01 · Our picks
Five honest picks for five kinds of site.
Cloudways
Best for growing and multi-site WordPress. Cloud servers from $11/mo with unlimited sites per server.
See Cloudways plansKinsta
Polished per-site plans with CDN and migrations included, from $35/mo.
Kinsta pricingWP Engine
Large managed platform with team-oriented Business and Enterprise tiers.
WP Engine plansRocket.net
Single-site plan with an enterprise CDN and WAF built in, from $30/mo.
Rocket.net pricingOnly Cloudways links on this page are affiliate links. Every other host is linked plainly, with no affiliation. Our picks are based on published plans and documentation, not lab tests.
02 · Side by side
The entry plans in one table.
| Host | Best for | Entry price | Sites | CDN | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways | Value, several sites | $11/mo, hourly | Unlimited per server | Add-on | 5-day trial |
| Kinsta | Hands-off premium | $35/mo ($30 annual) | 1 | Included | Money-back |
| WP Engine | Teams, agencies | $28/mo, billed annually | From 1 | Included | See site |
| Rocket.net | One fast site | $30/mo ($25 annual) | 1 | Included | $1 first month |
| SiteGround | Cheapest start | $1.99/mo intro, renews $17.99 | 1 | Included | 30-day refund |
Sources: each host’s official pricing page, checked November 9, 2026. WP Engine’s Essential price is a first-year price for new customers; SiteGround’s intro price applies to the first 12-month invoice. Prices exclude tax.
03 · Total cost
What one small site costs over two years.
| Host and plan | Year 1 | Year 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways 1GB Standard | $132 | $132 | Hourly billing; backup storage extra |
| Cloudways 2GB Standard | $288 | $288 | More headroom for a live business site |
| Kinsta Single 20GB (annual) | $350 | $350 | Per Kinsta’s current price list |
| WP Engine Essential (annual) | $336 | Not published | First-year price; renewal subject to change |
| Rocket.net Starter (annual) | $300 | $300 | States no renewal price increases |
| SiteGround StartUp | $23.88 | $215.88 | Intro price on first 12-month invoice only |
Arithmetic from list prices checked November 9, 2026. Year-two figures assume today’s regular prices still apply; any host can change prices.
Two lessons stand out. First, introductory pricing makes year one look very different from year two: SiteGround is the cheapest start by far, then becomes mid-priced. Second, per-site and per-server models diverge fast. Add a second and third site and the Cloudways figures barely move, while per-site plans step up to their next tier.
04 · Host by host
What you get, and what to watch for.
Cloudways — best value for growing sites
A managed layer on top of five cloud providers. You pick a server; it can hold as many sites as it can carry.
- Price: DigitalOcean from $11/mo (1GB), $24/mo (2GB), $46/mo (4GB)
- Billing: Hourly, capped monthly, no contract
- Included: SSL, staging, firewall, Object Cache Pro on 4GB+
- Trial: 5 days, no card
Good
- Lowest cost per site once you host several
- Choice of cloud and 9–30 locations per provider
- Free migrator plugin plus one managed migration
Watch for
- CDN, email, and advanced support cost extra
- You size and upgrade the server yourself
- Mixed public reviews of support
Kinsta — most hands-off
Premium managed WordPress priced per site, with most extras included.
- Price: Single 20GB $35/mo, or $350/year
- Includes: 1 site, 10GB storage, 20GB server + 125GB CDN bandwidth
- Backups: Daily, 14-day retention
- Guarantee: 30-day money-back
Good
- CDN, APM, and bot protection on every plan
- Unlimited free migrations
- 24/7 human support in 8 languages
Watch for
- $30/mo per extra site
- Add-ons such as Redis and hourly backups at $100/site/mo each
- Smaller storage allowances
WP Engine — for teams and agencies
A large managed platform with clear tiers from a shared Essential plan to isolated Business resources.
- Essential: $28/mo billed annually ($336 today); 25k–400k visits, 10–50GB, 75GB bandwidth, shared environment
- Business: $400/mo billed annually; isolated resources, phone support, managed migrations, 99.99% SLA
- Includes: Daily backups, 24/7 chat, SSL and SSH, staging
Good
- Mature tooling and a clear upgrade path
- Security patching and plugin risk scans included
- Business tier adds phone support and SLA
Watch for
- Essential is a first-year price; renewal pricing may change
- Plugin updates and uptime monitoring are add-ons on Essential
- Big jump from Essential to Business
Rocket.net — one fast site
Single-site managed hosting with an enterprise CDN and WAF in every plan.
