After over 4 years of running my own WordPress blog, I’ve become a bit of a WordPres expert, if I say so myself. Switching hosting providers two (or even more) times will do that to you. I became more attuned to what I need, what I appreciate, and what is a nice bonus in a WordPress host. Most importantly, I’m always looking to get the best value for the lowest price – who doesn’t love a good deal? I’ve even reached a point where, if I can help it, I never spend more than $3.00/month on hosting.
I know that choosing a cheap WordPress host that also delivers can be challenging, especially as a first-timer, with so many options on display. Choice overload is a thing! It can be hard to decide which features are the most relevant for you, and it’s easy to end up paying for resources you may never need.
But I’m here to help you. Based on my experience and frequent testing, I’ve summarized my top 9 cheap WordPress hosting providers as of September 2025. Their monthly costs are up to $3.50/month, and they deliver solid performance and a feature set, so you can focus on building your site without worrying about your budget.
Cheap hosting for WordPress 2025 – detailed list
I examined various cheap WordPress hosting providers, with prices ranging from $1.00/month to $2.69/month, to find the most affordable options that still deliver reliable performance and solid value. These rankings focus on what you get for the price, including speed, features, and overall usability.
If you’re looking for more general hosting options beyond WordPress, check out our best web hosting guide. Otherwise, keep reading to find the best budget-friendly WordPress host for your needs.
1. Hostinger – cheap WordPress hosting for multiple websites
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.69/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes (unlimited) |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get up to 78% OFF Hostinger + free months |
Hostinger takes the #1 place on my cheap WordPress hosting list. I’m currently using Hostinger for my WordPress blog, and I’ve been surprised by all I can get with its affordable price tag.
It’s fast, beginner-friendly, and has a variety of features like unlimited free SSLs, unlimited website migrations, a one-click installer, automatic updates, and built-in security. Users on Trustpilot rate Hostinger at 4.7/5 stars, which is a really high rating.
My site was up and running in under 10 minutes after the transfer from another host, without any errors. The best part is that I don’t have to settle with only one site. That’s right, for a price as low as $2.69/month, I can set up 25 WordPress sites! I don’t know if I need that many, but if I ever do, it’s nice knowing that the option is there.
💸 Hostinger’s WordPress plans pricing
Hostinger’s WordPress plans are affordable, even when you factor in renewal rates, which is where a lot of cheap hosts increase their prices drastically. Here’s a quick breakdown of each plan, what you get, and how much you’ll be paying now and later:
- WordPress Premium. Price starts at $2.69/month and renews at $10.99/month. It includes up to 25 websites, 25GB SSD storage, ~25,000 visits/month, free domain, unlimited SSLs, and weekly backups.
- WordPress Business. Price starts at $3.59/month and renews at $13.99/month. It includes up to 50 websites, 50GB NVMe storage, ~100,000 visits/month, free domain, daily backups, 5 mailboxes per site, and advanced performance.
- Cloud Startup. Price starts at $8.99/month and renews at $25.99/month. It’s built for heavier sites, with better resources and speed optimization, and everything from the Business plan.
Renewals are usually more expensive than the initial price, and that applies to Hostinger as well. To ensure lower prices and avoid high renewal costs, simply create a new Hostinger account and buy a new discounted plan. You will need to migrate your website from one Hostinger account to another, but it’s definitely worth it if you want to save money.
The Premium plan is the cheapest option, and it covers most of what a small site or blog needs. You get a free domain, decent storage, solid performance, and features many hosts offer only with higher-tier plans. I recommend opting for a longer period as it saves a lot of money in the long run.
Below, you’ll see a graph comparing the initial and renewal prices, so you can easily determine which plan is best for you.
🤔 Does Hostinger have any hidden costs?
Hostinger has a hidden fee that only shows up at checkout – a $4.99 setup payment if you choose a 1-month plan. Another thing I recommend keeping in mind, although it’s not hidden, is that the free domain is only free for the first year, after which you’ll need to pay a renewal fee. The hosting price will also increase once the initial plan ends. Both are standard practices among hosting providers, and you can expect them with other suggestions on this list, too.
Experience with Hostinger for WordPress (updated in September)
Hostinger is my #1 for WordPress sites. I first started hosting my personal blog with them about 4 years ago. I moved around to different hosts, including SiteGround and GoDaddy, to avoid high renewal prices, but eventually decided to transfer back to Hostinger. I locked in a good 48-month deal, and I’m hoping to stick with it.
My favorite feature is Hostinger’s AI toolset, which sets it apart from other cheap WordPress hosts. I’ve also put together a table below to show how Hostinger scored in the key areas that matter the most. After that, I go into more detail about my hands-on experience and why I still trust Hostinger with my site.
| WordPress-oriented features | Hostinger has a variety of WordPress-oriented features that make setup fast, boost security, and even help with content creation. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Hostinger is an affordable web hosting provider with a starting price of only $2.69/month. The cost for other providers is noticeably higher for the same amount of features that Hostinger offers. | |
| Ease of use | hPanel is simple to use, especially compared to cPanel. It’s clean, intuitive, and doesn’t overload you with unnecessary design features. | |
| Performance | Hostinger demonstrated excellent results in all of the tests. It’s highly reliable, fast, and can easily handle increased traffic. |
Hostinger is one of the most beginner-friendly choices. Its plans include WordPress-focused features like a vulnerability scanner and compatibility checker, which help catch potential issues early on.
