The basics of hosting your WordPress website (2026 guide)

WordPress is free, but it needs somewhere to live. That “somewhere” is your web hosting, and the type you choose affects how fast your site loads, how safe it is, how much work you’ll have to do, and what you’ll pay. This guide explains the main kinds of WordPress hosting in plain English, what really matters when choosing, and which option suits which kind of site in 2026.

Prices checked 15 November 2026 on each provider’s own UK website, during Black Friday sales. Prices exclude VAT unless we say otherwise: if you are not VAT-registered, add 20%. DreamHost charges in US dollars. Offers change often, so the price at the provider’s checkout is the one that counts.

What web hosting actually does

A website is a collection of files and a database. Hosting is a computer, called a server, that stores those files and is permanently connected to the internet. When someone types your address or clicks your link, the server sends your pages to their browser. The quality of that server, and how it’s managed, decides how quickly your pages appear and how well your site copes when things go wrong.

Speed matters for more than patience. Google uses page experience, including loading speed, as one of many signals when ranking pages, and visitors on phones are quick to give up on slow sites.

The five main types of WordPress hosting

1. Shared hosting

Your site sits on a server alongside many others, all sharing its memory and processing power. It’s the cheapest kind of hosting and, on a well-run host, it is perfectly adequate for most small business sites, blogs and club websites.

Modern shared hosting is far better than it used to be. Good hosts now isolate each account so one badly behaved neighbour can’t easily slow you down or infect your site, and they include free SSL certificates, malware scanning and daily or weekly backups.

Good for: new sites, brochure sites and most small businesses.

2. Managed WordPress hosting

This is usually shared or cloud hosting with WordPress-specific extras: automatic WordPress updates, built-in caching for speed, one-click staging (a private copy of your site for testing changes), and support staff who understand WordPress. Many hosts now include these features on their standard plans, so the line between “shared” and “managed WordPress” is blurrier than it was.

Good for: owners who want to spend their time on the business, not the technical upkeep.

3. Cloud hosting

Your site runs across a network of servers rather than a single machine, so resources can be added as traffic grows and a hardware fault is less likely to take you offline. Some hosts, such as 20i, build autoscaling into all their plans; others, like Hostinger and SiteGround, sell separate cloud plans as the next step up.

Good for: busier sites, online shops and sites with traffic spikes.

4. VPS (virtual private server)

A VPS gives you a guaranteed slice of a server, with its own memory and processing power, and usually full control over the software. That control comes with responsibility: unless you pay for a managed VPS, you look after security updates and configuration yourself. Our guide VPS: when do you need one? covers this in detail.

Good for: technically confident owners, developers and demanding applications.

5. Dedicated server

A whole physical server just for you. It’s powerful and expensive, and it needs expert management. Very few small businesses need one.

What really matters when choosing WordPress hosting

Total cost, including renewal

Introductory prices can be a fraction of the renewal price. Always look at what you’ll pay over three or four years, check whether VAT is included, and note whether “free” extras such as domains and mailboxes stay free. Our UK hosting comparison sets out four-year costs side by side.

Backups and restore

If your site is hacked or an update goes wrong, a recent backup is the difference between a 10-minute fix and starting again. Look for automatic backups (daily is best) and a simple restore button. Then keep a second, independent copy, for example with the free UpdraftPlus plugin sending backups to Google Drive. Hosts can have problems too.

Security

Look for free SSL, a web application firewall, malware scanning and isolated accounts. On your side, keep WordPress, themes and plugins updated, use strong passwords, and add a plugin that limits repeated login attempts, such as Limit Login Attempts Reloaded. Brute-force login attacks are among the most common threats to WordPress sites.

Speed

Modern hosts use fast NVMe or SSD storage, server-level caching (LiteSpeed, NGINX or similar) and a content delivery network (CDN) to serve pages from locations near your visitors. A data centre in or near the UK helps if most of your visitors are here.

Room to grow

Check how easily you can move up a plan, whether your host will warn you or charge overage fees if you exceed limits, and whether there’s a cloud or VPS option when you need it.

Support

When something breaks, the speed and quality of help matters more than anything on the feature list. Consider whether support is 24/7, whether you can phone, and whether the team knows WordPress.

Uptime

Most hosts promise 99.9% uptime or better, which allows for about 43 minutes of downtime a month. A few, such as Krystal (99.99%) and DreamHost (100%, paid as service credit), promise more. Treat these as a minimum standard with compensation, not a guarantee your site will never go down.

Which type should you choose?

Frequently asked questions

Do I need special hosting for WordPress?

No. WordPress runs on almost any modern Linux hosting plan. “WordPress hosting” simply adds tools that make it easier to run.

Is shared hosting safe?

On a reputable host, yes. Good hosts isolate accounts and scan for malware. Keep WordPress updated, limit login attempts and keep your own backups.

How much should WordPress hosting cost?

For a small business site, roughly £20 to £170 a year before VAT, depending on the host and whether you’re in an introductory period. Look at the total over several years rather than the headline monthly price.

Will cheap hosting hurt my Google ranking?

Not by itself. A slow or frequently unavailable site can hold you back, but a well-run budget host with caching and a CDN is fast enough for most small business sites.

What’s the single most important thing to get right?

Backups. Make sure your host takes them automatically and keep a second copy somewhere you control.