SiteGround vs WPX Hosting: here’s my choice

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Update: This blog currently runs on Rocket.net which is far better than both SitGround and WPX; read my detailed review to know why.

SiteGround (read my review here) has been around since 2004 and hosts over 1.8 million websites currently. Over the years it has grown in popularity by consistently providing quality web hosting services. Often compared with other web hosts such as Bluehost, HostGator, and others it has always come out on top.

WPX Hosting (read my review here) is relatively new and was launched in 2013. WPX provides only managed WordPress hosting and is slightly more expensive than other hosts. However, the quality and features offered by WPX are outstanding.

SiteGround vs WPX Hosting

In this article, I will compare SiteGround and WPX Hosting to help you decide which one is the best for you. Choosing a hosting provider is a critical step before publishing your website. It is much easier to get it right the first time and avoid the hassle of switching hosting providers later. Here are the main factors you should consider when choosing a web host.


How to Choose a Good Hosting Provider

  1. Load Times – This is the most critical factor to consider before you choose a hosting provider. It is important to have your website load fast as this will have an effect on your SEO efforts and your user experience as well. Page speed is now one of the most important ranking factors considered by search engines when ranking websites in search results.
  2. Uptime/Downtime – While most hosting providers will claim a 99.9% uptime guarantee, only a few of them can provide this. Downtime can also have detrimental effects on your SEO efforts. It can also mean lost business and revenue
  3. Security and Backups – Your hosting provider should take care of basic security requirements and ensure their servers are well-secured. Backups are critical for the survival of any website. They should be your first point of fallback should anything go wrong. Make sure your web host offers automated backups. It is also important to consider the frequency of the backups. If you have new content frequently you will need frequent backups.
  4. Customer Support – Consider the support channels offered by the hosting provider and their response times. You will at one point, or another need some support and you don’t want to end up not being able to reach customer support.  
  5. Data Centers – This is not a major risk as it can easily be eliminated by using a CDN. However, it would be better to have your website hosted close to where most of your users are.

Now let’s compare SiteGround and WPX hosting

Load Times

Both SiteGround and WPX use the latest hardware and optimize their servers to deliver lightning speeds for their customers. SiteGround uses SuperCacher to boost the speeds of websites hosted on their servers and WPX hosting uses the WPX Cloud along with the WP CDN.

To make a fair comparison I made an exact copy of my sports site CricketCost.com and tested it on both platforms using GTmetrix.

SiteGround Hosting Speed Test
Results from a site hosted on SiteGround

WPX Hosting Speed Test
Results from a site hosted on WPX Hosting

As you can see, the site hosted on WPX Hosting loaded faster than the site which was hosted on SiteGround.

Winner: WPX Hosting


Uptime

SiteGround offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and WPX Hosting offers a 99.95% uptime guarantee. Both hosts are superb when it comes to uptime.

I’ve been using both platforms for a while now and I can assure you that their uptime guarantee is up to the mark. And I haven’t faced any major downtime.

Winner: Draw


Security and Backups

SiteGround is actively monitoring and preventing any sort of attack that one may face. They have a specialized team that creates advanced security solutions and another team that monitors the entire platform for any threats.

Servers are scanned every second and minor issues are automatically detected and fixed by their smart AI system. The system also blocks several million brute force attempts every day. This helps in preventing unwanted traffic from reaching customer websites.

Daily backups are done automatically, and you can also manually take backups of your website. Free SSL certificates are offered for all their plans.

WPX Hosting just like SiteGround also takes security seriously. Their plans also come with free SSL certificates. The host also offers to remove any malware from your website for free. Basics such as DDoS protection, firewalls, malware scans, WHOIS, and spam filters are all taken care of.

WPX Hosting also offers free automated daily backups and manual backups can also be taken at any time.

Winner: WPX Hosting for offering a free malware removal service


Customer Support

WPX Hosting customer service

WPX Hosting offers customer support through email, chat, and a ticket system. Their average response time is a mere 37 seconds and they have proof of this on their website: you can test it yourself by pinging them live.

Their support agents are experienced in WordPress and they tend to resolve issues in a fast and efficient manner. The only downside is they don’t offer phone support which can be tricky for some people.

SiteGround is also at the forefront of excellent customer support. Their support team undergoes extensive training and any support agent that you contact will be able to resolve issues within minutes.

An extensive knowledge base is also available on the website, which gives users the confidence to resolve minor issues on their own. Support is available via chat, email, ticket, and phone. The average wait time on the phone is 2 minutes and most tickets are answered within 15 minutes.

SiteGround customer service

Winner: SiteGround for offering phone support


Other Factors

  1. Pricing – WPX Hosting plans start at $24 per month which is more expensive than SiteGround. However, with the $24 plan, you can host up to 5 websites. Effectively the cost per website is then $4.8 per website per month. If you choose any other plans or pay yearly this cost will reduce further. SiteGround plans start from $4 per month. The $4 plan will allow you to host one website only. This shows there isn’t much difference in the pricing of the 2 hosts. Renewals on SiteGround are more expensive than the first invoice. Renewals on WPX Hosting are the same price as your first invoice. If you need to host multiple websites WPX might be better suited for you. If you have a single website, then SiteGround might be better suited.
  2. CDN – Content Delivery Networks are vital if you have an audience that is spread over a geographical region. CDNs help your website load faster by storing static copies of your website in various locations throughout the world. This improves the speed of your website. WPX Hosting has its own CDN called WPX Cloud which comes for free with each plan. With SiteGround they don’t have a built-in CDN but offer easy integration with Cloudflare.

Final Verdict

Both SiteGround and WPX Hosting offer stellar hosting services. Most differences are very minor. However, WPX hosting trumps SiteGround when it comes to speed.

If you’re a professional blogger who makes a living from blogs, then go for WPX Hosting. And if you’re a new blogger who wants to save some money, then go for SiteGround.

This blog has been running on WPX Hosting (Currently, Rocket.net) for almost a year now, and personally, I recommend them.

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About

Adithya Shetty is the creator of The Blog Metrics, a site dedicated to WordPress, blogging, and marketing since 2013. He's a Minimalist who loves to read and write.