Starting your first WordPress site can be tricky. I get it. Picking hosting is often confusing, boring, or both. That’s exactly why I wrote this quick, clear guide. It’s for beginners who need simple answers about WordPress hosting right about now!
I’ll show you hosting options that make sense for new users in 2025 – nothing fancy, nothing confusing. Here’s what’s coming up:
- 💸 Affordable hosting: Good picks for anyone new who needs basic features without spending much.
- 💥 Easy-to-use mainstream hosts: Providers who keep things simple but also deliver speed, help, and reliability.
- 🚀 Managed WordPress hosting: Great if you plan to grow quickly. These options handle technical stuff, so you don’t have to.
My goal is simple: find hosting that’s easy today and stays useful tomorrow.
Let’s dive in and find the perfect home for your new WordPress site. Here’s my list of the best hosts for beginners, updated for 2025:
| Host | Standout | Price from | / | Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluehost | Affordable, beginner-friendly choice | $1.99 / mo. | 0.75s / 99.99% | (more) |
| Hostinger | Best value starter hosting | $2.69 / mo. | 1.62s / 100% | (more) |
| Flywheel | Premium managed WordPress | $13.00 / mo. | 0.79s / 100% | (more) |
| WordPress.com | Simplest blogging platform | $2.75 / mo. | 0.8s / 100% | (more) |
| Namecheap | Budget-friendly WordPress hosting | $3.58 / mo. | 1.47s / 100% | (more) |
| SiteGround | Scalable, high-performance hosting | $2.99 / mo. | 0.91s / 100% | (more) |
💎 Learn more? Here’s what makes a WordPress host good for beginners.
🎓 Read about our methodology: how we test hosts, how we decide who to recommend, and more.
Bluehost
- Price on a 1-year plan: $1.99 / mo.
- : $417.96
- Sites allowed: 10
- Traffic/bandwidth: ~40,000 visits monthly
- Disk space: 10 GB
- Free domain: ✅ (first year)
- : 7.10
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐⭐
If you’re brand new to WordPress, Bluehost makes things easy in a couple of ways. Their one-click WordPress setup means no headaches. Plus, I’ve tested many hosts, and Bluehost’s control panel stands out as one of the simplest.
Price matters too. Bluehost starts cheap ($1.99 / mo.) and throws in a free domain name for your first year. If you change your mind, their 30-day refund means no stress.
Need help? Bluehost offers 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone (on higher plans). I also like their help article – clear and easy-to-follow, perfect if you prefer solving problems yourself.
A nice extra: Bluehost is officially recommended by WordPress itself. Few hosts can say that.
What makes Bluehost good for beginners
- Simplicity: Bluehost focuses on making web hosting accessible, with easy setup processes and user-friendly tools.
- Performance: Bluehost has always done well in our regular performance tests – both for load times and uptime.
- Value for new customers: The inclusion of a free domain, email hosting, and affordable pricing plans provides good value for those starting out.
Considerations:
- Pricing after renewal: The renewal price goes up to $9.99 / mo. for your second term and to $11.99 / mo. after that.
Hostinger
- Price on a 1-year plan: $2.69 / mo.
- : $261.00
- Sites allowed: 25
- Traffic/bandwidth: ~25,000 visits monthly
- Disk space: 25 GB
- Free domain: ✅ (first year)
- : 8.11
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Hostinger surprised me, to be honest. It’s cheap, but actually good for what most beginners will need. Getting started is easy, thanks to their one-click WordPress install. The free pre-built templates save a lot of time, too.
Their basic plan starts low at $2.69 / mo., but watch out for renewals, which start at $7.99-$10.99 (depending on the contract length). Still, you can host up to 25 different websites on this entry plan, handle about 25,000 visits per month, and have 25 GB of disk space. Plus, they throw in a free domain for the first year.
