WordPress has been the #1 content management system for several years now and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. As a free and open-source system with a massive selection of customizable themes and plugins for every purpose and type of website, there is almost no argument for using any other platform to power your website.
But unless the underlying hosting service is built on a solid infrastructure and reliable technology, there is little that the WordPress system on its own can do for you. Choosing the perfect hosting provider is such a crucial step that some business owners spend days and even weeks sifting through endless reviews and “top 10” lists.
The aim of this post is to simplify the search process for you by featuring a summary of a few truly reliable web hosting providers for WordPress. It won’t make much sense to say which one is the best because that largely depends on each project and its requirements, but all in all, you can’t go wrong with any of these providers.
Top 5 Managed WordPress Hosting Providers
The following are five of the most distinguished companies that offer managed WordPress hosting. Some of them also offer normal web hosting services, while others are entirely dedicated to managed WP hosting and nothing else. Features do vary, but in general, most of the technical tasks of installing, updating, securing and optimizing WordPress are handled by these companies.
Now it’s time to dive below the surface and have a look at what each of these hosts is best known and suitable for.
1. Pressable: Best for Professional Sites
Of all the various web hosting providers out there, Pressable stands out for being a fully managed hosting solution for WordPress that is supported by real expert technicians. This service is offered by Automattic, which is the same company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce.
You would hardly find any other host that has the same level of technical WP expertise on their support team, at least not without paying an outrageous fee for premium support. Pressable’s hands-on support service is included with all their plans at no additional cost.
If you are launching a new website, you can start with the Personal plan, which offers 20 GB storage and unlimited bandwidth. This plan is good for websites that receive up to 30,000 visitors per month and it will run you $25 monthly with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The plans are easily scalable so you can upgrade or downgrade according to your needs. You can add additional sites to your plan, additional storage, etc.
Some of the most notable features of Pressable’s managed WordPress hosting include: Staging environment, free SSL certificate, free daily backups, global CDN, and free site migration. You also get the premium JetPack Security Daily plugin that offers several useful security and backup features.
Pressable utilizes a very solid cloud infrastructure with super-fast NVMe SSD storage and automatic failover. They offer a 100% uptime guarantee and they take care of any and all technical issues to ensure your sites remain optimally operational and secure.
The dashboard is very easy to use and not cluttered with a ton of useless tools and buttons. It only includes the basic tools you’ll need to manage your sites in an efficient way.
Pressable Pros
- Fully managed by WP experts
- Quick and helpful support
- Reliable cloud infrastructure
- Fast NVMe storage
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Automatic backups and updates
- CDN and caching
- Security scanning
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Staging sites
Pressable Cons
- Email is a paid add-on
- No file manager (SFTP available)
- Only for WordPress sites
2. Rocket: Best for e-Commerce and Small Business
If speed is your top need then that’s what Rocket excels at. They only specialize in managed WordPress hosting and they have one of the fastest and most secure hosting solutions for small business, e-commerce, and agency WP sites.
Whether the majority of your visitors use mobile or desktop devices, loading speed is a critical factor that can affect user experience, and ultimately, sales and revenue from your website. It’s also one of the factors that Google takes into account in their ranking algorithm, so the faster your website loads, the better chance it has to rank higher in search results.
You don’t need to spend hours installing and configuring third-party plugins, because everything comes pre-installed and pre-configured for you. All you have to do is update your domain’s DNS settings using the details provided by Rocket and you’re good to go.
If you need assistance with site migration or any other technical issue, you will always find someone to talk to via their 24/7 live chat. Their support team is very helpful and knowledgeable, which is something you’ll admire if you’re sick and tired of dealing with clueless support agents who can’t even read or understand simple questions!
Rocket allows you to choose your primary server location from different data centers around the world. Each plan comes with a built-in CDN by Cloudflare Enterprise, which offers higher speed and more advanced features than the free-tier plan that most other hosts implement. This comes at no additional cost to you.
Their custom-made control panel is very intuitive and includes essential tools such as a file manager, database manager (phpMyAdmin), staging environment, site statistics, and others.
Rocket Pros
- Speed-optimized WP hosting
- Enterprise-grade CDN
- Multiple server locations
- Free SSL certificate
- File manager and SFTP
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Daily backups
- Automatic updates
- Malware scanning and removal
- 24/7 skilled support
Rocket Cons
- A little pricey for small sites
- Must use external DNS
- No email hosting
3. Kinsta: Best for Big-Budget Projects
Kinsta is one of the major players in the managed WordPress hosting market, and one of the most reputable as well. They have a remarkably reliable and secure infrastructure setup that is powered by Google Cloud Platform and specifically fine-tuned for WordPress.
Unlike other shared hosting providers, such as Bluehost and SiteGround, Kinsta hosts each website in an isolated server container to ensure optimal security and performance. Each site container is hosted on a virtual machine that has 12 CPUs and 8 GB of RAM. That’s a lot of computing power even for the most complex websites out there.
