A2 Hosting vs Flywheel (2023)

How does the managed WordPress hosting from A2 Hosting compare with Flywheel? A2 Hosting is a great all around web host, while Flywheel specializes in managed WordPress. In this comparison, we specifically focus on how A2’s managed WordPress hosting plan matches up with Flywheel’s hosting.

A2 Hosting vs Flywheel Details

Category	A2 Hosting	Flywheel	Comments
Setup
Control Panel
Data Centers			Flywheel has data centers in New York, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Singapore.
Website Speed
Security Features			Flywheel provides Free SSL and Hacker-Free Security.
Data Backup and Restore			With Flywheel you get Automated Nightly Backups Stored 30 Days and Snapshot Capability.
Automatic Updates			Tie.
Servers			Flywheel uses VPS Servers.
Network
WordPress Development			Flywheel includes Billing Transfer and Site Cloning.
SSL			Flywheel provides free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.
Hosting Features			With A2 Hosting you get Unlimited Email and Plesk Functionality.
Resources
Staging			Available with Personal and Professional plans.
Customer Support			Flywheel focuses exclusively on WordPress.
Money Back Guarantee			A2 Hosting offers their Anytime Money Back Guarantee.
Price/Value

Website Staging

Flywheel definitely has one of the best and easiest to use website staging features. When we initially tested out Flywheel a couple of years ago, the staging feature was still consider in beta—though it worked perfectly for me. We’re happy to see that the one-click staging is now fully in production—though sadly, it is no longer available in the Tiny plan. While A2 Hosting also provides website staging, they utilize Plesk features which require more setup and work on your part. Therefore, Flywheel is the winner in this category.

Data Backup and Restore

When it comes to data backup and restore, Flywheel again is the winner. With Flywheel, you get automatic nightly backups stored off-site which you can restore with a single click. A2 Hosting offers data backups via Dropbox, however you are again required to do more work on your part as you need to create a Dropbox account on your own before using the service. Flywheel definitely gets the advantage in this category as well.

Customer Support

Both A2 Hosting and Flywheel provide excellent customer support. At this time though, it appears that the support staff at A2 are still getting accustomed to the managed hosting plan features. Since Flywheel focuses exclusively on WordPress, each support agent is well-versed in managed WordPress support. So although A2 Hosting has better live chat support availability, we give Flywheel the edge when it comes to support.