In our user survey, Hostinger got a strong rating: 8.11 out of 10. Plus, on the technical side, Hostinger does automatic WordPress updates, scans for security issues, and checks compatibility for you. If you’re planning to sell online, their Starter WooCommerce package lets you sell up to 10 products right away.
Overall, Hostinger makes beginner hosting simple, affordable, and reliable.
What makes Hostinger good for beginners
- Very easy to use: The user panel is easy to grasp even for total beginners to these things.
- Affordable over the long term: The total cost to host your site for five years and ten years is much lower than for most of the competition – $261 and ~$775 respectively.
- Can host up to 25 sites: This is the only plan on this list that allows you to host multiple sites on one setup.
Flywheel
- Price on a 1-year plan: $13.00 / mo.
- : $780.00
- Sites allowed: 1
- Traffic/bandwidth: ~5,000 visits monthly
- Disk space: 5 GB
- Free domain: ❌
- : n/a
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Flywheel is designed to take the complexity out of WordPress hosting (completely), making it a solid choice for beginners. Their intuitive dashboard is one of the first things you’ll notice. I know I just told you that Bluehost has one of the easiest to use user panels out there, but Flywheel is THE easiest to use. This allows you to focus on building your site rather than dealing with technical details.
Another key feature of Flywheel’s is that they are a “for WordPress only” host. In other words, WordPress is the only website platform they host. Because of that, you benefit from various optimizations and features that are pre-configured to help your WordPress site thrive. If you’re coming from another host, Flywheel also offers free site migration. Plus, their one-click staging sites let you test changes before making them live, giving you more control without the risk of breaking your site. Not to mention that you can even build your site locally on your own computer through their Local tool.
Performance is another area where Flywheel excels. Built on the Google Cloud Platform, their infrastructure ensures fast load times and strong reliability (which you can see in our tests).
While Flywheel’s pricing ($13.00 / mo.) may be higher than Bluehost’s (at first), the managed services, ease of use, and top-tier support can save you time and reduce the stress of handling things on your own.
What makes Flywheel good for beginners
- Managed hosting is easier to use: Flywheel handles all the technical aspects of making your WordPress site run. Things like updates, security, and performance optimization, are all taken care of.
- Beginner-friendly tools: Flywheel designed their user panel to focus on the exact tools that beginners would want to use most commonly. This is why setting up a new site is so easy.
- Expert support: Help is just available when you need it. There’s 24/7 access to WordPress experts and some great resources on the help center pages.
WordPress.com
- Price on a 3-year plan: $2.75 / mo.
- : $177.00
- Sites allowed: 1
- Traffic/bandwidth: unmetered
- Disk space: 6 GB
- Free domain: ✅ (first year)
- : n/a
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐
Before we start; one of the first things you need to know about the world of WordPress is that “WordPress.com” and “the WordPress software” itself are not the same thing.
WordPress.org is just the software alone – the tool to build and run your website. You download it, find a hosting provider, and take care of everything – or ask your host to take care of it for you (like we did through Bluehost earlier). This gives you full control, but also more responsibility.
On the other hand, WordPress.com is a fully managed platform that does all the heavy lifting for you. They host your site, keep things updated, handle security, and even back up your data automatically. You don’t have to worry about setting up servers or tweaking technical settings.
As your site grows, WordPress.com can scale with you. Their hosting plans allow you to upgrade, offering more storage, bandwidth, and features as your needs increase. Whether you start on the free plan or move to a paid plan (from $2.75 / mo.) with added perks like a custom domain, WordPress.com still manages the technicalities for you.
Overall, WordPress.com simplifies the hosting experience, letting beginners focus on content and design while the platform handles the technical and security aspects in the background.
What makes WordPress.com good for beginners
- It’s ready to go right away: WordPress.com gives you access to a pre-configured and ready-to-go WordPress setup.
- Cost-effective starting point: With free and affordable paid plans, you can start small and upgrade as your needs evolve.
Considerations:
- Customization limitations: Compared to self-hosted WordPress, there are restrictions on installing custom themes and plugins unless you’re on a higher-tier plan.
