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Does WordPress do web hosting?
Yes, WordPress does do web hosting on WordPress.com. However, since WordPress is an easy to use, customizable and free CMS, WordPress also has a customizable self hosting option as well. This means there are plenty of Web Hosting Providers that offer both WordPress Hosting and WordPress Self Hosted web hosting options.
WordPress hosting on WordPress.com and has both free and a paid Pro plans available.
However, we need to distinguish between WordPress the CMS, WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
Only one of these WordPress entities actually does do the WordPress web hosting.
That entity is WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is the for-profit arm of a company called Automattic.
Automattic was founded by one of the original founders of WordPress the CMS and ecosystem as well as WordPress.org, which is the non-profit entity where you can find free WordPress themes as well as plugins.
In this post we will talk about WordPress Web Hosting FAQs for your WordPress site.
Do you need a Web Host for WordPress?
WordPress CMS is open source. You do not necessarily need a web host to start using WordPress. You can actually download it onto your computer.
However, in order to work with WordPress on your local computer you would need to download it onto a program first, on your computer.
Though going through the hassle of downloading WordPress through another piece of software just so you can work on it without having a web host is kind of a waste of time in my opinion. Why?
First off, you can actually get a free WordPress blog on WordPress.com. There you can get to know the WordPress dashboard, how themes work as well as plugins etc.
Although you will be quite limited in what you can do with a free WordPress blog, in any event it’s a good place to start.
If you want your WordPress website to be live on the internet though, you will need a web host. You can either go through WordPress.com and choose one of their hosting plans.
Or you can choose to self-host your WordPress website on any number of web hosting providers. It really is quite cheap and many times, you may even be able to get free web hosting.
Though you may be limited in what you can do with any free hosting plan. Therefore a Shared Hosting plan may be your best bet.
Shared Hosting will run you around $100 a year more or less. Sometimes even half of that for introductory web hosting plans on any number of popular web hosting providers.
Does WordPress provide free hosting?
WordPress.org does not offer or provide free hosting.
However, as I had mentioned above, WordPress.com does have a free WordPress blog plan.
This free WordPress plan allows you to host a WordPress website live on the internet for free.
Beforwarned, you will have some limitations in what you can do with a WordPress website on WordPress’s free blog plan.
How much does it cost to host a website on WordPress?
Here is a price list on how much it costs to host a website on WordPress.
For the most up-to-date prices on WordPress.com click this link WordPress Pricing.
Which hosting is best for WordPress website?
The best hosting for a WordPress website really depends on your budget and your own website’s requirements.
For example, if you have a WordPress website that has a lot of traffic with at least 100,000 visits a month or more you may want to check out VPS Hosting or Cloud Hosting.
If you’re getting something like a million visitors a month, you may even want to go to a dedicated server.
Most web hosting providers provide all three and prices vary of course. However, the performance and page loading speeds are usually top notch as well as their customer service.
Although in my opinion, for most beginners, starting out with a Shared Hosting plan for your WordPress website is really the best way to go.
Not only will you get self hosting without all the limitations you would normally get from Managed or even free WordPress Hosting, but the prices are quite affordable.
In fact, Shared Hosting plans are usually the cheapest hosting plans available.
As I had mentioned, you can get a good Shared Hosting plan on many web hosting providers for around $100 a year, more or less.
Many popular web hosting providers may actually offer plans that are half that for at least for the first year. Many of the same web hosting providers will even include unlimited websites.
This means if you get some crazy idea for a website, get all excited and buy the domain name, you can simply point the name servers from the domain name registrar to your Shared Hosting plan’s servers and have a website up, live on the internet in literally a couple of hours to test out your ideas.
Is free WordPress hosting good?
Free WordPress hosting is good if you have a blog that you would like to use just to express your thoughts and opinions out to the world.
Perhaps you want to journal an event, a trip, a move or some new venture. It’s a great way to let everyone you know follow you on your journey with having to post it on social media.
It is your personal corner on the internet.
However, here are a couple of situations where you would be better off without a free WordPress hosting plan.
- For example, if you want a WordPress website for ecommerce, some other business venture or potential business venture.
- Perhaps you have a hobby that you would like to talk about and you’d like the potential to monetize it.
If these are the cases, then either moving to one of WordPress.com paid plans or moving to a self-hosted WordPress web hosting plan would be your best option.
Who is WordPress owned by?
WordPress CMS is free and open source. This means anyone can use the software as well as build websites and create plugins, etc. for WordPress and it’s all for free.
WordPress.org is a non-profit organization designed to help users of WordPress collaborate and consistently improve and evolve the WordPress ecosystem.
All themes and plugins that you find on WordPress.org are free.
Although many, if not most, also have paid versions as well.
However, WordPress.com is a for profit entity owned by the company called Automattic. Automattic actually owns the WordPress name and trademark.
Is WordPress premium worth getting?
WordPress premium is worth getting If you would like to have your WordPress website managed for you.
Managed WordPress Hosting definitions vary depending on the web host.
WordPress.com’s Managed WordPress Hosting for their premium and other paid plans includes security, updates, plugins and everything that is needed in the back end to optimize your WordPress website.
You will, of course, still have access to your own WordPress website through your WordPress dashboard and have full control over the design and layout of your WordPress website as well as content.
However, plugins and security as well as all updates and optimizations are managed and controlled by WordPress.com under its premium plan.
What is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress Hosting as I had mentioned above, means that your web hosting provider takes care of all the backend running of your WordPress website.
Managing files, making sure that all your plugins and themes and core WordPress is always up-to-date.
They also manage and make sure that your WordPress website is always optimized and they usually provide top notch customer service as well.
I mean, all web hosting providers usually offer some kind of customer service or support, but that customer service and support can vary depending on the provider.
With WordPress.com for example their managed WordPress plans include Live Chat Support.
Some web hosting providers only allow or provide customer service and support through email.
For more information on WordPress.com’s Managed WordPress Hosting Plans click the link.
WordPress does do web hosting. Is it right for you?
As you can see, WordPress.com does do web hosting.
If you are interested in Managed WordPress Hosting, then you should definitely check out the plans on WordPress.com.
However, WordPress.com isn’t the only web hosting provider that offers Managed WordPress Hosting. Most other web hosting providers do provide Managed WordPress Hosting as well.
However, many confuse paid WordPress hosting plans with self-hosted web hosting plans that are available from other web hosting providers.
With self-hosted web hosting plans offered on other providers, you are responsible for running your WordPress website.
For example, you will need to install the plugins on your site and make sure they’re up to date.
You’ll also need to make sure that your theme is always kept up to date and that all WordPress core updates are activated as soon as they come out.
You are also responsible for optimizing your WordPress website, meaning making sure that you limit your plugins and that none of those plugins have too much coding and bloat that can slow down your WordPress website.
You will also need to optimize images that you upload into your WordPress website so that they also load quicker through your visitors browsers.
All these tasks are your responsibility and the last, but not least task that you are responsible for if you go for a self-hosted plan is Security.
Unlike Managed WordPress Hosting plans like those on WordPress.com, you are responsible for the security of your website.
With Managed WordPress Hosting plans, they are responsible.
So think carefully before you balk at the higher prices of WordPress Managed Hosting plans when compared to Shared Hosting plans.
A Managed WordPress Hosting plan can save you a lot of time and aggravation in running your website. Especially if you just want to focus on content creation and are not very technically minded.
