Managed vs Unmanaged Hosting: What Each Includes, Real Prices, and the Hourly-Rate Decision
Managed hosting (Kinsta, DreamPress, SiteGround) handles OS, backups, and WordPress-aware support. Unmanaged VPS (Hetzner Cloud) gives you root SSH and the rest is on you. Here is the price-vs-time framework with sourced numbers.
What "managed" includes
Managed WordPress hosting — Kinsta, DreamHost's DreamPress, SiteGround's GrowBig+ tiers — bundles four things you would otherwise own yourself. (1) OS patching and PHP-version upgrades. (2) Automated backups with one-click restore (DreamPress includes nightly automated backups; Kinsta includes daily). (3) Staging environments, so a plugin update can be tested before going live. (4) Support staff trained on WordPress specifically (vs generic Linux support). The vendor takes responsibility for everything below the theme/plugin layer.
What "unmanaged" leaves to you
Unmanaged VPS — Hetzner Cloud is the price benchmark — gives you a Linux box and a root SSH key. Hetzner publishes CX22 (2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD) at €3.79/mo and CCX13 (dedicated 2 vCPU / 8 GB RAM) at €27.49/mo (per hetzner.com/cloud). On top of that you install nginx or Caddy, configure PHP-FPM or your application's runtime, set up fail2ban and automatic security updates, run your own backup cron (rsync to off-site, restic to a Hetzner Storage Box), and respond to incidents yourself. The trade-off is total control plus a price 3–10× cheaper than managed equivalents.
Real published prices for both ends
Managed entry: Kinsta Single $35/mo (1 site, 35k visits, 10 GB storage, 125 GB CDN — per kinsta.com/plans); DreamPress Basic $19.95/mo annual-only (100k visits, 30 GB — per dreamhost.com/hosting); SiteGround GrowBig intro $4.99/mo / renewal $29.99/mo (50 GB, unlimited sites, staging — per siteground.com/web-hosting.htm). Unmanaged entry: Hetzner CX22 €3.79/mo (per hetzner.com/cloud). The price gap is real, and it covers ops labor.
The hourly-rate decision
Managed hosting saves a few hours a month of routine maintenance — OS patching, backup verification, plugin/PHP updates, and the occasional incident. The breakeven depends on your billable rate. If your time is worth $30/hr and managed hosting saves 4 hours a month, that is $120 of saved time against the ~$30/mo price gap between Hetzner CX22 and Kinsta Single. The math favours managed for anyone whose hourly rate is above the price gap divided by saved hours. For developers learning ops, dev environments, or side projects without revenue, the math reverses.
Why "partially managed" is the worst middle ground
Bluehost's Basic and DreamHost's Shared Starter offer some convenience features (one-click WordPress install, basic backup) without the full managed suite (no staging environments, no CDN bundled, no WordPress-specific support). Their pricing reflects that — Bluehost Basic intro $2.95/mo / renewal $11.99/mo; DreamHost Shared Starter intro $2.59/mo / renewal $10.99/mo. For a serious WordPress site, paying $11/mo at renewal for partially managed hosting is worse value than paying $35/mo for fully managed Kinsta or paying €3.79/mo for unmanaged Hetzner and doing the work.
When the WordPress.org recommendation matters
WordPress.org's official Hosting page lists four recommended hosts: Bluehost, DreamHost, Pressable, and SiteGround (per wordpress.org/hosting). Recommendation does not mean endorsement of any specific tier — it means the vendor meets the WordPress Foundation's documentation requirements. Of the four, DreamHost has the smallest intro-to-renewal jump and a published 100% uptime guarantee, making it the recommendation-status pick for buyers who want a published SLA without fully-managed pricing.
Sources
Kinsta plans: kinsta.com/plans. Kinsta SLA: kinsta.com/legal/sla. Hetzner Cloud pricing: hetzner.com/cloud. SiteGround pricing: siteground.com/web-hosting.htm. Bluehost pricing: bluehost.com/pricing. DreamHost pricing: dreamhost.com/hosting. DreamHost 100% uptime: dreamhost.com/legal/100-uptime-guarantee. WordPress.org recommended hosts: wordpress.org/hosting. All URLs accessed 2026-04-30.