At WordCamp US 2025 in Portland, Oregon, we captured a rare in-person conversation between Cory Miller, Ben Gabler, and Jessica Frick. Ben, Rocket.net founder and now Chief Product Officer at hosting.com, and Jessica, the new General Manager of Rocket.net, sat down to share the story of Rocket.net’s growth, the integration with hosting.com, and what customers can expect next.
Building something different in 2020
When Rocket.net launched in 2020, the world was shifting. Most hosting companies were offering the same platforms, differentiated only by marketing claims. Ben Gabler saw an opportunity to rethink how WordPress hosting worked at a fundamental level. By building an edge-first architecture, Rocket.net shortened time to first byte, improved Core Web Vitals, and delivered measurable speed gains.
This was not only about technology. Ben handled support tickets and live chats himself for the first 18 months. He and the team treated every customer, whether they spent $30 a month or $100,000, the same. That customer obsession built a reputation for speed, reliability, and a 98% satisfaction rate, which still anchors Rocket.net’s identity today.
Why “better together” is more than a slogan
In 2025, Rocket.net joined forces with hosting.com in what both teams describe as a true partnership. Rather than a traditional acquisition, this was about combining strengths to build something bigger and better for customers. Rocket.net brings its edge-first platform and customer-obsessed culture. Hosting.com brings its global scale, infrastructure, and expanded support network. Together, the two companies can innovate faster, reach more customers, and deliver the same high-touch service that built their reputations.
Jessica Frick’s appointment as General Manager ensures Rocket.net keeps its original standard while expanding. With a career spanning product, operations, and support leadership at multiple WordPress companies, she brings both industry know-how and a focus on empowering people, customers, and team members alike.
A unified WordPress experience for every customer
Managed Hosting for WordPress powered by Rocket.net is already live on hosting.com. This integration brings Rocket.net’s performance-first technology directly into our platform so customers can experience the same speed, security, and reliability without leaving the hosting.com environment.
This means there is no “coming soon” roadmap item for core integration. Today, whether you sign up through hosting.com or Rocket.net, you are using the same underlying platform. Updates, performance improvements, and new features launch across both at the same time.
For customers, this delivers clarity and consistency. There is no need to compare separate stacks or guess which plan has the best features. Instead, you get the proven Rocket.net experience inside hosting.com, with a familiar interface, global infrastructure, and the same high-touch support that Rocket.net built its reputation on.
Thinking like a SaaS, delivering like a host
One of the biggest shifts Ben and Jessica describe is treating hosting like a SaaS platform. Traditional hosting providers wait for vendors to release features, then market them. Rocket.net takes a different approach, building and shipping its own improvements. This gives the combined teams at hosting.com and Rocket.net greater control over the experience and the speed at which they can innovate.
With the two platforms being integrated, services such as email and DNS are moving under one roof. This integration allows customers to manage more of their online presence in one place, with fewer logins, less complexity, and faster feature delivery.
This SaaS mindset does not replace the human side. As Ben puts it, “Our competitors can copy features, but they cannot copy our people.” The combined team at hosting.com and Rocket.net is intentionally built around experienced engineers, support staff, and product managers who understand what is at stake for customers and act on it quickly.
Culture and leadership that empower customers
For Ben and Jessica, the cultural fit between hosting.com and Rocket.net is as important as the technology. Both organizations value speed with purpose, moving fast to deliver rather than cutting corners. Both put customers first, whether that is a large publisher or a small shop running its first ecommerce store. Both see their people, the engineers, support reps, and product managers, as the real differentiator.
Jessica describes her own goal this way: “When I retire one day, I want people to say I empowered them, our team and our customers alike.” That philosophy underpins Rocket.net’s growth, hosting.com’s expansion, and the unified roadmap ahead.
Looking ahead: one platform, limitless potential
Managed Hosting for WordPress powered by Rocket.net is already live on hosting.com, bringing Rocket.net’s technology directly into our platform. Over the next year, customers can expect clearer plan names, continued performance gains from the edge-first architecture, expanded support coverage, and a faster release cadence so new features appear across both hosting.com and Rocket.net at the same time.
Ben says it best: “We want hosting.com to be the one-stop shop where businesses, creators, and agencies can log in, create, grow, and succeed.” Jessica adds that the team aims not just to maintain the 98% satisfaction rate but to push beyond it.
For customers, this means a faster, more reliable platform, a unified WordPress experience, and direct support from people who understand their sites and goals. New features and improvements will continue to roll out, backed by the same heart and hustle that built Rocket.net and now drives hosting.com.
Join the journey
If you already host with us, expect a smoother, faster, more integrated experience. If you are considering hosting.com or Rocket.net for the first time, now is the perfect moment to see what is coming next.
Talk to our team to start a free trial and experience the difference on your next launch or migration.
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