If you are creating a new website, you will probably come across the term WordPress hosting. Reliable WordPress hosting ensures optimal performance, speed and availability of your WordPress website.

With so many hosting companies offering different hosting solutions and types, it can be difficult to choose the right WordPress hosting for your business. This article is designed to help you do just that: find the right WordPress hosting.

Below you can find out more about the six different types of WordPress hosting, their advantages and disadvantages and whether they are suitable for your business and your website. 

What types of WordPress hosting are there?

There are many different types and subtypes of WordPress hosting solutions available today. In this article, we will discuss the 6 most important types that you can use to find the right WordPress hosting:

1. Shared hosting: Several WordPress websites share the resources and costs of one server
2. VPS Hosting: Several virtual servers with their own resources share one physical server
3. Dedicated hosting: You receive a physical server with all its resources
4. Cloud hosting: You receive resources from multiple virtual servers 
5. Managed WordPress hosting: A type of WordPress hosting that is specialized and adapted to WordPress websites and saves you additional time thanks to numerous features 
6. Colocation: You bring your servers to a colocation center that hosts these servers

1. shared hosting for WordPress

The most common and cheapest type of WordPress hosting is shared hosting. With shared hosting, you share a server with many others. Most WordPress hosting services offer shared hosting so that it is accessible to everyone. 

Depending on the WordPress host, you may share your server with hundreds or even thousands of other websites. Sharing a server with several other websites means sharing server resources. It's basically like living in a house with other people: 

The house is the server, each person is a website, and the milk and toilet paper are server resources that each person shares. 

The resources of the web server include

• Hard disk storage 
• CPU
• Memory (Limited memory GB)
• Data volume (limited MB/s)

As the server resources are shared between many people, the costs are also shared. This makes shared hosting the cheapest type of WordPress hosting available. Some services cost between €1 and €15 per month and offer discounts as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. 

And that's not all: many shared hosting providers also offer some additional services that you may find useful. These often include the following offers: 

• Free domain name
• Free SSL certificate
• Integrated website builder
• Web design support
• User-friendly cPanel 
• Minimum number of subdomains
• Minimum number of e-mail accounts
• IT security and IT compliance
• Performance add-on modules
• Storage space and backups

With all that said, here are the reasons why you should decide for or against shared hosting.

Advantages of shared hosting

• Shared hosting is cheap because you share the server costs with other users
• No technical know-how required thanks to integrated tools for designing your website 
• You don't need a web host admin, as you can access everything via your cPanel 
• Free add-ons such as a free domain, an SSL certificate and an e-mail domain are included.

Shared hosting disadvantages 

• Greater risk of website crashes as multiple websites use a single server
• Limited security compared to other WordPress hosting types
• Slower website speed, as several websites share the server resources
• Limited technical parameters such as storage space and bandwidth

Who is shared hosting suitable for? 

Shared hosting is best for small, self-hosted websites and small businesses. It is also well suited if you want to test the services of a WordPress hosting provider before switching to a more expensive offer. 

2. vps hosting for WordPress

If shared hosting looks good, but you think it might be better, you might want to opt for VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting for WordPress. A VPS acts like its own isolated server, but it shares a single physical server with other virtual servers. 

But wait! You might be asking yourself: "If a VPS shares a physical server with other virtual servers, how is it different from shared hosting?"

Well, a VPS differs from shared hosting for the following reasons:

• A VPS offers you greater separation from the other virtual servers that you share with others. This is because each virtual server functions as a separate, isolated server. 
• You are guaranteed dedicated resources such as RAM, storage space and bandwidth.
• The resources are modular, so you can easily increase or decrease the number of resources if your website has more visitors, e.g. during Black Friday or other holidays.
• Safer because hackers can only attack your virtual server, unlike shared hosting where they only need to attack your website's shared server. Anyone who wants to hack your WordPress website must also attack your virtual server, not just the shared one.
• You have full control over your server and can host as many websites or emails as you want, as long as your VPS has enough resources.

To return to our house analogy: If shared hosting were a house where the residents share resources, then VPS Hosting for WordPress would be an apartment complex where each tenant has their own units and resources. 

