPress.
You can upgrade the plan at any time so there is no need to pay for a more expensive plan to future-proof your site.
What I like/dislike about it:
EasyWP lets you manage multiple WordPress websites from one single dashboard so there is no need to set up multiple accounts.
EasyWP offers a one-click WordPress setup. They make it super easy to kickstart your site.
The service is owned by Namecheap which means that EasyWP has very similar top-notch and super-fast customer support via live chat.
What Reddit thinks about EasyWP:
Get started with EasyWP.
4. Nexcess
Best features:
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Free daily site backups
- Free site migration
- Free SSL certificate
- Free CDN with 22 locations
- Best in business 24/7 support
- Unlimited traffic
Price:
The cheapest Nexcess hosting plan for a WordPress website is $190 per year.
Nexcess has the highest pricing for its entry-level plan compared to other hosting providers in this list.
However, according to Reddit “your (Nexcess) support is tremendous, your staff is very friendly (sometimes I end up just chatting with you rather than doing real work) and your advice is worth its weight in gold”.
What I like/dislike about it:
Their customer support is next level. Fast, helps you troubleshoot any issue and set up your website.
User-friendly dashboard that lets you see your site’s resource usage.
A lot of plans and options so you can choose to pay for exactly what you need at the current moment.
What Reddit thinks about Nexcess:
Get started with Nexcess.
5. Bluehost
Best features:
- Free SSL for the 1st year
- Great WordPress integration
- Free domain for the 1st year
- 24/7 WordPress hosting support
- Easy first-time setup
- 99.99% server uptime
- Reliable security
Price:
Bluehost’s cheapest pricing plan is $2.95/month for WordPress hosting and renews at $10.99/month.
I recommend the cheapest basic plan ($2.95/month) for a new WordPress blog.
What I like/dislike about it:
You have to pay for domain protection which most other hosts provide free of charge.
The support is quite slow but they did manage to resolve the issues I was having with no problems.
The interface is easy to use and navigate even for a complete beginner.
Their hosting portal is very secure with third-party authentication log-in.
Read my full Bluehost review here.
What Reddit thinks about Bluehost:
Get started with Bluehost.
Website Hosting FAQ.
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding WordPress website hosting:
Can you move your website to another hosting provider?
Yes. You can move your domain name and host to another hosting provider or domain registrar.
Also, most domain registrars allow you to direct your website’s name servers to the hosting provider which means that your website’s domain and hosting don’t have to be from the same company.
Can you host a website for free?
No. There are a lot of companies claiming to have free hosting services but there’s always a catch.
Hosting is never 100% free.
Running a hosting server costs money which means that you will have to pay a price eventually.
Which is the cheapest WordPress hosting?
Currently, the cheapest WordPress hosting provider is Hostinger.
Their cheapest plan starts at $1.99/month and renews at $3.99/month after 1 year.
Can you move your website domain to another provider?
Yes, you can move your website’s domain to another company after 60 days of registering your domain.
Most domain providers have a domain transfer service that you can use to move your domain from one provider to another.
Does switching website host hurt SEO?
Switching a website’s host can hurt SEO.
Switching hosting provers will affect site speed, the host’s server uptime, website downtime during the switch, and server location which can all affect SEO.
Does switching domain provider hurt site SEO?
Switching to another domain registrar will not affect SEO.
The domain registrar has no control over how search engines rank your website.
Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?
Yes. You can keep your domain name when you change your website’s hosting provider.
Your website’s domain and hosting can be from different providers.
How long does a domain transfer take?
Domain transfers typically take 5-7 days to complete but they can happen faster.
Domain transfer speed will depend on your domain registrar.
How much is domain transfer?
Domain transfer itself doesn’t cost anything but you will have to pay a domain renewal fee whenever you initiate the transfer.
This fee usually ranges from $10 – $20.
Domain renewal will extend the amount of time for how long you will own the domain name.
How long is a domain locked after transfer?
For 60 days.
Should I buy domain and hosting from same website?
Buying a domain and hosting from the same website can save you some money because companies often bundle together deals that come by purchasing hosting and a domain from the same website.
These deals often consist of a free domain name when purchasing hosting through the same provider.
Can you transfer a domain twice?
Yes. You can transfer a domain an unlimited amount of times between registrars.
However, you will have to wait 60 days after each transfer to be able to transfer again.
What are the 3 types of web hosting?
The three types of web hosting are dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, and shared hosting.
Shared Hosting is sharing space on a server that hosts thousands of sites on them.
Dedicated hosting is owning or renting an entire server where you host your website.
Cloud hosting is having dedicated resources on a web server to run your website.
Was This List of the Best Hosting for WordPress Useful?
Here’s what one Reddit user had to say about picking the best hosting for your site:
So there you have it – my list of the best hosting providers for WordPress.
Of course, there are many features to consider when picking your host. The most notable ones are price, customer support, server speed, and uptime.
If you’re just starting out with your first WordPress blog or an online business and need a host then pick the cheapest one and upgrade to a better plan whenever your website outgrows the plan’s traffic.
In the end, it all comes down to you.
So pick the best option tailored just for you and happy blogging!
I’ll leave you with this resource about the best tools for bloggers.
Thanks for reading 👋!