WordPress hosting is a small category of web hosting that lets businesses create a specialized hosting plan for their website that fulfills all the needs of a WordPress website at the most optimal price and maintenance. Web hosting, on the other hand, is the general term used for the whole concept of website hosting i.e. hosting a website on the internet using a server.
Web hosting and WordPress hosting are two different types of hosting services that cater to different needs. The better option depends on your website’s requirements, budget, and technical expertise.
I run multiple blogs on a daily basis, I have used both WordPress hosting and Web hosting in shared space using cpanel and in this both I will share my experience with both options and how you can make a better decision.
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Here is the table of contents. This blog covers tons of useful information. Bookmark this page or save it, don’t get overwhelmed, go through each step, and you will surely succeed.
Table of Contents
- What Is Web Hosting?
- What Is WordPress Hosting?
- Web Hosting vs. WordPress Hosting
- Best WordPress Hosting Providers
- Is Free WordPress Hosting A Thing?
- Conclusion – Final Verdict
What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is needed for every website that is on the internet. Basically, when a website is created from scratch, it needs a physical server where the website owner can host the website’s files which can then be shared on the internet. The part of hosting a website’s data on a server to share it on the internet is called web hosting.
Setting up a physical server to host a website can be extremely expensive and impractical. This is why web hosting companies create different and specialized sharing plans for website owners which helps them publicize their website over the internet using a type of web hosting that works best for their needs.
What Is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is one of the most popular types of web hosting that specializes in hosting websites that are built on WordPress.
WordPress is the most popular CMS (Content Management System) that websites use. Most websites that are in the form of blogs or business websites always tend to use WordPress. And since this CMS is so popularly used, it makes sense to make a specialized hosting service for it.
WordPress hosting includes features and services that are optimal for the WordPress CMS that your website will operate on. These include, but are not limited to, easy WordPress installation and maintenance, top security features specific to WordPress weaknesses, regular WordPress updates, and optimal website speed.
WordPress hosting isn’t a need for websites that run on WordPress, however, in most cases, it is the best type of web hosting service for the business.
Web Hosting vs. WordPress Hosting
In essence, WordPress hosting is actually web hosting altogether, which is why these two types of services aren’t something you can compare each other with.
Web hosting refers to the act of hosting a website on the internet. WordPress hosting is merely a subcategory of web hosting that helps websites that use WordPress as their CRM to be hosted on the internet in the easiest and fastest way possible.
In addition to WordPress hosting, here are a few other Web Hosting types that are popularly used by website owners which you can potentially compare WordPress hosting with:
- Shared hosting: Multiple websites share the same server including its CPU, RAM, and disk space.
- Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting: Creates various virtual servers on a single physical server and hosts different websites on each virtual server.
- Dedicated hosting: A single physical server is dedicated to a single website, in this case, allocating all the server’s resources to just one customer.
- Cloud hosting: Creates a cloud network of resources that can accumulate or remove server resources based on the needs of the customer.
- Managed hosting: Managed hosting comes with the hosting provider managing the technicalities of the server, such as management, updates, maintenance, and backing up the server.
WordPress hosting is technically not an addition to the above-mentioned list. WordPress hosting is actually a sub-category of web hosting to the categories mentioned above. This means you can get WordPress shared hosting, WordPress VPS, and WordPress dedicated hosting as well.
Pros of Using WordPress Hosting
If you have a website that uses WordPress as its CMS, WordPress hosting is probably the best web hosting option for you. Here are some advantages to using WordPress hosting that could really help your website perform optimally in the most cost-effective way using WordPress hosting.
- Managed hosting: WordPress hosting is a type of managed hosting where the hosting provider takes responsibility for all the technical aspects of web hosting i.e. software updates, security, maintenance, and backups. This means you can direct your focus to content creation for the website instead of worrying about these shenanigans.
- Optimal performance: Since WordPress hosting is specialized for WordPress, you should expect seamless compatibility for your website. This should result in you enjoying the latest PHP and WordPress updates, faster load times, improved security, and better performance overall.
- Enhanced security: Each hosting platform has its own limitations when it comes to security vulnerabilities. However, when you have a hosting platform that is specialized in WordPress, you should expect advanced security that is committed to WordPress security vulnerabilities and offers you the best chance at a secure and safe space than other hosting plans.
- WordPress support: WordPress hosting typically includes customer support that is backed by a skillful and specialized staff that understands WordPress well enough to offer you technical solutions and troubleshooting efficiently.
