Quick answer: Shared hosting is cheapest and fine for small, low-traffic sites, but you share resources and get limited control. A VPS gives you dedicated resources and full control, at the cost of managing the server yourself (or paying for management). Managed WordPress hosting costs more but handles caching, backups, updates and WordPress-specific security for you. Pick based on traffic, how much the site matters to revenue, and how much technical work you want to take on.
Hosting is one of the first decisions you make for a WordPress site and one of the most common reasons sites end up slow, hacked or offline. The cheapest plan often looks fine on launch day, then struggles when traffic grows or a plugin update goes wrong. Paying for more than you need is wasteful too.
This guide compares the three main options and gives practical advice on choosing between them.
What WordPress actually needs from a host
WordPress has modest official requirements: PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, and HTTPS support. The WordPress.org recommendations currently point to PHP 7.2 or newer and MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB 10.0 or newer. Plenty of hosts still run PHP 5.6 by default, which is slower and close to the end of its security support. Our article on PHP 7 performance explains why the upgrade matters.
Beyond the basics, a good WordPress host should offer:
- Enough memory and CPU for PHP to handle your traffic without timeouts.
- Server-level or plugin-friendly caching.
- Free SSL certificates, ideally through Let’s Encrypt.
- HTTP/2 support for faster asset delivery.
- Daily backups you can restore from easily.
- Staging environments so you can test updates before going live.
- Support staff who understand WordPress, not just generic server issues.
How each hosting type delivers these differs a lot.
Shared hosting
On shared hosting, your site lives on a server with many other accounts. You all share the CPU, memory, disk and network. The host manages the server; you manage your WordPress install through a control panel such as cPanel.
Pros
- Very low cost. Entry plans are the cheapest way to get a site online.
- Simple to start. One-click WordPress installers and a familiar control panel.
- No server administration. The host handles the operating system, security patches and hardware.
Cons
- Shared resources. A busy or badly coded site on the same server can slow yours down.
- Limits. Plans often cap CPU, memory, processes or “inodes” (file counts). Hitting limits causes slow pages or errors.
- Generic setup. Caching and security are usually not tuned for WordPress specifically.
- Variable support. First-line support may not know WordPress well.
Who it suits
Small brochure sites, new blogs and local business sites with modest traffic. If the site is not a major source of revenue and sees a few thousand visits a month, decent shared hosting with good caching can work well.
VPS hosting
A virtual private server gives you a slice of a physical server with guaranteed resources. You get your own operating system, root access and freedom to configure everything: web server, PHP version, caching, firewall rules.
Pros
- Dedicated resources. Your CPU and memory allocation is yours, so neighbours have far less impact.
- Full control. Install Nginx, PHP 7.2, Redis, Varnish or anything else you need.
- Scales well. Upgrade resources as you grow, often without moving servers.
- Good value at higher traffic. For busy sites, a VPS often costs less than equivalent managed plans.
Cons
- You manage the server. Updates, security patches, firewalls, backups and monitoring are your job unless you buy a managed VPS or hire someone.
- Mistakes are costly. A misconfigured firewall or forgotten update can take the site down or open it to attack.
- Takes time. Even with tools that simplify server setup, someone has to own it.
Unmanaged VPS plans from cloud providers are cheap, but the true cost includes the time or expertise needed to run them. Managed VPS plans include server administration for a higher monthly fee. For a broader look at cloud options, see our guide to cloud hosting for websites.
Who it suits
Growing sites, WooCommerce stores with steady order volume, agencies hosting several client sites, and businesses with technical staff or a developer on retainer.
Managed WordPress hosting
Managed WordPress hosts build their platform specifically around WordPress. They handle the server and much of the WordPress maintenance too.
What is usually included
- Server-level caching tuned for WordPress, so you may not need a caching plugin.
- Automatic WordPress core updates and sometimes plugin updates.
- Daily backups with one-click restores.
- Staging sites you can push to live.
- Malware scanning and WordPress-aware firewalls, sometimes with hack clean-up included.
- CDN integration.
- Support staff who know WordPress well.
Pros
- Less to manage. Many routine tasks are handled for you.
- Fast by default. Caching and server setup are designed for WordPress.
- Better support. Faster, more knowledgeable help when something breaks.
- Developer tools. Staging, SSH, Git and WP-CLI access on many plans.
Cons
- Higher cost. Plans cost several times more than shared hosting.
- Restrictions. Some hosts ban certain plugins (often caching or backup plugins that duplicate their features, or plugins that put heavy load on servers).
- Visit-based pricing. Plans are often priced by monthly visits, and overages can add up.
- WordPress only. You usually cannot host other applications on the same plan.
Who it suits
Business-critical sites, busy blogs, content-heavy marketing sites and WooCommerce stores where downtime costs money and nobody on the team wants to manage servers.
Side-by-side comparison
- Cost: shared is lowest; VPS is moderate; managed is highest per site.
- Performance: shared varies with neighbours; VPS is consistent if well configured; managed is consistently good for WordPress.
- Control: shared is limited; VPS is full; managed is moderate, with some restrictions.
- Maintenance effort: shared is low for the server; VPS is high unless managed; managed is lowest.
- Security: shared depends on the host and neighbours; VPS depends on your configuration; managed includes WordPress-specific protection.
- Support: shared is often generic; VPS ranges from minimal to strong if managed; managed is WordPress specialists.
How to choose
Ask these questions:
- How much traffic do you get, and how fast is it growing? Low and steady fits shared. Growing or spiky traffic points to a VPS or managed hosting.
- What does an hour of downtime cost? If the answer is “a lot”, pay for reliability and support.
- Who will handle updates, backups and security? If nobody, choose managed hosting or a managed VPS.
- Do you run WooCommerce or membership features? Logged-in users and carts bypass page caching, so these sites need more server power than a brochure site with the same traffic.
- Do you need custom server software? If yes, a VPS gives you the freedom.
Migrating when you outgrow your host
Moving hosts is a normal part of a site’s life. Plan the move with a full backup, a staging test on the new host, a lowered DNS TTL and a check of forms, emails and SSL after the switch. Our guide on how to move WordPress to a new host covers the steps.
FAQ
Is managed WordPress hosting worth the money?
For sites that bring in revenue or leads, usually yes. The time saved on maintenance and the faster support often outweigh the higher monthly cost.
Can shared hosting run WooCommerce?
A small store with light traffic can run on good shared hosting. As orders grow, cart and checkout pages put real load on the server, and a VPS or managed plan becomes a better fit.
Does hosting affect SEO?
Indirectly. Slow responses, frequent downtime and server errors hurt user experience and can affect crawling. Google has also announced that page speed will become a ranking factor for mobile searches from July.
Pick hosting that matches the site’s job
The right hosting is the one that matches what the site needs to do and who will look after it. If you would like help choosing a host or moving a site to faster infrastructure, see how we build and look after sites that turn visitors into customers.
