When your site starts receiving heavy traffic then you have no option but to shift from shared hosting to Managed Hosting.
You can no more depend upon shared hosting and you have to migrate to Managed Hosting.
Here are few reasons why you need to move to Managed Hosting.
- Automatic WordPress updates so you don’t have to do manually like shared hosting.
- Automatic daily and weekly backups in managed hosting, for shared hosting backups available only through third party plugins.
- Built in speed optimization, security mechanisms, scalability optimization and CDN networks.
- Server settings are optimized specially for WordPress software.
- Managed Hosting providers give you excellent support if you have any technical issues.
- Your site will never get hacked and if so managed hosting providers are going to get your site back for free.
- There are always staging areas and daily automatic backups.
These features you won’t find in shared hosting.
Top 8 Managed Hosting for WordPress
So if you are looking for managed hosting then you can choose from following 8 providers.
You can choose them depending upon your need, ease of use and traffic you receive on your website.
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WP Engine
The number one managed hosting site in our list is WP Engine. Here are following reasons why WP Engine is the best.
No Need for Cache Plugins: Its custom built Ever cache technology allows your WordPress blog to load very fast. You don’t need to integrate any other Cache Plugins into your site.
Safe to Experiment/Staging (This feature present in every Managed Hosting): WP Engine creates a replica of your live site where you can experiment with new themes and plugins before you incorporate to your live site. If anything goes wrong while testing new themes then you can set things back with the help of one click restore-point.
Hacking Proof: If your site gets hacked then the company will fix for free of cost.
CDN Included: With just one click you can add CDN to your site. It will make your site extremely fast and secure.
However the only problem with WP Engine is the cost. The rate is very expensive. The overages cost can go up to $1 per every 1000 visits.
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Site Ground
Site Ground is a great alternative for those who can’t afford WP Engine managed hosting. It provides almost all the features at a very affordable pricing.
Some of the features are:
- WordPress SuperCacher enhances site performance exponentially.
- Unqiue WordPress installer makes the set up process a lot easier.
- HHVM – Improves the site speed and helps it to load faster.
So you get all the features like autoinstall, autoupdate, caching and staging features at a very low price.
Only problem is you can’t use MaxCDN directly as you have to use a third party plugin.
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Kinsta
Kinsta is getting popular day by day. The USP of Kinsta is it offers unlimited visitors and unlimited page views with all of their plans.
Other salient features of Kinsta are:
- Next Gen Infrastructure offered by Google which gives you automatic scaling, PHP 7, WP CLI automation, SSH access and server level caching.
- Free Migration — Free transition for multiple sites guaranteeing uninterrupted service. Their customer support team is present 24 X 7 to help you.
- Best Security — When it comes to security Kinsta stands out from the rest. Its multi layer protocols secure your website 24 X 7.
There are many other excellent features offered by Kinsta but it’s bit expensive and only for small and medium size businesses.
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GoDaddy
Go Daddy managed hosting is really great if you want to host 4 to 5 websites simultaneously. It offers one click staging for sites. It can handle over 400,000 monthly visitors at a price of $7.99 per month.
They also give you a SSL certificate free for one year. Go Daddy managed hosting is giving tough competition to WP Engine. If you are a beginner or looking for best features in small price then I will recommend this managed WP hosting.
However, while buying managed hosting from Go Daddy, make sure you don’t end up buying other products. Be careful at checkout process.
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BlueHost
Blue Host is another cheap managed hosting provider just like Site Ground. Its basic plan allows you 100 million visits per month with 2 GB RAM, 30 GB storage, and 30 GB back up storage.
Other Great features are:
- Enhanced cPanel makes easier migrating from shared to managed hosting.
- VPS platform enhances performance and site of your speed.
- For security it includes SiteLock, advanced CDN, SiteLock WAF.
- You can manage and migrate for multiple WordPress sites within one hosting plan.
BlueHost managed WordPress does not include many other essential features.
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Pressable
Pressable another managed hosting provider has following features
- Very Reliable with Rackspace Hybrid Cloud.
- CDN is included because security is its top priority.
- SSL Support for any transactions.
- SFTP access which allows secure file transfer so your data is safe.
Price is relatively higher compared to other providers. Moreover, it does not offer many other advanced features.
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FlyWheel
USP of FlyWheel managed hosting is much more than being a hosting provider. FlyWheel is really great from the point of view of bloggers and web designers because it streamlines the entire workflow.
It is built for designers and creative people.
- Manage all your sites within dashboard.
- FlyWheel is specifically designed for WordPress users.
- Intuitive SFTP helps collaboration with other designers.
- 24 X 7 back up and security.
- Pricing is reasonable compared to WP Engine and Kinsta.
Only problem is learning its new dashboard or interface can be quite difficult.
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Pagely
Pagely managed hosting is for website owners who take security more seriously.
- Automatic core and plugin upgrades.
- It offers advanced varnish caching layer with millisecond load times.
However Pagely is more costly than other managed hosting providers for same features given by other providers.
I personally use GoDaddy managed hosting, however Kinsta and WP Engine are also good if you are ready to spend more.
About the author: Mike Michaels is a freelance content marketing professional. He loves to write technical content which involves lots of R&D. Other than writing great content, Mike Michaels enjoys reading Proust and playing chess with his fiancée Jessica Cohen.
