WordPress hosting is a hosting plan that makes hosting your WordPress site easier and faster. The best WordPress hosting plans offer simplified CMS installation, improved plugin management, automatic updates, one-click installations, and other benefits within a WP preconfigured environment.

At HostAdvice, we always look for the best hosting plans for our readers based on their individual needs and preferences. This article explores the best WordPress hosting providers of 2022 for websites that target users in the United Kingdom.

Our review team applied their web hosting experience and expertise to find the best WordPress hosting providers for those in Britain, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Any website operating or targeting users in these areas can be sure to get quality WordPress hosting providers from the companies in this review.

This independent study ranks providers based on their performance during our web testing and reviews from past and present customers. We also consider new features and upgrades and pitch the providers against one another to see which offers the most value for customers.

Key Points to Consider Before Choosing UK WordPress Hosting

Here are five practical-oriented points that you should keep in mind when selecting a UK WordPress hosting provider:

• Reliability: Ideally, you want a provider with a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
• Security: Your WordPress host provider should provide in-house security solutions and allow you to implement your security measures.
• Customer support: Read reviews from other users and contact the customer support agents through all available channels during your testing phase to see how fast, helpful, and accurate the customer support is.
• Cost-effectiveness: Compare the pricing with the features available in each plan to get the provider that offers the most bang for your buck.
• User-friendliness: Even if you are a pro, you need a provider that offers an easy-to-use interface. A user-friendly control panel will make your hosting processes faster, more effortless, and stress-free.

The Best UK WordPress Hosting Services of 2023 (Bought and Tested)

Ranking comparison between the Top Providers

Best UK WordPress Hosting Services: Final recommendations

After reading our extended comparison and review article, you might ask: How do I choose the best UK WordPress hosting service? Without context, our answer would be HostArmada since it provides all the necessary WP hosting features with affordable plans. However, when focusing on specific areas, you will see that some providers have the edge over others. We recommend finding a provider that meets your particular needs and hosting preferences.

However, do not be overly biased in the choosing criteria and ignore crucial aspects. Choose a provider that excels in your chosen aspect but also performs optimally in other standards. For instance, Hostinger is our recommendation for those who want to create an online portfolio of their designs and photographs. Hostinger also scored well in customer support, server performance, and ease of use.

This balanced approach will help you get the right web host while compromising on other areas.

Types of WordPress Hosting and Which Is the Right One for You?

WP hosting is a web hosting plan preconfigured for hosting WordPress websites. It is not a type of hosting solution like shared or dedicated hosting but rather an add-on to these. You can find WP hosting plans based on shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting solutions. This integration makes installing WordPress on servers easier and allows users to enjoy enhanced security, performance, and functionality.

Shared WordPress Hosting

Shared WP hosting offers more benefits than traditional shared hosting plans. They provide one-click installations, automatic updates, a variety of themes and plugins, and a support team to help with any WP hosting issues.

This WP hosting is an excellent option for beginners and small businesses. The web host handles server management and provides ample resources and an easy-to-use control panel. It is also the most ad-possible WP hosting plan.

The drawback to this shared WP hosting is the security risk you face from other websites sharing the server. Furthermore, you have no say over the server configuration, and your website might suffer downtime during server maintenance. You can reduce these risks by going for a quality web hosting provider.

VPS WordPress Hosting

VPS WordPress hosting works like shared web hosting with one distinct feature: you have complete control over your server environment. The hosting provides virtualization technology or cloud hosting to split a physical server into multiple standalone virtual servers. Each virtual server has its share of allocated resources and self-contained software.

Due to these unique features, VPS WP hosting is the perfect choice for businesses with medium to heavy website traffic. Depending on the provider and plan, you may also be able to host eCommerce websites with this type of WP hosting.

On the other hand, VPS WordPress hosting costs more than shared hosting. If your web host offers cloud VPS WordPress hosting, you should expect to spend more during traffic spikes. Furthermore, enterprises requiring hardware control will find a VPS limited and prefer a dedicated web hosting plan.

Dedicated (VDS) WordPress Hosting

A dedicated WordPress hosting solution offers you complete control over the server. You can configure the server to your needs and enjoy all the resources with it. It provides the most performance, security, and functionality.

There are two significant drawbacks to this dedicated web hosting. Firstly, it is the most expensive plan on the market. Secondly, you have to handle server maintenance and updates on your own.

We only recommend dedicated WordPress hosting for enterprises that require enormous resources and complete control over their server hosting environment.

Managed WordPress Hosting

A managed WordPress hosting plan is any plan where the web host offers server optimization and maintenance. You can find this hosting plan on shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated server hosting.

The key benefit is that the hosting provider is responsible for maintaining the site. The drawback is that the provider can impose certain restrictions to ensure your site’s security.

We recommend managed WordPress hosting for companies and teams without server maintenance knowledge and skills.

