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The Best WordPress Hosting 2025: 17 Tested, 5 Recommended

Best Web Hosting For WordPress

Let’s say you’re looking for a new WordPress Hosting Provider! You search for “Best WordPress Hosting” and Twenty tabs later, you’re drowning in a sea of “Expert” lists that all recommend different hosts as #1. But somehow… you’re still unsure about picking that “best host” for your business because you read the same generic information which you already aware.

Then you go search into forums like Reddit and read multiple threads, you’ll see each one of them recommends their favorite hosting company as the best. You’ll end up more confused. Ultimately, you will likely choose a WordPress hosting provider that is well-marketed rather than its performance outlook. This is the story of most business owners seeking their ideal WordPress hosting in 2025.

Enter Hostingstep, where we do something unique that no other site does. We use our own funds to buy hosting accounts, install identical WordPress sites and test them 24/7, 365 days a year. No random “best hosting” list is influenced by affiliate commissions. All our recommendations are based on real performance data obtained from our test sites, which you can fully verify.

To find the best WordPress hosting, we measure what actually matters: how fast the site loads, how often it stays online and goes down and how it handles traffic spikes.

Our Testing Methodology:

  • Real-World Performance Testing: Identical WordPress sites deployed across all the 17 hosting providers.
  • Testing Duration: Jan -June 2025 (6 months) and 2024 (12 months)
  • Benchmarking Tools: Pingdom syntethic monitoring and Loader.io
  • Test Site Setup: Twenty Twenty-Four theme, standardized plugins (Akismet, Contact Form 7 and Rank Math)
  • Key Metrics Measured: TTFB (speed), uptime and load handling response time.

Best WordPress Hosting Providers of July 2025

Performance Data Q1-Q2 2025 | Independent Testing & Analysis

Hosting Provider HostingStep Rating TTFB (Speed) Uptime Load Test Pricing Learn More

WP Engine

Premium WordPress Hosting

On WP Engine’s Website
9.8
★★★★★
Excellent
354ms 99.99% 19ms
$23.00/mo
3 Months Free
Get Started

Hostinger

Budget-Friendly Hosting

On Hostinger’s Website
7.0
★★★★☆
Good
491ms 99.99% 256ms
$2.69/mo
10% Exclusive Off
Get Started

Kinsta

Google Cloud Hosting

On Kinsta’s Website
8.2
★★★★☆
Very Good
446ms 99.96% 27ms
$30.00/mo
1st Month Free
Get Started

Cloudways

Cloud Hosting Platform

On Cloudways’ Website
7.7
★★★★☆
Good
441ms 99.99% 128ms
$11.00/mo
$30 Off 3 Months
Get Started

GreenGeeks

Eco-Friendly Hosting

On GreenGeeks’ Website
8.8
★★★★★
Excellent
417ms 99.98% 26ms
$2.95/mo
70% Off
Get Started
📊

Our Weighted Scoring System

TTFB Performance

Server response time (TTFB) measured from 20+ North American regions every 60 seconds. A total of 525,600 checks done a year. (lower is better)

Uptime

Sites are checked at 60-second intervals with 30-second timeout. (higher is better)

Load Handling

0-100 concurrent users are sent to the site to calculate average response time (lower is better)

TTFB Scoring (40%)

Performance-based scoring with color coding:

  • 300-400ms: Elite (9-10 points)
  • 400-499ms: Strong (6-8 points)
  • 500-600ms: Average (4-6 points)
  • 600ms+: Poor (1-4 points)

Uptime Scoring (40%)

Perfect uptime = 10 points. Each 0.01% reduction = -0.5 points, with exponential penalties for poor performers below 99%.

Load Test Scoring (20%)

Updated scoring based on response times:

  • 0-100ms: Elite (9-10 points)
  • 100-200ms: Strong (7-8 points)
  • 200-250ms: Average (6 points)
  • 250-500ms: Below Average (3-5 points)
  • 500ms+ or errors: Poor (1-2 points)

Testing Methodology: All hosting providers tested using identical WordPress installations with Twenty Twenty-Four theme, PHP 8.1, and standardized plugins for fair comparisons.

Our Top Pick At a Glance

BEST FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORDPRESS HOSTING

WP Engine

Starting Price: $20/month (Startup plan)

Visit Site
On WP Engine’s Website

Elite Performance

Elite performance with Cloudflare Enterprise integration

Performance Metrics & Features

TTFB
354ms
Elite tier
Uptime
99.99%
Excellent
Load Handling
19ms
Elite – fastest tested
Rating
4.8/5
Excellent
4.8
★★★★★
Hostingstep Rating
Excellent
Why It’s Our Top Pick: WP Engine has been consistently delivering fastest load handling, TTFB and uptime performance since mid of 2024. Their performance is unmatched for serious business websites.
Ideal For: Business sites, high traffic blogs, and WooCommerce sites where performance and reliability matters more than pricing.
Limitations: Expensive for small sites, personal and hobby blogs.
BEST SHARED HOSTING FOR RELIABILITY

Hostinger

Starting Price: $2.69/month

Visit Site
On Hostinger’s Website

Exceptional Reliability

Exceptional reliability for a shared hosting provider with 25 websites support on starter plan

Performance Metrics & Features

TTFB
491ms
Average tier
Uptime
99.99%
Only 2 mins downtime
Load Handling
247ms
Needs improvement
Multi-site
25 sites
Starter plan
4.6
★★★★☆
Hostingstep Rating
Very Good
Why It’s Best for Shared Hosting: Hostinger is the only reliable shared hosting with 99.99% uptime with only 2 minutes of downtime in the last 6 months. They also offer highest inode limits (400,000) compared to competitors which offers around 200,000 inode limits.
Ideal For: Beginners, small businesses and multi-site owners who are looking for reliable shared hosting with best peformance to price value.
Limitations: Good TTFB but gets slow during traffic spikes, not ideal for high traffic sites.
BEST FOR MANAGED WORDPRESS HOSTING

Kinsta

Starting Price: $30/month (first month free)

