WordPress Maintenance vs Managed Hosting

Launching a WordPress website is exciting, but many users aren’t aware of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps it running smoothly. Because of this, many people wonder whether they should do WordPress maintenance themselves, pay for a maintenance service, or opt for managed hosting instead.

Our experience shows that they are useful in certain situations. For example, we’ve found that maintenance services are especially helpful for beginners and small businesses. We’ve also reviewed many managed hosting services and even use one of them on WPBeginner, so we know they’re useful for high-traffic sites and eCommerce sites.

In this article, we compare WordPress maintenance and managed hosting and show you which is better for your website.

We’ll cover WordPress maintenance and hosting in detail in this article, but here’s a quick overview:

What is WordPress Maintenance?

WordPress maintenance is the ongoing care your website needs to run smoothly and securely. It includes various tasks such as:

• Update: Regularly updating WordPress core, plugins and themes to the latest versions to ensure optimal performance and security.
• Backup: Make regular backups of your website files and database to avoid data loss in an emergency.
• Security: Use security measures such as strong passwords, firewalls and malware scanning to protect your website from attacks.
• Performance optimization: Optimize images, caching and database queries to improve site speed and user experience.
• Troubleshooting: Identify and resolve any technical issues that may arise.

Now let’s look at the pros and cons of WordPress maintenance.

Benefits of WordPress maintenance:

• Doing the maintenance yourself is much cheaper than managed hosting and therefore ideal for those on a tight budget.
• You have complete control over your website’s updates, backups and security configurations.
• Taking the do-it-yourself approach can be a valuable learning experience and improve your website management skills.

Disadvantages of WordPress maintenance:

• Maintenance tasks can be surprisingly time-consuming, especially if you’re new to website management.
• Successfully managing your own WordPress site requires a certain level of technical expertise, which can be challenging.
• One wrong move can result in website outages, data loss or security breaches.

What is WordPress Managed Hosting?

Managed hosting is a service where the hosting provider handles many of the technical aspects of running a website.

The idea behind a managed WordPress hosting package is to provide a completely stress-free experience so you can focus on running your business and doing what you do well.

Here are some of the services you get with managed hosting:

• Server optimization: Make sure your website is hosted on a server optimized for WordPress performance.
• Automatic updates: Keep your WordPress core, plugins and themes up to date without having to update them manually.
• Improved security: Implement strict security measures to protect your website from threats such as hackers and malware.
• Performance optimization: Optimize your website speed and provide features such as server-level caching, content delivery networks (CDNs), and other performance-enhancing tools.
• Technical support: We offer you expert support with any problems that may arise.

Now let’s look at the pros and cons of managed hosting.

Benefits of Managed Hosting:

• Leave the technical details to the experts and enjoy the peace of mind that your site is in good hands.
• Benefit from expert-level security measures and performance optimizations that you may not be able to perform yourself.
• Free up time to focus on creating content, growing your audience, and running your business.
• Access expert support teams specifically trained in WordPress to help you with any issues.

Disadvantages of Managed Hosting:

• Managed hosting is undoubtedly more expensive than shared hosting or DIY WordPress maintenance.
• Compared to managing your own server, you may have less control over certain server-level configurations.
• Although managing a website on a managed platform is much easier, it still requires a certain level of technical understanding.

WordPress Maintenance vs. Managed Hosting: Key Differences

Now that you know what WordPress maintenance and managed hosting are, both have differences and can be useful in certain situations.

Control over maintenance

WordPress maintenance gives you more control and also puts you in charge of keeping everything up to date and secure. Managed hosting, on the other hand, places much of that burden on the hosting provider.

Cost of website maintenance

Cost is another factor to consider when choosing between WordPress maintenance and managed hosting.

While managed hosting plans are often more expensive per month, they offer a comprehensive package that may include the cost of backups, updates, and optimizations, providing significant convenience.

WordPress maintenance costs vary. If you do it yourself, it’s much cheaper than managed hosting. You can use free plugins to get the job done.

Alternatively, you can hire a WordPress support agency to handle website maintenance. Maintenance costs can be significantly higher depending on the size of your website, level of service and number of development hours you choose.

Website Security

If you choose WordPress maintenance, strong security requires regular updates and running security scans. You can do this manually using malware scanners or hire a support agency to handle website security for you.

On the other hand, managed hosting services often include advanced security features such as DDoS protection, firewalls, and proactive monitoring. Some providers also often offer rapid response to security threats.

Scalability

If you handle the maintenance of your WordPress system yourself, scaling your website will require manual work and expertise. If your website grows quickly, you will need to either outsource the maintenance tasks, adjust your hosting plan, or optimize your website yourself.

Managed hosting offers easier scalability options and automates many processes to seamlessly handle traffic spikes, but depending on the plan you upgrade to, it can be costly.

WordPress Maintenance vs. Managed Hosting: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between WordPress maintenance and managed hosting depends on your specific needs and preferences. You should consider your technical expertise, time availability, budget, and website requirements when making your decision.

WordPress maintenance is generally best suited for sites with low traffic, tight budgets, and users with technical expertise who can handle basic maintenance tasks.

While DIY WordPress maintenance offers full control over your website, it can require technical expertise and time commitment. It is suitable for people who like to tinker with their website or are on a budget.

Alternatively, there are many WordPress maintenance services that can help you. These are professionals who will keep your website running smoothly.

For example, our WPBeginner WordPress maintenance service is the best and most affordable option on the market. You get a team of experts with over 16 years of experience who will take care of everything for you, from regular updates, backups and uptime monitoring to website optimization.

On the other hand, managed WordPress hosting is ideal for high-traffic websites, eCommerce stores, websites that require maximum uptime and high security, and users with limited technical knowledge.

This is especially beneficial for busy people or people without technical knowledge.

We have reviewed and tested many WordPress hosting services on real websites. We have also used some of the most popular services for hosting WPBeginner and other brands.

In our experience, SiteGround is the best managed hosting service. They offer fast servers, top-notch security, 24/7 expert support, automatic updates, free backups, a CDN, and more.

For more options, check out our list of the best managed WordPress hosting companies.

We hope this article helped you learn more about the differences between WordPress maintenance and managed hosting. You may also be interested in our guide to creating a WordPress disaster recovery plan and our expert picks of the fastest WordPress hosting services.