As a content management system or CMS (opens in new tab), the best managed WordPress hosting offers one of the easiest and quickest ways to set up your own blog or website. With a few mouse clicks, you can select from one of hundreds of templates, as well as create interactive content such as contact forms.
The usefulness of WordPress has not been lost on web hosting (opens in new tab) providers. In this guide, you’ll discover some of the very best vendors on the market today who offer managed WordPress hosting (opens in new tab). This is a great way to avoid the time and trouble of hosting your content from scratch as these providers take the task of creating and maintaining your website away from you.
Don't underestimate the importance of managing an online property. Between SEO, admin, content and social marketing, there's more than enough work for a small business.
We've compared these WordPress hosting providers across factors like their speed, performance, ease of setup, pricing plans, and traffic limits. We also assessed the quality of their customer support and what types of users they'd be best suited for.
So here's our pick of the best managed WordPress hosting providers around today, reviewed and ranked in full.
We've also reviewed the best SEO tools (opens in new tab), the best email hosting providers (opens in new tab), and the best merchant services (opens in new tab).
(opens in new tab)The best managed WordPress hosting of 2023 in full
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
WP Engine (opens in new tab) is the leading WordPress digital platform. It hosts excellent uptime, WordPress specific security and unlimited monthly transfers.
WP Engine includes many great tools needed for web hosting. These range from automated backups to 24/7 support (phone support on Growth and Scale packages).
You can use WP Engine’s ‘actionable intelligence’ to gain insight into the performance of your pages, content and applications.
WP Engine has four different price plans. All include free migration and free page performance. If you pay for a year’s subscription upfront, you get three months free.
Prices start off at $24 per month ($20 per month if you choose annual billing) which includes a 60-day risk free guarantee. WP Engine also has a ‘Custom’ tier for larger businesses that want a plan more tailored for their individual needs.
- Read our WP Engine review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for WP Engine here (opens in new tab)
Bluehost (opens in new tab), a web hosting company founded in 2003, tries to make the daunting task of starting a new web site easy. It offers plenty of options to those new to web hosting while still offering tools for the more experienced user.
All new subscribers can set up a WordPress site with a single click of their mouse. Also, newbies can rely on Blue Spark, a specialized service that helps new users with everything WordPress related.
Bluehost are currently offering all their WordPress plans at a reduced rate. Prices start at $2.75 a month for a single WordPress site complete with 50GB of website space. The ‘Plus’ and ‘Premium’ packages are on offer for $5.45 per month. These both include unlimited WordPress sites and unlimited website space. The ‘Premium’ package includes domain privacy and SiteBackup Pro. Furthermore, WP Pro plans are available, which bring additional improvements and features with prices starting at $9.95.
More inexperienced users have reported that the dashboard can be difficult to navigate if you are unfamiliar with all the terminology.
- Read our Bluehost review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for Bluehost here (opens in new tab)
SiteGround (opens in new tab) was founded in 2004 and provides shared hosting, cloud hosting and dedicated servers.
SiteGround lets you choose from one of six data centers on which to host your website. These are based in Sidney (Australia), Singapore (Asia), Iowa (USA), Frankfurt (Germany), Eemshaven (Netherlands) and London (UK).
SiteGround offers users CloudFlare CDN, free SSL certificates and daily backups of their website’s data. All of their shared hosting plans include managed WordPress.
The platform’s customer support includes live chat as well as a phone option. All support services are available 24/7.
The ‘StartUp’ plan begins at $14.99 per month (with a $3.99 initial payment) which includes one website, 10GB web space and is suitable for 10,000 visits monthly. The ‘GrowBig’ plan for $24.99 monthly ($6.69 for initial payment) allows for multiple websites, 20GB of web space and is suitable for 25,000 visits.
SiteGround’s ‘GoGeek’ plan starts at $39.99 per month ($10.69 for initial payment) which includes 40GB of web space and is suitable for 100,000 visits monthly. SiteGround (opens in new tab) does not offer a free trial but has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Some users have reported issues with being automatically logged out when signing in on multiple devices.
- Read our SiteGround review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for SiteGround here (opens in new tab)
Namecheap (opens in new tab) made our list because it offers managed WordPress hosting with its EasyWP range, which as the name suggests, is designed to make things simple when it comes to setting up your site.
And it’s not just very easy to set up everything, it’s very quick too, and you’ll be up and running swiftly, benefiting from a user-friendly dashboard to interact with your WordPress site going forward. As well as this convenience, Namecheap is also strong when it comes to performance, and that all-important factor: cost.
