$101-200/Month WordPress Hosting Performance Benchmarks 2021

$101-200/Month WordPress Hosting Performance Benchmarks 2021

Please read the Methodology to fully understand the scope of these tests.

Note: Please check company profiles for summary of performances across multiple tiers. Some companies also offer promotions or coupon codes for a discount as well.

Cloudways competed with a VULTR HF 16GB.

The Companies and Products

CompanyPlan Monthly PricePlan Visitors AllowedPlan MemoryPlan Disk SpacePlan BandwidthPlan Sites Allowed
A2Hosting $189.99Unlimited16G250GBUnlimitedUnlimited
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic $159Unlimited (absolute maximum depends on available plan resources and code of the hosted websites)Based on usage. Up to 16 GiBBased on usage. Up to 40 GB UnlimitedUnlimited
Cloudways $160Unlimited16GB384GB5TBUnlimited
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic CHF 133Unlimited (absolute maximum depends on available plan resources and code of the hosted websites)Based on usage. Up to 16 GiBBased on usage. Up to 40 GBUnlimitedUnlimited
Pressable $155400,000256GB50GBUnlimited20
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic BRL 960Unlimited (absolute maximum depends on available plan resources and code of the hosted websites)Based on usage. Up to 16 GiBBased on usage. Up to 40 GBUnlimitedUnlimited
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic $199Unlimited (absolute maximum depends on available plan resources and code of the hosted websites)16 GiB30 GiBUnlimitedUnlimited
Servebolt $128.001 000 000 Dynamic RequestsUnmetered4 GB (+flex)Unmetered3 (+ unlimited dev environments)
SiteGround $190No hard limit. Unlimited 12GB RAM80GB SpaceUnlimitedUnlimited
View Full Products Table

LoadStorm Testing Results

Load Storm is designed to simulate real users visiting the site, logging in and browsing. It tests uncached performance.

Results Table

CompanyTotal RequestsTotal ErrorsPeak RpsAverage RpsPeak Response TimeAverage Response TimeTotal Data TransferredPeak ThroughputAverage ThroughputWp-login Average Response Time
A2Hosting 99552114586790.80553.071741056241.7433231044
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 1013917722789.72563.291548010247.233726458
Cloudways 8707020697.20483.72539461040.113222.281226
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 1089893669875.58605.501508810247.053926477
Pressable 229381901814.421274.34705111870.895839.38259
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 1026390954810.95570.221504811846.233726656
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 1020001278794.43566.67151167647.2937.1926.27258
Servebolt 132016421015.87733.42150926243.453424.14191
SiteGround 8934639698.30496.371436220940.033222.24164

Discussion

CloudJiffy, Infomaniak, Pressable, SaveInCloud, Scaleforce, Servebolt, and SiteGround all handled this test without issue.

Cloudways slowed down substantially during the test. A2 Hosting had wp-login security issues which couldn't be worked around causing errors.

K6 Static Testing Results

K6 Static test is designed to test cached performance by repeatedly requesting the homepage.

Results Table

CompanyRequestsErrorsPeak RpsAverage Response TimeAverage RpsP95P99
A2Hosting 1203899026631221322236236
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 133160519029331514656673
Cloudways 1194589026311311313275275
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 133435920029561314666568
Pressable 1334948129571314597676
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 133378229029361414646464
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 1336707029581114694242
Servebolt 13120700288230144357131
SiteGround 102630431932319112012711647

Discussion

A2Hosting, CloudJiffy, Cloudways, Infomaniak, Pressable, SaveInCloud, Scaleforce and Servebolt had no issues with this test.

SiteGround slowed down substantially as the test went on.

Uptime Testing Results

Uptime is monitored by two companies: HetrixTools and Uptime Robot. A self hosted monitor was also run in case there was a major discrepancy between the two third party monitors.

