Shared VS Managed WordPress Hosting

WordPress hosting or managed WordPress hosting – which one is better for your business? As WordPress explains it, the content management system is on a mission to “democratize publishing and eCommerce one website at a time” by helping users create, express, and earn. For many businesses, choosing WordPress and its open-source software is a no-brainer. What is less clear is the decision users have to make between WordPress hosting and managed WordPress hosting.

Both options remain popular with different types of businesses, and both are associated with some pros and cons that companies must consider if they want to make the best choice for their needs. A website hosting service will play a powerful role in the function of your business website. There are significant differences between shared WordPress hosting and managed WordPress hosting that will affect not only your website or blog but also your staff and resources. Over the course of this article, we’ll discuss the key elements of both options so you can decide which route to take with your WordPress site.

Shared WordPress Hosting

Shared WordPress hosting is extremely popular with businesses, especially small businesses, for various reasons, but especially this one: it’s cheap. While true, that term may suggest inferior quality, so let’s say that this method of WordPress hosting is simply affordable. In fact, shared WordPress hosting is not only a budget-friendly option, but it’s one of the easiest entry-level ways to get your site online and functioning for traffic.

Does shared hosting offer the bells and whistles that managed WordPress hosting offers? No. But there are plenty of businesses and organizations that don’t need those bells and whistles, so why pay for them?

Advantages of Shared WordPress Hosting

Affordability: Shared WordPress hosting offers some of the lowest pricing you’ll find for website hosting. Generally, hosting via the shared model costs businesses as little as $3-$5 per month. If you need more than one site hosted, this affordability may become even more important to your business.

Unlimited Website Hosting: Some hosting companies allow unlimited website hosting plans for a single flat fee. If you have multiple WordPress sites that need hosting, you should see if your shared hosting company offers this type of option.

Unmetered Bandwidth: Some shared hosting plans like those offered by HostPapa feature unmetered bandwidth. This means that no restrictions on the amount of traffic or uploaded content are placed so long as you meet the terms of service and your demands/needs don’t impede the performance of the shared servers.

Free Email Hosting and Accounts: Typically, some shared hosting providers offer free email hosting and accounts. HostPapa offers up to 100 email accounts for customers who subscribe to its basic shared WordPress hosting plan.

Essential WordPress Features: With shared hosting via HostPapa, businesses get the essential WordPress features they need like free domain registration, auto-installed WordPress, 99.9% uptime, enhanced SSD drives, WordPress super caching, and more.

As an added feature, most shared hosts will allow all users to install any software – not just WordPress. If you prefer Drupal or Joomla, you should have no problem with their installation. For many businesses, these advantages make a shared hosting plan the right option.

Disadvantages of Shared WordPress Hosting

Entry-Level Functionality: Shared WordPress hosting has a reputation for entry-level functionality; it doesn’t afford higher-level performance fine-tuned for more advanced sites or sites requiring more resources.

Slower Response Time: Since your site is sharing a server’s resources, it might run slower if another site is drawing on those resources more heavily.

Greater Risk for Downtime: Downtime is a problem for many sites that opt for shared WordPress hosting. However, HostPapa is not among them; it promises 99.9% uptime.

Not Suitable for High-Traffic Websites: If your website experiences frequent boosts of traffic or has achieved greater routine traffic, shared hosting will be unsuitable – and the hosting provider will let you know that it’s time to upgrade to a different plan.

DIY Management: Shared WordPress hosting requires users to manage their features like backups or automatic updates. Basically, site optimization is on you. This type of routine maintenance can prove time-consuming or problematic for businesses.

Reduced Support: Shared hosting plans generally will only offer a basic level of support. If you need more WordPress-specific support, this type of hosting may not be the ideal choice for your company.

Managed WordPress Hosting

The best-managed WordPress hosting delivers a concierge-style hosting service specific to WordPress and includes more functionality and performance optimizations. While shared hosting is a basic way to get your site up and running, managed WordPress hosting goes well beyond the minimum to feature a premium type of hosting service.

Naturally, any business wants its website to be successful. With all the bests and whistles that come with a managed hosting plan, there’s undoubtedly plenty of onboard resources to support that goal. Many businesses choose the managed hosting plan because they want to focus on their business and let an expert service provider handle the hosting tasks.

Advantages of Managed WordPress Hosting

Lightning Speed and Optimized Performance: Managed WordPress hosting servers are optimized for speed. Specifically designed to run WordPress sites, managed hosting servers feature hardware and software built for WordPress websites. Managed plans will also include CDN and full-page caching. The result is better overall performance and speed.

Automated Updates and Backups: Businesses that opt for managed hosting plans can expect routine automatic updates and backups. If there’s a new security update or even a WordPress update, your business doesn’t have to contend with it; the hosting provider automatically tackles those updates for you. In addition, most managed hosts backup data every 24 hours automatically.

Robust Security: Although shared hosting providers feature basic security measures, managed hosts take security to a more advanced level. Managed WordPress hosting providers feature more security measures like WAF that often include malware scans and more resources for fending off cyber threats.

More Support: With concierge-level managed WordPress hosting, the level of support increases and improves to include WordPress-specific assistance. When you opt for managed hosting, you can expect support professionals to be WordPress experts. Uptime monitoring is another measure that supports your site; if something goes wrong, support can quickly tackle the issue before it can cause downtime. If your business has no technical experience, you’ll be able to rely on this support as a matter of course when you need it.

Staging Environment: Managed WordPress hosting features a staging environment. This means you can make changes to your site and test them before moving them into production. With one-click staging, you can quickly and conveniently make the changes you need.

Scalability: Managed hosting is scalable, which means that as your traffic or site’s needs increase, your host automatically levels up with you. There’s no need to migrate to another plan. Autoscaling is just one more automated feature that removes hosting hassles from a business’s plate.

Disadvantages of Managed WordPress Hosting

Pricing: Managed WordPress is a concierge service, so it’s going to cost more than shared hosting. Regular pricing for managed WordPress hosting typically starts at $25 per month, but it may range upwards of $150 per month depending on the plan and hosting company you choose. Additionally, some companies may charge overage fees if your monthly traffic exceeds prescribed limits.

WordPress Only: Managed hosting for WordPress is a WordPress-only environment. If you prefer to use a different email-management platform or analytics tools, you cannot load them into this setting.

More Limitations for Plugins: Some managed hosting services will limit specific plugins, such as some that feature third-party software.

Making a Choice

Now that you know the basic pros and cons associated with both shared WordPress hosting and managed WordPress hosting, you’re ready to make your choice – or are you? Much of the information above refers to general advantages and disadvantages associated with these plans. Once you begin to examine different hosting providers, you’ll want to pay close attention to the specifics of their plans. For instance, not all shared hosts promise 99.9% uptime as HostPapa does. There may also be notable differences between hosts when it comes to their managed hosting plans.

HostPapa Offers Both Shared and Managed WordPress Hosting

HostPapa offers various hosting plans to meet the different needs of customers. Still not sure which plan is the best fit for your enterprise? HostPapa’s support team can help you select the ideal hosting plan for your needs, preferences, and budget. If you choose the company’s shared hosting plans, you’ll find affordable pricing coupled with more features than you’ll often find with other providers. You can expect the highest degree of premium managed WordPress hosting services if you choose an overlooked option.

Explore HostPapa’s hosting solutions to learn more about each plan’s unique features and services. You can also contact support to get fast answers to any questions about the company or its hosting solutions.

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