One possible issue with Kinsta though is that they do have limited PHP workers assigned to each plan. This shouldn’t be a problem for most new and small to medium-sized sites, but if you have an active e-commerce site, you’d probably need to upgrade to a more advanced (and costly) plan that offers more PHP workers to efficiently handle your traffic. Other hosts, like Pressable and Rocket, don’t have such restrictions on the number of PHP workers.
The dashboard is well organized and easy to navigate and use even for a total beginner. You’ll find a handful of useful tools that allow you to control your site’s basic details, caching, backups, CDN, and other settings.
Kinsta’s support service is available 24/7 through live chat and they are usually very quick in responding and fixing any problems you throw their way. Their technicians have many years of practical experience troubleshooting all sorts of WP technical issues, so you’d likely get an instant fix to whatever problem you face with your site.
Kinsta Pros
- Reliable Google Cloud infrastructure
- Scalable plans
- Multiple server locations
- Free site migration
- Uptime monitoring
- Daily backups
- Beginner-friendly dashboard
- Staging environment
- Responsive 24/7 support
- Security monitoring and fixing
Kinsta Cons
- Limited PHP workers
- Costly upgrades
- No email hosting
- No file manager
4. KnownHost: Best for Small to Medium Sites
This is a more budget-friendly provider that is still quite impressive in terms of reliability and technical support. KnownHost offers a range of web hosting services from normal shared hosting to VPS to dedicated servers. They also have managed WordPress plans with many advantageous features.
Although you can host WordPress sites on their normal shared hosting plans, the managed WordPress plans are better optimized for performance and security. You get access to cPanel where you can manage your site’s files, databases, SSL certificates, email, etc. For WordPress management, they utilize cPanel’s WP Toolkit from where you can manage WP installations, updates, staging, etc.
KnownHost’s servers are equipped with NVMe technology, which offers the fastest data transfer rates from and to the SSD storage drives. On top of that, their servers are powered by the premium CloudLinux operating system and the super-fast LiteSpeed web server. The latter allows you to take advantage of the free LS Cache plugin for WordPress which can significantly improve your site’s loading speed.
One of the main advantages of KnownHost over other managed WordPress hosts is that they allow you to create unlimited email accounts without having to pay extra or use a third-party provider like Google Workspace.
The technical support you get from KnownHost’s team is first-rate taking into account their relatively lower price point. The live chat team may not always be online but the ticket system is attended 24/7 and they often respond within minutes. The support team is based in the USA and they actually know their stuff.
KnownHost Pros
- Fast NVMe servers
- LiteSpeed web server and cache
- Real-time malware protection
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free SSL certificate
- 99.99% network uptime
- Free daily backups
- Staging and cloning
- 24/7 US-based support
KnownHost Cons
- Live chat not always available
- No CDN (can use free Cloudflare)
5. HostArmada: Affordable Plans for Beginners
The best hosting providers for WordPress are usually the ones that require a fair amount of digging to locate, and HostArmada is one of the gems you could stumble upon. They offer a range of shared and dedicated hosting solutions that are powered by highly reliable and secure cloud infrastructure.
The managed WordPress plans by HostArmada are a perfect choice for small to medium websites that are starting out on a limited budget. The plans are much more affordable than those of premium hosts like Kinsta and Pressable, and the company offers a massive one-time discount for new customers.
Each plan comes with a free domain name for the first year, free SSL certificate, server-side caching, daily backups, malware scanning and removal, and many other features. They use the cPanel control panel with Softaculous for one-click WordPress installation and staging.
If you are running a serious business or e-commerce website, I’d recommend you go with the high-end Speed Reaper plan. Not only does it provide increased server resources and allows you to host unlimited websites, it also comes with the commercial LiteSpeed web server and its advanced caching features. The regular price of this top-tier plan is $20.95 per month, which is about what you’d pay for an entry-level plan with other managed WP hosts.
What’s also appealing about HostArmada is their prompt technical support service. The live chat support is good for basic technical questions and problems, but you get more advanced technical assistance through support tickets, which are normally replied to within minutes.
HostArmada Pros
- Solid cloud servers
- Plenty of CPU and RAM
- Different server locations
- Free SSL certificate
- Malware scanning
- Daily remote backups
- Affordable plans
- Discounts for new users
HostArmada Cons
- No refunds for monthly billing
- Limited database size
- No CDN
Best Managed WordPress Hosts: Summary
The following comparison table highlights the main technical features of each of the hosting providers we discussed in more detail above.
| Host | Staging | CDN | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pressable | Custom tool | Included | Add-on | $25/month |
| Rocket | Custom tool | Enterprise CDN | Not available | $30/month |
| Kinsta | Custom tool | Included | Not available | $35/month |
| KnownHost | WP Toolkit | Not available | Unlimited | $11.95/month |
| HostArmada | Softaculous | Not available | Unlimited | $12.95/month |
If you are interested in learning more about the plans, features and pricing of these services, click on any of the links to be taken to the official website of the corresponding provider.