What Is Managed WordPress Hosting (And Do You Need It)?

If you’re here then it’s likely that you’ve come across some mentions of managed WordPress hosting on a hosting company’s website (or elsewhere) and are curious to learn more about it.

Here’s the thing: even though you’ll find plenty of references to managed WordPress hosting plans all over the web, it’s actually a misnomer to refer to them as ‘plans.’ They are more of a service that’s attached to a hosting plan. That service adds a number of convenient features to make it easier to manage, secure, and speed up your WordPress site.

While most hosting plans leave the majority of the work up to you, managed hosting takes some of the responsibility for keeping your site going off your shoulders. This makes it an intriguing option for many website owners. 💻💻

In this guide, we’ll start out by explaining what managed WordPress hosting is in more detail. Then, we’ll discuss its pros and cons, and help you decide whether it’s right for you.

So, what is managed WordPress hosting?

Managed WordPress hosting, as the name suggests, is a plan where your provider ‘manages’ your site and server for you. When you buy managed WordPress hosting, what you’re really buying is this:

• Hosting environment (servers, storage, bandwidth)
• WordPress management service layer
• WordPress-specific expertise and support

Let’s look more closely at each of these components.

Hosting environment

At its foundation, managed WordPress hosting starts with high-quality hosting infrastructure. This includes reliable servers and robust bandwidth capabilities that form the bedrock of your site’s hosting environment.

However, unlike traditional hosting where you’re simply purchasing these resources, managed WordPress hosts optimize this infrastructure specifically for WordPress performance.

WordPress management service layer

The next element of managed WordPress hosting is the comprehensive service layer built around WordPress-specific needs. This includes automated handling of WordPress core updates, plugin and theme updates, advanced security protocols like malware scanning and removal, and specialized caching systems.

The entire environment is structured specifically for WordPress and usually also includes database optimization, backup systems, and staging environments.

WordPress-specific expertise and support

The final and perhaps most crucial component is the integration of WordPress expertise throughout the entire service.

While all quality hosting companies have some type of customer support, with managed WordPress, the support teams aren’t hosting generalists. They are WordPress experts who understand both the technical hosting infrastructure and WordPress-specific challenges. This expertise manifests in everything from custom-tuned server configurations to WordPress-optimized content delivery networks and caching mechanisms.

When issues arise, you can expect to receive guidance from professionals who deeply understand WordPress’s ecosystem and can provide specific solutions to your challenges.

The pros and cons of managed WordPress hosting

As we just discussed, the primary benefit of managed hosting is that it’s a more hands-off option. It also requires less technical know-how. Your hosting provider will help you keep your site in top form, so you can focus your attention on creating content, promoting your business, and other tasks only you can do.

Pros of managed WordPress hosting 👍

There are no set criteria for what a managed plan should look like, so what you’ll get varies from provider to provider. However, most managed hosting options will:

• Take care of updates for you, and create frequent backups of your site for safekeeping.
• Scan your site for security threats, and react quickly to deal with any issues that arise.
• Handle performance optimization, to keep your site running fast at all times.
• Configure your server to meet your needs (on VPS or dedicated plans).
• Offer staging sites to help you safely test changes and updates.
• Provide lots of support options to answer your questions.

With managed WordPress hosting in particular, your provider will also know WordPress inside and out. This can be invaluable, especially if you’re new to it and don’t know much about how to optimize your site.

Cons of managed WordPress hosting 👎

So far, all of this sounds pretty great, which may leave you wondering what the catch is. The simple answer is that managed plans are more expensive than their unmanaged variants. Just how much a managed plan will cost you depends heavily on where you get it.

While most entry-level shared hosting costs $5 per month or less, managed hosting tends to cost between $10 and $30 per month on the lowest tiers of a shared or VPS plan:

Managed dedicated plans are far more expensive, although few first-time website owners need that kind of power. In any case, the extra costs will add up over time.

There are two other potential downsides to managed hosting.