I also like the free automated migration, as it is smooth and has no limit on how many websites can be migrated, whereas competitors like DreamHost only allow 1 free migration, and additional ones cost extra. The WP Starter wizard helped me get a basic site up quickly, and LiteSpeed caching noticeably improved the loading times.
With the Business plan and higher, you get access to WordPress AI tools. I fond the AI content creator surprisingly useful for putting together draft pages or placeholder text without much effort.In July 2025, Hostinger also introduced Hostinger Reach, which is a WordPress plugin for email marketing automations. I have not used it extensively, but at a first glance, it seems like a great addition, especially since it also supports external (non-Hostinger) domains. Plus, this new feature is available with all Hostinger 1-year web hosting plans.
In terms of performance, Hostinger did very well, with a fully loaded time of 0.904s, much faster than providers like Bluehost or Hosting.com, which had a fully loaded time over 1s. In fact, Hostinger came out as the #1 when the Cybernews research team tested the fastest WordPress hosts.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 60.30ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 0.915s |
2. IONOS – absolute cheapest WordPress hosting
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $1.00/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get up to 93% OFF IONOS |
IONOS is one of the most well-known and affordable hosting providers. Its WordPress plans start at $1.00/month, making it the cheapest option on my list. You get useful tools like a one-click installer and a WordPress Assistant, which has helpful prompts that make the setup really easy. On Trustpilot, users give IONOS the same rating as Hostinger, 4.7/5, which I think makes its place on my list even more justified.
On top of that, IONOS includes solid security features, such as vulnerability scanning and malware protection. Personally, I doubt that anyone would want to hack or infect my site, but if it happens, then I know IONOS has my back with full malware repair, availableon the highest-tier plan.
💸 IONOS’ WordPress plans pricing
IONOS’ WordPress plans are affordable, though the Grow plan does increase in cost the most after the first year. All IONOS plans include helpful features like AI tools, backups, and security scans. Here’s a quick breakdown of each plan, what you get, and how much you’ll be paying now and later:
- WordPress Grow.Price starts at $1.00/month and renews at $12.00/month. It includes 50GB SSD storage, 5 email addresses, free domain and SSL, AI content tools, malware scans, daily backups, and 12 months of Jetpack Vault included.
- WordPress Start. Price starts at $5.00/month and renews at $6.00/month. It includes 25GB SSD storage, 1 email address, free domain and SSL, AI assistant, malware and vulnerability scans, and automatic WordPress updates with daily backups.
- WordPress Boost. Price starts at $12.00/month and renews at $15.00/month. It includes 75GB SSD storage, 10 email addresses, free domain and SSL, automatic malware removal, daily backups, and 12 months of Jetpack Vault.
Despite being the cheapest on this list, IONOS renewal pricing can be pretty steep – especially if you want to add extras like additional email. But you don’t have to stick with the renewed price – simply cancel your plan before it’s due, create a new account with a discount, and migrate your site.
The Grow plan is the cheapest option, and it provides generous storage, email addresses, and backup tools. I recommend starting with the Grow plan with its intro price. The renewal cost is significant, but it’s still competitive.
Below, you’ll see a graph comparing the initial and renewal prices, so you can easily determine which plan is best for you.
🤔 Does IONOS have any hidden costs?
IONOS doesn’t have hidden fees, but it tries to upsell during checkout by promoting add-ons with free trials. These aren’t selected by default, but they can be tempting. For instance, you can get 5 additional mailboxes free for the first month, which then renew at $1.00/month for 6 months. There’s also malware protection, which starts as a 1-month free trial, then renews at $6.00/month. My recommendation is to evaluate what you will need, so you don’t end up overpaying.
My experience with IONOS for WordPress (updated in September)
I tested IONOS to see how well it balances its low starting price with performance. I didn’t go in with high expectations, but I was genuinely surprised by how solid it was in a few key areas.
What stood out most were the built-in AI tools and the included daily backups. I’ve put together a quick table below showing how IONOS scored in my tests. After that, I walk you through what I liked, what could be better, and whether I think it’s a good pick for WordPress hosting on a budget.
| WordPress-oriented features | IONOS has a solid package of WordPress-oriented features, among which are a 1-click installer, automatic updates, a command-line interface, and SiteAnalytics. | |
| Pricing | IONOS is an affordable hosting provider that offers a great introductory discount for its Grow plan, which is priced at just $1.00/month. | |
| Ease of use | IONOS has a custom panel that is well-organized and functional. | |
| Performance | While IONOS is a reliable host, its server response times and traffic handling capabilities need improvement. |
I tested IONOS with a WordPress site, and while it’s one of the cheapest options out there, it has some downsides. Setting everything up was easy thanks to the 1-click installer and the WordPress Assistant, which helped me pick a template and install some basic plugins that my site needed. Daily backups and automatic updates are included with all plans, which is nice to see. However, keep in mind that the daily backups are free only for the first 12 months.
I also liked the SiteAnalytics feature, which provides basic traffic statistics. For developers, there’s also the WordPress command-line tool. IONOS’ custom dashboard took me a bit to get used to, and I found it less intuitive than what you get with Hostinger or Bluehost.
