WordPress hosting plans explained

How WordPress hosting plans and packages are measured

WordPress hosting packages look different from host to host, but most are built from the same measurements. Once you know them, you can compare any two plans on equal terms:

• Number of sites: how many WordPress installs the plan allows
• Traffic: measured as monthly visits, as bandwidth (the data sent from the server to visitors), or not measured at all within the plan's resources
• Storage: the disk space for WordPress, your media library, plugins and database
• Server resources: the CPU, memory and PHP capacity available to your sites
• Features: caching, backups, staging, security, migrations and support

Hosts combine these in two broad ways:

• By server size: you choose a server with a given amount of RAM, CPU and storage, and run as many sites on it as it can support
• By sites, visits and storage: you choose from a small number of named plans, each set for a number of sites, an expected level of traffic and an amount of storage, with more features as you move up

If you are new to managed hosting, our guide to what WordPress hosting is covers the basics first.

Plan structures at each host

The table below shows how each host structures its WordPress hosting plans, using the plan names on each host's own site when this guide was written. Hosts rename and adjust plans from time to time, so check the current line-up on the host's site.

All three sell plans directly on their own sites. Our WordPress hosting comparison compares the hosts on features as well as plan structure.

Plans by server size

Server-based plans let you choose the capacity directly, then run as many sites on it as that capacity supports.

Cloudways Flexible. You pick a cloud provider (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google Cloud), a server type and a size measured in RAM, vCPUs, NVMe storage and transfer bandwidth. Cloudways lists unlimited visits and unlimited websites on each size, within what the server can support, and suggests moving up when CPU or RAM use sits above 80% consistently. Each server on an account is set up separately, so you can run different sites on different providers and sizes, and resize later with vertical scaling.

Cloudways Autonomous. For sites with changing traffic, Autonomous plans start from a baseline number of servers and scale automatically using Kubernetes, with allocations for disk space and bandwidth and visits unmetered. Cloudways says Autonomous currently supports WordPress and WooCommerce.

Server-based plans suit people who host several sites, want control over resources, or run sites whose traffic is hard to express as a visit count. Our shared vs VPS WordPress hosting and WordPress cloud hosting guides explain the difference between server types.

Plans by sites, visits and storage

Krystal and WP Engine size their plans by the number of sites, the monthly visits you expect and the storage you need. Each step up adds capacity and features.

Krystal. Krystal offers a short ladder of named tiers:

Krystal's tiers also list a monthly visit figure, and its managed WordPress plans include automatic updates, LiteSpeed Cache, two staging sites per live site and backups with restore points for the last 30 days.

WP Engine. WP Engine's Essential, Business and Enterprise plans are sized by sites, monthly visits, storage and bandwidth, and WP Engine notes that its visit numbers are estimates only. The environment changes too: Essential runs in a shared environment, while Business and Enterprise have isolated resources. Business adds 24/7 phone support alongside chat, managed site migrations and a 99.99% uptime SLA, and Enterprise is shaped with WP Engine's team.

WP Engine lists daily automated backups (kept for no less than 30 days), SSL and SSH, security patching and plugin risk scans, its EverCache caching, a global CDN, one-click staging and development environments, and transferable sites on every plan. Some features depend on the plan: Multisite, for example, is not supported on single-site Essential plans, and WP Engine sells it as an extension on Essential plans of three or more sites.

Plans measured this way are easy to compare and to estimate if you know your traffic, and they suit most small and medium-sized business sites with steady, predictable visitor numbers. If your traffic swings with campaigns or seasons, look closely at how each host handles a busy month. See WordPress hosting for small business for what a typical business site needs.

Agency, enterprise and dedicated options

Above the standard plans, each host offers routes for larger portfolios or more demanding sites. Several are arranged with the host's sales team rather than bought off the shelf:

• Cloudways: Projects and team management for grouping client sites, an agency programme, and an Autonomous custom plan for needs beyond the standard plans
• Krystal: an Agency plan for client sites, Cloud VPS servers you configure yourself, and fully managed solutions scoped for businesses whose infrastructure does not fit a standard product
• WP Engine: transferable sites on every plan, isolated resources on Business, and an Enterprise plan with a dedicated account team, custom contract terms and options for peak traffic

Our guides to WordPress agency hosting, enterprise WordPress hosting and dedicated WordPress hosting explain each route in detail.

What does 'unlimited' hosting mean?

"Unlimited WordPress hosting" is a common search, so it is worth being precise. Every server has finite resources, so wherever a host says unlimited, it is unlimited within something.

Cloudways is the example among the hosts covered here. Its Flexible server sizes list unlimited visits and unlimited websites, and it says you can run as many applications as your server can support; Autonomous plans leave visits unmetered but set allocations for disk space and bandwidth. The limit that still applies is the server's own CPU, memory and storage, and Cloudways suggests moving to a bigger server when CPU or RAM use sits above 80% consistently.

Krystal and WP Engine set clear allowances for visits and storage on their plans instead. Clear allowances make it easier to see what you are paying for and when you might need to move up; unlimited labels make it easier to add sites without counting. Either way, read the plan's resource limits and fair-use terms, and check what the host does if a site goes over them. Our WordPress hosting cost guide sets out what each host says happens above a plan's limits.

How to pick the right plan

Choosing a WordPress hosting plan is mostly a matter of gathering a few numbers and answering a few questions:

1. Count your sites. One site points to a single-site plan or an entry tier; several sites point to a multi-site plan, a higher tier or a server; client sites point to an agency option.
2. Estimate your traffic. Look at monthly visitors in your analytics and, if you can, bandwidth figures from your current host. Allow for growth and seasonal peaks.
3. Measure your storage. Check how much disk space your site, media library and database use today.
4. Note special requirements. A shop, a membership area or a Multisite network may need a higher plan; check the host's plan details.
5. Decide on backups and staging. Check how often backups run, how long they are kept and whether staging is on the plan you are looking at.
6. Choose a data centre. For a mostly UK audience, check that the host lists a UK location; see UK-based WordPress hosting.
7. Check the add-ons and billing term. Add extras only if your site needs them, and note the renewal price.

Cloudways and Krystal both say you can move up as your site grows, so it is fine to start with a reasonable estimate. Cloudways lets you resize a server with vertical scaling and bills each plan for the days you used it, and Krystal lets you move to a larger plan later. Our WordPress hosting cost guide explains how each of these factors affects the price.

Next step: check plans on the host's own site

Plans are bought directly from each host, on its own terms. Once you know your numbers, compare the current plans on each host's site:

• Cloudways: server sizes and providers (opens in a new tab), and Autonomous plans (opens in a new tab) for autoscaling
• Krystal: Personal, Business and Agency plans (opens in a new tab) for managed WordPress
• WP Engine: Essential, Business and Enterprise (opens in a new tab)

Each host also has its own page on this site: Cloudways, Krystal and WP Engine. If you are moving an existing site, our guide to moving a WordPress site to a new host explains the migration help each host lists.