Choosing Between Regular and Managed WordPress Hosting

One of the first decisions any new WordPress blogger has to make is choosing the WordPress hosting services. While the question might seem trivial, it holds huge importance in the long run. A bad hosting service can negatively affect your website and cost you a lot of existing and potential audience.

We would focus here on the type of hosting service; regular and managed. Each has its own pros and cons, and you should know both before making an informed decision.

Regular WordPress Hosting

Regular or shared hosting implies that a single server is used to host multiple websites. All the resources are stored on the same server and the websites share the server’s capabilities between them.

Pros:

• Regular hosting is undoubtedly cheaper than managed hosting, and by a long shot. If you are tight on budget and/or don’t want to invest much in hosting itself, regular hosting seems appealing.
• As far as your personal website is considered, you have complete control over it. You decide the themes, plugins, and customizations you need. You can change the WordPress code any way you want, without any administrative restrictions.

Cons:

• Multiple websites sharing the same server leads to the Bad Neighbourhood problem. It means that if one website is experiencing a huge spike in traffic, all other websites on that server would be negatively impacted.

Managed WordPress Hosting

Managed hosting refers to hosting plans that are tailor-made for WordPress according to individual needs. It means that the hosting services are not generic but optimized for WordPress.

Pros:

• Managed hosting is generally much more secure than regular hosting. There is no competition between multiple websites on the same server. Security measures are introduced specifically by keeping WordPress in mind. There are automated backups, so none of your data is ever at risk.
• Websites using managed hosting are much faster than their regular hosting counterparts. The high loading speed contributes to better traffic.

Cons:

• Managed hosting is much more expensive than regular WordPress hosting, so that puts a burden on your pocket.
• Managed hosting put certain restrictions on how you use your website, like banning certain plugins. You will also find it hard to migrate to a new platform.

Final Thoughts:

The decision to choose between the two WordPress hosting lies solely with you. If money is your primary concern, like it is with most bloggers, then regular hosting is the better option. On the other hand, those who value speed and security might prefer managed hosting. It’s your call.