It’s no secret that I’ve been using the WordPress blogging software for a while and in that time, I’ve gone through a number of hosts as well. Since “Who do you recommend for WordPress hosting?” is a frequent question, I figure it would be a good idea to address it in a blog entry.

Rather than tell you my top pick, I’ll list a few of the hosts I recommend with a short review of each and let you decide which one best suits your needs. Initially, I had planned to split the list into “Recommended” and “Not Recommended”, but due to its length, my server pitched a conniption fit and I’ve had to drop an entire section. (Don’t worry, I’ll do a follow up entry on the hosts I don’t recommend later.)

Now, without further ado, the hosts I recommend in order of recommendation…

Recommended WordPress Hosts

HostGator (4.5/5)

I stumbled onto this web host about two years ago when I was looking for a replacement for the worst host on my not recommended list.

The reason I decided to go with HostGator (HG), besides the price, was the fact that they were a business out of Florida and they had received high praise from many respected online marketers and friends. All I have to say is that was one of the best hosting decisions I’d made in a while.

At the time of this writing, I actually have three accounts with them. Two are shared hosting plans (Baby for $7.95/mo) which I use to host my affiliate websites and one reseller hosting package (Copper for $34.95/mo) which I use to host some of my larger affiliate and content sites.

My current packages include the cPanel account manager, which is fairly common and easy to navigate, unlimited add-on domains/subdomains, email addresses, and databases.

HostGator Control Panel

One thing I should note is that running a mailing list from your HG account may not be an easy task as they limit the number of outgoing messages you send each hour–this is to help curb spammers who may end getting a server blacklisted.

Since I’ve been with HG, I’ve had few problems. When I did have problems, they were all resolved promptly (read: less than an hour each time). Plus, the customer service was always courteous. I learned the hard way that you should go with a host who offers phone support. And as if they weren’t already good enough, they also accept PayPal which makes my life a bit easier.

All of the above is why HG receives my top honours as a hosting provider and is also my top pick. I have no problems recommending them to clients, family, and friends–in fact, it’s who I set my sister up with when she launched her website.

MediaTemple (3.0/5)

This site, along with a number of my other WordPress blogs are currently hosted on MediaTemple (MT) servers.

One thing I need to mention upfront, especially to people who prefer cPanel (a lot of the online tutorials are written for cPanel users), MT uses their own homegrown control panel and it will take some time to get used to.

Media Temple Control Panel

And at the time of this writing, their one-click back-up functionality isn’t yet working–that means you’d need to manually back up your sites’ files and databases. This may be a deal-breaker for some.

With that out of the way, MT certainly is not entirely a budget hosting provider with their cheapest plan at $20/mo, but they do offer good service for the price.

In some cases, though, I believe it could be hit or miss depending on the server your sites land on. For instance, I have two accounts with MT. With one account I’ve not had a single problem since the account opened, ever. Not one. (Knock on wood.)

However, with this account (yes, the one hosting this site along with my design portfolio), I’ve had more problems than I care to recount. To log into my account and review the past tickets (which were all answered within a reasonable amount of time and courteously) would make you shudder.

Yet I would still recommend MT simply because the speed of their servers and their uptime is quite good.

Update: MT started out with a strong 4 out of 5 stars, but they lost an entire point when I found out the hard way that long blog entries simply aren’t welcome. This review started throwing up a 500 Internal Server Error, which had me baffled for a couple hours, once the entry reached a certain character count. Not cool in my book and can seriously hinder some bloggers.

Dreamhost (3.0/5)

Although I canceled my Dreamhost account, I would still recommend them for WordPress hosting. Why? Because the number of problems I had while hosting with them were minimal. My reasons for leaving were simply that my blog had outgrown them.

Like MT, DH has its own homegrown control panel which also worked against them in my opinion. It wasn’t intuitive to me and the learning curve was rather annoying. But, others have said that it grows on you. I hadn’t found this to be my experience because I avoided logging in unless I truly needed to.

One major plus to DH, though, is their newsletter. Yes, you read that right. If you can get their sense of humor, then you will surely enjoy reading it as well. Plus, DH participates and helps fund some altruistic causes so it’s safe to reason you could earn some karma points just from hosting with them.

As for overall performance, I’ve only had a few serious issues with them, but they were all taken care of. In one case, however, it took hours for their support staff to get back to my ticket. When a site had gone offline (for a few hours), I was frantic and had no number to call. A harrowing experience to say the least.

That said, if you truly need telephone tech support, then DH is not your choice.