Results Table

CompanyUptime RobotHetrixAlt Uptime Monitor
A2Hosting 99.99499.9835
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 85.06100100
Cloudways 10099.9994
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 85.058100100
Pressable 100100
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 85.04399.990899.854
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 100100
Servebolt 10099.9988
SiteGround 100100

Discussion

A2Hosting, Cloudways, Pressable, Scaleforce, Servebolt and SiteGround all had 99.9% uptime or higher.

CloudJiffy, Infomaniak and SaveInCloud all suffered the same SSL renewal error which caused downtime.

WebPageTest Testing Results

WebPageTest fully loads the homepage and records how long it takes from 12 different locations around the world. Result are measured in seconds.

Results Table

CompanyVirginiaCaliforniaSalt Lake CityLondonFrankfurtCape TownSingaporeMumbaiTokyoSydneyBrazilDubaiAverage
A2Hosting 0.7730.8110.9770.8680.8431.4031.4281.441.1521.271.0231.2441.102666667
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 1.231.2021.430.7180.5730.9371.2261.4441.6541.7841.4561.7211.28125
Cloudways 0.6980.7960.8850.8140.8421.3081.2551.3681.0241.2310.9531.1021.023
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 0.8570.8441.570.6660.6491.0621.2671.2191.6251.8521.5271.7151.23775
Pressable 1.0051.1311.2691.1321.0852.7941.7151.9081.4951.7371.3121.7551.528166667
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 0.8421.3490.9310.790.9941.7661.9453.3371.7950.9740.6722.4141.484083333
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 1.0630.9771.3220.6460.6271.0391.0870.931.3721.3961.2161.0851.063333333
Servebolt 0.4280.3340.6670.4170.3270.4240.7150.5640.5940.3760.1990.5250.4641666667
SiteGround 0.8770.8760.9081.0881.191.6721.6771.9751.1931.5141.2371.5661.314416667

Discussion

It's rare I say there was an obvious winner because I'm not sure it's happened before. Servebolt was the fastest in every single location tested.

This price tier's WPT result is perhaps the least chaotic I've seen to date with companies generally staying relative to one another in so many locations.

WPPerformanceTester Testing Results

WPPerformanceTester performs two benchmarks. One is a WordPress (WP Bench) and the other is a PHP Bench. WP Bench measures how many WP queries per second and higher tends to be better (varies considerably by architecture). PHP Bench performs a lot of computational and some database operations which are measured in seconds to complete. Lower PHP Bench is better.

Results Table

CompanyPHP BenchWP Bench
A2Hosting 4.2971855.28757
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 9.523914.9130833
Cloudways 8.209981.3542689
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 8.3161666.666667
Pressable 4.1231519.756839
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 10.283630.1197227
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 8.0261062.699256
Servebolt 3.2471862.197393
SiteGround 7.8331367.989056

Discussion

Servebolt is the only company who has broken sub 4 seconds on PHP Bench. A2 and Pressable are close behind on the PHP Bench. Servebolt just slightly edged out A2 Hosting by 7 queries per second on having the fastest WP Bench in this price tier.

SSL Testing Results

The tool is available at https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/

Results Table

CompanyQualsys SSL Grade
A2Hosting A
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic A
Cloudways B
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic A
Pressable A
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic A
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic A
Servebolt A+
SiteGround A

Discussion

A's for almost everyone. A+ for Servebolt. Cloudways earned a B for supporting older TLS versions.

Internet.nl Testing Results

The tool is available at https://internet.nl/test-site/.

Results Table

CompanyInternet.nl
A2Hosting 35
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic 28
Cloudways 43
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic 28
Pressable 50
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic 6
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic 45
Servebolt 68
SiteGround 30

Discussion

Servebolt had the highest score at 68. SaveInCloud scored 6.

I'm not sure how much value there is in this metric, but the results are here for people to look at and evaluate for themselves.

Mozilla Observatory Testing Results

The tool is available at https://observatory.mozilla.org/.

Results Table

CompanyMozilla Observatory
A2Hosting F
CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic F
Cloudways F
Infomaniak powered by Jelastic F
Pressable F
SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic F
Scaleforce powered by Jelastic F
Servebolt D+
SiteGround F

Discussion

And the winner is... Servebolt with a D+ edging out every other company with F's.

