Using the best VPS for WordPress is one of the most cost efficient ways boost your website's performance while also giving you better security (provided you know what you're doing), and increased reliability.
The best WordPress hosting for you depends on how much time you can reserve for hosting and your budget. The best managed WordPress hosting can give you more time to spend on developing your business while the best VPS for WordPress can give you more freedom, control, and value at the cost of time.
A VPS plan is like renting your own car as opposed to a shared plan which is like using a taxi that's dropping people off in multiple locations. You get to choose where to go, exactly when you want to go there and your journey time is not impacted by what other people are doing in the vehicle. Getting a managed VPS plan for WordPress is like having your own car and driver. It's more expensive but you can focus on other things in the back seat while you're on the road.
This analogy works too for value. It can be cheaper to get a taxi for the odd journey but if you want to get around when travelling renting your own car will be much more pocket friendly. You just need to know how to drive.
The best VPS for WordPress of 2024 in full:
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Best Unmanaged VPS
Hostinger, ranked as the best unmanaged VPS hosting service, offers tremendous value for money, thanks to fast NVMe SSD storage, AMD EPYC processors, and full root access for complete control over your server environment at very affordable rates. The most basic plan costs just $4.99 a month (2-year commitment) and comes with 1 vCPU core, 4GB RAM, 50GB storage, and 4TB bandwidth. The highest-end plan, at $19.99 a month, offers 8 vCPU cores, 32GB RAM, 400GB disk space, and 8TB bandwidth.
Furthermore, Hostinger has data centers in multiple continents around the world, including Asia (India), North America (the USA), Europe (France, Lithuania), and South America (Brazil). This allows you to choose a server closest to your target audience so that content delivery is as quick as possible. Hostinger is also very easy to use; it comes with a custom control panel (known as hPanel) that seamlessly organizes everything, allowing you to find what you need in a jiffy.
Needless to say, unmanaged VPS plans are meant for experts who want extra control. Hostinger won’t monitor the operating system, set up the firewall, or install security patches, for example, and you’ll be responsible for managing the server's system software.
That said, Hostinger understands the challenges involved with unmanaged plans and offers one-click operating system/applications/control panel installation, as well as a user-friendly web-based terminal via which you can manage your files, run shortcuts, or tweak VPS settings without having to download any additional software. Another standout feature is Hostinger’s AI assistant; consider it your personal interactive knowledge hub that will guide you through various tasks, such as configuring firewall rules and installing WordPress.
Hostinger is, without a doubt, one of the very best for bargain hunters. But the deal gets sweeter with its generous 30-day money-back guarantee, which you can use to test the service risk-free before committing. For anyone that is looking to get the most value for money for their WordPress hosting, using a VPS from Hostinger will certainly achieve that goal.
Read our full Hostinger review.
Best Managed VPS
Founded in 1996 and owned by New Dream Network LLC, DreamHost is recommended by WordPress.org, the makers of WordPress. This is because DreamHost has been actively involved in the WordPress community and has massively contributed to WordPress’s development over the last 10 years.
DreamHost offers four simple VPS plans, all of which support unlimited websites, email addresses, and traffic, and offers free SSL for every single site you have. Plans start at 2GB RAM and 60GB storage for $10 per month on a three-year subscription. The next plan, VPS Professional, is for high-performance websites and has 4GB RAM and 120GB storage for $20 a month. The highest you can go with DreamHost is on its VPS Premier plan, which is priced at $60 per month and comes with 12GB RAM and 360 GB storage.
It’s worth noting that while all DreamHost VPS plans are managed, meaning they will handle complex low-level tasks like updating the operating system for you, the service isn’t fully managed. That’s because anything to do with managing your site comes under a different DreamHost service (DreamPress), which is what we recommend getting, especially if you want to build a serious WP site.
DreamPress is DreamHost’s professionally managed WordPress hosting service. The best part is that you still get the benefits of VPS, as the resources with DreamPress aren’t shared; you’re given a high-performance cloud server environment, ensuring maximum reliability and performance. The starter DreamPress plan, priced at $16.95 per month on a yearly subscription, offers 30GB SSD storage, unlimited email, free SSL, and on-demand and daily backups.
You also get custom WP features, such as a WordPress installer, automated WordPress updates, free automated WordPress migrations, a simple website builder to create an elegant WordPress website, 1-click staging for easier website testing, and specialist WordPress support.
