Best WordPress Hosting for Agencies: 5 Options Compared + How to Pick

Our top hosting picks for agencies compared

You’re probably already familiar with many of the companies on our list. They’re fairly popular options among the broader hosting market. However, you might not be aware that they also offer agency-specific plans. Let’s take a look at how they can make your life easier. We’ll begin with a top-level overview before examining each one more closely:

1. Flywheel (getflywheel.com)

Flywheel is arguably built from the ground up for WordPress agencies. All of its plans include features that make collaboration more straightforward, such as direct-to-client billing. It also offers one of the easiest-to-use hosting panels we’ve had the pleasure to work with, and it supports multiple collaborators, making it perfect for agencies.

All of Flywheel’s plans offer managed WordPress functionality. However, arguably our favorite feature is ‘blueprints’. This lets you save copies of WordPress setups to re-use for future projects. When you spin up a new client website, you can start with a blueprint instead of from scratch.

Flywheel also offers a local WordPress development tool for free. With Local by Flywheel, you can work on client sites offline, then push them directly to your account instead of using a staging setup (although you do also have this option.)

Finally, Flywheel has an agency partner program that you can apply for. It has two tiers – silver and gold. If you get accepted into the gold program, they will even give you free hosting for your agency’s website. You’ll also be listed in their agency partner directory.

Key features for agencies ⚙️

• Direct-to-client billing
• Support for multiple collaborators
• The blueprints feature for new client websites
• Access to a local WordPress development tool
• Managed WordPress hosting features
• Detailed summary of your site’s performance with actionable recommendations

Pricing 💵

Flywheel has a lot going for it, although these agency-friendly features don’t come cheap. Here’s a breakdown of their agency-relevant plans:

• Freelance ($115 per month / $96 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Up to ten websites, 100,000 monthly visits, 20 GB of storage, and 200 GB of bandwidth.
• Agency ($290 per month / $242 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Up to 30 websites, 400,000 monthly visits, 50 GB of storage, and 500 GB of bandwidth.
• 60-day money back guarantee

Although those prices look expensive when you compare them with more run-of-the-mill WordPress options, $115 a month in exchange for hosting up to ten client websites is a pretty good deal. Plus, if you pay annually, they knock off a full two months off the price. Overall, Flywheel is about as user-friendly as agency hosting gets.

2. Cloudways (cloudways.com)

Cloudways offer scalable and flexible hosting solutions for agencies. The company’s plans are cloud-based, and you can choose from five top server providers: DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, and Linode.

Setting up your site with Cloudways is easy. Once you create an account, you can select your preferred server provider, web application (e.g., WordPress), and server size. Plus, you’ll be able to host unlimited websites on your dedicated cloud server.

With Cloudways, you can scale your clients’ websites as needed. For example, you might increase disk space and other server resources to accommodate a larger site.

Key features for agencies ⚙️

• User-friendly staging for WordPress sites
• One-click server and website cloning
• Automatic updates and backups for all your sites
• Access to development tools such as WP-CLI, PHP version control, and Git integration

Pricing 💵

Cloudways has a pay-as-you-go model. This means you’ll only pay for the resources that you use. You can select a hosting plan, then scale up and down as needed.

Note that prices also depend on the cloud server that you choose and there are several options. Here are the entry-level prices:

• DigitalOcean starts at $11.00 per month:
  1 GB RAM, 1 core processor, 25 GB storage, and 1 TB bandwidth.
• Google Cloud starts at $37.45 per month:
  1.75 GB RAM, 1 core processor, 20 GB storage, and 2 GB bandwidth.
• AWS starts at $20.56 per month:
  1 GB RAM, 2 core processor, 20 GB storage, and 2 GB bandwidth.
• Vultr starts at $14.00 per month:
  1 GB RAM, 1 core processor, 25 GB storage, and 1 TB bandwidth.
• Linode starts at $14.00 per month:
  1 GB RAM, 1 core processor, 25 GB storage, and 1 TB bandwidth.

If you use our referral code, you’ll get a 25% discount on the first three months of Cloudways hosting. Simply use the discount code CODEINWP at checkout!

3. WP Engine (wpengine.com)

WP Engine has been getting a lot of press lately due to their legal altercation with WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. But before all the #wpdrama began, it was known as a reliable company in the managed WordPress hosting space. They often boast about top-of-the-line performance, and all of their plans include a broad range of features.

WP Engine does have some downsides though. For example, they don’t offer white labeling or direct client billing. On the flip side, they are a very developer-friendly option. Every plan gives you access to development, staging, and production environments. They also bundle in the Genesis Framework and over 35 free StudioPress themes you can use to launch client websites quickly.

