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Does WordPress include hosting?
If you are using WordPress.com for hosting your WordPress site, then hosting is included in all their plans, including their “Free Blog” plan. Therefore you don’t need to buy or pay for additional hosting.
However, if you are self hosting your WordPress website, then WordPress, the CMS, does not include hosting and you will need to find a Web Hosting Provider to host your WordPress site and pay for hosting.
That’s why you need to distinguish and choose between going with WordPress the CMS you can get from WordPress.org, which needs to be “self hosted” and WordPress.com, which is owned by the company Automattic. WordPress, the CMS, is an open source project and is free.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, is a managed WordPress hosted solution, with some limited access to plugins and themes. Your blog also remains under their control at all times.
Using the open source edition of WordPress the CMS, you will need to purchase a domain name and host. You can either do this yourself, using a service such as Dreamhost, or you can sign up with a suitable hosting company.
In this post, we are going to go over the question of “Does WordPress include hosting?” in more detail as well as answer some very related questions on WordPress and Hosting, so you can make the best decision when starting out on your WordPress website journey. Believe me, it’s easier than you think!
Does WordPress.com provide free hosting?
Yes, under WordPress.com’s Free Blog Plan, you get a subdomain of “yourblog.wordpress.com”, up to 3GB of storage, and plenty of bandwidth for most users.
You can also upgrade your blog with paid plans that provide more storage space, access to the site’s many features, and additional upgrades like custom domain hosting.
Does WordPress.com have ads?
In order for WordPress.com to pay for hosting and support for websites/blogs on their “Free Blog Plan” they have the right to place advertising on all Blogs and Websites that participate in it.
What exactly is WordPress hosting?
Many people think of “WordPress hosting” as synonymous with “hosting,” while in reality they are completely different things.
A site or blog has many pieces that must work together, including code, a theme, plugins, addons, and content.
When you use WordPress hosting, all your information is stored and managed in one place.
This includes everything from your theme to images and content, dynamic or static, all the same, all together.
Your Web Host that provides your “Managed WordPress” Hosting will run updates and backups for your site. As your host, they will make sure that your server is secure and stable.
WordPress hosting allows webmasters to maintain their sites without worrying about issues such as whether or not a server offers enough disk space or bandwidth, or what’s involved in setting up a database, security, etc.
What are the advantages of using WordPress hosting?
There are many benefits to choosing WordPress Hosting over traditional hosting. But basically, your website/blog is automatically managed, run and updated without the need for your constant attention.
What is a WordPress self-hosted website?
A WordPress self-hosted website is a WordPress website that is hosted on a web server owned by a separate Web Hosting Provider and not WordPress.com.
A WordPress.com blog is hosted on the WordPress.com Web Hosting Provider platform and a self-hosted WordPress website can be hosted by any Web Hosting Provider.
WordPress sites are highly customizable. Although users can create a blog in minutes, you have much more control if you want to edit code or add customisations.
The main benefit of a self-hosted WordPress website is you have full control over your website’s data as well as it being cheaper to own and manage than a “managed” WordPress website where someone else hosts and manages your website.
You can also change Hosting Plans or even Web Hosts if and when your Website needs it.
WordPress self-hosted websites can be generally cheaper than WordPress.com sites.
However, the price varies greatly depending on the type of hosting you choose to buy such as whether you want Shared Hosting, Cloud, VPS or a Dedicated Server that only you use for your site.
How to self host a WordPress site?
Simply shop around for Web Hosting Providers, read reviews, forums etc. Decide on a budget and what type of Hosting you’d like (most start out with Shared Hosting, for example) and hit the ‘Sign Up’ button.
When signing up, be sure to make note of any promo codes or discounts they are running; these can save anywhere from 5% (and sometimes more) off your hosting bill!
The most well-known providers include: DreamHost Bluehost , and GoDaddy . There are many others that you could check out as well.
Now that you have a hosting provider, you’ll need an account with them. As part of opening your account, they will provide you a control panel for managing your website and the other services associated with it.
This is where things begin to get interesting!
The control panel should allow you to install WordPress.
