When building a website, one of the most important decisions you'll make is selecting the right hosting plan. Your hosting choice affects everything from website speed to security and user experience. For many new website owners, Shared Web Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting are two of the most popular options. Both options have their advantages, but they serve slightly different needs. Let's dive into these two hosting services and learn the differences, benefits, and how to choose the right one for your needs.
What Is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting, or regular web hosting, is one of the most popular and affordable types of hosting. At its core, a shared web hosting allows you to rent space on a web server shared by multiple websites.
This means you share resources like processor power and memory with other sites on the same physical server. Since several sites are on the same server, this is a cost-effective option for small business websites, personal sites, and blogs.
Shared hosting can start at around $15 per month, depending on the provider and resources offered. With seasonal incentives, you can often get started for as low as $1.95 per month.
Pros of Shared Hosting:
-
Affordability: Shared hosting is the most budget-friendly option, making it perfect for personal websites, small businesses, or beginners.
-
Ease of Use: Most shared plans come with user-friendly control panels that allow easy management of your website, databases, and email accounts.
-
One-Click Installations: Shared hosting often includes easy installations of popular platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and more.
Cons of Shared Hosting:
-
Limited Resources: Since you're sharing a server with many other websites, high traffic or resource usage by one site can affect the performance of all websites on the server.
-
Basic Security: Shared hosting usually comes with standard security features, but you're still vulnerable to security breaches affecting other sites on the server.
-
Lack of Customization: Shared hosting typically limits customization options for advanced users looking to optimize their server configurations.
Despite these limitations, most quality hosting providers take steps to minimize their impact and provide you with the best performance, reliability, and security.
They will often balance their shared web hosting servers to prevent traffic spikes from causing a slowdown on multiple sites. They also take security precautions to prevent data breaches and other cyber threats.
What is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is a type of shared hosting that is specifically optimized for the performance, security, and management of WordPress websites.
While WordPress can run on any standard web hosting service, WordPress-specific hosting offers features and optimizations that enhance the overall experience. As a result, you get better performance and faster site load times over shared plans.
As with regular shared web hosting, your provider manages the technical aspects of the server. However, you are still responsible for updating plugins and themes for your WordPress installation.
Pros of WordPress Hosting:
-
WordPress Optimization: WordPress hosting is optimized for the best WordPress performance. Features like caching, content delivery network (CDN) integration, and SSD storage for ultra-fast site loads.
-
Automated Backups and Updates: Most Wordpress-specific plans include automatic core, theme, and plugin updates, and daily backups, keeping your website secure and up-to-date.
-
Enhanced Security: These plans often include advanced security features like malware scanning, firewalls, and DDoS protection, giving your site an extra layer of protection.
-
Expert Support: Plans typically come with expert WordPress support, so you can get help from professionals who specialize in WordPress.
Cons of WordPress Hosting:
-
Higher Cost: WordPress hosting is more expensive than shared hosting, as it includes advanced features and premium support.
-
Limited Flexibility: Since these plans are optimized for WordPress, they may limit the use of other CMSs or custom configurations that aren't WordPress-specific.
A main concern about WordPress hosting is the additional cost. Basic plans tend to start between $10 and $15, with managed plans costing $20 to $30. With promotional incentives, you can often get started for as low as $1.95 a month.
Another thing to consider is that WordPress plans frequently include more than regular web hosting. Plans usually include better catching services, more storage space, or even more system resources.
Key Features of WordPress Hosting
The exact features will vary from host to host or even by plan, but most WordPress hosting plans include:
-
Optimized Performance: WordPress hosting is optimized to improve the speed and performance of your site through caching, CDNs, and faster servers. Caching stores static copies of pages for faster load times. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) distribute content globally to improve load speeds. Servers are often optimized with additional resources and features to handle WordPress’s unique demands.
-
Automatic WordPress Updates: WordPress hosting often includes automatic updates for the WordPress core or even your themes and plugins. This ensures your site stays secure and runs on the latest versions of WordPress.
-
Enhanced Security: WordPress hosting providers understand the risks associated with WordPress and implement comprehensive security measures like Firewall protections, malware scanning, and DDoS and brute force attack protection.
-
Managed Services: With many WordPress hosting solutions, particularly Managed WordPress Hosting, the host takes care of most technical aspects for you. This can include automatic site backups, monitoring, and support from WordPress experts.
-
Scalability: WordPress plans are built to handle the growth of your website. Whether you're starting a small blog or managing an e-commerce store, WordPress hosting can scale with your site’s traffic demands and resource needs.
You should carefully review the details about WordPress hosting plans before deciding which host and plan is best for your needs.
What Are the Types of WordPress Hosting?
WordPress is a popular content management system and virtually all types of web hosting support it.