- Affordability: WordPress hosting is a much more affordable web hosting plan than other hosting options such as VPS hosting or Dedicated hosting that may offer you more resources but will often just have you waste server resources and not be a cost-effective solution.
Cons of WordPress Hosting
Even though WordPress hosting is most likely always the best option when it comes to a WordPress website, there are still some limitations to WordPress hosting that make website owners reluctant in considering it.
Here’s are some concerns people have with WordPress hosting:
- No other CRMs supported: Since WordPress hosting, as the name suggests, only works on WordPress, you have no option for working on another CRM. This means you are always restricted to only what WordPress has to offer and you can not experiment with other CRMs.
- Not as affordable: Even though it is an affordable option when compared to basic hosting plans out there, there are other cheaper options available that offer the same performance as WP hosting at a lower price.
- Limited control: If you want freedom in the technical part of your hosting plan, WordPress hosting may not be the best option for you as it offers significantly less control to you over your server environment with its settings and software management than other hosting plans.
- Plugin limitations: WordPress plugins are one of the biggest reasons for WordPress’s popularity as they offer automation and ease in many website management tasks. However, some WP plugins are not supported by different hosting plans. This means your WordPress hosting plan could restrict you to use only certain plugins that are supported with it and lose out on the functionality of many others.
- No uniform WP hosting service: Each WordPress hosting service is different, offering different features with the hosting plan. Some hosting providers don’t offer managed services on top of WordPress hosting while others offer managed WP hosting but with poor security features. This leads website owners to conduct thorough research and compare many WordPress hosting plans to choose the perfect one for them.
Best WordPress Hosting Providers
WordPress hosting comes in many forms. Broadly speaking, WP hosting is commonly provided in the following states:
- Managed WordPress Hosting
- Shared WordPress Hosting
- Cloud WordPress Hosting
- WordPress VPS Hosting
All of these categories offer different server resources for your website while specializing in the need for a WordPress CRM website. But, since there are different hosting plans for WordPress hosting, different web hosting providers offer different features with them.
After carefully filtering out the most featureful and reliable hosting providers, here are some of the best web hosting providers that excel at offering WordPress hosting.
Hostinger
Hostinger is one of the most trustworthy and popular hosting providers across the internet, which automatically makes it one of the best options for WordPress hosting. Being the pioneer of the hosting industry, Hostinger provides extremely featureful WP hosting plans at the most affordable prices.
- Starts at $2.99 a month
- Lightspeed servers offer the best speed
- 24/7 WordPress support
- Automatic backups and updates
BlueHost
BlueHost is another big name in the hosting industry that offers the most reliable and efficient hosting plans, including WP hosting. On top of being one of the best, BlueHost WordPress hosting is also one of the most affordable services out there.
- Starts at $2.95 a month
- Expert 24/7 specialized support
- Free Domain Name and SSL Certificate
DreamHost
DreamHost is an even more affordable option for WordPress hosting that offers extremely practical and reliable WordPress hosting plans you are sure to love! With many scalable WordPress hosting plans available, DreamHost can be the right choice for you no matter how big or small your business is.
- Starts at $2.59 a month
- Super easy to use with a simple UI/UX
- 99.9% uptime with fast speeds
- 24/7 specialized WP support
- Added on .com Domains for just $7.99
Is Free WordPress Hosting A Thing?
Not really, but that doesn’t mean you can not host a WordPress website for free. There are many hosting providers that offer free plans with no hidden charges or credit card requirements that are more than capable of getting your website up there on the internet.
These hosting plans also include the ability to install WordPress on your website.
This means, technically, you can host a WordPress website for free- however, that wouldn’t be considered WordPress hosting. You’re just using a free hosting platform to run WordPress and not utilizing a specialized WordPress web hosting server with features specific to WordPress.
Free web hosting also comes with a lot of limitations to server resources and performance. This means you can expect your website to get low speed, downtime, and storage restrictions.
Here are some of the most reliable FREE web hosting providers that you can host a WordPress website on:
- 000Webhost (Recommended)
- FreeHosting
- Byethost
Conclusion – Final Verdict
So what do you do if you want to start a website that works on WordPress? Should you get WordPress hosting? Absolutely!
If you’re considering a WordPress website, there is no reason not to get WordPress hosting that is specialized for the CRM of your choice. With WordPress being the most popular CRM option out there and the most reliable hosting providers offering featureful WordPress hosting at affordable prices, you can safely rely on WordPress hosting and choose it as your best option.
Interested in more? Check out Can You Make A WordPress Website Without Hosting?