Any good hosting account will have this feature. Simply login to the control panel, then upload your WordPress installation package, either via FTP or through their interface.
Congratulations! You are now self-hosted with WordPress!
Once you’ve installed WordPress, there are also plenty of great themes and plugins out there in the wilds of WordPress.
For example, some plugins are for security, others for better SEO, and some simply beautify your website! All of these can be installed in the “Plugins” section of your WordPress dashboard.
And that’s it! It’s a pretty simple process overall, really.
What are some WordPress hosting plans?
If we are talking about some typical self-hosting plans for your WordPress CMS based website, then the most common are Shared Hosting, Cloud, VPS and Dedicated Server Hosting.
Shared Hosting.
Shared Hosting plans are a great choice for a new website or a self-hosted blog, but for any WordPress website that is going to grow in size and popularity,
Shared Hosting just won’t cut it. Shared hosting makes your site compete against all other sites on the server for resources. If one of those other sites gets a spike in traffic, your site suffers.
Shared Hosting is also far more limiting when it comes to software installation and configuration.
Cloud Hosting.
Cloud hosting is a shared hosting service that uses virtual machines rather than physical servers. This allows for better server utilization, cutting down on costs even further compared with dedicated servers or VPSs.
Cloud hosting is not quite as flexible though, because things like server software have to be pre-installed, and the setup of new services can take some time.
VPS Hosting.
VPS Hosting is dedicated virtual private server hosting. With a VPS you are basically renting out your own instance of an individual physical or virtual computer.
You are automatically isolated from other virtual servers on the same host, and you have a great deal of control over all aspects of your VPS.
That is why VPS hosting is perfect for any WordPress driven marketplace website that needs to scale massively at any point in time.
The high level of control, flexibility and customization makes it almost impossible for most shared or cloud hosting plans to compete.
Dedicated Server Hosting.
Dedicated Server Hosting is when you rent out a physical server that has no virtual servers or other hardware on it.
You are basically the only thing connected to the host, and you have complete control over all aspects of it.
Dedicated Server Hosting is an excellent choice for any large marketplace website where you need predictable performance at any point in time, but this comes at a price.
Since the server is fully dedicated to you, you will need to pay for it month after month, even when your website servers are not using all of the resources available.
This is because renting out a physical server for months on end at great prices can take time, which makes Dedicated Server Hosting an expensive choice for any high-growth marketplace website.
Which WordPress hosting plan should you choose?
All of the WordPress Hosting plans are fully scalable and will do a great job managing your WP powered business website, but it all really depends on what your needs are.
If you are just starting out with some plans for a new self-hosted blog or an online portfolio for your photography hobby, then Shared Hosting would definitely be your best choice.
If you are looking to run a marketplace website or any other large-scale business driven website on WordPress, and you want to make sure it never slows down no matter what happens, you should go for Cloud hosting.
If you do not mind sacrificing some resources and flexibility for the sake of saving on costs, then VPS hosting is for you.
If your needs are clearly non-scalable and you just want to cut down on web hosting costs without giving up anything in performance or control, Dedicated Server Hosting is your best choice by far.
These are just some very basic ideas of what to consider when you’re thinking about your self-hosting options for your WordPress site.
However, if you’re reading this then chances are you’re just starting out with a fresh new domain. So in most cases, Shared Hosting would be best.
WordPress and hosting, conclusions.
When choosing how to host your WordPress website, it’s crucial that you understand your needs before you make a decision on what type of company to use for hosting and which hosting plan is best suited for your new blog, website or ecommerce store.
Although if you’re just starting out, that decision is fairly simple. If you want someone else to manage and run your WordPress website, to handle all the backend stuff like themes, plugins, security, updates etc. then a “Managed WordPress” plan would be best.
However, ‘Managed WordPress” Hosting plans can be quite restrictive and lack the control and flexibility of Self-Hosting.
Therefore, if you don’t mind getting your “hands a little dirty” and want as much freedom and control over your website as possible, but are still learning “the ropes” of WordPress, Hosting etc. then starting out with a Shared Hosting plan is your best option.
Either way, it’s good to know that with WordPress all options are on the table!
