WordPress.com is arguably the most misunderstood hosting provider in the industry at this time.
This may be because Automattic invests a lot of their resources into plan engineering rather than marketing, but they currently sit on what we believe to be the best value-for-money hosting plan in the entire industry: The WordPress.com Business Plan.
In this article, we’ll help shatter some WordPress.com myths that refuse to die and make the case for why we think WordPress.com is the best hosting provider you’ve never heard of.
The Power of No Surprise Fees
One of the most compelling reasons people choose WordPress.com is that, unlike most other major hosting companies, they have a completely flat price structure with unmetered traffic for your site.
This may sound a little dull, but it makes a huge difference in how much money you have to fork out every month.
You’ll never be charged for anything other than your monthly flat rate cost for your hosting plan.
Where Most Hosting Companies Will Get You
It is sadly a very common practice for hosting companies to charge you extra if one of these situations were to happen to you:
- You begin getting a lot of visits per month.
- You made a mistake and need to recover your site from an earlier backup.
- You’re stuck and require immediate live chat support.
Sometimes, those extras can be handled with a one-off fee. Other times, they increase the cost of your hosting by hundreds of dollars per year.
That’s not the case with WordPress.com, and we’re baffled that nobody is talking about it.
With the Business Plan, all of those elements are covered in the base cost of your hosting. There’s no practice of slicing off these basic website management features in the hopes that you might want to purchase them as an add-on later. WordPress.com has never been an aggressive marketer like that.
Myths About WordPress.com That Are All False
Now that you know the key reason you might want to use the WordPress.com Business Plan (your wallet), let’s address some of the biggest misconceptions about WordPress.com.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve taken a deep dive into the actual features of various WordPress.com plans, and have uncovered several common myths about WordPress.com:
Myth #1: WordPress.com Doesn’t Offer Plugins or Themes
FALSE. Not only does WordPress.com allow you to install plugins and themes, but it also has some of the best built-in security in the industry to keep your site updated and secure without the need for potentially dangerous third-party plugins.
Their client list includes Samsung, Time Magazine, and Slack. Do you really think they would work on creatively restricted software?
Myth #2: WordPress.com is More Expensive
FALSE. This one is interesting but says more about the industry’s pricing practices than WordPress.com itself. WordPress.com is different because, unlike most hosting providers, it doesn’t have hidden fees you need to pay when something breaks, if you need priority live-chat support, or if you get a lot of traffic.
The power of their flat-rate pricing makes them the most overlooked sleeping giant in the industry. More on that later.
Myth #3: WordPress.com is Just for Bloggers
FALSE. This is categorically untrue, but given that WordPress.com have entry-level plans for bloggers too, it is not surprising that the myth caught hold.
The true value, though, lies in the Business and Commerce plans. That’s where the unparalleled affordability kicks in.
Why Choose WordPress.com? (The Laundry List)
- No surprises: You want to know what you pay for, and you can rest assured there are no additional costs for anything such as backups, traffic spikes, or site security.
- Backups: Your sites can always be dialed back and restored to an earlier stage.
- Managed Platform: No server maintenance or manual updates required.
- Built-in Performance: CDN, caching, and fast load times are included. There are even backup CDNs in case a natural disaster should occur.
- Free Migration: WordPress.com can help move your site from another host. This is particularly helpful if you are currently billed a lot by another hosting provider.
- Simple Dashboard: Manage content, themes, domains, and settings in one place.
- Security Included: SSL, malware scanning, and backups come standard.
- WooCommerce Support: Add a store with built-in WooCommerce plans.
How Much Can You Save by Switching?
We’ve seen individual sites where customers would have paid 2-3x less by using WordPress.com over other, more widely advertised hosting providers simply because they were getting a lot of visits. The difference is in the thousands of dollars over a few years.
Test it Yourself
If you’re not yet convinced, that’s fine. I do, however, have one suggestion for you before you leave.
When you go out looking for hosting providers and find yourself on their pricing pages, pay attention to how much you will be charged once the first-year discount wears off and your site is getting 1 million visits per month.
Go ahead. We’ll wait.
While WordPress.com can initially be seen as a more expensive option, this couldn’t be further from the truth for medium-large traffic websites.
The WordPress.com Business Plan never exceeds $25 per month, no matter how successful your site is. In a world where billing-by-visits is commonplace, this is a game-changing feature. You shouldn’t be punished for your site’s success.
In fact, WordPress.com’s Business Plan is often significantly cheaper than many hosting providers who market themselves as being affordable.
These providers will often not only bill you more as you get more site visits, but require additional payments for stuff like backups, extra security, malware protection, site recovery, and proper 1:1 live chat support.
Stand Side-by-Side with Fortune 500 Brands
With WordPress.com, all of that is included right from the start. There’s a reason it’s trusted by many top brands like TIME Magazine, Salesforce, USA Today, VOX Media, Meta, Samsung, and many more.
The WordPress.com Hosting Plans
Which Plan Should I Choose?
The best deals for hosting are with the Business and Commerce plans. They are the hidden gems that we’re trying to highlight here. And yes – we are currently in the process of migrating Speckyboy.com to WordPress.com.
It’s All About Business and Commerce
We think the best deals are available with the Business and Commerce plans, so we asked WordPress.com to offer a 50% discount for our audience for these two plans so you can give them a try yourselves.
The Business Plan makes the most sense for most websites, and the Commerce Plan is a great fit if you’re building or managing an online store.
| Plan | Price (Yearly) | Themes/Plugins | Visits Per Month | Use it for |
| Business | Yes | Unlimited | Non-WooCommerce WordPress sites | |
| Commerce | Yes | Unlimited | WooCommerce WordPress sites |
We’re truly excited to say that if you go with either the Business or Commerce plan, your site will be hosted in the most reliable, affordable, and scalable environment currently available.
TL;DR: The WordPress.com Business Plan is Incredibly Underrated
In case you skimmed this, the TL;DR is this: The WordPress.com Business Plan is without a doubt the best value-for-money hosting deal for medium to high-traffic sites in the hosting industry today.