Visit Site
On Kinsta’s Website

Global Data Centers

Access to all 37 Google data center locations and premium tools like APM

Performance Metrics & Features

TTFB
446ms
Strong
Uptime
99.96%
Very Good
Load Handling
27ms
Elite handling
Data Centers
37
Global locations
4.7
★★★★★
Hostingstep Rating
Excellent
Why It’s Best for Managed WordPress: If you are picking a multi-site plan, you can host each of your site closer to your target audience from any of the 37 global data center locations. For critical WordPress sites, APM (Application Performance Monitoring) tools are essential to monitor and debug the site. Kinsta offers its for free across all plans. New relic, the leader in APM tool costs minimum $100/month and this alone makes Kinsta, the most ideal choice in managed WordPress space.
Ideal For: High traffic sites, resource-intensive WordPress applications (Kinsta uses fastest Google Cloud VMs), online stores, and membership sites.
Limitations: Higher pricing and no email hosting. Not suitable for basic blogs.
BEST FOR MANAGED CLOUD HOSTING

Cloudways

Starting Price: $11/month (DigitalOcean 1GB plan)

Visit Site
On Cloudway’s Website

Multiple Cloud Providers

Managed Cloud hosting with choice to host among five different cloud providers with unlimited websites

Performance Metrics & Features

TTFB
441ms
Strong tier
Uptime
99.99%
1 min downtime
Load Handling
128ms
Average handling
Cloud Options
5 providers
DO, Vultr, AWS, GCP
4.5
★★★★☆
Hostingstep Rating
Very Good
Why It’s Best for Cloud Hosting: Cloudways is the only company that allows you directly host on five different cloud providers through its managed dashboard. At $11/month, you can start hosting unlimited number of websites. They are WordPress centric with features like pre-speed optimized WordPress installations, Brezze caching plugin and you can get Cloudflare Enterprise CDN for just $4.99/domain.
Ideal For: multi-site business owners, developers, and businesses that needs Cloud hosting infrastructure without the complexity of managing servers directly.
Limitations: Learning curve required for beginners.
BEST FOR FAST SHARED HOSTING

GreenGeeks

Starting Price: $2.95/month (Lite plan)

Visit Site
On GreenGeeks’ Website

Consistently Fastest

Consistely rated as the fastest shared hosting since 2020. They outperform many of the premium and mid-range managed WordPress hosts

Performance Metrics & Features

TTFB
417ms
Elite tier
Uptime
99.98%
Very Good
Load Handling
26ms
Elite performance
1-Year Cost
$35
Best value
4.4
★★★★☆
Hostingstep Rating
Very Good
Why We Recommend Them: GreenGeeks has been consistently top performing, under-rated web hosting company in the industry. They ranked #3 in load handling out of #17 hosts tested. They also offer the fastest TTFB #1 among shared hosting companies. Uptime? That’s where our concern is. GreenGeeks uptime is 99.98%, a pretty good score (ranking #2 among 9 shared host) but the number of short outages are worrysome which are crucial for small businesses.
Ideal For: beginners, bloggers and who are just getting started. It costs just $35 for first year, the cheapest price for 1-year billing.
Limitations: Uptime concern on starter plan. Users can try Pro or Premium plan for better reliability.

Comprehensive Performance Data Comparison

TTFB Performance Comparison (Q1-Q2 2025)

Provider
Q1-Q2 2025 TTFB
Performance Tier
12-Month Average
Improvement
WP Engine
354ms
Elite
462ms
↗ +108ms faster
GreenGeeks
417ms
Strong
395ms
↘ -22ms slower
Cloudways
441ms
Strong
405ms
↘ -36ms slower
Kinsta
446ms
Strong
466ms
↗ +20ms faster
Hostinger
491ms
Average
443ms
↘ -48ms slower

Testing Protocol: 525,600 TTFB measurements per provider annually from 22 North American locations

Uptime Reliability Analysis

Q1-Q2 2025

Provider
Uptime %
Total Downtime
Outage Count
Longest Outage
Reliability Tier
Hostinger
99.99%
2 minutes
1
2 minutes
Elite
Cloudways
99.99%
1 minute
1
1 minute
Elite
WP Engine
🔄 Scheduled Updates
99.99%
34 minutes
3
20 minutes
Elite
GreenGeeks
⚠️ Frequent Outages
99.98%
43 minutes
17
12 minutes
Strong
Kinsta
☁️ Cloudflare Issues
99.96%
1h 54m
9
45 minutes
Strong

Outage Context & Analysis

WP Engine – Scheduled Maintenance

WP Engine outage is due to Scheduled server update which touted to be their next-gen platform.

Kinsta – External Dependency Issue

Kinsta had its first ever longest outage in the last four years due to Cloudflare issues. This is not an server issue but more of a connectivity issue.

Regular Operations

Hostinger, Cloudways, and GreenGeeks experienced standard operational outages during the monitoring period.

Monitoring Method: 60-second interval checks with 30-second timeout threshold

Load Handling Performance Under Stress

Traffic Surge Response Testing

Provider
Load Test Result
Performance Tier
Error Rate
WP Engine
19ms
Elite
0%
GreenGeeks
26ms
Elite
0%
Kinsta
27ms
Elite
0%
Cloudways
128ms
Average
0%
Hostinger
247ms
Average
0%

Elite Performance

WP Engine, GreenGeeks, and Kinsta demonstrated exceptional load handling with sub-30ms response times under maximum stress.

Stable Performance

Cloudways and Hostinger maintained stable response times without errors, suitable for most traffic scenarios.

Perfect Reliability

All providers achieved 0% error rates, indicating robust infrastructure capable of handling traffic surges.

Load Testing Protocol: 0-100 concurrent users over 60 seconds using Loader.io from Amazon US East

Detailed Analysis of Top Providers

Best WordPress Hosting – WP Engine

WP Engine

★★★★★
10.0/10

Best for: Enterprise & high-traffic WordPress sites

Starting from
$20/month
+ 3 months FREE with annual plans
EXCLUSIVE OFFER

3 Months FREE WordPress Hosting

Sign up for any annual plan and get 3 months completely FREE. Offer automatically applied at checkout.

Limited time offer – Ends soon!

