When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?

Are you a WordPress beginner who is wondering what is managed WordPress hosting?

During your research, you probably came across numerous providers and found that prices of managed WordPress hosting is quite higher than the average shared hosting which you can get for as low as $3.95 per month.

Why is there such a price difference? Is it really that much better? Do I really need managed WordPress hosting for my site? If you have those questions, then you are at the right place.

In this article, we will highlight the advantages and disadvantages of managed WordPress hosting. You can use our research, knowledge, and experience to decide whether managed WordPress hosting is right for you.

What is Managed WordPress Hosting?

Due to the large number of WordPress sites, few web hosting providers have chosen to offer specialized WordPress hosting. If you lack the technical skills, then average web hosting can become a hassle as your site grows. You have to worry about security, you have to worry about updates, you have to worry about site speed, you have to worry about site up time, and much more.

As a business owner, you have two options. You could either hire a system admin to manages your website which will cost you an arm and leg, or you can use managed WordPress hosting.

With managed WordPress hosting, you get the hassle-free experience, so you can focus on running your business and doing what you are good at. If you are a small business or a high traffic website, then it is the best solution for you.

We recommend WPEngine as the best managed WordPress hosting provider.

Advantages of Managed WordPress Hosting

Let’s take a look at the advantages.

• Blazing Fast – Managed WordPress hosting servers are configured specially for WordPress. They are blazing fast even when your website gets a lot of traffic.
• Security – You are practically hacker-proof when you go with a managed WordPress hosting provider. They have a very tight security layer that actively scans for malware and block all hacking attempts.
• Expert Support – Unlike other web hosts, the staff is highly knowledgeable with WordPress. They advise you against using plugins that impact performance, and much more. It is like having an army of WordPress experts on your side for assistance.
• Daily Backups – They create daily backups and offer 1-click restore points if you ever want to revert.
• Automatic Updates – You don’t have to worry about updates because they are done automatically.
• No downtime – No matter how much traffic your site gets, it will probably never go down.

Disadvantages of Managed WordPress Hosting

You are probably thinking that the advantages sounds pretty attractive, are there any downside?

• Price – Managed WordPress hosting is significantly more expensive when compared to shared hosting. Base plan usually starts around $29/mo. where as shared hosting plan starts at $3.95/mo. But if you factor in the cost of running a large website and the salary of system admin, then this will sound like a pretty good option.
• Limits – You are limited to run only WordPress based sites. But that’s what you were looking to do anyways. You also cannot run all plugins. Mainly because managed WordPress hosting blocks plugins that slows down your site. So this is not entirely a disadvantage.
• Less Control – Since someone else is managing all the technical aspects, you don’t have nearly as much say as to what gets changed. But isn’t that the point? You don’t want the hassle of managing things yourself.

When do you need Managed WordPress hosting?

If you are a beginner, then you DO NOT need managed WordPress hosting. You should just get normal WordPress hosting which is a lot more affordable. We recommend Bluehost which is also one of the official WordPress hosting providers.

Now if you are a small business or have a high-traffic website, then it makes sense for you to get managed WordPress hosting. But you too can get by paying more affordable rates for a VPS or even a dedicated server. It really all boils down to your needs.

If you want something that is hassle-free, blazing fast, and offers mind-blowing support, then you have your answer already. Basically, if your website is your business, and you can’t afford it to go down, then pay the extra bucks for the exceptional service that you will get with Managed WordPress hosting. In the end, you have to decide whether you can justify the cost for the value.

If low cost is your biggest priority, then go with another WordPress hosting provider.

We want to point out that we do not use a managed WordPress hosting provider for this site because we have enough technical knowledge to run and manage our own dedicated server. But if we didn’t have the technical knowledge, then we would totally use managed hosting for our sites.

Best Managed WordPress Hosting Provider

From our experience, knowledge, and research, WPEngine is honestly the best managed WordPress hosting provider out there. Large companies like HTC, FourSquare, SoundCloud, Balsamiq, and others uses them.

We have personally met several members of their company at various different tech conferences, and they are always very helpful.

You don’t have to take our word. Here are some other WPEngine reviews.

If you click on one of the links above to sign up, then yes we will get a small commission. However, that has absolutely no impact on our decision. We only recommend services that we use or would use for our own sites. The affiliate commission is simply a bonus that helps support our blogging efforts and allows us to continuously produce top-notch WordPress tutorials.

We wish you best of luck with your WordPress website. If you found this article and our advice about managed WordPress hosting helpful, then please let us know by sending a message through our contact form. We always love hearing from our users.