WordPress hosting: how to choose, and what is on offer

The five things that actually matter

1. Time to First Byte

TTFB is how long the server takes to begin responding. Under roughly 200 ms is good, over 600 ms is a problem you cannot optimise around. Test it with an empty cache from a location your visitors are actually in — a host that is fast from its own data centre and slow from your audience is slow.

2. PHP version and limits

You want a current PHP release, and the ability to change it yourself. Also check memory_limit (256 MB is a sensible floor for WooCommerce), max_execution_time, and whether OPcache is on. Hosts that hide these behind a support ticket will frustrate you the first time an import times out.

3. Object caching

Redis or Memcached caches database queries between requests. This is the single biggest difference between cheap shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting, and it matters most for exactly the pages a page cache cannot help with: carts, checkouts, logged-in users and admin.

4. Staging and backups you can restore yourself

One-click staging pays for itself the first time an update breaks something. And a backup you cannot restore without opening a ticket is not really a backup — check that you can roll back a site yourself, and that backups are stored off the same server.

5. Support that knows WordPress

The difference between "your site is down" being resolved in ten minutes or six hours is whether the person reading your ticket knows what a plugin conflict is. This is most of what you pay extra for on managed hosting.

What the marketing words mean

• Unlimited storage / bandwidth — unmetered, not unlimited. The real limits are inodes, CPU seconds and concurrent processes, in the acceptable-use policy.
• 99.9% uptime — about 43 minutes of downtime a month. Check whether the SLA actually pays out, and whether planned maintenance is excluded.
• Free migration — usually one site, often only from certain hosts, and sometimes only during the first month.
• Free domain — for the first year. The renewal is at their standard rate.
• Introductory pricing — the number you will pay for most of your time there is the renewal price, not the one on the button.

Matching the host to the site

A personal blog on shared hosting with a current PHP version and a caching plugin will be perfectly fast. A WooCommerce store with a few thousand products needs object caching and real CPU headroom, because cart and checkout pages bypass the page cache entirely. A site with an international audience needs a CDN and a data centre near its readers more than it needs a bigger plan.

Be honest about which you are. Most people overpay for a hobby site and underpay for the one that earns money.