Sadly, the performance wasn’t great. Uptime during testing averaged around 85%, which is the lowest of any provider on this list. Load times were also slower than most, at around 2.679s. In our previous tests, IONOS performed a lot better, so I hope to see an improvement soon and that this is just a temporary issue.
| Uptime test results | 85% |
| Average response time | 181.48ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 3.352s |
To learn more about this provider, read our full IONOS overview.
3. Bluehost – beginner-friendly WordPress hosting
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $1.99/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get up to 83% OFF Bluehost WP |
Bluehost feels like one of the more beginner-friendly WordPress hosts I’ve tested. It’s simple to get started with, and despite the low price, it still manages to offer solid performance and tools like the WonderSuite web builder. It was great for me, since I wanted to launch my site quickly and without much tinkering.
Starting from just $1.99/month, Bluehost offers excellent value if you’re a WordPress user looking for simplicity and advanced tools. It has features like one-click WordPress installation and automatic updates. In my opinion, it’s a pretty good choice for both beginners and experienced users. Plus, on Trustpilot, users rate Bluehost at 4.5/5.
💸 Bluehost’s WordPress plan pricing
Bluehost’s WordPress plans are beginner-friendly and reasonably priced, especially considering the features included. Renewal prices are a bit higher but still competitive. I’ve prepared a breakdown of each plan, what you get with it, and how much you’ll be paying now and later:
- Basic. Price starts at $1.99/month and renews at $11.99/month. It supports up to 10 websites, 10GB SSD storage, ~40,000 visits/month, a free domain for the first year, AI site creation tools, Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, free site migration, and malware scanning.
- Choice Plus. Price starts at $3.95/month and renews at $15.99/month. It supports up to 50 websites, 50GB SSD storage, ~200,000 visits/month, phone support, added malware removal tools, domain privacy for the first year, and everything from the Basic plan.
- eCommerce Essentials. Price starts at $6.99/month and renews at $18.99/month. It supports up to 100 websites, 100GB NVMe storage, ~400,000 visits/month, plus WooCommerce-specific features like product subscriptions, secure payment processing, and affiliate program tools.
Bluehost offers great initial prices, but the plans renew at a pretty high price. Having this in mind, I recommend going with the longest term option, since these tend to offer the most value long-term. And as your subscription is ending, cancel it before renewal and simply create a new account. That way, you can make use of introductory discounts again.
The Basic plan is the cheapest option and includes everything you need for a small WordPress site, including AI setup tools, backups, and decent security. But if you plan to run more than a couple of sites or want stronger support and protection, Choice Plus is the better long-term option. Below, you’ll see a graph comparing the initial and renewal prices.
🤔 Does Bluehost have any hidden costs?
I found that Bluehost adds several extras automatically at checkout. Unlike IONOS, where you choose them manually, Bluehost pre-selects featureslike domain privacy (which costs $11.88/year), CodeGuard Basic, and a backup tool. An email trial is also added by default and renews at $2.99/month. Make sure to remove these features from your cart if you don’t want these extras.
My experience with Bluehost for WordPress (updated in September)
I found that Bluehost includes enough WordPress-specific tools to support your website’s growthfor as little as $1.99/month. Its WonderSuite builder made setting up a custom-looking site much faster than using the default WordPress editor alone. Here’s how Bluehost scored in each category during my hands-on testing.
| WordPress-oriented features | Bluehost offers all the standard WordPress-oriented features, like 1-click installation, automated migration, and a setup wizard. In addition, Bluehost offers WonderSuite, a web builder integrated into WordPress. | |
| Pricing | Bluehost is a budget-friendly provider with prices starting from $1.99/month and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. | |
| Ease of use | Bluehost combines its custom tools with the popular cPanel to ensure a user-friendly experience. Also, its navigation is simple and intuitive. | |
| Performance | Bluehost demonstrates average performance. While its server response time is not the fastest, overall performance is consistent and dependable. |
Bluehost is built with WordPress in mind. From the start, I found the setup and management process simple thanks to features like the 1-click WordPress installation, free automated migration, and a WordPress setup wizard.
I also tried out WonderSuite, which isBluehost’s built-in website builder, and found it helpful for customizing pages without needing to edit any code. Bluehost is easy to get started with and less overwhelming compared to other hosts like ScalaHosting that have a more difficult-to-navigate interface.
While testing, I noticed Bluehost integrates seamlessly with popular WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO and WPForms. There were no glitches or compatibility problems. It’s also officially recommended by WordPress, which shows how well the platform is optimized for users.
In terms of performance, Bluehost delivered consistent speeds and no downtime. The average response time was 118.59ms, which is solid for a provider in this price range.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 118.59ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 2.001s |
4. DreamHost – WordPress host with the best long-term value
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.59/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 97-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get up to 72% OFF Dreamhost WP |
After trying out DreamHost and doing some math, I can confidently say that DreamHost is both great for WordPress, and offers the best long term value and excellent performance. Even with renewal pricing, a 10-year subscription will cost you below $800, while other hosts on this list go above $1K (except for Namecheap).
Additionally, DreamHost has great advanced features, such as built-in traffic analytics, a business advisor, and a Liftoff AI website builder. The prices for shared hosting plans start at just $2.59/month, which is a fair cost for all the tools you get. On Trustpilot, users give DreamHost a 4.7/5 rating, highlighting its reliability and effectiveness.
