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If you are serious about growing your online presence, you need the best WordPress hosting Australia can offer. A fast, reliable, and secure WordPress website starts with good WordPress hosting.
But as you know, you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, I see many website owners using cheaper hosting alternatives to save money. Using cheaper hosting options is not the answer to saving money.
If your business relies on a website to generate leads and sales, you should be investing more money into your hosting, not less. Below I’ve reviewed the best WordPress website hosts in Australia. Each has its strengths; suiting a variety of different business needs.
Top 3 Best WordPress Hosting Australia
Fastest WordPress Hosting in Australia
Rocket.net
Rocket.net provides managed cloud hosting for WordPress with a high-performance hosting stack. You’ll get a bare metal server with 32 cores, 128GB RAM, and NVME storage. This is amazing value; 10x more than most other good cloud hosts. Your website will also get integrated with their CloudFlare Enterprise CDN.
I have several clients using Rocket.net + my own sites hosted on Rocket.net including this one.
✅ Use Rocket.net IF:
- Use Rocket.net if you have a global audience
- Use Rocket.net if you want the fastest possible website
- Use Rocket.net if you want the best value for server resources like CPU cores and RAM.
❌ DON’T Use Rocket.net IF:
- You don’t need to use Rocket.net if your website doesn’t get much traffic. Use Flywheel or Cloudways.
- You don’t need to use Rocket.net if your website is not resource-intensive. Use Flywheel or Cloudways.
Key features of Rocket.net include:
- Server = All host nodes use a bare metal server with 32 cores, 128GB RAM, and NVMe storage
- Caching = Full page caching via CloudFlare Enterprise + Redis Object Cache. Rocket.net also recommends using WP Rocket for page/browser caching as a backup to CloudFlare.
- PHP Processing = NGINX as a reverse proxy to Apache for server-side handling
- PHP Workers = Unlimited
- Limits = Most importantly, there are no CPU or IO limits. The starter plan has a visitor limit of 250,000 per month, disk usage of 10GB, and a bandwidth limit of 50 GB. You pay an overage fee if you exceed these.
- CDN = CloudFlare Enterprise
- Uptime = 99.99% guarantee
- Malware Scanning = Yes, real-time malware scanning and protection using Immunify360
- Malware Removal = Yes
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- DDOS Mitigation = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- Scalability = Yes, higher plans allow more WordPress installs, website visitors, storage, and bandwidth
- Customer Support = 24/7 live chat + email
- Pricing = First month is ONLY $1. Then plans start from $30/month.
Best Managed WordPress Hosting in Australia
Kinsta
Kinsta is a premium managed cloud host for WordPress powered by the Google Cloud Platform. You’ll get a Google Cloud compute-optimised C2 server with 12 cores and 8GB RAM. Kinsta also offers edge caching through their CloudFlare Enterprise integration for faster load times around the world.
✅ Use Kinsta IF:
- Use Kinsta if you have a global audience
- Use Kinsta if you want higher performance (but don’t need the absolute highest)
- Use Kinsta if you want the best customer support. Rocket.net support is good, but I think Kinsta’s better.
❌ DON’T Use Kinsta IF:
- Don’t use Kinsta if you have a website with lots of traffic
- Don’t use Kinsta if you have a resource-intensive website (e.g. WooCommerce site). You can, but you’ll need a much higher plan, which significantly increases ongoing costs. You are better off using Rocket.net.
Key features of Kinsta include:
- Server = Google Cloud compute-optimised C2 machines with 12 cores, 8GB RAM, and SATA storage
- Caching = Full page caching via CloudFlare Enterprise + page/browser caching via Kinsta Cache.
- PHP Processing = NGINX
- PHP Workers = Only 2 for Starter and Pro Plans
- Limits = The biggest limit is low PHP workers. The starter plan has a visitor limit of 25,000 per month, disk usage of 10GB, and a bandwidth limit of 100 GB per month.
- CDN = CloudFlare Enterprise
- Uptime = 99.9% guarantee
- Malware Scanning = Yes, real-time malware scanning and protection
- Malware Removal = Free malware removal if your site is already hosted at Kinsta. $100 if migrating.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- DDOS Mitigation = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- Geo-blocking = Yes
- Scalability = Yes, higher plans allow more WordPress installs, website visitors, storage, and bandwidth. However, the higher plans are much more expensive compared to Rocket.net.
- Customer Support = 24/7 live chat and email support (phone support is only for sales)
- Pricing = Plans start from $35/month.
I also like that Kinsta offers Geo-blocking. i.e. if you want to block traffic from certain countries outside of Australia, usually for security reasons, Kinsta has this option.