Because EasyWP is run on the host’s cloud platform, as opposed to shared hosting, Namecheap promises that customers will get much faster performance levels than with rivals. In fact, Namecheap claims that its WordPress hosting is around three times faster than a standard WordPress setup with a traditional shared hosting system.
As for pricing, the entry-level EasyWP Starter plan is $29.88 annually ($22.88 for the first year), although it is a barebones offering, with only 10GB of SSD storage, and a limit of 50,000 visitors per month (that’s still good for the money, though, and likely enough capacity for a good deal of folks).
Stepping up to the mid-range EasyWP Turbo subscription will cost you $68.88 ($44.88 for the first year) billed annually, getting you 50GB of web space and lifting the monthly visitor limit to 200,000, while throwing in beefier hardware (1.5x more RAM, CPU) along with free SSL and CDN. That’s fantastic value for money for that initial year (the Turbo plan then renews at twice the price on an annual contract).
So what’s not to like? Well, while this is clearly a great setup for novices and the budget-conscious, Namecheap’s EasyWP is lacking on the feature front, and experts may be disappointed. For example, there’s no staging environment to test changes you might want to make to your WordPress site before they go live, or cPanel support, or automatic updates and other trimmings – plus you can only work with one site. If you want to run multiple WordPress sites, then you’ll need to pay extra for each additional site, so bear that in mind.
- Read our Namecheap review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for Namecheap here (opens in new tab)
WordPress VIP (opens in new tab) is a fully managed cloud platform. Users of VIP have access to expert guidance, code review and around the clock support.
Customers get their own Git repository and ZenDesk account. Once your code is ready, you send it to the VIP team. Experts at VIP go through each line of code in your repository. This can take 4-6 weeks. If any issues are found, they’re raised on GitHub. Once these have been removed the code is transferred to your project and you are online. VIP adheres to strict coding standards.
One of the main attractions of VIP is the ‘always on’ support. VIP engineers watch for any issues that may arise and fix them proactively on behalf of the client. Once rectified, a report will be sent to you explaining what occurred.
Sadly, pricing details aren't available on the site, and would-be customers will need to contact WordPress VIP directly in order to get a quote.
Further note that some users have reported delays with setting up and building sites, although of course your mileage may well vary.
- You can sign up for WordPress VIP here (opens in new tab)
Nexcess (opens in new tab), a Liquid Web brand, specializing in managed WordPress, Magento, and WooCommerce hosting. It has a decent server infrastructure, and offers a range of plans on a solid and reliable platform, which has been configured for optimized WordPress performance.
Its cheapest managed WordPress hosting plan costs $13.30 per month for the first three months and increases to $19 per month after. In that plan, you get 15GB of storage, 2TB of bandwidth and can host a single WordPress website.
Additional paid plans that allow you to host multiple WordPress websites are also available, with increases to disk space and bandwidth along with the number of sites to host. The hosting provider has plans that let you host up to 250 websites, offering a generous 800GB of storage and 10TB of bandwidth.
Nexcess also promises no traffic limits, limited pageviews, or fees of extra resource use. The company provides automatic plugin updates, which are routinely tested to ensure they are running smoothly, malware monitoring, multi-layered caching, and one-click staging to keep your WordPress website performing at its peak.
Additionally, users have full server access, free SSL certificates, daily backups, as well as developer tools as required. And if you have an existing WordPress website you can migrate it to Nexcess for free.
- You can sign up for Nexcess here (opens in new tab)
DreamHost (opens in new tab) is owned by New Dream Network LLC which was founded in 1996. It’s both a web hosting provider and a domain name registrar.
DreamHost’s ‘Shared Starter’ plan starts at $2.59 per month. This includes a shared hosting server, a single WordPress website, unlimited traffic, 1-click SSL certificate, fast SSD storage, 24/7 support and an upgrade to add email.
The ‘DreamPress’ (managed WordPress plan) package starts at $16.95. This includes all of what the ‘Shared Starter’ plan has to offer along with 30GB SSD storage, JetPack free preinstalled, daily backups and a few other extras.
All of DreamHost (opens in new tab)’s hosting solutions are fully managed services, although note that some inexperienced users have reported issues with getting started. Also, email costs extra with the starter plan, so check carefully before you sign up.
- Read our DreamHost review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for DreamHost here (opens in new tab)
InMotion (opens in new tab) Hosting is an employee-owned and operated domain name and web hosting company founded in 2001.
InMotion offers plans for a variety of users, from dedicated and shared to VPS and WordPress hosting along with several e-commerce tools.
