When starting a website with WordPress, there are several things you need to consider. Finding the right hosting provider is one of them. Flywheel and SiteGround are two solid hosting providers that offer WordPress hosting. While Flywheel is a fully managed WordPress platform, SiteGround offers all kinds of hosting services. In this Flywheel vs SiteGround comparison, we’ll show you which provider is ultimately better for WordPress.
In the world of hosting, there are many myths. For example, a WordPress-only hosting provider must always be better than one that offers a wider spectrum of hosting services, or the general misconception that the most expensive provider is always the best.
That, however, is not always the case.
In this direct comparison of Flywheel vs SiteGround, we are going to review both companies in terms of features, pricing, security, and customer support.
SiteGround vs Flywheel
Flywheel and SiteGround are very different when it comes to WordPress hosting.
SiteGround’s hosting packages seem to be more affordable, making them more attractive to people on a budget. Flywheel, on the other hand, offers managed WordPress hosting only, with a quite different price tag.
However, the price is not the only thing that you need to take into account when choosing a hosting provider. A lack of security or long loading times can have quite a negative impact on your site.
We used the following criteria to evaluate which hosting provider, SiteGround or Flywheel, is the better choice for your WordPress site:
- Features
- Price
- Support
- Security
Flywheel vs SiteGround: Features
Both hosting providers offer a long list of features. However, a wide range of features by itself doesn’t make one provider better than the other. We also need to take a deeper look at the performance and quality of those services.
Flywheel and SiteGround are quite different when it comes to WordPress hosting. In this comparison, we will concentrate only on a few features that are essential for building a successful WordPress site.
- Available hosting types
- Backups
- Storage space
- Email accounts
- Additional services (e.g. CDN, SSL, staging environment)
Flywheel Features
As we mentioned before, Flywheel does not cover a wide range of hosting types. It’s a managed WordPress hosting platform, providing WordPress hosting only. The biggest setback, however, is that there is no email hosting, no domain services, or any kind of e-commerce tools available.
With Flywheel, you’ll get the following features:
- Optimized WordPress hosting
- 5 GB to 50 GB storage space
- Free SSL/TLS certificate
- Google Cloud partnership for high-traffic sites
- Free Fastly CDN
- Auto-Healing technology
- Free migrations and staging sites
- 30 premium WordPress themes and plugins (e.g. agency pro, genesis framework)
The hosting provider puts all its effort into optimizing WordPress services. You can get single-site or bulk hosting plans. If you want to use e-commerce tools such as WooCommerce, you need to add it separately. Flywheel does not offer the latest WordPress plugin, but they will keep it updated as a paid add-on.
Flywheel offers four different plans:
- Tiny
- Starter
- Freelance
- Agency
The Tiny and the Starter plans allow you to add one website, while with the Freelance and Agency plan, you can build up to 30 WordPress sites.
The single-site hosting plans start with 5 GB storage, 25 GB bandwidth, and a limitation of 5000 monthly visitors. If you go for a higher plan, the storage space, and bandwidth increase. In case your monthly traffic exceeds the limit of the plan you’re on, Flywheel will charge you with a fee of €0.84 for every 1000 visits.
Flywheel got you covered when it comes to backups and staging sites. Every night, Flywheel backs up your site and stores the backup for 30 days. With its staging service, you can experiment as much as you want at a test server. In case something happens to your live-site, the Auto-Healing technology will kick in.
In case you want to switch from your current hosting provider (HostGator, for example), you can make use of Flywheel’s free website migration services. You can migrate the site by yourself or ask some Flywheel experts to do it for you, for free.
SiteGround Features
SiteGround offers shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, and cloud hosting.
Here is a short review of the most impressive SiteGround features:
- Automated daily backups
- 10 GB to 40 GB storage space
- Free WordPress migration
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free SSL/TLS certificate
- Free Cloudflare CDN
SiteGround has many tools and plugins that help you build and maintain your WordPress site. Different from Flywheel, this hosting provider allows you, except for the start-up plan, to create unlimited email accounts.
SiteGround offers the following plans:
- (regular) Web hosting (StartUp, GrowBig, GoGeek)
- Managed WordPress hosting (StartUp, GrowBig, GoGeek)
- Managed WooCommerce hosting (StartUp, GrowBig, GoGeek)
- Cloud hosting
All shared plans come with a free SSL/TLS certificate and daily, automated backups. If you choose a higher plan, you can customize your backups and much more.
SiteGround’s staging environment is more capped. There is a one-click staging tool available for the GrowBig and GoGeek plan. However, if you want to create a copy of your site before making any changes, you have to make sure to have enough disk space available.
Verdict: Features
Both SiteGround and Flywheel offer a great list of impressive features. SiteGround comes with a bigger variety of hosting plans, whereas Flywheel is only suitable for WordPress hosting.
If you are a WordPress professional, looking for advanced hosting features for your WordPress site, Flywheel seems to be the better option. In case you don’t need all the features Flywheel offers, SiteGround will provide you with just enough to run a successful WordPress website. Another big advantage of SiteGround is its unlimited email and domain features that come with almost every plan.
Flywheel vs SiteGround: Pricing
When it comes to pricing, many hosting providers appear cheap in the beginning, only to lure you into a false sense of security and surprise you with hidden costs. To avoid such unpleasant surprises, we had a deeper look into the different pricing options of the two hosting providers.
