WordPress is the most widely used platform to create a website. Providers often sell services that are optimized for beginners in order to make a profit. Which of these services is the best for affordable WordPress hosting?
It doesn’t matter if you want shared or WordPress hosting, the same thing happens. WP Engine and SiteGround are not cheap WordPress-oriented services.
Some shared hosting providers have optimized their services to make them a great option for WordPress hosting. To test whether they were actually better for WordPress, I decided to look at cheap WordPress hosting providers.
Let’s now look at the top WordPress hosting options available for budget-friendly users.
Ranking of the best WordPress hosting plans:
- Hostinger – best cheap WordPress hosting for performance
- Bluehost – affordable, user-friendly WordPress hosting.
- HostGator is a low-cost, hassle-free WordPress hosting service
- HostPapa is beginner-friendly hosting that offers generous resources
- DreamHost is a WordPress-focused platform
- Hostinger: Best WordPress hosting at a cheap price
Hostinger is the most affordable WordPress hosting provider. If you choose standard shared hosting plans, it can be as low as $2.59 per month. The WordPress-labeled option includes Cloudflare integrations and WP-CLI integrations. Pricing starts at $1.99/month. Hostinger offers Cloudflare and WP-CLI integrations, but the pricing starts at $1.99/mo.
Let’s get to the point: pricing and value.
You will have access to Single Shared ($2.59/month), and One WordPress ($1.99/month).
- Storage space of 30GB
- 100GB bandwidth to support around 10 000 monthly visits.
- Limit 1 site and 1 email
- Both servers have the same configurations and offer free SSL. Single WordPress comes with WPCLI and Cloudflare installed. This is why the pricing difference.
Hostinger performance
Hostinger not only guarantees 100% uptime but also loads websites quickly. This is all thanks to the technology.
Hostinger was up 100% for 2 months. This is an extremely difficult result to achieve.
Average response time of 511ms isn’t quite as impressive. This is a bit better than the average, but not enough to be too concerned about.
Page load times are amazing. Hostinger loaded a WordPress demo site in under a second. Hostinger loaded a WordPress demo website in less than a second.
Hostinger is a high-performance platform with little room for improvement. It is both reliable and quick.
Hostinger can make WordPress websites load so quickly.
- You can choose from one of the 7 server locations:the USA, UK, Singapore or Brazil. Load times will be faster if the server is closer to your visitor.
- The LiteSpeed server is used to power servers. It also includes a caching engine. It is one of the fastest delivery methods available and it comes pre-configured. Turn it on and you are good to go.
- The latest PHP versions, WordPress updates and other software updates can always be found. This increases speed.
Hostinger is a great host for a low price.
Hostinger is a great example of cheap WordPress hosting. Hostinger is not managed service-level. However, the performance and features are exceptional for the money you pay.
2. Bluehost: Best WordPress Hosting for Beginners
Bluehost is a well-known name in the web hosting industry. It offers many hosting options. Bluehost mainly focuses on WordPress. Bluehost was also recommended by WordPress developers. The prices for WordPress hosting start at $2.95/month. Managed hosting starts from $9.95/month. This makes it one of the most affordable managed WordPress hosting options. It is a platform that only caters to WordPress’s needs.
- Bluehost will install WordPress automatically for you when you log in to the platform. During this process, you can even choose a theme.
- WordPress websites come with a built in management area. Cloudflare CDN can be set up in just a few clicks. You can also manage global plugin settings and updates.
- Bluehost’s plugin is included with WordPress installation. Bluehost’s plugin is included with WordPress installation.
These are just some of the features that make Bluehost easy to use for WordPress sites. Bluehost’s interface is powerful and offers many useful tools.
o There is only one plan that can be considered cheap: Basic for $2.95/mo.
Basic has a limit of 1 site. So consider whether that is enough. You’ll also get a 50GB SSD and 5 email accounts.
Bluehost Performance
Bluehost may not be the fastest provider, but it delivers high-quality results and is reliable.
Bluehost’s 99.99% uptime is very high. There has been only 11 minutes of downtime over more than 2 years.
The average response time is 361ms. The speed of response was very fast, with a slow start and a large spike. However, the speed increased dramatically after that.
Bluehost’s page loading times are not exceptional. A WordPress website was fully loaded in just 1.8 seconds
Although this is an excellent result, the metrics are not very impressive.
- It is acceptable to have the largest amount of paint in the same time period of 1.8 seconds. There is still some room to spare until the maximum time of 2.5 seconds.
- TTFB stands at 1 second. This is a little worrying. This slow server response delays the overall page load. This is only one metric but it’s worth considering.