I really don't know what to make of these results, when most companies are failing, I have to consider whether the test is useful, or are many companies not doing a good job securing the servers or are these measuring things which are beyond the hosting provider's scope and more on the user? Or is it something else? I don't have an answer, but I am publishing the results to add another data point to the discussion.

Conclusion

There are two levels of recognition awarded to companies that participate in the tests. There is no ‘best’ declared, it’s simply tiered, it’s hard to come up with an objective ranking system because of the complex nature of hosting. These tests also don’t take into account outside factors such as reviews, support, and features. It is simply testing performance as described in the methodology.

Top Tier

This year's Top Tier WordPress Hosting Performance Award goes to the following companies who showed virtually no signs of struggle during the testing.


Honorable Mention

The following companies earned Honorable Mention status because they did very well and had a minor issue or two holding them back from earning Top Tier status.


Individual Host Analysis

A2Hosting put on a good show with 99.9% uptime. It had very fast WP and PHP Bench scores. A2Hosting had the third fastest average response time on WPT. K6 test went smoothly. Sadly, we didn't get a clean Load Storm test and wp-login security measures prevented us from seeing how good the product might truly be. Potential for an award winning product limited by security measures.
Visit A2Hosting Website
CloudJiffy had good Load Tests with K6 being 15ms average response time. Unfortunately, along with two of its Jelastic powered peers, it suffered from an SSL bug which caused downtime dropping it below the 99.9% uptime level required to earn any recognition. One bug away from potentially earning Top Tier marks.
Visit CloudJiffy powered by Jelastic Website
Cloudways had a pretty good run this year. 99.999% uptime. Cloudways had the second fastest average response time on the WPT results. The K6 test was smooth. The problem was Load Storm results held it back this year, while having no errors, the performance slowed down considerably with wp-login response times of 1226ms and average response time going over 1000ms for a while during the test. A little bit better on the Load Storm test and there would be awards being handed out.
Visit Cloudways Website
Infomaniak was the second fastest response time on K6 (tie) and did well on Load Storm. Unfortunately, along with two of its Jelastic powered peers, it suffered from an SSL bug which caused downtime dropping it below the 99.9% uptime level required to earn any recognition. One bug away from potentially earning Top Tier marks.
Visit Infomaniak powered by Jelastic Website
Pressable delivered a Top Tier performance. 100% uptime. 1 error across all the load tests. It had the second (tie) fastest K6 average response time. It had the second fastest PHP Bench. Overall an excellent job.
Visit Pressable Website
SaveInCloud did well on the load tests with a remarkably fast 14ms average response time on K6. Unfortunately, along with two of its Jelastic powered peers, it suffered from an SSL bug which caused downtime dropping it below the 99.9% uptime level required to earn any recognition. One bug away from potentially earning Top Tier marks.
Visit SaveInCloud powered by Jelastic Website
Scaleforce earned Top Tier award this year. Scaleforce had the fastest K6 response time (and at P95/P99 levels). They also managed the second fastest average response time on Load Storm. Throw in some perfect uptime and you've got yourself a Top Tier performance. Well done.
Visit Scaleforce powered by Jelastic Website
Servebolt earns a Top Tier mark again this year. 99.99% uptime. The fastest average response time on Load Storm (and second fastest wp-login). K6 was smooth. Servebolt had the best scores compared to others in this tier on the WPT test in all 12 locations and the fastest PHP and WP Bench scores. Overall, a very impressive showing at this tier.
Visit Servebolt Website
SiteGround earned an Honorable Mention. The Uptime was a perfect 100%. The Load Storm test went smoothly and they had the fastest wp-login response time. However, the K6 test slowed the server down.
Visit SiteGround Website

About the Author

Kevin Ohashi

Kevin Ohashi is the geek-in-charge at Review Signal. He is passionate about making data meaningful for consumers. Kevin is based in Washington, DC.

Recommended Articles

Want updates sent to your email?

Subscribe to our Newsletter