💸 DreamHost’s WordPress plan prices
DreamHost’s WordPress plans are competitively priced and provide extra value with built-in traffic analytics, a business advisor tool, and an AI website builder. Here’s a quick breakdown of each plan, what you get, and how much you’ll be paying now and later:
- Shared Starter. The price starts at $2.59/month and renews at $5.99/month, which is the lowest renewal price on this list. It includes 1 website, unlimited traffic, a free domain for the first year, a WordPress installer, an AI website builder, a business advisor, built-in traffic analytics, SSD storage, free SSL, and free WordPress migrations. Email is optional and costs extra.
- Shared Unlimited. The price starts at $3.95/month and renews at $10.99/month. It includes unlimited websites, unlimited traffic, a free domain, an AI builder, a business advisor, traffic analytics, SSD storage, free SSL, free email hosting, and everything from the Starter plan.
The Shared Starter plan is ideal for small sites. However, if you plan to run multiple sites or need email included, Shared Unlimited is the better option. You can compare the initial and renewal prices in the graph I’ve prepared below.
🤔 Does DreamHost have any hidden costs?
Similarly to Bluehost, DreamHost automatically selects add-ons during checkout. For example, DreamShield Protection was added to my cart automatically for $3.00/month, and DreamHost Email was added at $1.99/month. Both features are optional, but they’re pre-checked. Additionally, automatic renewal is activated once you sign up. Keep an eye on pre-selected boxes and make sure to only purchase what you need.
My experience with DreamHost for WordPress (updated in September)
When I tested DreamHost, I was impressed by its WordPress-oriented features and reliable performance, which I’ll dive into deeper later on. Considering that it’s priced at $2.59/month, it’s a budget-friendly and easy-to-use option. Here’s how it scored across the key categories during my tests.
| WordPress-oriented features | DreamHost provided me with all the necessary features I needed for my WordPress website, including plugins for security, performance, and SEO. | |
| Pricing | DreamHost is a budget-friendly hosting provider that offers its services from $2.59/month. It has one of the longest money-back guarantees on this list, letting you test any of its shared hosting plans thanks to its 97-day money-back promise. | |
| Ease of use | While DreamHost has a control panel that is easy to use, it required a while for me to get used to it. It also had a lot of suggestions for upgrades and add-ons which distracted me from the main features. | |
| Performance | During my tests, DreamHost showed excellent 100% uptime results and fast speeds. |
DreamHost brings everything you need for a WordPress website, and during my tests, it performed better than I expected. The 1-click WordPress installation made setup fast, and I appreciated the included plugins for security, performance, and SEO, as they came pre-installed and ready to use, which saved time. I also liked that DreamHost includes automatic updates and security scans, so I didn’t have to worry about staying on top of maintenance. Similarly to IONOS, the DreamHost control panel now also includes a Traffic Dashboard, which I thought is a really useful widget to have for tracking visitors, trends, and even bots.
The free automated WordPress migration worked smoothly for me, and it’s a great addition if you’re moving from another host. I also tried the WordPress-specific website builder, which was simple to use and a nice option for building out a basic site quickly. While its custom panel might take a minute to get used to, managing your site is straightforward once you’re familiar with it.
Performance was another strong point. I saw 100% uptime during testing and an average response time of 113.25ms, which was faster than IONOS and Bluehost.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 113.25ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 1.209s |
If you are considering DreamHost, read our complete DreamHost review.
5. SiteGround – top managed WordPress hosting
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.99/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get up to 83% OFF SiteGround + FREE TRANSFER |
Being one of the best managed WordPress hosting providers, SiteGround also impressed me with its performance. In my tests, it had a faster-than-average response time and excellent uptime. Even on Trustpilot, SiteGround has a 4.8/5 rating, citing minimal downtime as one of the key aspects of the host.
SiteGround also provides excellent value for money by combining low-cost plans and speed optimization tools. SiteGround’s plans start at $2.99/month. I think this is perfect for those looking for an affordable managed WordPress solution – especially considering managed hosting tends to be much more expensive than unmanaged.
💸 SiteGround’s WordPress hosting prices
SiteGround’s WordPress plans aren’t the cheapest at renewal, so I recommend opting for a longer plan to secure a bigger discount. All plans come with managed WordPress tools, built-in speed and security plugins, and advanced developer features. Below, I describe what each plan includes and how much it costs:
- StartUp. The price starts at $2.99/month and renews at $17.99/month. It includes 1 website, 10GB web space, ~10,000 visits/month, unmetered traffic, and managed WordPress features.
- GrowBig. Its price starts at $4.99/month and renews at $29.99/month. It includes unlimited websites, 20GB web space, ~100,000 visits/month, on-demand backups, and staging.
- GoGeek. The price starts at $7.99/month and renews at $44.99/month. It includes unlimited websites, 40GB web space, ~400,000 visits/month, and everything in GrowBig, with more resources for heavier sites and faster performance under load.
If you’re working on more than one site or want staging and on-demand backups, the GrowBig plan has better long-term value. Below, you’ll see a graph comparing the initial and renewal prices, so you can easily spot which plan offers the best deal.
🤔 Does SiteGround have any hidden costs?
SiteGround is upfront with pricing and doesn’t pre-select any extras. However, it does offer optional add-ons during checkout, some of which come with free trials. For instance, the Site Scanner is available with a 3-month trial, after which it renews at $4.99/month.