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
356ms Elite tier
Uptime
100% Perfect uptime
Load Test
19ms Elite handling
Performance Score
10.0/10 Excellent

Get 3 Months FREE + Elite Performance

Limited time offer automatically applied at checkout.

Claim Your 3 Months FREE
30-Day Money Back
24/7 Expert Support
Top Rated 10/10

Expert Opinion

” In the last 12 months, WP Engine consistently delivered fastest load handling and TTFB performance, bundled with 100% uptime. Their infrastrucuture is unmatched for serious business websites.”

Mohan Raj
Hostingstep Founder

Key Features

Automated Backups
Dev/Stage/Prod
Global CDN
Free SSL
DDoS Protection
Cloudflare Edge Caching

Limitations

Expensive for small sites
APM only on Enterprise plans
Limited Cloud locations
High renewal pricing
Exclusive Offer: 3 Months FREE with WP Engine (Limited Time)
Get Started

The best WordPress hosting overall is the WP Engine. It offers an elite TTFB performance of 354ms, the fastest among all the hosts we have tested. Their uptime also stands out, with 99.99% uptime as of the data collected from January to June 2025. The most impressive part of WP Engine is its load handling capacity. It handled our load test with a response time of just 19ms, outperforming all other hosts we’ve tested. In total, WP Engine surpassed all 17 other WordPress hosting providers in every performance metric.

Performance Metrics (Jan – Feb 2025):

  • TTFB: 354ms (Elite tier)
  • Uptime: 99.99%
  • Load Test: 19ms (Elite handling)
  • Hostingstep Performance Score: 9.8/10
WP-Engine-TTFB-and-uptime-report-Q1-Q2-2025
WP Engine load test report. Average response time: 19ms

Honestly, we haven’t recommended WP Engine in the last four years due to their slow performance. However, things changed in mid of 2024 with visible performance improvements across all the metrics. When they introduced Edge caching, it promptly improved the TTFB response time. But still, I was skeptical with uptime percentage and load handling which can’t be improved with edge caching alone. To my surprise, we saw massive improvements in uptime and load handling was the bestest we’ve experienced so far. This indicates WP Engine simply didn’t add edge caching but upgraded their whole infrastructure from the base to compete with their competitors.

Regarding features, WP Engine includes everything you expect from a managed WordPress host. They have automated backups stored for up to 30 days, as well as staging, development, and production environments, global data center locations, security fixes, and Layer 3+4 DDoS protection, among other features. 

Pricing:

  • Startup: $23/month (25,000 visits, 10GB storage, 75GB Bandwidth)
  • Professional: $105/month (75,000 visits, 15GB storage, 150GB Bandwidth)
  • Growth: $290/month (100,000 visits, 20GB storage, 240GB Bandwidth)
  • Scale: $730/month (400,000 visits, 50GB storage, 550GB Bandwidth)

Best For: WP Engine is ideal for business sites, high-traffic blogs, WooCommerce stores, and critical WordPress applications where performance and reliability are more important than pricing.

Best WordPress Hosting [Shared] – Hostinger

Hostinger

★★★★
7.1/10

Best for: Small businesses seeking long-term savings

Starting from
$2.99/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
464ms Average tier
Uptime
100% Perfect uptime
Load Test
256ms Needs improvement
Performance Score
7.1/10 Good

WPBench Score

CPU Performance 7.9/10
Memory Handling 8.2/10
Database Operations 7.8/10
Filesystem I/O 7.6/10

Key Features

25 Websites on Starter
48-month pricing available
Low $7.99 renewal price
Free Domain
Email Hosting
AI Website Builder

Limitations

Average TTFB performance
Poor load handling
Visit limits on plans
Limited storage on starter

Performance Summary

Hostinger is the perfectly balanced WordPress hosting that clears all the performance fronts with an affordable introductory and renewal pricing. It suitable for small to medium business websites.

Save 7% on Hostinger plans
Use this coupon code during checkout to receive a 7% discount.

Hostinger is the best shared WordPress hosting for beginners and small business to get started. Their performance is somewhat mixed, with TTFB of 491ms and load handling at 247ms, categorized as “Needs Improvement.” Their uptime has been 99.99% so far in 2025.

Performance Metrics:

  • TTFB: 491ms
  • Uptime: 99.99%
  • Load Test: 247ms
  • Performance Score: 7.0/10
Hostinger-TTFB-and-uptime-report-Q1-Q2-2025
Hostinger

Hostinger is not the fastest host in shared hosting category but their exceptional uptime reliability (only 2 minutes in last 6 months). Inodes issue is pretty common among shared host and they offer the highest 400,000 inodes on starter plan which makes them the solid choice under shared hosting options. . Both the introductory and renewal pricing is lowest in the industry, making them an ideal long term choice for most businesses on budget.

What makes Hostinger well suited for small business owners is its pricing. Small business owners are price-sensitive and expect the best value for money. Hostinger fits this category well with long-term introductory discounts and affordable renewal pricing. Their starter plan is priced at $2.99/month, which is similar to most shared hosts. However, Hostinger offers this pricing for a 48-month billing cycle, while most shared hosts limit these discounts to only 36 months. 

Again, take the renewal pricing: The Hostinger plan renews at $7.99/month, while all other shared hosts can be renewed for only over $12/month. Hostinger makes the deal even better for small business owners as it allows hosting 25 websites on the starter plan, while most hosts limit only one site hosting on the starter plan. Thus, I believe Hostinger is a strong choice for small business owners starting in 2025.

Pricing:

  • Premium: $2.99/month (25 websites, 25k visits, 25GB storage)
  • Business: $3.99/month (50 websites, 100k visits, 50GB storage)
  • Cloud startup: $7.99/month  (100 websites, 200k visits, 100GB storage)
  • Cloud Professional: $15.99/month  (200 websites, 300k visits, 200GB storage)

Best For: Hostinger is best suited for small businesses looking for long-term savings on their hosting bills. It offers the complete requirements of a small business (free domain, email hosting, AI builder, customer support, etc) at an affordable price.