Bluehost’s performance is average. Although it’s reliable, the speed is not extraordinary.
Bluehost is all about functionality and user experience. This is a great feature for beginners. I recommend it for personal blogs, portfolios and small business websites.
3. HostGator is affordable WordPress hosting
HostGator is a top choice for WordPress hosting because of its low prices and ease-of-use. Hosting plans starting at $2.75/month with unlimited server resources. It is also one of few hosting providers that uses cPanel to manage their hosting, which makes it easy to use.
HostGator isn’t lacking in WordPress-specific features. Its primary attraction is its ease-of-use.
- The main dashboard contains shortcuts to all important website setups. You can install WordPress, access databases, set up email accounts and access file managers all from one place. It took me just a few minutes to get my website up and running.
- cPanel is also available . This classic and standard way to manage basic and advanced configurations is also available.
HostGator is a low-cost, easy-to-use WordPress hosting solution.
It’s also very affordable. HostGator offers 3 plans starting at $2.75 per month and ending at $5.25 per month. All three plans come with unlimited storage, bandwidth, and more. A free domain and SSL certificate will be provided.
Hatchling is limited to 1 website. If you only need one website, this is fine. Baby, you can get $0.75 more lifts.
In the meantime, Business adds a dedicated IP and PositiveSSL to its website. These tools are not necessary, but they can be helpful if you have them.
Performance by HostGator
My HostGator-hosted website provided excellent performance for a very affordable price. It was reliable and loaded WordPress websites quickly.
HostGator was monitored for just three outages after being in operation for more than two months. This >99.99% is one of the best results in this category.
Although there were some higher peak times, the average response time was still very good. The market average of 525ms response time is slightly better than this average.
The page load speed was excellent – HostGator loaded a WordPress site in 1.2 seconds.
4. HostPapa is a budget WordPress hosting service with plenty of resources
HostPapa offers affordable shared and WordPress hosting plans. Both options are identical, both hosted on the same server with the same resources. The price starts at $3.16/month.
HostPapa offers the best option for new users:
- It uses , a standard control panel for website management. The tools and settings are all standard and easy to use. You can also find endless tutorials online.
- HostPapa also offers a 30-minute free training session. You can choose any topic related to hosting that interests you, and the support agent would be happy to guide you. This can be a simple WordPress installation or an eCommerce setup.
This is an incredible combination of things you get. HostPapa will teach you web development basics that will pay off in the future.
Although it may seem tempting to purchase a WordPress-labeled plan, HostPapa’s basic shared options are better. They offer better discounts, even though they are identical.
HostPapa offers three hosting plans: Beginner ($3.16/month), Enterprise ($3.16/month), Business Pro (10.36/month).
Pro instantly falls out of the affordable WordPress hosting category. Let’s now see the deal with Starter and Business.
Each plan will provide unlimited bandwidth, a domain name and an SSL certificate.
- Starter is a $3.16/mo plan that includes a 2 site limit and 100GB SSD storage. This is a great package for an entry-level plan. It can be renewed at $9.99/mo.
- Business (from $3.16/mo.) allows unlimited storage and websites. It’s also hosted on a smaller server, which allows for improved performance. It renews for $14.99/month.
While you may initially be able to get a better plan at a lower price, renewals will pay off later.
HostPapa performance
HostPapa’s performance compares to other providers on the list is very average. Although it’s reliable, some speed boosters could be helpful.
In almost 1 month, HostPapa kept 100% uptime. This is a total of 0 outages.
5. DreamHost is a WordPress-focused hosting company
DreamHost is one of three providers recommended by WordPress. They actively contribute to the platform’s advancement and offer a service that is solely focused on it. This includes security features, control panels, and ease-of-setting up WordPress websites. All this for $2.59/month.
What tools does DreamHost offer in WordPress?
- DreamHost offers a 1-click WordPress installation. Not the fill-out-a-bunch-of-forms type of thing. Your WordPress site will be ready in just one click.
- If your site is already hosted by another provider, you may be able to take advantage of DreamHost automated Migration plugin. It will take less than 30 minutes, depending on how large your site is, and it will work on DreamHost’s platform.
- Your WordPress websites are hosted on DreamHost and come with BoldGrid plugin. This drag-and-drop editor has 200+ templates not available elsewhere on WordPress. This is a useful tool for beginners.
It’s also one of the most affordable WordPress hosting providers.
DreamHost offers two plans: Basic (from $2.59/mo, with 36-month billing) and Unlimited (from $3.95/mo, with 36-month billing).
Each plan will provide you with a domain name and SSL for free, unlimited bandwidth, daily backups and domain privacy.