My experience with SiteGround for WordPress (updated in September)
I have used SiteGround to host my own WordPress site for about a year. I originally chose it for the reliable support and fully managed WordPress features. It’s also fast and stable, and the setup process was seamless.
When I tested it again for this article, my experience lined up with what I already knew. I only moved my site to a different host after a year because the renewal cost jumped quite a bit, which is something to keep in mind if you’re on a tighter budget. Here’s how SiteGround performed across the areas I focused on:
| WordPress-oriented features | SiteGround offers a standard package of WordPress-oriented features. However, I missed AI assistance and an AI website builder for WordPress. | |
| Pricing | Compared to other cheap hosting providers, SiteGround offers an average price that starts from $2.99/month. | |
| Ease of use | SiteGround uses a native panel, which is easy to use and can be easily customized. | |
| Performance | SiteGround is one of the fastest providers that we tested. It’s highly reliable and great at handling high traffic. |
I had a smooth experience with SiteGround overall. The free WordPress installation and migration tools work without issues, and I like that email migration is included too. Once the site was up, I didn’t need to handle updates manually – WordPress updates automatically. Daily backups are part of all plans, which is good to have, and I was able to install WooCommerce with one click to try out a basic store setup.
One thing SiteGround doesn’t offer is AI tools. Unlike Hostinger, there’s no AI assistant for WordPress. That didn’t affect my setup, but it’s worth noting if that’s something you’re looking for. However, since January 2025, SiteGround has launched its new website builder.
In terms of performance, SiteGround was very solid. During two months of testing with a fully built WordPress site, it maintained 100% uptime, and the average response time was 123.84ms. SiteGround also has a wide range of data center locations, so it’s a good option no matter where your visitors are.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 123.84ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 1.023s |
To learn more, read our full breakdown of SiteGround’s hosting plans.
6. Hosting.com – best for new WordPress sites
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.99/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day full refund or 90-day pro-rated refund |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get hosting.com, now up to 87% OFF |
Hosting.com, formerly known as A2 Hosting, offers both unmanaged and managed WordPress hosting. I found its unmanaged plans most appealing and more budget-friendly. These plans include all features you might need for a fresh start with a new WordPress site. For example, features for performance like LiteSpeed Cache, automatic updates, and essential security tools. All in all, hosting.com offers impressive speed and flexibility for affordable pricing – especially if you’re just starting out. On Trustpilot, users rate Hosting.com at 4.6/5 stars, mostly citing good customer support.
💸 Hosting.com’s WordPress plans pricing
Hosting.com’s WordPress plans are performance-focused and competitively priced, at least for the first year. All plans include WordPress pre-installed, built-in performance plugins, and email hosting. I’ve prepared a breakdown of each plan, what you get, and how much you’ll be paying now and during renewal.
- Starter. Price starts at $2.99.month and renews at $8.99/month. It includes 15GB disk space, 5 email accounts, free domain name, and performance plugins.
- Plus. Price starts at $2.99/month and renews at $10.99/month. It includes 30GB disk space, 10 email accounts, and everything from Starter.
- Pro. Price starts at $4.99/month and renews at $13.99/month. It includes 50GB disk space, 20 email accounts, pre-installed WordPress and plugins, and everything from the Plus plan.
- Max. Price starts at $6.99/month and renews at $17.99/month. It includes 100GB disk space and 40 email accounts.
The Starter plan is a good option, as it gives you the essentials for a small WordPress site, such as pre-installed tools, email, and enough storage to get going. You can also compare the initial and renewal prices in the graph I have prepared below.
🤔 Does hosting.com have any hidden costs?
Surprisingly, I didn’t find any hidden costs with hosting.com. There are no automatically added featuresor upsells on the checkout page. What you see is what you get.
My experience with hosting.com for WordPress (updated in September)
Hosting.com stood out to me for its useful WordPress features and clean, user-friendly dashboard. It has a low starting price of $2.99/month. However, the one-site-per-plan limit and higher renewal pricing bring the overall value down a bit. Here’s an overview of how hosting.com performed in key areas.
| WordPress-oriented features | Hosting.com offers all the essentials for WordPress, such as 1-click installation, free site migration, auto-updates for core, plugins, and themes, and added security features like login reCAPTCHA and alerts for inactive plugins. | |
| Pricing | While the managed plans are more expensive than the unmanaged ones, hosting.com still offers affordable prices. However, renewal rates are higher, and you only get one website per plan, so the price increases fast if you have multiple sites. | |
| Ease of use | TurboHub is a clean and beginner-friendly dashboard. I found it easy to manage WordPress sites, but it’s a custom setup, so if you’re used to cPanel, there’s a slight learning curve. | |
| Performance | Hosting.com delivered reliable uptime and fast load times in testing. It handled high traffic well and stayed stable, but there are slightly faster providers higher up the list. |
I had a positive experience using hosting.com’s WordPress plan. The free site migration was smooth. Plus, I believe the automatic updates for the WordPress core and plugins are ideal for keeping any website safe and performing at its best. It comes with LiteSpeed Cache, which gives performance a noticeable boost, helping to keep things fast.
However, the biggest downside for me is that hosting.com limits you to one website per plan. While this is fine if you’re running a single WordPress site, it’s not ideal if you have multiple projects. Other hosts on the market allow hosting multiple sites for a similar price, which is something to consider if you plan to create more projects.
