Performance, security, reliability and cost are among the top factors when deciding where to host your blog or website. There are a number of good hosts available these days and even more average hosts, it can get really overwhelming when trying to decide who to choose. Here’s a breakdown of web hosting options in 2020 (recommended by myself and my clients).
Kinsta
A member of the Kinsta team reached out to me last year to tell me about their hosting. I was offered a free trial of Kinsta to test out the new features and have really enjoyed my experience. The UI is gorgeous!
Kinsta was founded in 2013 by WordPress developers who wanted reliable WordPress hosting that focused on speed, security and stability. They have offices in Los Angeles, London and Budapest. I mention this because there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get in contact with a support team who are in a different timezone.
Kinsta [affiliate link] offer premium managed WordPress cloud-based hosting (powered by Google Cloud). Managed hosting is an excellent choice for those who aren’t very tech-savvy. Kinsta will look after caching, security, updates and more for you.
Kinsta have over twenty Google Cloud data centres, expert WordPress developers on support, include free CDN (helping speed) and HTTPS/SSL (for security). Resources are 100% private so your site’s resources are not shared with any other sites (including your own). They offer one-click staging for development and testing too. And they’ve just made even more improvements like increasing disc space on all hosting plans, boosting WordPress site performance up to 200%, and introducing self-healing PHP and automatic MySQL database optimisations.
Clients include Freshbooks, Tripadvisor, ASOS, Buffer, SkyrocketWP, WP Buffs, Calvin Koepke, Tom McFarlin, Ahmad Awais and WP Rocket, along with hundreds of other happy customers (with a TrustScore of 9.5/10), small bloggers and WordPress agencies.
Managed WordPress hosting is typically expensive as the host are looking after a lot of the maintenance, so don’t expect low prices. Kinsta also don’t offer an email service, though you can integrate G Suite. Kinsta do have a list of banned and incompatible plugins so you may want to check that list before committing.
SiteGround
SiteGround [affiliate link] has been a popular choice for a lot of website owners over the previous few years though they have been around since 2004. They are located (with offices and/or data centres) in the USA, UK, Netherlands, Singapore, Bulgaria and Spain.
SiteGround offer a number of hosting options including Managed WordPress or WooCommerce, Shared, Cloud and Dedicated hosting. For bloggers, I recommend the Startup or GrowBig packages on Shared or Managed WordPress.
Both options have some great features. SiteGround offer the latest technology, have a 99.99% uptime, offer 24/7 support and offer lots of useful extras. They have a new client area with new site tools, that is much easier to use than the old dashboard. Keep in mind that their prices are typically reduced for the first year, so take a look at the regular cost of their plans.
They’ve received rave reviews from the founders of WPBeginner and Yoast SEO, and have a TrustScore of 9.5/10.
Lyrical Host
Lyrical Host [affiliate link] specialise in web hosting for bloggers. They pride themselves on transparent fair pricing – offering premium managed hosting without the price tag and with no extra hidden costs.
Hosting plans include SSL certificates, email addresses, automatic daily backups, one-to-one support and much more. Each hosting plan is designed for WordPress. They have a resource library available to all customers with wide range of downloads like ebooks and stock photos.
Some of your hosting spend goes directly to non-profits and charitable causes all over the world and on your Lyrical Host anniversary, they plant a tree for you to offset carbon use. Overall I’ve heard a lot of great reviews – plus they have a TrustScore of 9.4/10!
PS. Use discount code XOMISSE for 10% off your first hosting plan payment.
Other options
Clook Internet is a UK managed web hosting. They offer free migrations, 24/7 support and boast that their servers have 99.99% uptime with excellent reviews.
WP Engine [affiliate link] pride themselves on super-fast servers which improve your site speed and they claim to be the most secure service available. They get great reviews online but as it is a managed service you will be paying premium prices. NB. WP Engine announced today that they are making a few changes to their entry-level plans starting January 22, 2020. These changes will either reduce cost or add value for you.
Flywheel [affiliate link] provide an excellent service with a great user interface and a very helpful team. The services are targeted more towards WordPress designers but they do have some smaller plans available. They are on the pricier side since they offer premium features and take care of everything like backups, updates and migrations.
Kualo has been around since 2002. They have fast servers, spam and virus protection, over 300 quick install web applications including WordPress and responsive 24/7 customer support team. Their hosting is powered by 100% renewable energy and they have some fantastic reviews.
Cloudways offers managed cloud hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce, with a pay as you go pricing system. As well as being able to choose Google, Amazon, DigitalOcean, Linode or Vultr as your cloud provider, they have some seriously impressive features. Including 24/7 support, managed security and automated backups with real-time monitoring. They also have built-in CDN for performance, auto-healing servers and PHP7 ready servers.