Best WORDPRESS Hosting Australia
(MARCH 2023 Update)
OUR PICKS FOR THE BEST WORDPRESS HOSTING IN AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
We’ve reviewed the options and below we break down who we think is THE BEST WordPress hosting provider for WordPress websites in Australia. We’ve also included some other top tier web hosting providers who also provide good quality hosting at affordable prices, so let’s get into it!
Being an Australian agency experienced with WordPress website development we feel we know what Australian business owners require. As a result we know who are the best website hosting companies in Australia. We build a lot of WordPress sites for Australian customers across a range of different industries but the most important requirements for all are site speed, security & support.
Author: Jeremy Owen
Web Designer, Developer & SEO Specialist
Last Updated: March 16, 2023
Top Picks From Our Australian WordPress Hosting Review
- Siteground – Our choice for best overall WordPress web host for Australia
- A2 Hosting – Great value for money WordPress hosting with an excellent reseller hosting platform.
- Kinsta – Fantastic Managed WordPress Hosting option for websites that really need that next level hosting experience.
- Cloudways – Best hosting option for technical users with serious speed requirements as they are the fastest WordPress host in Australia.
- Hostinger – Cheapest WordPress host on this list whilst still providing a great web hosting service.
- HostPapa – Another good value web host that also happens to be one of the only green web hosting companies.
- WP Engine – Great Managed WordPress hosting provider for high traffic websites.
SITEGROUND
OVERALL BEST WORDPRESS HOST
It really is hard to argue against Siteground being the best overall WordPress hosting company for Australian websites. As an agency we have a tonne of options to choose from and we not only host all our client sites with Siteground but we also host our own website with them too.
We think it’s pretty simple. When you stack up all the features offered with the Siteground WordPress Hosting Plans and then evaluate the price, they just come out on top. Not to mention that WordPress themselves recommend Siteground as one of the best WordPress hosting options out there, and definitely the best value for money.
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$4.99 / month (AUD)
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Lightning Fast Servers - Sydney Data Centre
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30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Pros
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Australian Data Centre
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Free SSL Certificate
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10GB SSD Disk Space
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10 Email Accounts
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24/7 Customer Support
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
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Lightning Fast Servers
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Extra Levels Of Security
Cons
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High renewal prices compared to sign up prices but still good value
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No Free Domain Name
Fastest wordpress hosting relative to price
While it isn’t technically a WordPress specific solution, it sure feels like Siteground designed their tech stack to serve the ever growing number of WordPress website users around the world. Hosted on super fast servers within the Google Cloud Platform, Siteground also has their own WordPress plugin called Supercacher to ensure every WordPress site has a minimum level of performance from a speed perspective right out of the box.
EXCELLENT SECURITY
Siteground definitely have the best security amongst the lower cost hosting providers. They run malware scans daily and quarantine infected websites. You can even request an ad hoc malware scan by contacting their support team if you suspect your site may have been hacked.
They also run a custom WAF (web application firewall) and have their own custom built bot detection system that is constantly at work blocking spam and other unwanted threats.
Each WordPress hosting plan comes with Free SSL through Let’s Encrypt and while that has become much more common amongst web hosting providers these days, they were one of the first to offer it to their users, which shows how serious they were about security.
24/7/365 CUSTOMER SUPPORT
To say that the customer support is good would be a massive understatement. They have 24/7 support via live chat, phone & support tickets. In our experience their live chat response time is generally within a couple of minutes.
They also have an extensive knowledge base that covers pretty much all the standard questions users are likely to have about their hosting so you may not even need to contact support which is an added bonus. If you need that extra level of support you can choose the GoGeek plan or higher to receive advanced priority support.CUSTOM dashboard
Somewhat recently, Siteground decided to move to a more simplified dashboard instead of the traditional cPanel which was very busy. Their new dashboard is much more intuitive for the less experienced user but still has all of the most important features you would want.