Best Value WordPress Hosting in Australia
Cloudways
Cloudways is another good cloud hosting provider that is best suited to website owners on a budget, who have multiple low-traffic WordPress websites. I recommend using a Digital Ocean Premium server for $14/month, which gives you 1GB RAM, 1 Core, 25GB storage and 1 TB of bandwidth. The premium option gives you a high throughput server with NVME storage.
I personally use Cloudways for testing and low-traffic websites. I also have many clients using Cloudways. The Digital Ocean Premium server option is fast, reliable, and relatively cheap compared to Rocket.net and Kinsta.
✅ Use Cloudways IF:
- Use Cloudways if you have a website with minimal traffic
- Use Cloudways if you want to host many WordPress websites on the same server. I have a 1GB Digital Ocean Premium server on Cloudways that currently has 15 WordPress websites on it.
❌ DON’T Use Cloudways IF:
- Don’t use Cloudways if you have a website with lots of traffic. If you do have lots of traffic, then you’ll likely need to upgrade to a higher plan. At this point, you are better off using Rocket.net. Better value for money!
Key features of Cloudways include:
- Server = Multiple server options from Digital Ocean, AWS, and Google Cloud. I recommend using the Digital Ocean Premium server option that comes with 1 Core, and 1 GB RAM on NVME storage. As you can see, your server won’t have anywhere near the power of Rocket.net or Kinsta. However, this doesn’t mean your website won’t be super fast, it just means that your website can only handle traffic up to a point. So, it will be fast, as long as your website doesn’t get a sudden spike in traffic that overloads the server. Note that Cloudways recommends at least 2GB servers for live websites. Not all live websites need this though. I have many clients with low-traffic websites that are perfectly fine on 1GB servers.
- Caching = Full page caching via CloudFlare Enterprise CDN, server-side page caching via Varnish, object caching via Memcached and Redis, and browser caching via their Breeze plugin. The Breeze caching plugin also extends the server-side caching with a range of optimisation settings.
- PHP Processing = NGINX as a reverse proxy to Apache for server-side handling
- PHP Workers = Unlimited
- Limits = The biggest limit is the 1GB RAM on starter plans using a Digital Ocean server. By comparison, Kinsta allows 8GB RAM for starter plans and Rocket.net allows 128GB RAM. Starter plans using a Digital Ocean server also have a disk usage limit of 25GB and a bandwidth limit of 1000 GB per month.
- CDN = CloudFlare Enterprise
- Uptime = 99.99% guarantee
- Malware Scanning = No
- Malware Removal = No
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- DDOS Mitigation = Yes, through CloudFlare Enterprise
- Scalability = Yes, higher plans allow more RAM, storage, and bandwidth.
- Customer Support = 24/7 live chat, email and phone support (premium add-on)
- Pricing = Plans start from $11 USD/month
- I recommend using premium Digital Ocean servers though, which start from $14 USD/month
How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting in Australia
Here are the key considerations you should make before choosing a WordPress Host in Australia.
1. Performance
RAM & CPU Cores
Do you have a basic business website where the most complex functionality is a contact form? Or do you have a dynamic website with more complex functionality? e.g. eCommerce (WooCommerce), membership, multisite, streaming, etc. The more complex your website, the more RAM and CPU cores your website will likely need.
For websites in Australia, all of the WordPress hosting providers I recommend are high-performance. However, all hosting providers reach a point where they can no longer handle sudden spikes in traffic. So, as mentioned above, you need to consider whether you have a basic business website that is relatively static (i.e. it doesn’t do anything except show visitors text and images) or a more complex website with certain kinds of functionality like eCommerce, membership, streaming, etc. Once you know this, you’ll be able to make a better decision.
If your website needs lots of processing power and memory, I highly recommend Rocket.net. More on this below.
2. Security
Make sure the hosting provider you choose takes security seriously. Also, make sure they provide backups and the ability to restore your site if anything goes wrong.
The best WordPress hosting in Australia should have security covered out of the box including:
- Malware scanning
- Malware removal
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) at the DNS level. e.g. CloudFlare.
3. Cost
This is an obvious consideration but worth mentioning. In my opinion, the price difference between cheap shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting is minimal compared to the huge performance benefit. More about the differences between shared hosting and managed hosting are below. The TLDR is to use a managed WordPress host like the below recommendations, not a cheap shared hosting provider like Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc.
4. Disk Space
Make sure the provider and their plan have enough space for your website(s). Unless your website is new and without much content. In which case you don’t need to worry about it for now. The best WordPress hosts are hosting providers that make it easy to upgrade your plan to allow more disk space if needed.
6. No. of sites
Some providers limit the number of WordPress installations on your server unless you upgrade to a higher plan. However, some hosts will let you install WordPress as many times as you wish, as long as you don’t go over your disk usage limit. See my #3 pick below for the best value WordPress host in Australia for business owners with multiple WordPress sites.