Security is top-notch, too, thanks to the powerful Jetpack Professional toolkit that includes backups, malware scanning, CDN, and more. Note that the higher-end DreamPress plans are ideal for users who need more resources and priority support, as well as support for more site visitors.
However, we’d like you to note that you don’t actually get a VPS server with DreamHost. You get a Linux container with kernel-level isolation, which, although still more reliable than shared hosting plans, doesn’t offer the security benefits you would get with a traditional VPS server. This is because OS vulnerabilities in a Linux container can cause isolation breakouts. Still, DreamHost, especially DreamPress, offers good value for money and is ideal for people needing more than shared hosting.
Read our full DreamHost review
Best green WordPress VPS
If you are environmentally-conscious and want to make a difference in the world by reducing carbon emissions, while still getting a powerful VPS for your WordPress sites, there’s hardly an option better than GreenGeeks. It is hands down the best green hosting provider in the entire industry.
GreenGeeks has been recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a ‘Green Power Partner' since 2009. A real highlight of the service is that regardless of which plan you choose, you are going to get a 300% green energy match. This means that GreenGeeks puts 3 times the energy that it consumes back into the grid – and to be able to do so, it has partnered with Poland’s Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). What’s more, GreenGeeks also plants one tree for every hosting account it provides. This is made possible because of its partnership with One Tree Planted.
GreenGeeks offers three VPS plans, ranging from $39.95 (billed monthly) for 2GB RAM, 4 CPU cores and 50GB SSD storage to $109.95 (billed monthly) for 8GB RAM, 6 CPU cores and 150GB SSD storage. These are ideal for those looking for a lower to mid-range VPS for their WordPress sites.
A big positive with these plans is that they are all managed, meaning GreenGeeks will maintain the server for you. This includes updating the operating system, monitoring the service for issues, and installing security patches. Speaking of security, you get real-time 24/7 monitoring, DDoS protection, and custom security rules to secure your VPS against various threats.
In addition to nailing the basics with free SSL, a free migration, and cPanel server management, GreenGeeks also comes with a free Softaculous license, making it super easy to install WordPress and 150+ other apps. However, important WP features, such as automatic WordPress updates, on-demand WP backups, and WP-CLI & SSH Access, aren’t available with the VPS plans – you will have to get GreenGeeks’ EcoSite plan (shared hosting) for these features.
While 99.9% service uptime isn’t the very best I’ve seen, it should keep most users happy. Last but not least, there’s also a generous 30-day money-back guarantee, meaning you can try GreenGeeks out without risking a single penny.
Read our full GreenGeeks review
Best Cloud VPS
ScalaHosting is a Dallas-based provider with over 15 years of experience. As the best cloud hosting service in our tests, it’s an ideal choice if you value ease of use and speedy provisioning of resources. You get scalable resources, and you can increase or decrease CPU/RAM/storage allocation as per your needs with just a single click. This also allows you to only pay for what you use.
The provider offers four standard managed cloud VPS plans, starting at $29.95 a month for 2 CPU cores, 4GB of RAM, 50GB of SSD storage. Additionally, you’re also given the ability to build a custom package for yourself by choosing between 2-24 CPU cores, 4-128 GB RAM, and 50-2000 GB storage. ScalaHosting’s prices are admittedly a bit high, but its wealth of features make it very value for money.
You get unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificates, 24/7 real-time protection from cyber threats, daily backups, free migrations, cloning and staging, WP CLI, auto-updates, full WordPress management, CloudFlare CDN, and an easy-to-use custom control panel known as sPanel that’s arguably more secure (DDoS, spam, and real-time malware protection), lightweight, and feature-packed than the industry-standard cPanel.
Also, sPanel has a built-in WordPress launcher, making it ideal for users who want a managed server for WordPress but are not very tech-savvy. It’s also worth noting that sPanel comes included with all ScalaHosting VPS plans, whereas cPanel costs extra: it starts at $26.95 for 5 accounts, and the price increases as you add more websites.
Another noteworthy ScalaHosting offering is its anytime unconditional money-back guarantee (30 days). Basically, you’re promised prorated refunds if you cancel midway through your plan – so, for example, if you pay for two years and cancel after a year, you’ll be refunded 50% of your original payment.
Rounding off an excellent management solution for VPS is ScalaHosting’s ability to provide managed support for Amazon AWS servers. So, you can host your VPS with AWS (which will offer you a larger network and access to more data centers around the world) and have it managed by ScalaHosting’s team of experts.
Read our full ScalaHosting review.