A2 HOSTING
BEST WORDPRESS HOSTING FOR RESELLERS
Next on the list and essentially our runner up is A2 Hosting who also provide excellent WordPress hosting services that are great value for money but they don’t have a data centre in Australia.
The reason they still so high on our list is that they have super fast servers and you can implement the next best thing to a local data centre and that is connecting your site to a content delivery network as their hosting is Cloudflare compatible.
Pros
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24/7/365 Support
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Free SSL Certificate
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100GB SSD Disk Space
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
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Fast Servers
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Good Security
Cons
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Email Hosting not included, must be purchased as an add-on
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No Data Centre in Australia
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Charges USD
LIGHTNING FAST SERVERS
While the entry level plans have SSDs for superior processing speed, why not opt for one of the plans that give you access to their Turbo Servers. Boasting 20X your typical hosting speed, these shared WordPress hosting plans limit the number of users per server to ensure max speed for your website users.
SOLID Security
- 24/7 Security Monitoring
- KernelCare – Daily, Automatic & Rebootless Kernel Updates
- Web Hosting Firewall
- Reinforced DDoS Protection
- Brute Force Defense
- Auto-Heal Hosting Protection
- Virus Scanning
- Server Hardening
AROUND THE CLOCK SUPPORT
HOSTPAPA
BEST GREEN WORDPRESS HOSTING AUSTRALIA
HostPapa are a super reliable WordPress host and another option that are excellent value for money. Now I don’t mean to discount all the other features we could promote but we felt it was important to note HostPapa’s commitment to being as environmentally friendly as possible in offsetting all the power used in their data centres and offices. They do this through the purchase of what are known as green energy certificates (tags).
In addition to this they also make our list due to offering Unlimited bandwidth, a free domain and SSL certificates, free site migration (if required) and a website builder.
Pros
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Free Domain Name
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Free SSL Certificate
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10GB SSD Disk Space
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10 Email Accounts
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24/7 Customer Support
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
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Fast Servers
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Strong Security
Cons
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Lower Level Plans Lack Features
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No Australian Data Centre
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Renewal prices are high relative to sign up price but still good value
HostPapa offer a range of different hosting options:
- Shared Hosting – This is their standard cPanel offering
- Optimised WordPress Hosting – Specifically optimised for WordPress
- Managed WordPress Hosting – Enterprise-grade hosting built exclusively for hosting WordPress sites where speed, security & general performance are paramount.
- VPS Hosting – Get more resources when you outgrow your shared hosting plan
- Reseller Hosting – Perfect for agencies who are looking to host client websites.
24/7 SUPPORT
HostPapa’s support team is scattered across 37 countries around the globe, giving us confidence that their support team can delivery regardless of which timezone you happen to be in when you need to contact them. We have experienced other hosting companies only providing live support during business hours of the country they are located in so this is noteworthy.
They offer comprehensive support via phone, live chat and support tickets and the general consensus from their reviews is that they are some of the best in the business.
CHOOSE TO UPGRADE FOR INCREASED SPEED
A GREAT HOSTING PLATFORM FOR WORDPRESS
Overall, we think HostPapa is an excellent WP hosting option. They cover all the bases with multiple support channels, have great a uptime record and they make WordPress installation and operation a breeze which is why we thinking they are a good choice for WordPress hosting in Australia.
HOSTINGER
CHEAPEST WORDPRESS HOST FOR AUSTRALIA
If you’re looking for the best WordPress hosting based on price then Hostinger should definitely be your go to. The standard price for their premium hosting plan is $2.99 per month which is insane given the inclusions.
For what is essentially pocket change you can host up to 100 websites with free SSL certificates, unlimited bandwidth and what seems like unlimited email accounts (the max is actually 100 but who really needs that many?). You even get free domain registration if you require a domain name.