Best Managed WordPress Hosting – Kinsta

Kinsta

★★★★★
9.3/10

Best for: Resource intensive WordPress applications & membership sites

Starting from
$30/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
444ms Strong tier
Uptime
100% Perfect uptime
Load Test
27ms Elite handling
Performance Score
9.3/10 Excellent

Key Features

Google Cloud Platform
37 Global Locations
Free APM Tool
Powerful C3D/C2 Servers
Free Hack Fix Guarantee
Staging Environments

Limitations

Higher price point
Visit limits on plans
No email hosting
TTFB not as fast as WP Engine

If you are looking for the best managed WordPress hosting, check out Kinsta. It has an excellent performance score of 9.3/10 in our testing. Their TTFB is 444ms in the “Strong” rather than the “Elite” category, but they excel in two critical tests: Uptime and load testing. It recorded an uptime of 100% in 2025 while it consistently got 99.99% uptime with around 1-2 minutes of downtimes in previous years. Their load handling score is 27ms, similar to WP Engine, landing them in the “Elite” category.

Performance Metrics (Jan – June 2025):

  • TTFB: 446ms (Strong tier)
  • Uptime: 99.96%
  • Load Test: 27ms (Elite handling)
  • Performance Score: 8.2/10 (Excellent)
Kinsta-TTFB-and-uptime-report-Q1-Q2-2025
Kinsta

The reason we rate Kinsta as the best managed WordPress hosting is due to its WordPress centric features. First, Kinsta uses Google Cloud as the infrastructure partner and allows you to host the sites across all 37 global locations. Second, for critical WordPress applications, APM (Application Performance Monitoring) tools are essential and Kinsta offers its APM tool for free on all its plans. Third, Kinsta uses the fastest Google Cloud servers. If you are new to this, Google offers different types of servers, each specializing in different use cases, and Kinsta uses top-tier C3D and C2 servers, which offer the fastest hardware performance based on our benchmarks.

WP Engine has this APM feature, but it is only limited to Enterprise plans. They don’t allow access to all Google Cloud locations, and they don’t use C3D and C2 servers on starter plans, which are only available on advanced plans. These are a few of the reasons we feel Kinsta deserves to be the best for managed WordPress hosting.

Pricing:

  • Single 35K: First month free, then $30/month (35,000 visits, 10GB storage)
  • WP 2: $59/month (70,000 visits, 20GB storage)
  • WP 5: $96/month (125,000 visits, 30GB storage)

Best For: Kinsta is best suited for resource-intensive WordPress applications, online stores, membership sites, and even for blogs/small businesses where they need to choose managed WordPress hosting.

Best Fast WordPress Hosting – GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks

★★★★
8.3/10

Best for: Beginners & environment-conscious users

Starting from
$2.95/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
418ms Strong tier
Uptime
99.96% Strong tier
Load Test
26ms Elite handling
Performance Score
8.3/10 Very Good

Key Features

Simplified cPanel
1-Click WordPress Install
Easy Staging Site Creation
Free SSL
Simplified Email Setup
Plants 1 Tree Per Account

Limitations

1 website limit on Lite plan
Limited storage on starter plan
No advanced dev features
Limited premium features

GreenGeeks is our top recommended best beginner-friendly WordPress hosting. Their performance is very similar to A2 Hosting and often goes neck to neck. It offers a strong TTFB of 418ms and elite load handling of 26ms, which is only short of WP Engine and better than every other 15 hosts we’ve tested. Their uptime in 2025 stays at 99.96% as of February 28, 2025.

Performance Metrics:

  • TTFB: 417ms (Strong tier)
  • Uptime: 99.98% (Strong)
  • Load Test: 26ms (Elite handling)
  • Performance Score: 8.8/10 (Very Good)
GreenGeeks-TTFB-and-uptime-report-Q1-Q2-2025
GreenGeeks

What makes us believe GreenGeeks is the best WordPress host for beginners is their simplified cPanel. Let’s accept the fact that cPanel is great, and at the same time, it feels bloated with too many options and steps to manage your sites. As a beginner, it involves a learning curve to understand cPanel and execute any changes. GreenGeek fixes this by offering a simplified dashboard where they bring most features of cPanel within one click.

Want to install WordPress or create a staging site, or need to create and manage new email accounts, or manage security features like installing SSL, managing DNS, etc.? Everything can be done in the GreenGeeks dashboard itself without logging into cPanel. With my 10 years of experience in the industry, I see no other host that has managed to bring out this kind of simplified setup of cPanel. With this approach, I strongly believe that GreenGeeks is the best WordPress hosting platform for beginners.

Pricing:

  • Lite: $2.95/month (1 website, 25GB storage)
  • Pro: $4.95/month (unlimited websites, 50GB storage)
  • Premium: $8.95/month (unlimited websites, 100GB storage, 4X performance)

Best For: GreenGeek is best for beginners, first-time WordPress users, bloggers, and environment-conscious users* or anyone who is starting a WordPress site and wants a balanced performance, simplicity, and pricing. *GreenGeeks plants one tree for every new hosting account.

Best Mid-Range WordPress Hosting – Cloudways

Cloudways

★★★★
8.4/10

Best for: Developers and those upgrading from shared hosting

Starting from
$11/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
443ms Strong tier
Uptime
100% Perfect uptime
Load Test
128ms Average handling
Performance Score
8.4/10 Very Good

Key Features

Unlimited websites
Custom control panel
Breeze caching plugin
5 cloud providers
Cloudflare Enterprise ($4.99)
Managed cloud service

Limitations

Average load handling
Slower than premium hosts
More technical knowledge
Setup requires more steps

If you are looking to upgrade from a shared host and are not willing to pay a premium price for a managed host, then check out Cloudways. It offers managed Cloud hosting services through five different cloud providers, and their pricing starts at $11/month. We tested their standard plan at $11/month and it recorded an average TTFB of 443 ms and 100% uptime in the first two months of 2025. Their load handling score is 128ms, which is good for WordPress sites.