So here are the reasons why you should decide for or against VPS hosting:

Advantages of VPS hosting for WordPress

• Guaranteed own server resources as you do not share them with other people
• Modular resources that you can upgrade or downgrade as required
• More security against hacker attacks
• Complete control over your own virtual server

VPS Hosting disadvantages for WordPress

• Costs more than shared hosting
• You need to set up your own security (i.e. firewall etc.) as you have control over your server
• The maintenance of the server also depends on you
• Configuration and control restrictions still apply 
• Requires technical knowledge, as you manage your server yourself, unlike with managed WordPress hosting.

Who is VPS Hosting suitable for?

VPS hosting for WordPress is a good choice for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and websites that need a little more resources and security than shared hosting, provided they have the technical know-how to manage their own server. 

3. dedicated hosting for WordPress

Does your VPS not offer you enough resources and control over server hosting and configuration? In this case, you should get a dedicated server, also known as dedicated hosting. 

With dedicated hosting, you don't just get a VPS, but an entire physical server all to yourself. This is the most powerful and one of the most expensive types of WordPress hosting you can find. 

As you are responsible for your own dedicated server, all tasks and responsibilities of the server fall to you alone. This means that you are responsible for the following things, for example:

• The installation of an operating system such as Windows or Linux
• Procurement of the tools you need for your business
• Setting up and strengthening server security to protect your infrastructure.
• Optimizing website performance and managing resources  

Dedicated WordPress hosting may be the most expensive form of WordPress hosting, but it also tends to offer many useful features. Here are some features you can expect with your dedicated WordPress hosting plan:

• Multiple location options
• Free SSL certificate
• At least 3 IP addresses
• At least 4 CPU cores
• At least 8 CPU threads
• At least 5 TB of data volume
• At least 500 GB hard disk space
• Fast server performance and high uptime
• 24/7 support
• Money-back guarantee

Now that you've learned what Dedicated WordPress Hosting is, here are the reasons why you should decide for or against this type of WordPress hosting:

Advantages of dedicated WordPress hosting 

• Full control over server configuration and customization
• Reliable server performance as you control all server resources
• Security and data protection at the level you want, as you set up your own security area.
• You don't have to pay for additional resources as they are available to you

Disadvantages of dedicated WordPress hosting

• Requires technical knowledge, as you have to set everything up yourself
• More expensive compared to other WordPress hosting types
• Requires regular maintenance and servicing 

Who is Dedicated WordPress Hosting suitable for? 

Dedicated WordPress hosting is best suited for large companies and websites with high traffic, including those that process sensitive customer data. 

4. cloud hosting for WordPress 

A relatively new type of WordPress hosting that is becoming increasingly popular is cloud hosting. 

With cloud hosting, your cloud service provider (CSP) stores your WordPress website on multiple servers and not just on one physical server in one location. This allows you to call up server resources from several different servers, which increases the availability of resources and reduces latency problems. 

If there are several servers in the game, you can usually expect the following functions:

• Customization of the server cluster to the specific requirements of your WordPress website
• Free SSL certificate
• Access to all your WordPress websites across all tariffs
• At least 5 TB of data volume
• At least 40 GB storage space
• Free backups
• 24/7 support
• Money-back guarantee

How exactly does cloud hosting differ from standard WordPress hosting? The main difference between these two types of WordPress hosting is their easy scalability. 

With cloud hosting, you can easily handle varying traffic on your WordPress website by instantly provisioning (scaling up) or deprovisioning (scaling down) resources. Expecting high traffic due to Black Friday? Simply add more resources to improve the performance of your WordPress website and reduce them later when traffic slows down.

With shared hosting, on the other hand, you only receive a fixed amount of storage space and computing power for a monthly fee. You always pay the same amount, regardless of whether you use all the resources or not. This makes services such as dedicated servers for websites with fluctuating traffic more expensive. 