Pros
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Free Domain Name
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Free SSL Certificate
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100GB SSD Disk Space
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Up to 100 Email Accounts
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24/7 Customer Support
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
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Fast Servers
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Good Security
Cons
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Lower Level Plans Lack Features
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No Australian Data Centre
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Renewal prices are high relative to sign up price but still good value
SOME COOL WORDPRESS CENTRIC FEATURES
Hostinger are definitely committed to supporting WordPress. They make it easy to install WordPress with their one-click installation tool and also have their own WP stater site building wizard to speed up the process of getting your site live. In our opinion that’s a serious bonus for such a cheap hosting account.
In addition they have managed auto-updates for the WordPress core and all installed plugins with automatic update capabilities. Their extensive library of WordPress tutorials makes is a fantastic help for less experienced users making them a great option for WordPress hosting in Australia.
AN IMPRESSIVE PACKAGE FOR THE PRICE
Given the cost we were particularly impressed with the security offering from Hostinger. They have a CloudLinux and LVE containerized environment which many shared hosts don’t invest in, layered with complete DDoS protection against attempted hackers, which is excellent for a web hosting company offering such affordable web hosting plans.
Their user dashboard is a custom build, unlike the typical cPanel setup most low cost hosts tend to run. It is definitely an improved user experience as it is quite intuitive.
GREAT SUPPORT
THEY EVEN OFFER MANAGED WORDPRESS HOSTING
The WordPress specific offering from Hostinger is definitely impressive. Hosted on crazy fast LiteSpeed Servers and combined with the Lightspeed Cache Plugin to get 4x speed for standard WordPress pages.
The Business & Pro plans come equipped with a handy WordPress staging tool to help manage content and software updates without breaking your live site.
CLOUDWAYS
FASTEST WORDPRESS HOST IN AUSTRALIA
BEST CLOUD HOSTING FOR WORDPRESS
While cloud hosting is generally not going to suit inexperienced users, we felt that we really should include something for the developers and people running websites requiring a different level of performance and control.
Cloudways have created their own custom stack and loaded that on top of some super fast cloud hosting servers from wholesale providers such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Digital Ocean & Vultr.
WordPress developers who focus on more complex functionality will love the flexibility that Cloudways provide, they certainly provide the fastest WordPress hosting from a baseline speed point of view.
Pros
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Fastest Hosting Provider
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Great Scalability
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24/7 Support & Knowledge Base
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Free SSL Certificate
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Free Website Transfer
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25GB SSD Disk Space
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Cons
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Expensive compared to the other hosting providers featured on this list
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Less technical users may find their control panel challenging to use
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Email hosting is not included, must be purchased as an add-on
CHOOSE YOUR LEVEL OF SUPPORT
In keeping with the theme of flexibility, Cloudways also offer you a choice of 3 different tiers of customer support. While most will probably find their base tier support outstanding, you can choose to upgrade your support package if you need a higher level of priority.
If you did decide to upgrade your support package, you can gain access to senior engineers to look into server errors, theme or plugin issues and they can even help with things like database optimisation.
MARKET LEADING SPEED
SUPREME Security
KINSTA
THE MANAGED WORDPRESS HOSTING PROS
If you want to take things to the next level then Kinsta can definitely help you achieve that with their managed hosting offering, but it does come with a hefty price tag when compared to others on this list. That being said, if you have the budget then Kinsta is our pick of the premium hosting provider options.
They tick the data centre location box with a Sydney based data centre but they also utilise Cloudflare Enterprise to maximise speed and optimise security through dns obfuscation.
Pros
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Super Fast Hosting
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24/7 Support & Knowledge Base
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Daily Backups
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Free SSL Certificates
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Free Site Migration
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10GB SSD Disk Space
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Cons
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The most expensive hosting provider on this list
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No phone support
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No email hosting included
LIGHTNING FAST SPEEDS
Site performance is a key focus with Kinsta and you’d expect that given the price tag. To start with they have 35 data centre locations across the globe, with one of those being based in Sydney which is great for Australian customers.