Performance Metrics:

  • TTFB: 441ms (Strong tier)
  • Uptime: 99.99%
  • Load Test: 128ms (Average handling)
  • Performance Score: 7.7/10 (Very Good)
Cloudways-DigitalOcean-Standard-TTFB-and-uptime-report-Q1-Q2-2025
Cloudways

Cloudways gets picked in the mid-range category because of its pricing and plans. At $11/month, it allows you to host unlimited websites which is not a feature you see on shared or premium managed hosts. They have a custom control on par with WP Engine or Kinsta and it is better than cPanel. Additionally, they have their own caching plugin, Breeze, which works similarly to WP Rocket, giving you cost savings. They also have Cloudflare Enterprise offerings at just $4.99/site, which costs over $200/month when you get it from the official Cloudflare site. So, if you simply look at its outstanding pricing and its plan offerings, Cloudways is the clear sole winner in the Mid range WordPress category.

Pricing: 

  • DO 1GB Plan: $11/month (1 core, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage)
  • DO 2GB Plan: $24/month (1 core, 2GB RAM, 50GB storage)
  • DO 4GB Plan: $46/month (2 cores, 4GB RAM, 80GB storage)
  • DO 8GB Plan: $88/month (4 cores, 8GB RAM, 160GB storage)

The starting prices mentioned above are for DigitalOcean. Other Cloud providers are available at different price points, like Vultr and Linode at $14/month, AWS at $20.56/month, and Google Cloud at $37.45/month.

Cloudways is also the best WordPress hosting platform, offering AWS and Google Cloud hosting options for its customers. We say this after testing all the Cloud providers offered by Cloudways, and the performance scores are almost identical. WP Engine is the only other best option for WordPress hosting to host on AWS and Google Cloud. However, they offer AWS only on custom plans.

Best For: Cloudways is best suited for website owners who need more power and flexibility over shared hosts and are not ready for the cost of premium managed WordPress hosts.

Best WordPress Hosting For Agencies – Nexcess

Nexcess

★★★★
8.1/10

Best for: WordPress Hosting for Agencies

Starting from
$17/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
477ms Average tier
Uptime
100% Perfect uptime
Load Test
60ms Strong handling
Performance Score
8.1/10 Very Good

Key Features

Owned Datacenters
Up to 10TB Bandwidth
No Plugin Restrictions
Automated Updates
Visual Comparison Tool
Plugin Performance Monitor

Limitations

Average TTFB Performance
Not as Fast as Premium Hosts
CDN included not with edge caching
Pricing tier

Nexcess is our recommended WordPress hosting provider for agencies. It not as fast as WP Engine, but they come with agency-specific features, making them a suitable and efficient option. It got an overall performance score of 6.6/10, with TTFB score of 480ms and 99.99% uptime. The load test score is 60ms, a good score to handle any number of traffic.

Performance Metrics:

  • TTFB: 480ms
  • Uptime: 99.99%
  • Load Test: 60ms (Strong handling)
  • Performance Score: 6.6/10
Nexcess

Some of the most common challenges faced by agencies are overage fees, limited resource limits, WordPress troubleshooting, plugin restrictions, etc. Take any managed host like WP Engine or Kinsta, they offer limited resources as they use external infrastructure providers like Google Cloud, which is not affordable. 

In the case of Nexcess, they own their data centers, so they offer enormous server resources. Their starter “Spark” plan at $17/month comes with 2 TB bandwidth, whereas WP Engine offers only up to 550GB bandwidth, and that too on the $194/month scale plan. Nexcess offers up to 10TB bandwidth on top-tier plans, indicating you don’t need to look at bandwidth issues. Next, most managed hosts limit several plugin installations but Nexcess never imposes any such thing. 

Agencies spend a crucial amount of time managing WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates. Nexcess automates this process with its visual comparison tool, which takes a screenshot before and after updating WordPress, and if the site is broken after the update, it will revert back to the update and keep you notified about the issues. They also offer a plugin performance monitor tool that monitors the site load times daily and detects performance changes if a plugin is installed or updated, saving massive time for agencies.

Let’s say you manage a bulk of sites, and this feature comes in handy, fixing the vast time-consuming tasks. Though Nexcess is not as speedy as WP Engine and Kinsta, it offers decent performance in TTFB, uptime, and load handling. So, combining them with its agency-specific features, Nexcess is a solid choice for agencies to get started. 

Pricing:

  • Spark: $17/month (1 site, 15 GB storage, 2TB bandwidth)
  • Spark+: $35.83/month (3 sites, 25GB storage, 2.5TB bandwidth)
  • Maker: $72.50/month (5 sites, 40GB storage, 3TB bandwidth)
  • Designer: $100/month (10 sites, 60GB storage, 5TB bandwidth)
  • Builder: $136.67/month (25 sites, 100GB storage, 5TB bandwidth)

A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting Review

★★★★
8.4/10

Best for: Bloggers & small businesses seeking affordable performance

Starting from
$2.99/month

Performance Metrics

Average TTFB
439ms Strong tier
Uptime
99.99% Elite tier
Load Test
44ms Strong handling
Performance Score
8.4/10 Very Good

Key Features

Speed Optimized WP
NVMe Storage Options
Cloud Backups
Free SSL
24/7 Customer Support
LiteSpeed Servers

Limitations

Regular SSDs on starter plan
1 website limit on starter plan
No free domain
Slightly slower than premium hosts

If you think WP Engine is pricey and need an affordable WordPress host with similar performance scores, the A2 Hosting is an excellent choice. Our A2 Hosting test site recorded an average TTFB of 439ms, which is just 83ms slower than WP Engine, falling into our “strong” tier category. Their uptime is 99.99%, and the load handling speed is 44ms, which is not as great as WP Engine’s 19ms, but it still outperforms several premium-priced hosting services. Considering the fact that A2 Hosting costs just 1/12th the cost of WP Engine, its performance scores are highly laudable. 

Performance Metrics (Jan – Feb 2025):

  • TTFB: 439ms (Strong tier)
  • Uptime: 99.99% (Elite)
  • Load Test: 44ms (Strong handling)
  • Global TTFB: 527ms (Strong)
  • Hostinstep Performance Score: 8.4/10 (Very Good)
A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting has a strong history of offering the fastest performance for the last four years. Let it be the TTFB, uptime, or load handling, they performed consistently faster, making them a strong contender in the best shared hosting for WordPress. Even before speed was a thing in the WordPress community, A2 Hosting was the earliest to offer speed-optimized WordPress installations, meaning the sites are pre-optimized for speed right from the moment the site goes live. 