- Ownership and control: You don’t have the complete freedom to do whatever you want with your site. There are always the official terms of service that you have to follow, which can land your site in trouble if you want to post slightly more controversial content.
Namecheap
- Price on a 1-year plan: $3.58 / mo.
- : $207.96
- Sites allowed: 1
- Traffic/bandwidth: ~50,000 visits monthly
- Disk space: 10 GB
- Free domain: ❌
- : 8.03
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Want cheap, quick, and easy WordPress hosting? Namecheap’s “EasyWP” hits all three – especially “cheap.” I’ve set up sites with them in minutes before, so there’s really no tech experience required. Their dashboard is clear, and does exactly what you need: backups, status checks, and basic site management.
Namecheap keeps costs low ($3.58 / mo.) and gives you monthly or yearly payment choices. Over 10 years, the total cost is unbeatable at just ~$450. (I wrote more about that in this post.)
Their cloud setup makes your site load fast and stay online. Features like built-in caching and optional CDN help your site handle traffic smoothly. Security isn’t weak either – automatic backups and DDoS protection come standard.
Curious but not sure? Namecheap sometimes has a 30-day free trial to let you try before buying. And if things go wrong, their 24/7 chat support and easy-to-follow help articles have you covered.
What makes Namecheap good for beginners
- Simplicity and ease of use: Namecheap is designed to make launching and managing a WordPress site straightforward, even if you’re new to web hosting.
- Cheapest host here: Namecheap certainly does live up to its name. They offer the cheapest hosting for WordPress on the market.
- Performance and reliability: Cloud-based hosting ensures your site runs quickly and stays online.
SiteGround
- Price on a 1-year plan: $2.99 / mo.
- : $899.40
- Sites allowed: 1
- Traffic/bandwidth: ~10,000 visits monthly
- Disk space: 10 GB
- Free domain: ✅ (first year)
- : 8.33
- Editor rating: ⭐⭐
If you’re looking for an easy way to set up a WordPress site without dealing with technical headaches, I cannot recommend SiteGround enough. It’s been a trusted name in the WordPress community for years, and for good reason. Their easy WordPress installs make it super simple to get your site live in just a few minutes, and the custom control panel is intuitive to navigate.
One of SiteGround’s biggest perks is that it’s actually a “managed” setup for WordPress hosting. This means they handle all the behind-the-scenes maintenance of your site so that you don’t have to (this includes things like updating your site’s core software and plugins, taking care of security, and more).
Performance is another area where SiteGround shines. Their SG Optimizer Plugin helps speed up your site with built-in caching and other optimizations, and with Cloudflare CDN integration, your pages load fast no matter where your visitors are in the world. You also get daily backups, strong security features, and a Web Application Firewall to protect your site from threats.
The only catch? SiteGround’s introductory pricing is great – starting at $2.99 /mo. – but after the first term, it jumps up significantly to $17.99 / mo. So while it’s a fantastic service, be sure to plan for the renewal costs down the line.
What makes SiteGround good for beginners
- Ease of use: SiteGround simplifies a lot of the process of setting up your site and then maintaining it later on. New users especially enjoy the one-click installations.
- Performance and security: SiteGround is really focused on speed optimization and good security. They have their own custom performance optimization plugin to make sure your site runs smoothly.
- Support and resources: 24/7 expert support and a rich knowledge base provide peace of mind that help is available when you need it.
Considerations:
- Pricing after renewal: Be aware that introductory prices increase upon renewal – all the way up to $17.99 / mo.
Summary on the best WordPress hosting for beginners
Here are quick summaries of each of the hosts to help you decide:
Bluehost
Bluehost is an affordable choice ($1.99 / mo.) for the first year, and then also stays reasonably affordable for the long term. It is as beginner-friendly as they come, offers one-click WordPress installation and a user-friendly control panel. Moreover, it includes a free domain for the first year, which is always a great thing. However, renewal rates are higher. It’s great for the budget-conscious among us, beginners, first-time website owners, and small businesses who want a straightforward setup.
