Everything You Need to Know About Shared Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting

When launching a WordPress website for the first time, you can easily find yourself overwhelmed by the important decisions you need to make. You will need to figure out what your website is all about and which WordPress theme brings out its purpose the most. You will need to choose the plugins you will use for your website. But first of all, you will need to choose a hosting provider and a hosting package.

The two most emerging hosting options for startup WordPress websites are WordPress shared WordPress hosting and managed WordPress hosting. If you’re not sure what the difference is between them and which one you should choose for your website, don’t worry. We will help you!

In this article you will learn:

What is Shared (WordPress) Hosting?

Shared hosting is the type of hosting where your website shares the server and resources with many other websites. Each server has a certain amount of processing power, storage and memory associated with it, as well as a certain bandwidth for internet access. With shared hosting, all websites on a server can access the same resource pool.

Shared Hosting Advantages and Disadvantages

The main benefit of using shared hosting and the reason why it is such a widely preferred entry-level hosting option is, that’s cheap. Prices may depend on the hosting provider and the exact package, but shared hosting prices usually start at a few dollars a month.

For a little more money you will be able to easily build an unlimited number of websites. You can also get free email account hosting, use of cPanel for administration, and no strict limit on visitor numbers.

On the downside, shared hosting is the worst performing of all hosting options. Because your website needs to share resources with many other websites, you can expect more downtime, slower response times, and other performance issues. The larger your website and the more traffic it receives, the more prominent these issues can become.

What is Shared WordPress Hosting?

When looking at the service plans and packages of web hosts, you will often notice that they offer some kind of branded service for WordPress. It can include several packages at several price points, and the most affordable is almost indistinguishable from shared hosting.

If you come across this type of service, you should compare the shared WordPress hosting package with the regular shared hosting package. You’ll probably notice that the WordPress hosting package offers pre-installed WordPress and maybe a site builder, while the rest is the same as regular shared hosting.

While these bundles aren’t just a marketing gimmick, they won’t give you any added value. Then again, they may not add to the price. However, it is important to remember that it is still shared hosting and the additional service you get is extremely limited.

What is Managed WordPress Hosting?

Managed WordPress hosting is a tag for packages that include some WordPress-specific services. Your server will set up the servers to optimize WordPress performance, maybe even set up the website for you. They will take care of updates and backups for you. Managed WordPress hosting can also include WordPress hosting-specific security rules. All in all, it is a tailor-made service for WordPress websites that takes some of the website maintenance tasks off your hands.

Pros and Cons of Managed Hosting

There are several powerful advantages to using managed WordPress hosting. Usually, this type of service will bring better performance as it is built specifically for WordPress websites. Overall, you can also expect better security. Finally, you’ll have more room to focus on content, for example the hosting provider takes care of some of the more technical stuff.

However, all this usually comes at a higher cost. Managed hosting will also impose certain limitations on your WordPress website.. For example, you may not be able to install some add-ons. You may also find that your hosting provider places a stricter limit on the number of visitors your website can have. While these restrictions are made in the name of performance improvement, they can still be annoying or downright destructive.

Is Managed Hosting Shareable?

The obvious question is, if managed WordPress hosting is only one type of service, is it possible to have shared WordPress managed hosting? The answer is yes, it is. Hosting providers may offer managed WordPress services to go along with shared hosting. This is something to consider when choosing between VPS and dedicated hosting, as both are manageable.

These will of course come at different pricing points. You should expect them to cost more than their unmanaged counterparts and enjoy all the other benefits and limitations of the managed WordPress service.

Choosing Between Shared and Managed Hosting for WordPress

The gap between shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting is shrinking. Providers are offering managed WordPress hosting at increasingly competitive rates, and some have gone so far as to offer them for the same cost as shared hosting.

Apart from price as the determining factor, you should turn to the other pros and cons when choosing the best hosting package for your website. More precisely, you might consider whether the limitations of managed WordPress hosting are something you can live with as its benefits outweigh shared hosting or shared WordPress hosting.

Also, keep in mind that different hosting providers may add different services to their hosting packages, whether it’s shared, shared WordPress, or managed WordPress. You should always shop around when looking for hosting, of course, but pay extra attention to details when choosing between these hosting types. Go service service and make sure what you get is exactly what you need.

Let’s wrap it up!

Thanks to the immense popularity of WordPress, most hosting providers will offer some services tailored for WordPress websites. While there is a consensus on managed WordPress hosting and how it differs from regular types of hosting including flat shared hosting, you should always be careful when choosing hosting for your website.

Some providers add different services to managed hosting, while others may create their own brand of shared WordPress hosting, which is a mix of regular and managed WordPress hosting. The most important thing for you is to get the services you need and the best possible website performance at the most affordable price.