Coming to features, A2 Hosting plans are mainly differentiated based on storage types. Their Ignite Starter plan comes with regular SSD drives and LiteSpeed Lite server, while the Turbo plan comes with NVMe storage and LiteSpeed Pro and Plus servers. The rest of the things are pretty common, like Cloud backups, free SSL, 24/7 customer support, etc. 

Pricing: 

  • Ignite: $2.99/month (1 website, 10GB storage)
  • Accel: $5.99/month (unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage)
  • Turbo Velocity: $7.99/month (unlimited websites and NVMe storage)
  • Turbo Nitro: $14.99/month (Higher specs, Turbo servers)

Best For: A2 Hosting is best for bloggers, small businesses, and performance conscious site owners who want near-perfect performance at affordable prices.

Best WordPress Hosting UK

The best WordPress Hosting in the UK based on performance is WP Engine. While we haven’t extensively hosted companies with UK data centers, our recommendations are based on the tests done with US data centers. While we do have plans to test hosting services with sites hosted on UK data centers, our existing test benchmarks give you an idea to find your ideal WordPress hosting provider. We picked the following list of best WordPress hosting providers, which come with a UK data center location.

WP Engine

TOP PICK

Uses Google Cloud’s London data center and Cloudflare CDN edge caching is our top recommendation for its faster TTFB, uptime and great load handling capabilities.

Visit WP Engine

Hostinger

BEST VALUE

You can avail of their services from their United Kingdom data centers. They are good to use with great speed and uptime, but slightly average at load handling. But considering the price factor, they offer the best value matched with performance.

Visit Hostinger

Kinsta

PREMIUM

Uses the most powerful Google Cloud Virtual machines, offering better and faster backend performance compared to WP Engine.

Visit Kinsta

Cloudways

FLEXIBLE

Choose between five different cloud providers to host your website in UK region. We have tested all their cloud providers for five years, and their TTFB and load handling scores are very similar despite different cloud provider brands behind them. The major reason for similar performance is due to Cloudways optimised WordPress setup. You can choose from London DC from DigitalOcean, Linode, Google Cloud and AWS, while Vultr offers two locations (London, Manchester)

Visit Cloudways

Recommendations based on extensive performance testing and data center availability in the UK region

WordPress Hosting Performance Comparison Table

Top Recommended WordPress Hosting Providers (2025)

Based on performance testing from January-June 2025

Budget
Mid-Range
Premium
Enterprise
Host Category Performance Starting Price Best For
Best WordPress Hosting Overall WP Engine Enterprise
9.8 Excellent
TTFB
354ms
Elite
Uptime
99.99%
Elite
Load Test
19ms
Elite
$20/month Business sites, high-traffic blogs, WooCommerce stores, and critical WordPress applications where performance matters more than price
Best Managed WordPress Hosting Kinsta Enterprise
9.2 Excellent
TTFB
446ms
Strong
Uptime
99.96%
Strong
Load Test
27ms
Elite
$30/month Resource-intensive WordPress applications, online stores, membership sites and businesses needing advanced Google Cloud infrastructure
Best WordPress Hosting for Beginners GreenGeeks Budget
8.6 Very Good
TTFB
417ms
Strong
Uptime
99.98%
Strong
Load Test
26ms
Elite
$2.95/month Beginners, first-time WordPress users, bloggers, and environmentally-conscious users with a simplified dashboard experience
Best Mid-Range WordPress Hosting Cloudways Mid-Range
8.3 Very Good
TTFB
441ms
Strong
Uptime
99.99%
Elite
Load Test
128ms
Average
$11/month Developers and website owners who need more power than shared hosting but aren’t ready for premium managed hosting costs
Best WordPress Hosting for Small Business Hostinger Budget
7.2 Good
TTFB
491ms
Average
Uptime
99.99%
Elite
Load Test
247ms
Average
$2.99/month Small businesses looking for long-term savings with affordable pricing and multi-site hosting capabilities

WordPress Hosting Performance Rankings

Q1-Q2 2025 | Weighted Performance Score: 40% TTFB + 40% Uptime + 20% Load Test

Complete Performance Rankings

Rank Provider Composite Score TTFB Q1-Q2
(40% weight)
Uptime Q1-Q2
(40% weight)
Load Test (12mo)
(20% weight)
Starting Price
1 WP Engine
9.8
354ms 99.99% 19ms $23.00/mo
2 WPX
9.4
375ms 100% 41ms $20.83/mo
3 GreenGeeks
8.8
417ms 99.98% 26ms $2.95/mo
4 Templ.io
8.6
387ms 99.99% 68ms $14.00/mo
5 Kinsta
8.2
446ms 99.96% 27ms $30.00/mo
6 Cloudways
7.7
441ms 99.99% 128ms $11.00/mo
7 Hostinger
7.0
491ms 99.99% 256ms $2.69/mo
8 Nexcess
6.6
480ms 99.99% 60ms $17.60/mo
9 FastComet
5.9
512ms 99.96% 79ms $1.79/mo
10 Bluehost
5.6
533ms 99.99% 131ms $3.95/mo
11 NameHero
4.7
471ms 99.94% 141ms $2.24/mo
12 SiteGround
3.8
658ms 99.95% 147ms $3.99/mo
13 HostGator
2.5
620ms 99.83% 152ms $3.75/mo
14 ChemiCloud
2.2
489ms 99.55% 1068ms $2.49/mo
15 DreamPress
2.0
653ms 90.79% 223ms $16.95/mo

🔬 Providers Under Evaluation

The following providers cannot be ranked due to incomplete or transitional data. Rankings require stable, complete performance metrics for fair comparison.

Provider TTFB Q1-Q2 Uptime Q1-Q2 Load Test Status Starting Price Evaluation Status
Rocket.net 368ms 100% Data Unavailable $25.00/mo Missing Load Data
A2 Hosting / Hosting.com 459ms 99.99% 44ms $1.79/mo Infrastructure Transition

Rocket.net: Shows excellent TTFB and perfect uptime performance, but without load test data (20% of our weighted score), we cannot provide a fair composite ranking. Once complete data becomes available, this provider will be included in future rankings.

