WordPress Hosting: What Should You Look For?

WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and powers more than 40% of all websites. But not every hosting is equally suitable for WordPress. In this guide, we discuss what you should look for.

What Makes WordPress Hosting Different?

WordPress has specific hosting requirements:

• PHP 8.0 or higher - WordPress performs best on recent PHP versions
• MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+ - For the database
• HTTPS support - Essential for SEO and security
• Sufficient memory - Minimum 256MB PHP memory limit

Shared vs Managed WordPress Hosting

There are two main categories:

Shared Hosting

With shared hosting like TransIP, Vimexx or Theory7, you share server resources with other websites. This is cheaper, but can lead to slower loading times during busy periods. Theory7, for example, offers LiteSpeed caching which makes WordPress significantly faster.

Managed/Optimized Hosting

Some providers offer extra WordPress optimizations:

• Automatic WordPress updates
• Optimized server configuration
• Built-in caching (LiteSpeed, Redis)
• Expert WordPress support

Providers like Antagonist, mijn.host and Theory7 offer LiteSpeed web servers that work excellently with WordPress.

Our Recommendations

• For beginners: Vimexx (from €0.45/mo) or mijn.host - affordable with good WordPress support
• Best price-quality: Theory7 or Antagonist - LiteSpeed caching and good support
• For growing sites: Hostnet or TransIP - more resources and staging environments

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