Key features for agencies ⚙️

• Managed WordPress hosting features
• Access to the Genesis Framework and dozens of StudioPress themes
• Support for development, staging, and production environments
• Daily and on-demand backups
• Transferable sites for client handoff

Pricing 💵

WP Engine actually offers cheaper plans than Flywheel when it comes to agency hosting. Here’s what it has to offer:

• Growth ($115 per month / $77 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Up to 10 websites, 100,000 monthly visits, 20 GB of storage, and 240 GB of bandwidth.
• Scale ($290 per month / $194 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Up to 30 websites, 400,000 monthly visits, 50 GB of storage, and 550 GB of bandwidth.
• 60-day money back guarantee

Just like Flywheel, you get two months off if you decide to pay annually. If you care more about developer-friendly functionality and don’t need as much help with client management, WP Engine is an excellent option.

4. Pagely (pagely.com)

Pagely was acquired by GoDaddy in November 2021 but they still function as a standalone business. They are a bit unique when it comes to managed WordPress hosting in that they don’t advertise themselves as a regular hosting company. The price tag on their cheapest plan is $99.00 per month, which already tells you something. Most of their target market is businesses with higher resource needs.

Unlike other web hosts, Pagely gives you the full technical breakdown for all plans, instead of focusing on other features. They also offer agencies the option of strategic partnerships, although this works on a case-by-case basis.

Key features for agencies ⚙️

• Managed WordPress hosting features
• Access to SSH, staging, GIT, and WP-CLI
• Custom PHP extensions like New Relic
• System crontab access
• Full server management and scalability consulting

Pricing 💵

As we mentioned before, Pagely isn’t cheap. They also offer an incredibly broad range of plans, depending on exactly how much horsepower you need. Speaking in agency terms, though, the following plans are going to be best suited:

The easiest way to think about it is that Pagely is a step up above WP Engine in terms of performance-oriented WordPress hosting. They offer more features and better performance. But of course all of that comes with a higher entry price. For an agency, this extra money can be worth it, but it’s overkill for regular users.

5. SiteGround (www.siteground.com)

SiteGround is an anomaly in the agency hosting space because it offers many of the same features that agencies rely on but at a much cheaper price.

With SiteGround, you get access to agency features like ownership transfer of client websites and white labeling. For websites that you transfer to clients, you have the option of maintaining access to their panel. This means they handle billing, while you manage their website. Also, SiteGround lets you easily add and delete users and manage their site access permissions. If your agency isn’t a one-man (or one-woman) show, then this feature is clutch.

Key features for agencies ⚙️

• Managed WordPress hosting features
• Transfer site ownership (while maintaining panel access)
• Support for multiple collaborators
• White-label websites
• WordPress staging sites
• WP-CLI, SSH, PHP version control, Git integration, MySQL manager and more
• Email hosting included

Pricing 💵

As we mentioned, SiteGround is a budget option for agencies. Here’s what you can expect in terms of pricing and hardware in the first year:

• GrowBig ($34.99 per month / $4.99 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Unlimited websites, 100,000 monthly visits, 20 GB of storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
• GoGeek ($49.99 per month / $7.99 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Unlimited websites, 400,000 monthly visits, 40 GB of storage, unmetered bandwidth, and white labeling.
• Cloud ($100.00 per month / $90.00 per month if you pay up front for a year):
  Unlimited websites, 8 GB of memory, 40 GB of storage, 4 CPU cores, white labeling, and fully-customizable resources.
• 30-day money back guarantee

SiteGround is a wonderful alternative if you’re trying to launch an agency and are priced out of the other options.

Hosting features you should consider as an agency

There are some features we can all agree every web host should offer, such as daily backups, staging functionality, and more. However, agencies require a whole different set of additional functionality, such as:

Direct client billing

In some cases, your web host will enable you to manage client websites and pass on invoices directly to them. This way, you don’t have to pay for hosting costs out of your own pocket (although that’s also an option).

White labeling

If you’re going to manage hosting for your clients, you might as well customize their whole experience too. With white labeling, you can add branding elements to your hosting control panel, so it becomes a fully integrated component of your business.

Limit client access

For less tech-savvy clients, it can be a smart move to limit their level of access to hosting settings. However, many customers will want full access, which makes these conversations difficult.

Support for unlimited websites

Ideally, your provider will enable you to host unlimited websites. In practice, the number of client projects you can host often depends on the plan you sign up for.

Excellent bandwidth

Since you’re going to host a large number of websites, you need a provider that offers exceptional bandwidth and performance across the board.

Managed WordPress functionality

Unless you want to spend a whole lot of time making sure your client websites are running smoothly, you’ll want to opt for managed WordPress hosting. While you’ll still need to deal with some issues yourself, this type of plan lets you focus on big-picture client-related stuff rather than troubleshooting.

Email accounts included

This is a nice bonus thing to have with your hosting setup. Most clients will expect to also be able to host their email inboxes alongside their website.

All of these features have one goal in common, which is to help you run your business more efficiently. The less you have to worry about hosting, the more time you can spend bringing in new business to your agency, and taking care of your best clients.

And the best option is…

We’ve gone over a lot of information in this article. If you’re still on the fence, take a moment to look at the comparison table one more time:

What do you think is the most important feature of WordPress hosting for agencies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

Layout, presentation and editing by Karol K.