Best cheap VPS for WordPress
We’ve discussed how Hostinger offers fantastic value for money on its unmanaged VPS plans, but if you’re looking for the cheapest VPS hosting for WordPress, with full root access, excellent security, unlimited traffic, great reliability with 99.9% uptime guarantee, and super-fast NVMe SSD storage, IONOS is a solid choice.
IONOS offers a wide range of VPS plans: six in total, and all of them come with free SSL certificates, support for unlimited traffic, 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and live chat, and security offerings such as DDoS protection, firewall management, and cloud backup (this one’s a paid add-on and costs 6.5 cents per GB per month). What’s more, you also get to choose between different locations, including the USA, UK, Germany, and Spain.
The most basic plan, VPS Linux XS, costs just $2 per month (more than twice as cheap as Hostinger) and comes with a 1 CPU core, 1 GB RAM, and 10 GB fast NVMe storage system. The most powerful IONOS VPS plan, on the other hand, has 12 CPU cores, 24 GB RAM and 640 GB storage, and at $30 a month for the first six months, it, too, offers fantastic value.
Read our full IONOS review
Best VPS for multiple sites
Right off the bat, InMotion stands out as one of the very few providers to offer a dedicated VPS tier for WordPress. There are a total of four plans on offer, with the cheapest one being priced at a reasonable $11.67 per month (on a one-year term). This plan comes with 4 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, and 150 GB NVMe SSD storage.
It’s easy to see why we recommend InMotion for agencies with multiple sites—even its starter-level plan is more power-packed than the higher-end plans of some of the other providers. At the top end of the spectrum, there's a plan with unlimited bandwidth, a whopping 12 CPU cores, 12GB of RAM, and a generous 300 GB NVMe SSD storage, priced at $33.33 per month.
There’s no dearth of security features with InMotion, either. You get built-in redundancy for top-notch reliability, DDoS and brute force protection, free SSL, dedicated IP, and single sign-on authentication. A unique InMotion offering is the Launch Assist, which gives you up to two hours of free assistance from InMotion's server administrators. They can help you with just about everything, including configuring cPanel, tweaking domain settings, migrating WordPress, or managing your database files.
In addition to having WordPress pre-installed on your fully isolated server, you will also get the ability to manage core, plugin, and theme updates, a site health monitor, multi-user access management (you can allow an unlimited amount of users to collaborate on projects), and support via phone, chat, and email tickets. What’s more, there’s also W3 total cache for reduced load times and improved website performance.
Another highlight is its focus on being environmentally responsible. InMotion’s investment in green cooling technology to make its servers more efficient and light on the planet means that it’s a great choice for businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
Rounding off a comprehensive service is a near-class-leading 99.99% uptime guarantee and a generous 90-day money-back guarantee; you’ll have ample time to try out InMotion Hosting without putting on any risk. If you're an agency that is taking care of multiple WordPress sites for your clients then InMotion Hosting's VPS plans provide everything you need and more.
Read our full InMotion Hosting review.
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FAQ
Why use a VPS for WordPress?
Using a VPS for WordPress offers the best value for money if you have the time to invest in learning a bit more about hosting or already know what you're doing.
The cheapest shared plans can be more expensive than the cheapest VPS plans and other people using the resources can have an impact on your site. If you know exactly how many resources you need you don't waste resources by paying extra for things you don't need and you don't need to plan around others having an impact on your site.
VPS plans are not for everyone as some see the value you get from an expert managing your WordPress sites to outweigh the savings you get from a cheaper VPS plan.
How easy it it so set up WordPress on a VPS?
Lots of host have support to installing WordPress on your VPS but even if they don't it's still quite doable for someone that doesn't have much technical experience.
First, you need to download WordPress from WordPress.org. Then you need to upload it to your server using a file transfer service. There may also be other installation requirements. There are detailed instructions from WordPress.org that contain a lot of technical language but there are also images that you can follow. Don't be put off if you don't understand a lot of it, a bit of trial and error won't do any damage. If you do get stuck, these hosts all have great support and some have a money back-guarantee so if you don't get on with it, you can try and easier option.
The authors
James is a tech journalist deeply interested in interconnectivity and digital infrastructure. After graduating with a degree in English language & journalism he worked editing technical documentation for tech giants including Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, and Bytedance. James stays up to date with the latest web and internet trends by attending datacenter summits, WordPress conferences, and mingling with software and web developers. At TechRadar Pro, James is responsible for ensuring web hosting pages are as relevant and as helpful to readers as possible and also looking for the best deals and coupon codes for web hosting.
