Compare Hosting for WordPress – Who Wins?

You have a passion for writing and you’ve decided to put your pen to use by creating a blog. You’ve decided to host the blog on your own server since you want to be in total control of your blog’s security and content. You search for a hosted solution and you come across a variety of hosting companies that offer WordPress hosting. Before you make a purchase decision, you want to be sure that you understand the differences in features, pricing, and customer support offered by the different hosts. This article will help you make the right choice by comparing features, pricing, and customer support for the top five hosts so that you can select the best possible solution for your needs.

What Is WordPress Hosting?

WordPress hosting, also known as WordPress.com hosting or just plain WordPress hosting, is simply web hosting that is configured to allow you to run WordPress.com or WordPress.org sites. The most popular and well-known version of WordPress is WordPress.com which is owned and operated by Automattic. WordPress.org is the open source community-operated version of WordPress. As a WordPress user, you will most likely end up on WordPress.com hosting as it is often the easiest solution for beginner bloggers looking to create a blog quickly and cheaply as it offers simple one-click installation and a free domain with every hosting plan.

Why Should You Choose WordPress Hosting?

The answer is pretty obvious if you ask me: WordPress.com is where most people who use the internet look for content. WordPress.com is a popular blogging platform used by people from all over the world with over a million sites created on the platform. If you plan to use your blog to connect with readers globally, you must choose WordPress.com hosting.

The Advantages Of WordPress Hosting

There are several advantages to WordPress hosting, but I’ll list five:

• Fully Secured. One of the main advantages of WordPress hosting is that it provides you with fully secured and encrypted access to your content. All the information that you post on your blog, including photos, videos, and drafts, are safely stored and no one else can access or read them but you. You can rest assured that your blog’s security is being monitored closely by a team of WordPress experts who will respond promptly to any security issues that you may encounter.
• Free Custom Domains. When you purchase a hosting plan, you’ll also receive a free domain for your blog. You can use this free domain to create a custom URL for your site. For example, if you want to create a blog about travel and you register the domain name travelblogger.com, you can then access your blog at https://travelblogger.com without having to worry about finding a free domain name.
• One-Click Install. Another great thing about WordPress hosting is that it makes setting up your blog a breeze. When you purchase a hosting plan, you’ll receive an auto-installer that will install WordPress on your server effortlessly. You won’t have to worry about a thing. Just pop in your credit card information and you’re good to go.
• 24/7 Customer Support. When you have a problem, the first people you should contact are the folks at WordPress because they’re the experts when it comes to handling technical support questions. You can also use their powerful support forums to seek out assistance from other users. Their 24/7 live chat support is also available via an instant messaging platform so if you prefer to communicate with someone rather than read through a massive help guide, you can use these other options instead.
• World-Class Security. Another great advantage of WordPress hosting is that it provides you with world-class security. If you’re using a free WordPress account, you don’t have to worry about losing your content because of a data breach as everything is stored safely on the hosting company’s servers. This also means that there is less likely to be any malware that could steal your content. The experts at WordPress know just how important this is to you as a blogger if you’re putting your content out there for the world to see.
• Managed WordPress Hosting. With managed WordPress hosting, you don’t have to worry about a thing. The hosting company takes care of all the technical stuff so all you have to do is write and post content often.

I could go on and on about the advantages of WordPress hosting, but the key takeaway from this section is: if you’re looking for a blogging platform, you should choose WordPress hosting. It’s what I use and recommend for newbies just getting started.

The Disadvantages Of WordPress Hosting

I know what you’re thinking: There are pros and cons to everything and something that I just listed couldn’t possibly be bad. Believe it or not, there are a few disadvantages to WordPress hosting.

• Limited Choices For The Free Plan. One of the things you’ll discover about WordPress hosting is that there are limits on what you can do with the free plan. The good news is that you can upgrade to a premium plan for as low as $2.95 per month which grants you access to most of the features. Still, even the premium plan only has limited support which is quite frustrating if you’re a beginner just getting started.
• Limited Data Storage. One of the downsides of the free version of WordPress is that you get only 500MB of data storage. This means that your site will start to suffer from slow downs as more and more of your content gets added. It’s better to go with the paid plans where you get unlimited data storage as it makes a massive difference especially if your site gets popular.
• No E-commerce Capability. If you’re looking for a blogging platform to help you develop an online store, then you should look elsewhere. As great as WordPress is when it comes to blogs and websites, it simply does not have the capabilities to be a full-fledged store. If you’re looking to create an online store, you can use Shopify’s platform which is designed for just that purpose.
• No Custom Features. The last disadvantage of WordPress is that you can’t fully customize its appearance. Even the theme you purchase has very basic customization capabilities. If you’re looking for a blogging platform that gives you more freedom in terms of how you want your site to look, then you can look into Jekyll which is a free and open-source alternative to WordPress.
• Poor User Experience.

Overall, if you’re looking for a blogging platform, you should choose WordPress hosting as it’s quite popular and has the lion’s share of the market share when it comes to blogs and websites. Just remember that it is not as strong in terms of e-commerce capabilities as Shopify or even Google Store due to its lack of storage. If you’re looking to create a blog or website for fun, then WordPress is the right choice as it’s very popular and the community is always available to help out newbies get started. If you’re looking to develop a blog or website for profit, then Shopify is the right choice as it has all the features you need and is very easy to use.

Pricing For The Top Five WordPress Hosting Providers

In this section, I’ll cover pricing for the top five hosting providers so that you can compare apples to apples rather than apples to oranges when shopping for a hosting plan. Most companies will give you a free domain when you purchase hosting so all you need to pay for is the actual plan you choose. You can expect to pay somewhere between $2.95 and $69.95 per month depending on the features you need.