Disclosure: we may earn a commission or referral reward from CloudCone, Contabo, DigitalOcean (account credit, not cash), Hostwinds, InterServer, RackNerd, VPSDime and Vultr if you sign up through our links. It does not change the price you pay. Every other provider pays us nothing. Prices in this guide are as of the date shown and may have changed; see the comparison pages for the latest checked prices.
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How much does WordPress hosting cost in 2026?
Some prices quoted in this guide are out of date. It is being rebuilt on our price index; for current prices use the comparison pages, which show when each price was checked.
The honest answer: WordPress hosting costs $3-$225/month depending on what you buy, and most of the price variation is not about what you get — it's about who you buy from and what they're paying for referrals. This guide gives real 2026 numbers across every tier, with our recommendations.
Prices as of 2026-09-22.
The short answer
- Shared hosting (Bluehost, HostGator): $3-8/mo intro, $14-25/mo renewal.
- Unmanaged VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean): $4.60-$24/mo.
- Managed WordPress (Cloudways): $14-$54/mo.
- Managed WordPress (Kinsta): $35-$225/mo.
- DIY on Hetzner CX22 + Cloudflare: ~$5/mo total, including backup storage.
Real recommendation for most people: $14/mo Cloudways or $4.60/mo Hetzner + your own setup. Everything else is either overpriced (WP Engine, SiteGround) or under-resourced (shared hosting after renewal).
Full pricing breakdown
Tier 1: Shared hosting ($3-25/mo)
Advertised as cheap; renewal costs are 2-3x the intro rate.
| Provider | Intro rate | Renewal rate |
|---|---|---|
| Bluehost Basic | $3/mo | ~$11/mo |
| Bluehost Choice Plus | $5/mo | ~$18/mo |
| HostGator Baby | $4/mo | ~$14/mo |
| SiteGround GrowBig | $6/mo | ~$25/mo |
| GoDaddy Deluxe | $9/mo | ~$18/mo |
We do not recommend shared hosting. See our editorial on why "best hosting" listicles push these anyway.
Tier 2: Unmanaged VPS ($4.60-$48/mo)
You're the sysadmin. Cheapest and fastest per dollar.
| Provider | Plan | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hetzner CX22 | 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 40 GB / 20 TB | $4.60/mo |
| OVHcloud VPS-1 | 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 40 GB | $4.54/mo |
| Vultr Regular 2 GB | 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 55 GB / 2 TB | $10/mo |
| DigitalOcean Basic 2 GB | 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 50 GB / 2 TB | $12/mo |
| DigitalOcean Basic 4 GB | 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB / 4 TB | $24/mo |
Requires you to install and manage WordPress yourself. See Best hosting for a WordPress site for the exact setup.
Tier 3: Managed WordPress (Cloudways) ($14-$99/mo)
Managed layer on top of a cloud VPS you choose.
| Plan | Underlying VPS | Price |
|---|---|---|
| DO 1 GB | 1 vCPU / 1 GB | $14/mo |
| DO 2 GB | 1 vCPU / 2 GB | $28/mo |
| DO 4 GB | 2 vCPU / 4 GB | $54/mo |
| Vultr HF 2 GB | 1 vCPU / 2 GB HF | $30/mo |
Add-ons: Cloudflare Enterprise CDN $5/mo, Object Cache Pro Redis $10/mo.
Typical real-world total for a WordPress site: $14-43/mo.
Tier 4: Managed WordPress (Kinsta) ($35-$225/mo)
Fully managed on Google Cloud with best-in-class support.
| Plan | Approx monthly visits | Sites | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 35k | 1 | $35/mo |
| Pro | 100k | 2 | $70/mo |
| Business 1 | 250k | 5 | $115/mo |
| Business 2 | 600k | 10 | $225/mo |
Real Redis: $100/mo add-on. See Cloudways vs Kinsta 2026 for the honest comparison.
Tier 5: Enterprise ($300-3000+/mo)
WP Engine Enterprise, Kinsta Enterprise, WordPress VIP. Out of scope for a "how much does it cost" article; if you need this tier, you know what you're buying.
The DIY minimum
Hetzner CX22 + Cloudflare free tier + Backblaze B2 for backups:
- Hetzner CX22: $4.60/mo
- Cloudflare free tier: $0
- Backblaze B2 for backups (20 GB): $0.12/mo
- Domain: ~$1/mo amortised
Total: $5.72/mo. For a real, fast, backed-up WordPress site.
Setup requires 2-4 hours. Ongoing time: ~1-2 hours/month. If your time is worth $50/hour, effective cost is $105/mo. Which is why managed hosting exists.
What you actually pay for at each tier
- Shared hosting: cheap sticker at intro, marketing budget, low resources.
- Unmanaged VPS: raw compute and network.
- Cloudways: the LEMP stack tuned, backups, staging, support chat.
- Kinsta: all of the above plus polished admin panel, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, auto-scaling, best-in-class support.
Which tier is right for you
- Personal blog, low traffic, want no ops → Cloudways DO 1 GB at $14/mo.
- Personal blog, technical, cost-first → Hetzner CX22 at $4.60/mo, DIY.
- Small business site, non-technical → Cloudways DO 2 GB at $28/mo.
- Small business site, high value → Kinsta Starter at $35/mo (for the support).
- WooCommerce store, real revenue → Cloudways DO 2 GB + Object Cache Pro at $43/mo.
- High-traffic content site → Kinsta Pro at $70/mo, or WP Engine.
- Agency with 5+ sites → Cloudways multi-site setup. Priced by server, not per site.
What you should not pay
- $18/mo renewal for Bluehost or GoDaddy shared hosting. You are paying for the marketing tax.
- $50+/mo renewal for WP Engine Startup. Kinsta at $35 is better; Cloudways at $28 is much cheaper.
- $25/mo renewal for SiteGround. Cloudways at $28 is more resources and better support.
Related guides
- Best hosting for a WordPress site — the tier-by-tier picks.
- Cloudways vs Kinsta 2026 — the two managed hosts compared.
- How to calculate cloud hosting cost — total cost including add-ons.
- Shared hosting to Cloudways migration — the common upgrade.
Prices as of 2026-09-22.