- Basic comes with 1 website limit and 50GB storage – more than enough for a small-to-medium-sized website. Email is not included.
- Unlimited allows unlimited storage and websites. It also includes email.
- DreamHost performance
DreamHost’s performance is excellent. It is reliable and fast, and it loads websites quickly.
DreamHost experienced only 1 minute of downtime in 2 months. uptime is now at >99.99%. It’s impossible to get any better.
It’s very fast, at 231ms on average. The fluctuations aren’t too large, which shows reliability.
This allows for faster page loading times.
DreamHost loads a WordPress site in just 1.6 seconds. This is a huge advantage considering that people get impatient after 3 seconds. Keep in mind, though, that DreamHost only has servers in the US. It might be worse elsewhere.
Choose a WordPress hosting provider that is affordable
My team and I looked at at least 12 providers before compiling this list. It was a full-time job to keep track of pricing for everyone.
The providers on this list have proven themselves to be reliable over the long-term. They aren’t one-hit wonders; they are marathoners.
This experience taught us valuable lessons that I hope will improve your experience. Here are some things to consider when choosing a WordPress provider that is affordable.
Resources
Your WordPress hosting requirements are the first thing you need to address. Take into account storage, bandwidth and traffic as well as customer support and security. Once you have these details, you can start looking for a low-cost provider (or plan) that will meet your needs.
While more is always better, it is also more costly. When looking for deals on a budget it is best to choose the most affordable amount and not spend too much. However, personal blogs and small websites generally don’t need a lot of space or bandwidth. You can get by with just 1GB storage and 5GB bandwidth. You can get more flexibility by choosing 4GB-10GB storage and 10GB bandwidth. All providers in this list offer more.
Medium-sized sites and sites that see more traffic will need at least 5GB storage. 50GB bandwidth is recommended. This is not the only minimum. These numbers should be increased.
If you are interested in large-scale projects, keep in mind the fact that they will be extremely demanding on your resources. You should choose a plan with at least 30GB storage space and 200GB bandwidth. You will also need to have advanced security solutions such as web application firewalls with custom rules and DDoS protection.
The features that make up WordPress-optimized Hosting
WordPress-optimized Hosting is often just a marketing tactic to grab your attention. However, there are some features that can make this a more compelling option.
These are some things that you can do to boost your WordPress website.- PHP version WordPress benefits from the most recent version updates and developments because it is written in PHP. It’s important to find a provider who can quickly implement the latest PHP version. Currently, most providers use PHP 7.4, but this is being replaced quickly by PHP 8. This will ensure the highest speed and security.
- Web server Nginx has been replaced by Apache.Nginx can handle more traffic right out of the box. A new LiteSpeed Web Server is also available, which outperforms Nginx in many instances.
- Hypertext transfer protocol – Search for HTML2 support. Also, check to see if HTML3 implementation progress. Every new version offers speed improvements in delivery times. Your site will load faster if the files are able to travel faster.
- Caching– caching is a key way to speed up website loading times. Web server providers like LiteSpeed often pre-configure these settings so that you can have a quick website right out of the box.
This pack contains features that will have a 100% impact on the performance of your website. These features should be included in any provider that claims to be WordPress-optimized.
Billing details
Hosting pricing terms and billing details are well-known. Before you commit to a cheap WordPress plan, ensure that you are fully informed about all aspects of your bank account.
This is about in-advance and renewal pricing. There are also surprises in the checkout basket.
Long-term commitment
On their gorgeous landing pages, providers always list the lowest price. However, very few providers will tell you that this price is only available if you pay at least 3 to 4 years in advance.
You can pre-pay as long as you have the funds. That monthly rate will be great. You’ll also get a lower monthly (and renewal) rate if you sign up for shorter terms.
If you are willing to make a commitment to the provider, a long-term contract for hosting could be an affordable option. It’s a good idea to verify that the provider offers a reasonable money back guarantee in any event.
DreamHost also offers excellent monthly-to-month terms and yearly terms.
Renewal pricing
A billing-related point is that the low price will go up after your initial term ends. In reality, renewal prices were doubled, tripled, and (outrageously), even 10 times the initial price.
This is almost always unavoidable. It’s a good idea to confirm beforehand that you will be able to afford the rate or that you will need to move.
Hostinger today surprised and delighted me with this offer – WordPress hosting renewal prices don’t increase. Grab it now!
Surprises in your cart?
Let’s assume everything is fine. You have a great deal on a WordPress hosting plan with low monthly rates and affordable renewals. A tiny detail catches your attention… The checkout cart price has doubled. What’s the deal?
This is not the first time this has happened to you. Hosting providers want to make the best decision for you, and adds extra services to your cart.