WordPress hosting plans start off at $4.99 per month (for the initial payment on the 3-year plan) and that includes one website and 50GB SSD storage, being suitable for 20,000 visitors a month. InMotion has three price plans available and all of them offer unlimited data transfers.
Besides having numerous price plans for each of its hosting options, InMotion has numerous free add-ons, free e-commerce tools, and unlimited emails.
While there is no free trial, and prices are far from cheap compared to some rivals, InMotion does include an impressively lengthy 90-day money-back guarantee.
- Read our InMotion Hosting review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for InMotion here (opens in new tab)
HostGator (opens in new tab) was founded in 2002, and it provides shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated web hosting.
HostGator’s Website Builder comes with a handy drag and drop feature, and includes a wide range of themes. Some of the features are pre-built to help make the creation process easier and faster.
HostGator claims that load times for WordPress sites are up to 2.5 times faster when compared to its own shared hosting due to the superior server architecture of its managed WordPress hosting.
This host offers a WordPress Cloud Interface where you can manage backups, access all your email accounts and other hosting options. You can also allocate server bandwidth from here.
HostGator offers three WordPress cloud hosting plans. The ‘Starter’ plan is currently priced from $5.95 per month for 1 site, 100,000 visits per month, 1GB free backups and a free SSL certificate. The ‘Standard’ plan is on offer from $7.95 per month for 2 sites, 200,000 visits per month, 2GB backups and a free SSL certificate.
HostGator’s ‘Business’ plan is also on offer at $9.95 per month. This includes 3hree sites, 500,000 visits, 3GB backups and a free SSL certificate. However, do note that the prices quoted are based on multi-year subscriptions.
According to online commentators, the purchase price for additional domains can be quite steep.
- Read our HostGator review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for HostGator here (opens in new tab)
IONOS (opens in new tab) is owned by a German company, United Internet. It was founded in 1988, and offers domain registration, cloud servers, VPS and dedicated servers.
IONOS boasts excellent customer support and easy to use web creation tools. More inexperienced users might find this provider more suitable to their needs.
IONOS’s packages start at $3 per month, renewing at $4 per month. This includes 1 WordPress project, 25GB SSD storage, unlimited visitors and managed WordPress. Upon registration, you are offered a domain name free for 12 months. This is only valid upon purchase of any of the firm's plans.
Users who sign up for the ‘Business’ plan receive 100GB SSD storage, 100 email accounts (2GB each), max CPU & MEM resources and unlimited visitors. This plan starts at $1 for the first year and then $8 per month thereafter.
The ‘Unlimited’ plan has a price of $8 per month for the first year, with renewal being $16 per month. It includes unlimited projects and unlimited SSD storage, unlimited databases and email accounts, as well as SiteLock malware protection and RailGun CDN.
Note that some online commentators have complained of issues around downtime.
- Read our IONOS review (opens in new tab)
- You can sign up for IONOS here (opens in new tab)
Managed WordPress hosting FAQs
What is managed WordPress hosting?
The word "managed" for WordPress means that the hosting provider handles all the basic hosting administrative tasks, such as installing WordPress, automating daily backups, WordPress core updates and server-level caching.
Managed hosting providers usually also help you in getting a leg up on their service. When you purchase a hosting package from a provider, they will walk you through the process of integrating your website on their servers.
Managed WordPress hosting providers usually only deal with that particular platform.
If you don't have the knowledge to set up your server space the way you need to in order to launch your WordPress website, or if you find you don't have the time to do so, a managed hosting solution may be an ideal option for you to consider.
How to choose the best managed WordPress hosting for you?
Whether you have one WordPress site or 20, you're going to want to pick a WordPress hosting service that makes your life as easy as possible.
Similar to the process of choosing the best web hosting service providers, you will need to create a small checklist of the features and capabilities you are looking for in a managed WordPress hosting service.
You will also need to take pricing into consideration as managed WordPress hosting costs a fair bit more than the average shared hosting package.
Choosing the wrong managed WordPress hosting could cost you more money than you bargained for.
How we test the best managed WordPress hosting service
Our experts sign up for each managed WordPress hosting provider and test their services, looking out for the features each have highlighted on its website.
During our test, we also measure the speed and overall performance of each managed WordPress hosting provider using test websites created by our experts.
That way, we are able to come up with a conclusion on whether each provider is offering services that are good value for your money.
It's possible to handle many of these tasks your WordPress site needs by yourself or install plugins to handle them for you on your non-managed website. However, this generally takes up a lot of time, therefore, we also test how easy each managed WordPress hosting provider makes it to run a WordPress website successfully.