Now that you know the difference between cloud hosting and shared WordPress hosting, here are the reasons why you should decide for or against cloud hosting:

Advantages of cloud hosting

• On-demand access to server resources, as you can access multiple servers
• Easy scalability, as resources are not limited to a single physical server
• Lower latency times, as traffic is automatically routed via the fastest route to a usable server
• Increased uptime, as your WordPress website has more resources at its disposal
• Improved reliability as the data is stored in several data centers - each with its own backup

Disadvantages of cloud hosting

• Limited customization options depending on cloud type and CSP
• Requires technical expertise in cloud technology
• Requires optimal resource management to keep costs low
• Responsibility for IT security between several website teams and between the user and the CSP 

Who is cloud hosting suitable for? 

Cloud hosting is best suited to e-commerce stores, web applications and large, fast-growing companies and websites. 

5. managed WordPress hosting

Managed WordPress hosting specializes in WordPress websites. The two "parts" of this type of WordPress hosting that you need to look out for are "managed" and "WordPress".

With regular managed WordPress hosting, you rent hardware or server space from a managed service provider (MSP). Your MSP then ensures that your hardware is kept up to date, your software is updated and your security is guaranteed. 

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) today with a market share of 65.1% at the time of writing. It is an open source system and can be downloaded free of charge, but requires a certain amount of technical know-how.

With managed WordPress hosting, your provider offers the following services, among others:

• Automatic WordPress setup: With most providers, you can set up WordPress with just one click.
• Staging environments where you can test changes to your website before you actually publish them
• Fine-tuned dashboards that give you access to everything you need to run your WordPress website
• Improved caching to reduce the server load
• Automatically managed updates so you don't miss them when they're available
• Automatic and manual backups so that your website is always operational in the event of crashes and other problems
• Improved WordPress support to solve all problems as quickly as possible
• Improved security to prevent damage to customers and your business

It should be noted that managed WordPress hosting is more expensive than normal shared hosting. However, some providers offer some managed WordPress hosting features as part of their shared hosting packages.

Below you will find the reasons why you should decide for or against Managed WordPress Hosting:

Advantages of managed WordPress hosting

• A faster website that improves your SEO ranking on Google, among other things
• More reliable uptime compared to cheaper hosting
• Faster troubleshooting to keep your website up and running 
• Improved security gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on running and growing your business.

Managed WordPress hosting disadvantages 

• More expensive compared to normal shared hosting solutions
• WordPress websites only, so you can't use it for your e-commerce store or a website with multiple CMS.
• Not very flexible, as providers usually have a list of plugins that they do not allow.

Who is Managed WordPress Hosting suitable for? 

Managed WordPress hosting is a great choice for small and medium-sized businesses that can afford to pay a WordPress host to make and keep their websites faster, more reliable and more secure. 

6. colocation for WordPress

Colocation is a form of WordPress hosting where you host your own servers in a colocation center for a fee instead of keeping them all in-house or renting a private dedicated server.  

With colocation, you bring your own servers, network devices and storage space, while the center provides power, bandwidth, IP address, cooling systems and server monitoring and maintenance. However, you are still responsible for managing your IP/DNS configurations, software and replacing hardware (if necessary). 

So here are the reasons why you should decide for or against colocation: 

Colocation advantages

• Higher bandwidth at lower costs
• Lower costs compared to own data centers
• You retain full control over your equipment 
• Easy scalability by renting more or less colocation space 

Colocation disadvantages 

• Most expensive of all other WordPress hosting types
• Requires some technical know-how as you are still responsible for managing your software and IP/DNS configurations
• Requires a longer commitment compared to other hosting types
• Additional travel costs when you visit the colocation site

Who is colocation suitable for? 

Colocation is best suited for companies in highly regulated industries, such as government, finance and healthcare. 

Conclusion: Find WordPress hosting

There are six different types of WordPress hosting solutions. Each of them has its own features as well as advantages and disadvantages. It is important to know that although many hosters offer WordPress hosting, they do not specialize in it and offer the functions as part of shared hosting, for example.

There are also companies that specialize in hosting WordPress websites. So if you are planning to run a WordPress website, this option always makes sense. Ultimately, however, the choice depends on the requirements of your company or website.