What’s the Difference Between WordPress Sin Hosting and WordPress Hosting?
WordPress is one of the most popular and effective CMS platforms currently available, powering nearly 30% of all the websites on the internet as of this writing. Its ease of use and intuitive interfaces make it ideal for beginners, but it also boasts powerful features that savvy developers can leverage for more complex projects.
While WordPress can run just fine off of your own server, some organizations and businesses need more control over the content that is published on their websites. For these users, WordPress Hosting is the perfect solution. When you host your WordPress content on a website that you control, you have the flexibility to fully customize the appearance and functionality of your site as you see fit.
On the other hand, WordPress Sin Hosting is exactly what it sounds like: a WordPress installation that is hosted elsewhere and that you have limited control over. While it doesn’t necessarily offer less functionality than a standard WordPress installation, it lacks a few key features that make it inferior in certain situations.
Features
The best part of WordPress Sin Hosting is that it’s free. Yes, you read that right. The service is entirely free and doesn’t require you to pay a single penny to use it. That being said, you also need to keep in mind that this is a relatively limited service compared to a WordPress Hosting plan. Here’s a complete list of the features that are included with the free version of WordPress Sin Hosting.
Caching Layer
This feature is automatically enabled when you use the standard WordPress installation, requiring you to take no special action to utilize it. The WP Engine team explains that the caching layer improves the performance of your website and lowers your web host’s bill by serving static content (such as HTML pages, stylesheets, and JavaScript) from their servers.
In some situations, however, you may want to disable the caching layer for security reasons. When you have an active cache layer, any code or content that is not changed frequently is preserved in the layer’s temporary cache, which in turn improves the performance of your site. Changing the settings on a per-folder basis is also an option if you use this feature occasionally.
Error Logs
Like the caching layer, this feature is also available for all WordPress installations and doesn’t require any additional setup. When errors occur in the course of running your website, you’ll see them listed in an error log. The best part about this feature is that it gives you the flexibility to analyze the errors as they occur and fix them quickly and easily. Without error logs, you’ll be forced to wait until you’ve identified a pattern before you can determine what’s causing the errors and fix them accordingly.
Restricted Access
Another important aspect of a good web hosting plan is ensuring that your website’s content is only accessible by those that you want to allow access to it. You can use this feature in conjunction with your domain registrar to prevent anyone from snooping around in the files of your website and gaining unauthorized access to your personal or business-related information. The feature is called restricted access due to the fact that it prevents other users from directly accessing the files of your website, but it also limits the functionality that they can perform.
For example, if you use this feature to restrict access to the wp-admin directory, it will prevent anyone from accessing the backend of your WordPress installation and changing settings or installing plugins that could potentially be dangerous. You’ll need to visit the WordPress forums to get help with any issues that you might encounter using this feature.
Database Backups
A database backup is an important part of any organization’s disaster recovery plan. This plan entails making regular backups of your database so that you can recover from any major mishaps that might occur. To ensure that you have backups that are actually useful when needed, you should use a service that automatically makes daily backups of your database and stores them in a secure location. You should also consider implementing a disaster recovery plan, which involves duplicating your database and storing one copy in a secure location (such as offline media) and the other in a remote location.
One important thing to note about WordPress Sin Hosting is that it doesn’t offer daily or automatic backups. You’ll need to take the initiative to make these backups manually if you want to ensure that your data is always safe. This might seem like a minor point, but it could be the difference between having a fully functional website or one that is temporarily down due to an unexplained server malfunction.
IP Restrictions
IP restrictions prevent users from accessing specific websites from outside of your computer or mobile device. This is an important security precaution that you should consider implementing to restrict access to your website by non-customers. The best part about IP restrictions is that you can easily install them using a free service like Cloudflare. When a user tries to access a restricted website from a different location or device, they will be asked to confirm that they are in fact an authorized user of the account that is attempting to access the content.
Free Domain
Domains are the addresses of websites; they can be unique or identical to each other, depending on the plan that you select. You can choose from a variety of free domains when you register with a domain registrar like GoDaddy. These domains are identical to those that you might find purchased and are extremely useful when building websites or blogs.
One important thing to note is that not all free domains are created equal. Some domain registrars offer useful features like free domain privacy, free daily site backups, and free domain privacy, while others might simply give you a free domain with no additional features.. You should research the features that are offered by the domain registrar that you choose before making a decision. All of this might seem a bit overwhelming, so let’s discuss alternatives.
Alternative Solutions
There are a variety of free and premium-quality solutions that you might consider instead of or in addition to WordPress Sin Hosting. Here’s a shortlist:
Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress Hosting is simply WordPress Hosting with the addition of some features that make it more convenient for beginners. The hosting company takes care of all the technical aspects of running a WordPress installation, so you don’t need to worry about setting up the server or dealing with traffic spikes; they’ve got you covered. In most cases, you will not need to pay a penny for this kind of hosting. The best part is that it’s entirely free.
One of the biggest downsides to this kind of hosting is that it doesn’t offer all of the features that you might want or need. In addition to the restrictions that we’ve discussed thus far, you will not have access to the wp-admin directory or error logs. You might also encounter minor speed lags as a result of the service’s caching layers.
VPS (Virtual Private Server)
A virtual private server (VPS) is like a private server that you rent from a web hosting company. Much like Managed WordPress Hosting, you don’t need to pay a penny for this kind of hosting. The main difference is that you have full control over the code of your site and can install plugins, themes, and customize the appearance of your site as you see fit. Additionally, you have access to all of the server’s resources, so you can increase traffic through the use of dedicated caches, super-fast SSDs, and advanced security measures.
This kind of hosting is great for advanced users and organizations that need to ensure that their content is only accessible by those with authorized access or for those that want to implement additional security measures. In most cases, you will not need to contact the company’s support personnel unless you run into trouble.
What About WordPress Hosting That Isn’t Free?
There are a few limitations that you need to be aware of when considering free WordPress Hosting, the most important being that it’s usually limited to a single website and that it doesn’t offer all of the features that you might want or need. It’s also imperative that you understand the limitations before you make a decision. Here’s a shortlist:
Custom Domains
This is a feature that is found only on some free domains from specific domain registrars. Once you’ve purchased a custom domain, you can’t use that domain for free with any other organization or service. This means that you can’t create blogs or websites for free using custom domains from Google, Microsoft, or Amazon. You can, however, use free domains from other top-level-domain registrars like ILoveToShop, GoDaddy, and Bluehost.