-
Shared WordPress Hosting: Sometimes just called WordPress hosting, this is the most affordable option and is ideal for smaller websites or personal blogs. Like other regular shared web hosting plans, your website shares server resources with other WordPress websites. While it’s a cost-effective solution, it may not be as fast or secure as other options if your site grows or requires more resources.
-
Managed WordPress Hosting: In managed WordPress hosting, the hosting provider handles all the backend tasks, such as updates, security, performance optimization, and backups. This allows you to focus solely on content creation and managing your site. Managed hosting is often the choice for high-traffic websites, e-commerce stores, or businesses that need reliable performance and security.
-
VPS or Dedicated WordPress Hosting: For websites that require more power, Virtual Private Server (VPS) or Dedicated Hosting options are available. These hosting types provide dedicated resources and more control over the server environment, which is ideal for developers, businesses, or high-traffic sites that require maximum performance.
If you are just starting and plan to use WordPress for your website, a basic plan will offer more than enough resources to ensure your website performs.
A managed WordPress plan is recommended for midsize websites or anyone who expects to handle a relatively large amount of content and traffic.
VPS and Dedicated host with WordPress backends are usually for medium to larger companies that need more control over their hosting environment.
Shared Web Hosting vs. WordPress Hosting: Understanding the Differences
WordPress and regular web hosting are both reliable and affordable options for anyone with limited technical skills. Aside from the cost, the main difference is performance.
Shared web hosting plans are a cost-effective solution for launching a website and getting started on the web. You can build a custom website, use a website builder, or install a content management system. But you may find that you quickly outgrow these plans.
WordPress hosting offers superior speed, security, and ease of management, but limits you to using WordPress for your website. Many plans include built-in caching, optimized PHP environments, and staging environments for testing updates before going live.
-
Performance: WordPress hosting is specifically optimized for WordPress sites, offering faster load times and better overall performance. Shared hosting, may not deliver the same speed or performance as your site grows.
-
Security: While both offer security features, WordPress hosting usually includes advanced protection, automatic updates, and more frequently backups. With shared hosting, updates and additional security measures are your responsibility.
-
Ease of Management: WordPress hosting takes care of much of the technical work for you, including updates, backups, and optimizations. In shared hosting, you're responsible for many of these tasks, which can be challenging for some users.
-
Cost: Shared hosting is a budget-friendly option best suited for small websites or personal projects. WordPress hosting costs more, but the added features and performance can be worth the investment for more complex sites.
-
Scalability: WordPress hosting typically offers better scalability, with resources that can handle growing traffic without compromising performance. Shared hosting may struggle as your website traffic increases, which could result in slower load times or downtime.
Ultimately, it comes down to your needs and budget. Look for a hosting provider that offers easy upgrades if you need better performance or more resources.
Why Choose WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is ideal for users who want a high-performance and secure website without needing to handle complex technical details.
One of the key benefits of WordPress plans is the speed boost it provides. With features like built-in caching, CDN integration, and database optimization, your website will load faster, improving your Core Web Vitals, which are essential for SEO.
This type of hosting is particularly well-suited for:
-
New WordPress users: WordPress hosting simplifies the process by handling updates, security, and performance optimization for you.
-
Businesses and eCommerce sites: Enhanced security and performance ensure your site stays fast and secure, which is critical for online businesses.
Why Choose Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting remains a popular choice due to its low cost, making it a solid option for:
-
Small websites and personal blogs: If you’re just starting and your traffic needs are low, shared hosting provides everything you need to get online affordably.
-
Budget-conscious users: The affordability of shared hosting makes it accessible to anyone looking to create a website with minimal upfront costs.
However, it’s important to consider that shared hosting can offer a balance between affordability and optimization. Many shared WordPress hosting plans come with pre-configured WordPress, security enhancements, and better performance than traditional shared hosting without a significant price increase.
Get Started With WordPress or Regular Web Hosting From Hosting.com
WordPress is the most popular CMS and a great option for any website. No matter your needs, Hosting.com offers premium WordPress Hosting and regular Shared Web Hosting.
You can easily install WordPress on our regular Web Hosting plans or choose our optimized WordPress Hosting for better page load speeds and performance.
Our hosting plans use premium hardware and come with our 99.9% uptime commitment, no-hassle money back guarantee, and 24/7/365 Guru Crew support.
We offer a range of WordPress hosting solutions, including managed and shared options. With fast servers, WordPress-optimized environments, and expert support, Hosting.com can help ensure your WordPress site performs at its best.
And if you need better performance, we offer Turbo Hosting for up to 40% processor speeds and 3X faster read/write speeds. Tubro plans are available for both regular web hosting and WordPress hosting.
Hero Image by Pixabay.