Hosting.com did well in our performance tests. Load times were fast, and the platform handled high traffic without issues. It wasn’t the fastest, with hosts like Hostinger and SiteGround showing better results, but it was reliable, and the uptime was perfect. It’s a solid choice for a single WordPress site, especially if performance is important to you.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 735.59ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 1.377s |
To learn more, read our full hosting.com review.
7. ScalaHosting – WordPress hosting with strong security features
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.95/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ❌ No |
| Current deal: | Get ScalaHosting up to 77% OFF |
ScalaHosting offers both regular WordPress web hosting and WordPress cloud hosting. I focused on the standard WordPress plans, which include a solid set of features, like expert WordPress support, even on the cheaper tier and start at $2.95/month. You also get all the basic features like backups, free SSL, unlimited databases, and email accounts. Most plans also let you host unlimited websites, which I felt added a lot of flexibility – there’s no need to go with a higher-tier plan if you want to build a website empire. According to users on Trustpilot, ScalaHosting’s most notable feature is its reliability.
💸 ScalaHosting’s WordPress hosting pricing
ScalaHosting’s WordPress plans are competitively priced, and the renewal prices are not as high as some of the other providers, like SiteGround. All plans include free WordPress installation and migration, expert WordPress support, and email hosting. I’ve prepared a breakdown of each plan, what you get, and how much you’ll be paying now and during renewal:
- Mini. Price starts at $2.95/month and renews at $9.95/month. It includes 10GB disk space, shared CPU and RAM, 1 website, and an AI WordPress site builder.
- Start. Price starts at $5.95/month and renews at $12.95/month. It includes 50GB disk space, free domain name, unlimited websites, and everything from Mini.
- Advanced. Price starts at $9.95/month and renews at $16.95/month. It includes 100GB of disk space and everything from the Start plan.
- Entry Cloud. Price starts at $14.95/month and renews at $29.95/month. It includes 50GB disk space, 2 cores and 2GB RAM, free dedicated IP, priority support, blacklist monitoring, and everything from the lower plans.
The Start plan is my recommended option, as it gives you the essentials to host multiple WordPress sites and a free domain name. However, if you are sticking to a single hosted site, the Mini plan will likely be enough for you. If you want to compare the initial and renewal prices, you can do so by looking at the graph I have prepared below.
🤔 Does ScalaHosting have any hidden costs?
There areno hidden fees, but it’s worth noting that the Mini plan doesn’t include a free domain. If you want it included, you need to choose the Starter, Advanced, or Entry Cloud plan.
My experience with ScalaHosting for WordPress (updated in September)
ScalaHosting impressed me with how much it packs into even its lower-tier plans. It also allows choosing between cPanel and sPanel when purchasing your hosting plan, so if you’re a devoted cPanel user, this is a great addition. However, the limited data center choices might not suit your needs, as ScalaHosting offers options for shared hosting users in the US and 1 data center in Europe. Here’s how it performed across key areas.
| WordPress-oriented features | ScalaHosting offers useful features such as expert support, AI WP sitebuilder, and performance reports. The support was a great help and assisted me with new plugin installation and setup. | |
| Pricing | ScalaHosting’s WordPress plans are competitively priced. It also has Cloud WordPress plans, which are more expensive but could be a good choice for growing sites. | |
| Ease of use | The custom SPanel is fast and intuitive once you get the hang of it. It has integrated features like Cloudflare CDN and spam protection. If you prefer cPanel, you can also choose it during the purchase. | |
| Performance | ScalaHosting delivered solid 100% uptime and fast response times in testing. However, the largest contentful paint was on the slower side. |
I had a good experience using ScalaHosting’s WordPress plan. The free migration worked well, and after the transfer, my site was fully in place. You get daily backups, malware protection, WP-CLI, and unlimited email accounts and databases. From the second plan up, you can host unlimited websites, which some of the providers, like hosting.com, don’t offer.
The custom control panel, SPanel, is quite different from cPanel, and it took me a bit to get used to it. However, once I understood where everything was, it was easy to manage my site. It’s not the most modern-looking dashboard I’ve seen, but it’s fast and works well. And recently, it has introduced the option to choose cPanel for an additional $1.00/month.
When it comes to performance, I wasn’t overly impressed. While uptime was solid, the page load speed result was poor. It’s definitely not the best in this area compared to other hosts, especially if you’re running a content-heavy site.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 220.96ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 5.583s |
To learn more, read our full ScalaHosting review.
8. InMotion – hosting with impressive customer support
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $2.62/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 90-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get InMotion Hosting, now 81% OFF |
InMotion isn’t a new player on the market. It has over 20 years of experience in providing hosting services and has proven itself in some areas, such as customer support. I also experienced this myself – the support agent I chatted to was very helpful, knowledgeable, and answered even my most basic questions with patience. Users on Trustpilot share my sentiments and give InMotion the same rating of 4.3/5 stars.
I’ve always known InMotion as a business-oriented provider, but in recent years, it has changed its focus to broader audiences and started offering more hosting services, including WordPress hosting.
💸 InMotion Hosting’s WordPress plan pricing
InMotion’s WordPress plans are affordable, but the renewals won’t come cheap. It also surprised me that the lowest price comes when you choose a 1-year plan, whereas other providers like Hostinger and Bluehost provide the best price when opting for longer plans. Here’s a breakdown of each plan and its prices:
- WP Core. Price starts at $3.29/month and renews at $12.49/month. It includes 100GB disk space, 10 email addresses, 2 websites, and basic security and marketing tools.
