The preferred hosting method is managed shared hosting as compared to cheap shared hosting and private servers. Cheap shared hosting is inadequate for performance, particularly as servers get filled up with noisy neighbors. Virtual private servers have heavier cots, maintenance burdens, and can be a problem during traffic bursts.
To overcome those limitations, modern “managed” shared hosting utilizes a much larger grid of servers, reserving key resources for each site.
I work with a number of quality hosting providers. Here’s some recommended options in alphabetical order:
Pressable
Full service hosting owned by Automattic, uses WP Cloud servers under the hood.
Site Ground
Bulgaria-based, known for cost-effective unlimited sites with CPU thresholds.
WP Engine
Longtime and well regarded full service managed WP host offering the full spectrum
In addition to these, I’m also a WP Cloud partner, which is a WordPress-as-a-Service (WPaaS) venture owned by Automattic.
- Low cost base with affordable PHP Worker growth
- Built-in tools to troubleshoot deep performance issues
- Bursting capability – on-demand PHP workers for anticipated traffic spikes
- Personally managed by an agency or developer rather than a more generic hosting business
Here’s the pricing schedule:
| Per site hosting resource | Cost (per month) |
|---|---|
| PHP workers, minimum two | $6.50 each |
| Storage allocation over 25G | $0.30 per GB up to 175GB |
| Enable Bursting, on-demand PHP workers | $210 includes 100 on-demand PHP workers |
Calculating PHP workers or CPU resources can be tricky because it depends on the traffic shape (concurrency versus cache-ability), how big / complex the site is, and how many background processes that it runs (think web hooks alerting analytics and marketing services at each order save).
It’s recommended to start with four PHP workers for an eCommerce site and grow in steps. Larger sites at a ten PHP worker base may enable Bursting where these PHP workers scale up and down automatically. It’s important to monitor this utilization to ensure that proper resources are allocated.