The first is that if you’re a more technically-savvy user, you may prefer to configure your server and optimize your site’s performance and security on your own. Managed hosting takes away this option, and forces you to rely on your provider instead. Whether or not this loss of control is a relief or a problem entirely depends on your pre-existing knowledge and needs.

The second problem is that some managed WordPress hosts block certain features or plugins that you could otherwise normally use with WordPress. For example, WP Engine is well-known for disabling post revisions ¹, which can be frustrating for active bloggers. And almost all of the popular managed hosts have their own lists of banned plugins. This includes WP Engine ² and Kinsta ³:

Flywheel takes a gentler approach by having a list of ‘not recommended plugins’ versus just stating that they are outright ‘banned.’ ⁴ Semantics aside, the underlying point is that your freedom to use WordPress however you want will be limited in some ways when you use a managed WordPress host.

How to decide whether you need managed WordPress hosting

There are two key elements to think about here – your budget and your needs. Obviously, you’ll only be able to opt for a managed plan if you can afford it. While most options aren’t exorbitantly expensive, they do involve a greater investment than a simple shared hosting plan.

👉 If money isn’t an issue, then your decision is mainly going to come down to the following:

1. If you don’t know much about WordPress, servers, and all the other technical stuff involved in running a website, managed hosting can be a lifesaver. It saves you time and worry, and can result in a site that’s safer and performs more smoothly. Plus, you’ll have access to readily-available help whenever you need it.
2. On the other hand, unmanaged hosting is a better option if you prefer to make key decisions for your website on your own. It’s a good option for users with the technical experience to maintain their sites personally, and those with a willingness to learn the ropes over time.

If you do decide that managed hosting is appealing and worth the premium, then your next step will be to find the right plan. And there are plenty to choose from!

How to find the right managed WordPress hosting plan for your site

Finding a managed WordPress hosting plan can be a little tricky. As we mentioned earlier, the term ‘managed’ doesn’t have a firm and universally agreed-upon definition. Theoretically, any provider can slap the managed label on its plans. Therefore, you’ll need to be careful and make sure you’re actually getting your money’s worth.

To determine whether or not a managed plan really has something special to offer you, you’ll need to take a close look at the features it provides:

These should include most or all of the key characteristics we discussed earlier. In particular, look to see if the provider will manage updates and backups for you. These are two good baseline features that should be offered at a minimum.

Next, see what it provides in terms of security and performance optimization. The provider should be upfront about what it does to keep your site safe and maintain solid speeds and up-time. If in doubt, get in touch with the sales team via chat and ask them outright.

If you’re looking at a VPS or dedicated plan, you’ll also want to find out whether the provider is willing to set up and configure your server (virtual or physical) to meet your needs.

🏁 Finally, and perhaps most importantly, make sure the plan is WordPress-specific.

If you’re leaving the responsibility for maintaining your site in the hands of your hosting provider, it’s vital that they know how to optimize a WordPress site. Look for features such as pre-installed and pre-configured WordPress sites and built-in plugins to handle backups and caching.

This may all sound a little intimidating, but there really are lots of excellent options to choose from. To start your research, we’d suggest checking out our list of top managed WordPress hosting plans for website owners on a budget. These plans are affordable, WordPress-specific, and truly managed – making them solid picks for anyone in need of a little help running their site.

Conclusion 🧐

In this post, we reviewed managed WordPress hosting plans, which are one possibility. These plans can save you a lot of time, and handle technical tasks you’re not comfortable with. If you think that they are something you’d like benefit from, then below are some companies you can take a closer look at:

• Kinsta Review
• WP Engine Review
• DreamHost Review
• Flywheel Review

All four of these are well-known in the managed WordPress hosting space and worthy of your consideration.

Do you have any other questions about managed WordPress hosting? Ask us anything in the comments section below!

1. https://wpengine.com/support/platform-settings/#Post_Revisions ↩︎
2. https://wpengine.com/support/disallowed-plugins/ ↩︎
3. https://kinsta.com/docs/wordpress-hosting/site-management/plugins-themes/#banned-and-incompatible-plugins ↩︎
4. https://getflywheel.com/wordpress-support/what-plugins-are-not-recommended/ ↩︎