- WP Launch. Price starts at $5.09/month and renews at $15.49/month. It includes unlimited disk space, 25 websites, unlimited emails, and everything from the WP Core plan.
- WP Power. Price starts at $5.09/month and renews at $19.49/month. It includes everything from previous plans, better WordPress performance, and access to phone support.
- WP Pro. Price starts at $11.09/month and renews at $26.49/month. It includes pro level support, a dedicated IP, and 6 PHP workers per site.
The WP Core is my recommended option, as it gives you the essential website, marketing, and security tools to host 2 WordPress sites. You will also get a free domain name, and 100GB of disk space, which is a lot more than any of the starter plans from the competitors on this list.
🤔 Does InMotion have any hidden costs?
A few extras were added at checkout. InMotion automatically adds the Backup Manager to your cart at $2.99/month. Other add-ons like a dedicated IP ($6.00/month) and Google Workspace ($7.20/month) are shown at checkout but aren’t pre-selected.
My experience with InMotion Hosting for WordPress (updated in September)
InMotion Hosting provided an easy way to get a WordPress site up and running. Its prices start at $3.49/month for a 3-year plan, and it provides the lowest price when you opt for 1 year, costing you from $2.62/month. Here’s how I evaluated InMotion Hosting in the key areas.
| WordPress-oriented features | InMotion includes free WordPress website transfer, SSL, domain, and website builder for all of its plans. It also includes a free drag-and-drop builder, which is very basic but does the job for simple sites. | |
| Pricing | InMotion offers prices starting at $2.62/month and the cheapest plan allows up to 2 sites. | |
| Ease of use | Like most hosting providers, InMotion uses a user-friendly cPanel. | |
| Performance | InMotion is a well-performing hosting solution that demonstrates fast response time and speed. |
InMotion Hosting is a solid choice for WordPress, especially if you’re new to hosting. The setup was quick, and the free site transfer worked without any issues. I tried out the included drag-and-drop builder to put together a basic site, and while it’s not as intuitive as some website builder tools, it was straightforward and didn’t require much learning. Each WordPress plan also includes premium plugins like Total Upkeep and Easy SEO.
Compared to other hosts I tested, InMotion isn’t overloaded with features but is reliable and easy to use. InMotion uses the standard cPanel, which is familiar if you’ve used hosting before. In terms of performance, I didn’t have any problems. My site had no downtime and loaded quickly.
| Uptime test results | 100% |
| Average response time | 115.77ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 1.016s |
To learn more, check out our full InMotion Hosting review.
9. Namecheap – cheapest WordPress hosting overall
| Rating: | |
| WordPress plan price: | From $1.58/month |
| Money-back guarantee: | ✅ Yes, 30-day |
| Free SSL: | ✅ Yes |
| Free domain: | ✅ Yes |
| Current deal: | Get Namecheap, now 70% OFF
|
Namecheap is an easy-to-use and relatively popular WordPress hosting provider. Its distinguishing quality is it’s extremely low renewal prices, which make it the cheapest provider for long-term commitments. It has some good features like a WordPress AI assistant and a website builder. However, in my personal experience and based on testing evidence, the cheap pricing is arguably the only really good thing about it. Good resources and nice features mean only so much when the overall performance is poor.
💸 Namecheap’s WordPress plan pricing
Namecheap provides the second cheapest plans on this list after IONOS. It offers managed WordPress hosting too, but those plans are significantly more expensive. Below, I focus on shared hosting plans, which all include WordPress installations via Softaculous, as well as AI for WordPress:.
- Stellar. Price starts at $1.58/month and renews at $4.88/month. It includes 20GB disk space, 30 email accounts, 3 websites, basic security, and biweekly backups.
- Stellar Plus. Price starts at $2.28/month and renews at $6.88/month. It includes unmetered disk space, unlimited websites, unlimited emails, biweekly automated backups, and everything from the Stellar plan.
- Stellar Business. Price starts at $4.48/month and renews at $9.88/month. It includes 50 GB disk space, everything from the previous plans, plus personal nameservers, and performance optimization features.
If you’re after the cheapest option, then the Stellar plan should be a good fit. However, I recommend going with Stellar Plus – the price difference isn’t huge, but you get more unlimited features, more automations, and a slightly better security suite, such as an IP blocker.
🤔 Does Namecheap have any hidden costs?
Namecheap doesn’t deliberately add anything new to the shopping cart. One thing to note is that the free domain for 1 year comes with an ICANN fee of $0.20/year. There is the option to add some additional features like business email or managed WordPress hHosting.
My experience with Namecheap for WordPress (updated in September)
Namecheap is an easy host to figure out, and I had no issues with setting up my site. The price starts at $1.58/month for a 2-year plan, and the lowest price is at $1.98/month for one year. However, I had some disappointments regarding Namecheap’s performance. Here’s how I evaluated each aspect:
| WordPress-oriented features | Namecheap offers a WordPress AI assistant, website transfer assistance, instant setup, and easy WordPress installation with Softaculous. | |
| Pricing | Namecheap is the second cheapest host on this list, and offers exceptionally low renewal pricing, which makes it the cheapest host for long-term commitments. | |
| Ease of use | The hosting provider uses cPanel and overall is easy to navigate. However, I had some issues setting up the SSL certificate. | |
| Performance | While the price is great, the poor performance test results make me question Namecheap’s reliability and value. |
Overall, as a cheap hosting provider for WordPress, Namecheap is pretty good. It offers nice WordPress features, such as an AI assistant, which I found nice to use – it helped me with setup quite a bit. On the other hand, Hostinger’s Kodee surpasses Namecheap quite a bit in the AI assistant avenue.
