Now that WordPress.com is offering website plans that include hosting, are they a better option than the other managed WordPress hosting options? In this comparison of WordPress.com vs Kinsta, we take a detailed look at Automattic’s WordPress.com hosting plans against one of the best choices for premium managed WordPress hosting, Kinsta. Which one is better for your websites? Let’s take a look.
WordPress.com vs Kinsta: Details
 |
 |
|---|---|
| Automatic WordPress Installation | Automatic WordPress Installation |
| Global Edge Caching | Global Edge Caching |
| Global CDN | Kinsta CDN |
| Free Website Migration | Free Site Migrations |
| Staging (Business & Commerce Plans) | Website Staging with All Plans |
| Automatic Data Backups | Automatic and Manual Backups |
| 99.999% Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% Uptime Guarantee |
| Priority Support (Business & Commerce Plans) | Responsive and Helpful Support |
WordPress.com vs Kinsta: Differences
Advantages of Choosing WordPress.com over Kinsta:
- Lower Cost for Individual Website Owners
- Easier to Use
- Free Premium Themes Included
- No Traffic Limitations
Advantages of Choosing Kinsta over WordPress.com:
- Faster Website Speeds
- More Responsive Live Chat Support
- More Developer Tools Included
- More Cost-Effective for WordPress Agencies
- Free Hosting for One Month
WordPress.com vs Kinsta: Features
WordPress.com has a wide range of plans ranging from basic personal site plans to eCommerce. Kinsta on the other hand is focused on premium managed hosting with all of their plans. For that reason, in this comparison we’re focusing on WordPress.com’s Business and Commerce plans for matching up with Kinsta.
On the plus side for WordPress.com, you get unrestricted bandwidth with no limitations on website visitors. They also include global edge caching and a CDN for faster speed. Excellent security features such as automated datacenter failover, security scans, and DDoS protection are also included. And, you get Jetpack features that include data backup and restore, along with auto plugin updates.
Kinsta includes premium WordPress hosting features with all of their plans. For better website speed, you get Google Cloud, Edge Caching, Full Page Server-Level Caching, and Kinsta’s CDN. For security, they include Cloudflare Integration Security, and DDoS protection. Kinsta also includes free hack fixes if something attacks your site. For developers, Kinsta provides tools such as their Kinsta API and DevKinsta for local WordPress development.
When comparing WordPress.com to Kinsta, it’s actually closer than we would have expected. However, based on the above criteria, Kinsta gets a slight edge here—especially since you get premium features with all of their hosting packages.
WordPress.com vs Kinsta: Website Speed and Performance
Although WordPress.com is very impressive when it comes to website speed and performance, in this category Kinsta is the winner. Kinsta’s Edge Caching technology and Server-Level Full Page Caching, along with being powered by Google Cloud Platform produces outstanding website speed results. Core web vitals are excellent.
As I mentioned, WordPress.com has also delivered fast website speed. With their Business and Commerce plans, you also get Edge Caching. However, in our testing and experience, Kinsta has consistently been a bit faster. See our sample speed test results from GTmetrix below.
WordPress.com vs Kinsta: Customer Support
In our experience, Kinsta provides some of the best and most responsive customer support available from WordPress hosting providers. The support team is always super-responsive, courteous, and professional. Kinsta’s live chat support is very quick and we’ve never been disappointed.
WordPress.com does provide support via chat and we have been pleased with the results. However, initially you are connected to automated chat. Responses to specific queries are sent via email and the chat box within a few hours. Business and Commerce plans do include priority support, but in this category, Kinsta is the winner for including their responsive expert support with all of their hosting plans.
WordPress.com
Started Business: 2005
BBB Rating: A+
Data Center Location:Data Centers: Global
Price: $4 mo. – $45 mo. (Enterprise Plans also available)
Unlimited Bandwidth: Yes
Unlimited Storage: No
Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: No
Hosting Interface: WordPress Dashboard
Server Uptime: 99.999%
Full Refund Period: 14 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: No
Advantages of Choosing WordPress.com:
- You can try it risk free for 14 days.
- Included Premium WordPress Themes
- Guided Website Creation
- Unrestricted Bandwidth
- Global Edge Caching
- Seamless Website Staging to Production
- Expert support staff.
- Automated Datacenter Failover
Choose WordPress.com if:
- You’re newer to WordPress.
- You want easier website creation.
- You only need one site hosted.
- You want unrestricted bandwidth and site visitors.
Kinsta
Started Business: 2013
BBB Rating: A+
Data Center Location: US, CAN, EUR, ASIA, AUS, South America
Price: $30 mo. – $563 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: No
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: No
Host Multiple Domains: Yes
Hosting Interface: Kinsta Dashboard
Server Uptime: 99.9%
Full Refund Period: 30 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes
Advantages of Choosing Kinsta:
- Specialize in Upscale Managed Hosting
- Choose from 35 Different Data Centers
- Powered by Google Cloud Platform
- Automatic Database Optimization
- Cloudflare Integration Security
- Performance Monitoring Tool
- Server-Level Full Page Caching
- Includes Kinsta CDN
- Auto Wildcard SSL
- Analytics Reports
- Includes DevKinsta for Local Development
Choose Kinsta if:
- You want a faster performing website.
- You want responsive customer support.
- You’re an experienced WordPress user.
- You’re a WordPress developer.
- You’re a WordPress agency.
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How Does Kinsta Compare with Other Web Hosts?
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Recommendation
Overall in this comparison of WordPress.com vs Kinsta, Kinsta is the winner. For premium managed WordPress hosting, they are one of the best choices available.
Kinsta’s features, outstanding website speed and performance, along with their expert customer support make it the better choice for business websites, developers, and particularly those that need multiple website hosting such as WordPress agencies.
The one area where we would recommend WordPress.com is for less experienced WordPress users that only need hosting for a single website and want an easy to use interface for building their site, yet still have excellent features for growing their website.
For most WordPress website situations though, we would recommend Kinsta. See our review ratings below.
- Features: 98%
- Speed and Performance: 99%
- Customer Support: 95%
- Value: 91%
- Started Business: 2013
- Server Uptime: 99.9%
- Money Back Guarantee: 30 Days
- Features: 91%
- Speed and Performance: 98%
- Customer Support: 90%
- Value: 89%
- Started Business: 2005
- Server Uptime: 99.999%
- Money Back Guarantee: 14 Days