Hostinger
Hostinger is perfect for beginners because it’s cheap, simple, and gives you everything you need without hassle. You can start quickly with their one-click WordPress setup, use ready-made templates, and even get a free domain for your first year. And, let’s not forget, it lets you host up to 25 websites, which is something that doesn’t happen every day with other hosts.
Flywheel
Flywheel offers managed WordPress hosting that handles technical tasks like updates and security. They provide an optimized platform built on the Google Cloud Platform with fast load times. The user-friendly dashboard and excellent 24/7 expert support make it suitable for beginners wanting a hassle-free experience. While it has higher entry pricing ($13.00 / mo.) and is exclusive to WordPress, it’s perfect for those willing to invest in quality hosting.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is an all-in-one, fully hosted solution. It does simplify website creation as much as possible, which is great. It offers free and paid plans (from $2.75 / mo.), making it accessible for everyone really. However, it has limitations on customization, plugins, themes, and monetization unless you choose higher-tier plans, and you have less control over your site. It’s ideal for bloggers, content creators, and beginners seeking a hands-off approach.
Namecheap
Namecheap‘s “EasyWP” hosting line provides affordable hosting for WordPress with quick setup and a simplified dashboard, ideal for beginners on a tight budget (from $3.58 / mo.). It offers cloud-based performance and includes domain and email services for convenient all-in-one management. Some advanced features require higher-tier plans. It’s best suited for users seeking simplicity and affordability.
SiteGround
SiteGround – the favorite of the WordPress community – delivers managed hosting with great customer support, nice security features, and their custom performance optimization tools. Your site is backed up automatically, you get great performance without lifting a finger, and you can just not worry about your site running properly. This makes it great for beginners. While renewal costs are way higher, it’s still ideal for users willing to invest more for quality features and scalable hosting as their site grows.
What makes a hosting platform good for WordPress beginners
Picking WordPress hosting when you’re new can be confusing. Here’s what really matters, without the fluff:
- Easy to start: Good hosts get your site up fast. Look for one-click WordPress installs and simple dashboards anyone can use.
- Cheap (but good): You shouldn’t pay more than $5/month at the start. No hidden fees – just clear, affordable plans.
- Always online: Slow sites lose visitors. Find a host with at least 99.95% guaranteed uptime so your site stays quick and available.
- Helpful support: Problems will happen…from time to time. Choose a host with 24/7 support, because waiting days for help sucks.
- Basic security included: You don’t need fancy security tools yet. Just pick a host with automatic backups and protection against common attacks.
- Room to grow: Starting small is great. But make sure upgrading your hosting later is easy.
- Built for WordPress: Pick a host designed specifically for WordPress. You’ll spend less time troubleshooting and more time posting content.
Start smart, keep it simple, and save money. 👍
Let me know in the comments in case you have any questions on how to pick a host for your WordPress site.
About our methodology
🧮 Here’s how we decide which hosts to recommend and which not to:
We believe the best way to review hosting providers is to use them just like you would. That’s why we sign up for plans ourselves with no special treatment and no behind-the-scenes deals.
Once we’re in, we set up real test websites filled with demo content. Then we monitor how they perform over time: things like speed measured from different parts of the world, uptime, and how well they handle sudden traffic spikes. We also look closely at what you’re actually getting – pricing, features, storage, bandwidth – making sure to call out any hidden fees or tricky fine print.
But we don’t stop there. Since 2016, we’ve been collecting feedback directly from users through anonymous surveys across our sites (latest one). We do those surveys to ask our readers about the hosts they use and what they think about them. This has been a true goldmine of information, especially when it comes to really seeing what it’s like to live with these hosts day-to-day.
By combining hands-on testing with those real-world experiences, we aim to give you a clear, balanced view so that you can choose the right host with confidence.
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