The host also has an easy-to-navigate interface, and the website builder is also easy to use, if a bit inflexible. I wasn’t that impressed by the templates either. Installing WordPress via Softaculous was an ordinary experience. However, I had issues with activating the Namecheap SSL, which I had not experienced with other providers.
Another downside of Namecheap is its performance. I feel like the cheap pricing means little if your site is having a lot of downtime, loads slowly, and takes ages to respond. The uptime test result of 83.56% is way below the promised 100% uptime guarantee, and servers taking almost a full second to respond is not great in my book. If you’re looking for a host that offers great long-term pricing and excellent performance, DreamHost is a much better choice.
| Uptime test results | 83.56% |
| Average response time | 999.34ms |
| Largest contentful paint | 1.25s |
If you’d like to learn more about what it’s like to use this host, check out the full Namecheap review.
How I ranked cheapWordPress hosting providers
Finding cheap WordPress hosting that provides strong performance for your site isn’t as easy as it sounds. I had to do some serious digging and reviewing to curate this list. Initially, I looked into 58 different hosting providers to figure out which ones provide good value.
I mostly focused on day-to-day things, like how easy each host is to use, testing the features included, checking pricing, and doing some calculations. The Cybernews research team took care of the performance testing. They ran uptime, server response times, and stress tests.
Our testing process was thorough, and together we made sure the hosts on this list are actually good. Here’s our web hosting testing process used for evaluation criteria:
- Affordable price (40%). I looked at each hosting provider’s monthly price and only included the ones that were cheap yet still ensured high-quality services, including features specifically for WordPress hosting. I also considered the renewal pricing, since most hosts’ cheapest prices are only available for new users.
- Features (30%). I selected providers that offer 1-click WP installation, caching and staging tools, and free site migration – these are features that are most important for me personally. I also took into account additional features like unlimited bandwidth, free SSL certificates, and professional email accounts, but since most hosts offer these anyway, they don’t hold much weight in my final rankings.
- Great performance (20%). The Cybernews research team tested each chosen host’s performance to ensure they provide good uptime, server response time, and adequate site loading speeds. The team uses mostly open-source tools to test these metrics. For example, uptime and server response time is monitored using the Grafana observability platform. We conduct stress tests there as well. Webpagetest.org is the go to site for testing page load speed.
- Hidden fees (10%). Sometimes, the price you see listed on the plan page is not the final price you pay. This is due to some hidden fees or additional costs that a host could include at checkout. I went through the checkout process myself to see which hosts include which additional features automatically – the less there are, the better.
After all the testing and evaluating was done, I ended up with a list of 9 cheap WordPress hosting providers. As far as my research goes, I can confidently say that these hosts offer a good selection of features for the most affordable price.
Tips on how to get the cheapest WordPress hosting deals
From my experience, here are the best ways to make sure you’re getting the lowest possible price on WordPress hosting:
- Look for seasonal sales. Hosting companies usually run sales during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the New Year, and the back-to-school season. These discounts can go up to 70%. If you aren’t in a rush, it’s usually worth waiting.
- Use coupons and promo links. Many hosts offer discounts through affiliate partners. These links usually provide lower prices than what you’d see by going to the homepage directly.
- Choose a longer hosting period. The cheapest monthly prices are available if you choose a 2, 3, or 4-year plan. If you’re sure you’ll need hosting for longer, this can save you quite a lot of money.
- Opt out of the extras during checkout. Add-ons like site backups, security add-ons, and email hosting often come pre-selected during signup, and they can add a lot to your total. In most cases, you can skip these at first and decide later if you really need them, or pick providers that already include these features in the plan price.
- Avoid renewal price increases. After your hosting period ends, most providers can double the cost. Make a reminder of when your plan ends and start looking for cheaper options before renewal. If you want to save, choose a host with free migration and switch before the price goes up.
Is there any free hosting for WordPress?
WordPress hosting can be completely free. However, it’s not recommended to use free hosting services for security and performance reasons.
Free providers can’t match the performance level offered by paid providers and may cost you the safety of your site. The good news is that most paid hosts provide free trials and money-back guarantees.
Bottom line
WordPress hosting services don’t have to cost a fortune. Various providers offer cheap yet still high-quality WordPress hosting. They provide you with loads of WordPress-centered features, guarantee great performance, and ensure easy management.
If you’re unwilling to compromise on quality yet want to remain on a budget, my top cheap WordPress hosting recommendation isHostinger. Its prices start from $2.69/month, offering solid performance, phenomenal support, ease of use, AI tools, and many WordPress-enhancing features. However, other providers that made my list are also solid choices.
In short, when choosing a WordPress host, it’s all about finding what fits your site and your budget. Take a moment to think about the features your site actually needs, and make sure the host you’re considering can meet them.
This guide is focused on the most affordable WordPress hosting plans that deliver solid value. If you’re looking for top-tier performance and features, our full WordPress hosting comparison is a better fit.