Get page load speeds up to 44% faster than other server hosting options with a setup hosted on on Google’s Premium Tier Network with the highest quality CPUs. Speed is further bolstered by Edge Caching through their Cloudflare integration which cuts the load time on cached HTML by more than 50%.
PRIMO SECURITY
Kinsta also provide that next level of security with their hosting service. Two powerful firewalls from Google Cloud Platform & Cloudflare are in play at all times. Every website runs within it’s own isolated software container, meaning you aren’t sharing any server resources with another website, not even you own additional websites. This level of isolation guarantees that security breaches on other sites can’t affect yours, unlike with some of the really cheap shared hosting providers.
There is actually a dedicated Malware team at Kinsta, who’s sole purpose is the detect and prevent malware infections where possible. If you do happen to get hacked, these guys and girls offer a malware removal service so they will take care of cleaning your site up, which is usually something you’d need to pay a developer to do if you’re using a cheaper hosting provider.
SINGLE-TIER SUPPORT
Every website is treated as “mission-critical” regardless of whether you’re running a simple blog or an Enterprise level website. They use an online messaging platform to deliver friendly support with fast response times from WordPress experts.
Whether you need help with site migration, implementing redirects, backing up your site or investigating server error messages, the Kinsta support crew at just a click away.
WP ENGINE
NEXT BEST MANAGED WORDPRESS WEB HOST
The team at WP Engine hosting are another great WordPress host and definitely the market leaders in the managed WordPress space. There is some quirky things about their setup that don’t suit all websites.
They are great for general information websites but we have run into some issues with Woocommerce websites in the past. That being said they have more recently given more focus to Woocommerce specific hosting services so performance may have improved.
Overall they are a great web host for WordPress sites. They have daily backups, automated updates and a great one-click staging setup making it easy for major site updates.
Pros
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Free Site Migration
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Free SSL Certificates
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10GB SSD Disk Space
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24/7 Customer Support
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99.9% Uptime Guarantee
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Excellent Security
Cons
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More expensive than most hosts on the list
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They have a disallowed plugins list which can be an issue if an important plugin for your site is on that list.
SPEED
WP Engine features plenty of benefits that make it a great choice for optimising speed on any WordPress site. Firstly, they also have a Sydney based Data Centre to give that first layer of speed. One of the biggest advantages of using WP Engine is its use of proprietary caching technology EverCache. This cutting edge technology utilises multiple layers of caching so that pages are delivered as quickly as possible with minimal latency.
SECURITY
SUPPORT
WP Engine provide support via the usual channels – live chat, phone and support ticket. They support a decent array of potential issues including SSL certificates, general WordPress configuration questions, caching problems, slow WordPress performance and more.
What To Look For In A WordPress Web Hosting Provider
There are a few features we reckon are imperative for WordPress users:
FAST SERVERS
Probably the most important thing in this day and age is to have as fast a web host as possible. Nobody likes waiting and with Google’s move to integrate Core Web Vitals performance into their algorithm for ranking in search results it is an absolute must to have fast WordPress Hosting.
SERVER LOCATION
Great Customer Support
Top Notch Security
This year has seen a dramatic rise in security breaches across the tech space so it makes sense that we would be including security as one of our top priorities when selecting WordPress hosting in Australia.
One-click Install For WordPress
Intuitive SSL Certificate Installer
Managed WordPress Hosting vs Standard Hosting
Probably one of the key things to note is that there are two main different types of WordPress hosting and they come with very different levels of functionality and also price tags:
Managed WordPress Hosting
There are companies out there who specialise in what is known as managed WordPress hosting. With managed WordPress the hosting setup is specifically optimised for WordPress websites. Hosting providers like WP Engine are a good example and they are arguably the best in the business when it comes to managed WordPress web hosting.
Shared WordPress Hosting
Comparatively there are what we would consider to be more standard web hosting services who have everything you need for running a WordPress website but you can also host other types of websites with their hosting plans.