7. Support
Having online chat support 24/7/365 from an expert is key. All providers below provide great support. However, some of them might not provide it from Australia. i.e. English might not be their first language. See my #2 pick below for the WordPress host in Australia with the best support.
What is WordPress Hosting?
Shared vs Managed WordPress Hosting
Not all WordPress hosting is created equal though…
When you are just starting out, it’s very easy to choose a hosting provider simply based on price. After all, there can’t be that much difference between them all. Can there?
Well, actually there is a big difference between hosting services from the absolute cheapest you can find to the most expensive. Normally ranging from ~$1/month to ~$100/month. Some as high as ~$700/month.
Down the cheaper end, you have Shared Hosting Providers like BlueHost, GoDaddy and Hostinger.
Up the more expensive end, you have Managed WordPress Hosting providers like Rocket.net and Kinsta.
And somewhere in the middle, you have the DIY providers that offer high-performance VPS and Cloud Hosting. These include Google Cloud Platform, AWS, VULTR, LINODE and Digital Ocean.
Most of the Managed WordPress Hosting providers use servers from the above DIY providers. For example, Kinsta uses servers from Google Cloud.
But because they provide a ‘managed’ solution, they configure everything to suit WordPress and your requirements. Fine-tuning at its best so you get the best performance possible.
Cloudways is a great hosting provider too. Well, they are more of a cloud host panel that gives you access to most of the aforementioned VPS and Cloud Hosting servers including Digital Ocean, AWS and Google Cloud.
Shared WordPress Hosting
PROS
- Cheap
CONS
- Usually poor performance
- SSL Certificates are not usually free
- Support isn’t the best
- Overcrowded servers (you’ll likely share with 100s of other sites)
- No extras like staging sites or backups
Note: there are still some good shared hosting providers like SiteGround. Ones that provide good support, free SSL certificates and decent performance.
Managed WordPress Hosting
PROS
- 24/7 live chat support
- Servers in Australia
- Optimised for speed
- Better security
- Automatic backups
- Staging environments
CONS
- More expensive
Recommendation
Here are my final thoughts:
- Think about performance before $.
- Your website is a business asset. Invest in it
- Make sure your host has servers in Australia.
- It’s usually best to stay away from super cheap shared hosting.
- If you’re just starting, get 24/7 online chat support.
I believe the best WordPress hosting in Australia is from Rocket.net.
Further reading:
FAQ
What is WordPress hosting?
WordPress hosting is a type of web hosting service that is specifically optimised for WordPress websites. It includes features and tools that are tailored to enhance the performance and security of WordPress sites.
What is the best WordPress hosting provider in Australia?
The best WordPress hosting provider in Australia can vary depending on individual needs and preferences. I recommend Rocket.net if you want the highest performance and best value for RAM, CPU, etc. I recommend Kinsta if you want the best support. And I recommend Cloudways if you are on a budget with multiple websites.
What should I look for in WordPress hosting?
When choosing a WordPress hosting service, it’s important to consider factors such as performance, reliability, security, customer support, scalability, and pricing. Additionally, features like automatic updates, backups, and one-click WordPress installation can also be beneficial.
What is the difference between web hosting and WordPress hosting?
Web hosting is a generic term that refers to the service of hosting websites on servers. WordPress hosting, on the other hand, is specifically tailored for hosting WordPress websites and includes additional features and optimisations for better performance.
What are the different types of web hosting?
There are several types of web hosting, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting. Each type offers different levels of performance, control, and scalability.
Is it necessary to have a web host for WordPress?
Yes, it is necessary to have a web host in order to run a WordPress website. A web host provides the server space, storage, and resources required to make your website accessible on the internet.
What is a domain name and do I get a free domain with WordPress hosting?
A domain name is the address of your website on the internet (e.g., www.example.com). While some WordPress hosting providers may offer free domain registration as part of their hosting packages, it is not universally included. Be sure to check the details of the hosting plan you choose.
Can I use email hosting with WordPress hosting?
Yes, many WordPress hosting providers offer email hosting services as well. However, you’ll find that the best WordPress hosting providers do not. I recommend using Google Workspace for email hosting.
What are some popular WordPress hosting providers in Australia?
Some popular WordPress hosting providers in Australia include WP Engine, A2 Hosting, SiteGround, and Bluehost. However, I don’t recommend these. Instead, I recommend using Rocket.net, Kinsta, or Cloudways.
Do I need technical knowledge to manage a WordPress site hosted in Australia?
While basic technical knowledge can be helpful, it is not necessary to have advanced technical skills to manage a WordPress site hosted in Australia. Most hosting providers, especially managed hosting providers, offer user-friendly interfaces and support to help you with website management.