Factors to consider when choosing a WordPress hosting plan

There are vital factors you should look out for when looking for a quality WordPress hosting plan for your website. They include:

• Type of WordPress hosting: The first step is deciding on the hosting you need for your business. Your WP-specific hosting can be on shared VPS or dedicated environments. Scroll up to review our examination of these types of WordPress hosting.
• Uptime Guarantee: An uptime guarantee tells you how long the hosting company can keep your site online within a calendar year. We recommend sticking with only providers that offer 99.95% guaranteed uptime and above.
• Loading speed: WordPress-specific hosting should guarantee blazing speed. However, you can get better performance with providers that offer SSD-only storage drives, Cloudflare CDN, caching, a data center near your web visitors, and Apache or Nginx servers.
• WP-Specific Security: WP-specific hosting should also offer a variety of WordPress security solutions, such as Secure Shell (SSH), activity log, 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and a dedicated firewall. You can expect other basic security features such as SSL certification, malware removal tools, backup and restore, site cleanup, and a DDoS protection system.
• Traffic Volume: Most WP hosting plans will indicate the traffic volume that the plan can handle. Choose a plan that supports slightly above your expected traffic volume.
• Scalability Options: You should ensure your chosen plan allows you to increase your resources during traffic spikes or when you add more functionality to your website. Cloud WP hosting is the best choice there as it enables seamless upgrades and downgrades of resources.
• Plugin Access: Unmanaged WP hosting plans allow you to install any plugin on your site. Managed plans sometimes place restrictions to secure your website. You should ensure that the restriction does not affect the tools you need for your business.
• WordPress Specific Support: The support team should know WP-specific hosting issues such as plugin conflicts, server issues, and page optimization.
• Money-back guarantee: A money-back guarantee protects you if you’ve made a mistake with your web hosting. However, you should check the refund policy to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
• Pricing: You need to be careful with providers who offer discounts. Usually, the deal doesn’t apply when you’re renewing your plan. So if you choose a monthly plan with a 90% discount, you will pay more than you did the following month. To lock in the deal, you must go for a longer-term contract, usually a year or more. But note that you must pay the original price whenever your contract expires.
• Be wary of free offers: Many providers advertise freebies such as backups and domains. However, these freebies might be limited to specific plans. Read the fine print to know if these freebies are available for the plan that suits your needs. Some also claim to offer unlimited hosting resources. There is always a limit. Ask the customer support team about those limits.
• Website migration: if you are changing WP hosting providers, you must ensure your new provider will migrate your website for free. Not all providers offer this service for free, so you should ask before signing up. If you choose a paid migration service, know how much you’re spending and ensure it is a human making the migration.
• Extra Features: You can look for features such as free domain name, website migration, automatic backups, and WP CLI. Depending on your specific needs, these features might be deal breakers or optional elements.

Here is a rundown of our ranking factors:

• Types of WordPress Hosting Offered (5%): We check to see if the provider offers shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated (VDS) WordPress hosting.
• Uptime Commitment (8%): Does the provider offer an uptime guarantee of 99.95% or more?
• Speed Optimization (9%): We focus on providers that develop modern hosting infrastructure and offer multiple server locations. These two factors can improve your website’s speed and responsiveness.
• Available Space and Bandwidth (7%): Here, we look at the storage type, memory allocation, available bandwidth, and the number of websites you can host on each plan.
• Scalability Options (6%): Ideally, your provider should allow you to quickly get more resources when you exceed the limits of your WordPress hosting plan.
• Security (7%): We focus on crucial security features such as malware scanning and removal, dedicated firewalls, daily automatic backups, updates, and SSL certificates.
• Ease of Use (8%): A WordPress hosting solution should be beginner-friendly and offer a one-click process to handle installs, add plugins, and more.
• WP-Specific Support (12%): the WordPress hosting plans should include a round-the-clock dedicated WordPress team to quickly assess and resolve hosting issues.
• Developer Tools and Extras (5%): These features are essential for websites that require more control to enhance their functionality.
• User Reviews (30%): Reviews from past and current users give us an overview of how well a provider has performed over the years.
• Starting price (3%): We compare the starting price with the value offered in the plan. Note that the starting price is usually lower than the renewal price.

What is UK WordPress Hosting, and who is it for?

WordPress hosting is a specialized hosting plan for hosting WordPress websites. It is not a hosting solution like shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting. Instead, it works like an add-on for these hosting types.

You don’t need a WordPress hosting solution to host a WordPress website; any of the traditional types of web hosting will do. However, a WordPress hosting plan offers more accessible installation, better performance, security, and overall functionality. It also makes website management more accessible and faster.

A UK WordPress hosting solution is any WordPress hosting solution that offers the most benefits to businesses targeting internet users in the UK. Generally speaking, you don’t need a UK website hosting before users from the UK can access your website. Nevertheless, a UK WordPress hosting solution offers vital benefits that other providers don’t provide.

• Proximity: A UK WordPress hosting provider has data centers in the UK or rejoins close to the UK. Your users will experience faster loading times if your website is in a data center close to their location. The closer the data center is, the better.
• Experience: A UK WordPress host makes web hosting easier due to their experience dealing with users in that region. So if there are region-specific housing issues to address, you can trust your provider to provide sound solutions.

You have a solid web hosting plan when you combine these extra benefits with the general benefits of a WordPress hosting service.