A2 Hosting / Hosting.com: Previously tracked using A2 data centers, but the company has transitioned to new hosting.com infrastructure. Our test site has been moved to the new data center setup. We require minimum 3 months of performance data from the new infrastructure before providing reliable rankings. Expected evaluation completion: Q4 2025.

💰 Shared Hosting: Performance + Value Analysis

Ordered by performance score – pricing represents advertised starting rates

Rank Provider Performance Score TTFB Uptime Load Test Starting Price Value Rating
1 GreenGeeks 8.8 417ms 99.98% 26ms $2.95/mo Excellent
2 Hostinger 7.0 491ms 99.99% 256ms $2.69/mo Good
3 FastComet 5.9 512ms 99.96% 79ms $1.79/mo Good
4 Bluehost 5.6 533ms 99.99% 131ms $3.95/mo Average
5 NameHero 4.7 471ms 99.94% 141ms $2.24/mo Below Average
6 SiteGround 3.8 658ms 99.95% 147ms $3.99/mo Poor
7 HostGator 2.5 620ms 99.83% 152ms $3.75/mo Poor
8 ChemiCloud 2.2 489ms 99.55% 1068ms $2.49/mo Poor

🏆 Shared Hosting Winner: GreenGeeks dominates with the highest performance score (8.8/10) and competitive pricing at $2.95/month. Hostinger offers excellent uptime reliability at just $2.69/month. FastComet provides the lowest starting price at $1.79/month but with average performance.

⚡ Mid-Range Hosting: Performance + Value Analysis

Ordered by performance score – pricing represents advertised starting rates

Rank Provider Performance Score TTFB Uptime Load Test Starting Price Value Rating
1 WPX 9.4 375ms 100% 41ms $20.83/mo Good
2 Templ.io 8.6 387ms 99.99% 68ms $14.00/mo Excellent
3 Cloudways 7.7 441ms 99.99% 128ms $11.00/mo Good
4 Nexcess 6.6 480ms 99.99% 60ms $17.60/mo Average
5 DreamPress 2.0 653ms 90.79% 223ms $16.95/mo Poor

🏆 Mid-Range Winner: Templ.io offers exceptional performance (8.6/10) at a reasonable $14/month with transparent pricing. Cloudways provides excellent value with 7.7/10 performance at just $11/month. WPX scores highest (9.4/10) but at premium pricing of $20.83/month.

🚀 Premium Hosting: Performance + Value Analysis

Ordered by performance score – pricing represents advertised starting rates

Rank Provider Performance Score TTFB Uptime Load Test Starting Price Value Rating
1 WP Engine 9.8 354ms 99.99% 19ms $23.00/mo Excellent
2 Kinsta 8.2 446ms 99.96% 27ms $30.00/mo Average
Rocket.net N/A 368ms 100% No Data $25.00/mo Cannot Assess

🏆 Premium Winner: WP Engine dominates with the highest performance score (9.8/10) and competitive intro pricing at $23/month for enterprise-grade hosting. Kinsta offers solid performance (8.2/10) but at premium pricing of $30/month. Rocket.net shows promise with excellent TTFB but lacks complete performance data.

📋 Updated Scoring Methodology

TTFB Scoring (40%)

Performance-based scoring with color coding:

  • 300-400ms: Elite (9-10 points)
  • 400-499ms: Strong (6-8 points)
  • 500-600ms: Average (4-6 points)
  • 600ms+: Poor (1-4 points)

Uptime Scoring (40%)

Perfect uptime = 10 points. Each 0.01% reduction = -0.5 points, with exponential penalties for poor performers below 99%.

Load Test Scoring (20%)

Updated scoring based on response times:

  • 0-100ms: Elite (9-10 points)
  • 100-200ms: Strong (7-8 points)
  • 200-250ms: Average (6 points)
  • 250-500ms: Below Average (3-5 points)
  • 500ms+ or errors: Poor (1-2 points)

Key Updates: A2 Hosting moved to evaluation section due to infrastructure transition from A2 data centers to hosting.com. Pricing simplified to show advertised starting rates instead of complex billing comparisons. All rankings ordered by performance score for clarity. TTFB color coding implemented for visual clarity.

Data Transparency: All performance data independently collected through continuous monitoring Q1-Q2 2025. Rankings based purely on measurable performance metrics, not affiliate relationships or marketing partnerships.

Expert Validation

Our testing methodology has been reviewed by many WordPress experts. 

Anton Aleksandrov, developer at WPBenchmark.io (https://wpbenchmark.io/) quoted 

“Very interesting WordPress hosting comparison article – the author spent quite a bit of time looking through various speed and performance aspects. If you are doing your own research, check out what things have been tested; they all make sense.”

Notable Mentions

WPX: The company has a very good performance score of 9.6. However, based on our personal experience, we noticed that first-time visitors are often served with very high TTFB, even within the USA regions. We don’t see such varying discrepancies with other hosts that use CDN services. Despite being a shared hosting service, their prices are higher compared to managed WordPress hosts, but their control panel is not up to the mark. 

Templ Hosting: It has an overall performance score of 9.6, similar to WPX. Templ Hosting is our primary hosting partner, where we host Hostingstep.com and other sites. They are very similar to Kinsta and WP Engine but are affordably priced at $15/month. They are the only hosting industry that offers Google Cloud, DNS, and CDN edge caching. I personally feel Google CDN edge caching is better than Cloudflare Enterprise, and that’s one of the reasons why I use Templ for my group of sites, including Hostingstep.com. 

Rocket.net: One of the excellent hosting services focused on the performance front. However, we can’t do load testing on their servers because of a security block. Since we don’t have an absolute number in their load test, we can’t fit them into our best list.

How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting?

What’s Your Primary Need For WordPress Hosting?

