When a web designer or agency offers to "host your website", it can mean two very different things. Understanding the difference can save you a lot of frustration the first time your site is slow, hacked or down.
What is reseller hosting?
Reseller hosting is when a company buys a hosting account from a large provider and sells space on it to its own clients, usually with a markup. The reseller does not run the servers. They share them with many other customers of the big provider, and when something goes wrong at the server level, they have to open a support ticket and wait like everyone else.
Reseller hosting is not automatically bad. But it means the company you pay is often not the company that can actually fix the problem.
What is managed WordPress hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting means the hosting environment is configured, monitored and maintained specifically for WordPress, by people who are responsible for it. A good managed host handles:
- Server software, PHP versions and security patches
- Caching tuned for WordPress, so pages load quickly
- Automatic off-site backups with easy restores
- Staging sites to test changes safely
- Uptime and security monitoring around the clock
- Support from people who understand WordPress, not just generic hosting
Side by side
| Typical reseller hosting | Managed WordPress hosting | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the server | A third-party provider | The company you pay |
| Tuned for WordPress | Usually generic settings | Yes |
| Backups | Basic, sometimes extra | Automatic, off-site, easy to restore |
| Staging site | Rarely | Included |
| Who fixes server problems | Whoever answers the provider's ticket queue | The engineers who run it |
Questions to ask before you choose a host
- Do you run these servers yourselves, or resell another company's hosting?
- How often are backups taken, where are they stored, and how long does a restore take?
- Is there a staging site for testing changes?
- What uptime do you guarantee, and what happens if you miss it?
- How fast do you respond when the site is down, and is that in writing?
- Will you migrate my existing site, and is there any downtime?
- If I leave, will you give me a full backup of my site?
Why we chose managed, not resold
At TheWebsiteMakers.ca we manage our hosting ourselves and tune it for WordPress. It costs us more than reselling, but it means we can promise response times, fix problems at the source, and keep the sites we build fast and secure. Learn more about our managed WordPress hosting plans, which include free migration, or pair hosting with a maintenance plan.
Need a hand?
TheWebsiteMakers.ca is a Toronto-based team with 19+ years of WordPress experience. We build accessible WordPress websites, host them on servers we manage ourselves, and keep them maintained. Get a free, no-obligation estimate.