- Starter: $30/mo, or $25/mo billed annually; 1 install, 10GB storage, 50GB bandwidth
- Pro / Business / Expert: $60 (3 sites) / $100 (10) / $200 (25) per month
- Intro: $1 first month on all plans, 30-day money-back
- Backups: Daily, 30-day retention
Good
- CDN, WAF, and malware protection included
- Unmetered visitors and free migrations
- States no renewal price increases (vendor promise)
Watch for
- Bandwidth caps matter for media-heavy sites
- Per-site pricing adds up for many small sites
- Fewer data-center choices than raw clouds
SiteGround — cheapest way to start
Shared WordPress hosting with a very low first year and a much higher renewal.
- StartUp: $1.99/mo intro, renews $17.99/mo; 1 site, 10GB, ~10k visits
- GrowBig: $3.99/mo intro, renews $29.99/mo; unlimited sites, 50GB, ~100k visits
- GoGeek: $5.99/mo intro, renews $44.99/mo; unlimited sites, 100GB, ~400k visits
- Terms: Prepaid for 12 months, ex VAT, intro price on first invoice only
Good
- Very low year-one cost
- Free CDN, daily backups, email accounts, and staging listed
- Unmetered data transfer and 30-day refund
Watch for
- Renewal is about 7.5–9 times the intro price
- Shared environment, not a dedicated cloud server
- Visit estimates cap growth on lower plans
05 · What to expect
What “managed” should include.
“Managed WordPress hosting” is a marketing label, not a standard. Before you compare prices, check that a plan covers the basics below, and note which items are paid add-ons.
Automatic backups
Daily at minimum, with a clear retention period and one-click restore. Kinsta keeps 14 days and Rocket.net 30 days on entry plans.
Security patching
Server and PHP updates handled for you, plus a firewall and free SSL certificates.
Server-side caching
Page caching at the server level, and object caching for stores and membership sites.
Staging
A copy of your site to test updates before they reach visitors.
WordPress-aware support
24/7 chat at least. Check whether plugin troubleshooting is included or a paid tier.
Free migration
All five hosts here offer some form of free migration; the details differ.
06 · How to choose
Answer four questions.
How many sites?
One site: per-site plans (Kinsta, Rocket.net) are competitive. Three or more: a Cloudways server is usually cheaper.
How hands-on are you?
If choosing a server size sounds stressful, pay more for Kinsta or Rocket.net. If you like control, Cloudways rewards it.
What is your three-year budget?
Add the renewal price, not just the first invoice. Intro discounts at SiteGround and first-year pricing at WP Engine change the picture after year one.
What is not included?
Check CDN, email, backups retention, and support level. A cheap plan plus three add-ons can cost more than an all-in plan.
A word on “fastest”
Many roundups crown a speed winner. We have not run independent benchmarks, so we don’t. Page speed depends heavily on your theme, plugins, images, and caching; all five hosts offer server-side caching and a CDN option.
07 · Questions
Managed WordPress hosting: quick answers.
What is managed WordPress hosting?
Hosting where the provider handles server setup, security patching, backups, caching, and WordPress-aware support, so you mostly manage your site rather than the server.
Which is cheapest over three years?
For one small site, SiteGround’s first year is cheapest, but at renewal rates a Cloudways 1GB server ($11/mo) costs less than SiteGround StartUp ($17.99/mo). Always compare with renewal prices.
Which is best for an agency?
If you manage many client sites, Cloudways’ per-server model is usually the most economical. Kinsta and WP Engine offer agency-oriented plans if you prefer per-site management.
Do I need managed hosting for a small blog?
Not necessarily. A first personal blog can run well on shared hosting. Managed hosting starts to pay off when downtime costs you money, when you run a store, or when you manage several sites for clients.
Can I switch hosts later?
Yes. All five hosts offer free migration in some form, and the Cloudways migrator plugin works from any host. Switching before a renewal date avoids paying for another prepaid term.
Are these affiliate recommendations?
Only the Cloudways links are affiliate links. We have no relationship with Kinsta, WP Engine, Rocket.net, or SiteGround, and none of them paid to be included.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
All pages checked November 9, 2026. Vendor statements are not independent performance findings.
- Cloudways — pricingServer prices, billing, trial
- Kinsta — pricingPlans, add-ons, guarantee
- WP Engine — plansEssential and Business plans, features
- Rocket.net — pricingPlans, intro offer, renewal promise
- SiteGround — WordPress hosting plan comparisonIntro and renewal prices, plan limits
Editorial independence & affiliate disclosure
The Steady Stack is independent of Cloudways, DigitalOcean, and every other host mentioned. Some Cloudways links on this site are affiliate links: if you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Links to Kinsta, WP Engine, Rocket.net, SiteGround, and other providers are ordinary links with no affiliation. No company paid for placement, and we do not offer coupons or rewards for signing up. This is a document-based guide: we did not run lab benchmarks, and we do not present vendor claims as test results.