WP Engine
From $20/month
WP Engine delivers exceptional performance with elite 354ms TTFB, elite 99.99% uptime, and industry-leading 19ms load handling. Ideal for business sites, high-traffic blogs, and WooCommerce stores where performance is critical.
Elite 354ms TTFB
Elite 99.99% uptime
19ms load handling
Daily backups
Dev/Stage/Prod environments
Free SSL certificates
Visit WP Engine
Hostinger
From $2.99/month
Hostinger delivers excellent value for money with affordable pricing, elite 99.99% uptime, and the ability to host multiple websites. Perfect for budget-conscious users who need reliable hosting without breaking the bank.
Elite 99.99% uptime
Host up to 25 websites
Free domain & email
WordPress acceleration
Long-term discounts
24/7/365 support
Visit Hostinger
GreenGeeks
From $2.95/month
GreenGeeks provides a simplified dashboard experience that makes WordPress hosting accessible to beginners, while still delivering strong 417ms TTFB and elite 26ms load handling.
Simplified dashboard
Strong 417ms TTFB
Elite 26ms load handling
Free website transfer
Free domain name
300% green energy match
Visit GreenGeeks
Cloudways
From $11/month
Cloudways offers excellent value for small businesses with strong 441ms TTFB, elite 99.99% uptime, and flexible cloud infrastructure options. Perfect for growing businesses that need reliable performance.
Strong 441ms TTFB
Elite 99.99% uptime
Multiple cloud providers
Advanced caching
Staging environments
24/7 expert support
Visit Cloudways
Kinsta
From $30/month
Kinsta is built for agencies with advanced Google Cloud infrastructure, strong 446ms TTFB, and elite 27ms load handling. Perfect for agencies managing multiple client sites with premium features.
Google Cloud platform
Strong 446ms TTFB
Elite 27ms load handling
DevKinsta local dev
Advanced staging
Enterprise security
Visit Kinsta

Quick WordPress Hosting Recommendations

If Your Priority Is: And Your Budget Is: We Recommend:
Maximum Performance $20+ per month WP Engine
Performance on a Budget Under $5 per month Hostinger
Beginner-Friendly Interface Under $10 per month GreenGeeks
Agency Management $25+ per month Kinsta
Small Business Value $10-$15 per month Cloudways
WordPress-Specific Features $25+ per month Kinsta

Understanding Performance Metrics

Our recommendations are based on comprehensive performance testing. Here’s how to interpret the metrics:

Metric Excellent Good Average Poor
TTFB (Time to First Byte) <400ms 400-450ms 451-500ms >500ms
Uptime 100% 99.99% 99.96-99.98% <99.95%
Load Handling <30ms 30-70ms 71-150ms >150ms

Final Verdict: The Best WordPress Hosting of 2025

While No WordPress hosting is perfect, we picked the seven best WordPress hosting out of seventeen hosts we’ve tested so far. Our recommendations based on extensive testing:

Best Overall: WP Engine got a perfect 10/10 performance score. Their introductory discounted pricing is the highest among its competitors. So, easily the best combination of performance and pricing to get started. 

Best Budget: Hostinger got a performance score of 8.4/10, the top host among shared hosting companies. Their prices are often less than $3/month, which is suitable for anyone looking for affordable hosting options.

Best Managed: Kinsta is the best and most powerful managed WordPress hosting. Their hardware offerings are second to none, a great host to run your resource-hungry WordPress sites.

Best Mid-Range: Cloudways is the best mid-range WordPress hosting with the affordability of shared hosting and the performance of managed WordPress hosting.

The WordPress hosting requirements often vary due to the specific needs of website owners. A simple WordPress blog can run well on A2 Hosting or GreenGeeks, while WooCommerce, membership sites, or critical WordPress applications require maximum performance, and premium hosts like WP Engine or Kinsta suit better.

Unlike many review sites, we don’t favor companies based on commissions. This is evident from the fact we don’t recommend most of the popular WordPress hosting providers which are recommended everywhere else.

Which is your existing WordPress hosting provider? Does our guide help you to learn something new related to choosing your hosting partner? Let us know in the comments. 

Changelog:

July 5, 2025: A2 Hosting / Hosting.com: Previously tracked using A2 data centers, but the company has transitioned to new hosting.com infrastructure. Our test site has been moved to the new data center setup. We require minimum 3 months of performance data from the new infrastructure before providing reliable rankings. Expected evaluation completion: Q4 2025.

May 17, 2025: A2Hosting is rebranded as Hosting.com, as part of the acquisition. There have been changes in their plans, and it’s quite confusing to know the difference. There are three hosting plans named “web hosting”, “hosting for WordPress”, and “cPanel hosting”. The plans are downgraded from “Unlimited sites” to hosting only one site per plan. This is a significant downgrade, and although Hosting.com’s initial pricing is affordable, the price per site is substantially higher. So, we can’t fit them as an affordable hosting option for WordPress. We will take some time and find a better hosting service in this category.

June 13, 2025: We are redefining what it means to find the “Best WordPress Hosting.” Till now, we have been rating the companies based on three performance scores (TTFB, uptime, and load handling). Since premium managed WordPress hosting companies come with CDN edge caching, they consistently outperform shared hosting services.

Based on user feedback and our traffic data, we see people are not simply looking for speed when searching for the best WordPress hosting. They look for pricing as a major factor in choosing the host. So, we are reworking our rating system and will split the weightage among performance scores, introductory and renewal pricing. Additionally, we are creating a performance-to-price ratio score to compile a list that includes all types of hosts, including shared, mid-range, and premium hosts. We will be updating our post at the end of June 2025.

About the Author

Mohan Raj, founder of Hostingstep.com is passionate about WordPress and specializes in server management and speed optimization. With experience across top hosting providers, he launched Hostingstep.com to deliver honest, data-backed hosting reviews, helping website owners focus on growing their business instead of troubleshooting websites.

2 Comments

  1. Excellent research. According to you which Hostinger plan is best for WordPress?

    1. Avatar photo Mohan Raj says:

      Hostinger’s Premium plan is good but Business plan is most recommended if you are running a high traffic site. Do remember, our tests are done using their starter Premium ($2.99/month) plan. We are also testing their Business plan which we will review in a separate post.

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