We compared SiteGround and Flywheel according to the following pricing criteria:
- Price
- Contract duration
- Free trial
- Money-back -guarantee
Flywheel Pricing
Before choosing a plan, Flywheel offers you a free website-trial for 14 days.
The smallest Flywheel plan comes for €10,98 a month. The Agency plan, which is the most expensive one, costs €204,35 every month. Compared to other providers, that’s a heavy price tag. However, keep in mind that with the Agency plan, you can host up to 30 websites, which breaks the monthly cost down to €6,8 a month per website.
Note that the prices we mentioned are for annual payments. If you want to pay the fees on a monthly basis, the prices will be slightly higher. Paying annually (in advance) also gives you 2 months of service, for free.
From a pricing perspective, it doesn’t make sense to pay monthly, because no matter which option you choose, you’re able to terminate your contract at any time. In case you paid for the whole year in advance but want to quit the contract after 6 months, you will get your money back for the remaining 6 months.
SiteGround Pricing
SiteGround’s shared hosting plan starts at €5,99 a month for the first year (StartUp plan). Most of the users go for the GrowBig Plan, which goes for €9,99 monthly.
Note that these prices only refer to the first year of subscription. For the second year, all prices increase tremendously. The VAT is also not included.
The service is fully refundable during the first 30 days. After that, you are not eligible for a refund.
Verdict: Pricing
Both hosting providers don’t come with any hidden costs, but some might say that SiteGrounds pricing difference between the first and second year comes as a big surprise.
Flywheel offers a great discount if you go for an annual payment. You also get 2 months of service for free and you can terminate the contract whenever you want.
SiteGround is incredibly cheap in the first year. In the second year, however, you’ll pay more than with Flywheel. If you go for the smallest plan, you’ll pay €155.88 a year for SiteGround and €131.67 for Flywheel.
To sum it up: Flywheel is the cheaper option in the long run.
Flywheel vs SiteGround: Security
Security is an important aspect when it comes to running a website or e-commerce store. Imagine an e-commerce store where visitors experience issues with their payments.
A lack of security features does not only lead to a loss of revenue, it also breads mistrust towards your store and brand, causing an overall negative shopping experience.
In this comparison, we used the following security services to decide which hosting provider is better when it comes to security
- Backup
- SSL
- Firewall
Flywheel Security
Flywheel is a managed hosting provider that comes with a great security package in every plan. You’ll get an free SSL/TLS certificate, nightly backups and firewall protection with each plan. While firewalls are a common feature today, Flywheel takes its security level one step further with containerized environments and auto-update technology, keeping WordPress and its plugins up-to-date.
Flywheel also comes with an IP blocking system that detects and prevents bot-net attacks within seconds.
SiteGround Security
SiteGround offers a strong firewall, anti-bot system, automated daily backups and updates, and a free SSL/TLS certificate that is pre-installed on every website. In case you are using subdomains, you need to bring your own Wildcard SSL. With Simple SSL, you have to secure each subdomain individually.
Verdict: Security
Security-wise, the two providers are on par. Both include the most essential security features and offer additional protection to upgrade your security in case you need it.
Flywheel vs SiteGround: Support
The importance of great customer support shows itself in many scenarios. Hosting is the foundation on which your web presence is built and almost every issue with it will have a huge impact on your business. That’s why the service provider should be able to solve your problem in a short amount of time.
To compare the customer service of SiteGround and Flywheel, we used the following criteria:
- Channels
- Response time and availability
- Tutorials
Flywheel Customer Support
Flywheel offers you a 24/7 live chat and email support with real WordPress experts.
It’s remarkable how fast Flywheel’s support system works. In our test, the expert joined the chat immediately and answered our questions within seconds. The problem itself was solved in less than five minutes.
Phone support is only available to customers paying more than €250 per month. Due to the efficient live chat support, though, it’s not really a downside.
Flywheel also has a decent e-book library and a few articles here and there for self-service.
SiteGround Customer Support
SiteGround’s customer support is impressively fast and efficient. We reached out to a customer service agent via live chat and the problem was solved within two minutes. The agent joined the chat in less than 10 seconds, which is remarkable.
You can reach out to the customer support via live chat, email, and telephone around the clock. If you want to solve a problem on your own, you can use the huge database of support articles and tutorials.
Verdict: Customer Support
It’s hard to say which hosting provider has better service. SiteGround and Flywheel both provide really helpful support via email and live chat.
Flywheel doesn’t offer phone support for all plans. Even though its live chat support was a tiny bit better than the one from SiteGround, we have to put Flywheel in the second place. Simply because of the missing phone support for all plans.
Conclusion: SiteGround or Flywheel
Both Flywheel and SiteGround are top-notch hosting providers.
Flywheel is a managed hosting provider, offering managed WordPress hosting only, whereas SiteGround’s hosting possibilities are a bit broader.
If contract flexibility is your main concern, then Flywheel might be the right choice for you. There is no contract duration, and even if you pay for the entire year in advance, you can terminate the contract at any time.
When it comes to features, we’d say that Flywheel is mostly suitable for advanced WordPress hosting, whereas SiteGround seems to be a better choice if you need the most basic WordPress services and nothing else.
Do you have any experience with Flywheel or SiteGround? Let us know in the comments and thank you for reading.