When you’re running a monetized website, a good website hosting service is essential. And Nexcess is hands-down the best we’ve tested.
Problems like laggy site speeds and protracted downtime are more than just a headache — they actively eat into your bottom line.
When most people start a new site, they opt for a good shared hosting package. Shared hosting means that your site is on the same server as dozens of other websites.
This brings affordable price points, making it the most accessible hosting option for a new project.
But you also have to handle a lot of things yourself. Updating WordPress, updating plugins, keeping an eye on security — it can be a lot to deal with.
Managed WordPress hosting is an alternative option that takes care of tasks like this for you, freeing you up to focus on running your business.
Nexcess managed hosting is one of the most popular options out there, especially for small businesses.
Of course, like any good entrepreneur, you want to do your due diligence before clicking the “buy” button on any product.
Enter this Nexcess managed hosting review, based on my experiences with this web hosting company.
Originally published on January 25th, 2021, this article was updated and republished on September 10th, 2024.
Quick Overview
Don’t have time to read the full article? The TL;DR is that Nexcess web hosting is an excellent, accessible, and affordable managed hosting provider.
For one, Nexcess’ pricing plans really have something for everybody. With eight tiers ranging from $19/month to $999/month, you’re sure to find a Nexcess plan that suits your needs and budget.
The features Nexcess hosting offers are also second to none. As well as being incredibly easy to navigate and use, this provider promises basically 100% uptime. That means no site outages or delays.
And if you’re looking to open up an online store, Nexcess has thoughtfully designed plans for you. With partnerships with ecommerce platforms like Magento and WooCommerce, it’s wonderfully simple to set up and run a thriving ecommerce website.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Extremely intuitive and quick to set up | Free domain name isn’t included |
| Great customer support | |
| Constant uptime and zero lags | |
| E-commerce features |
Why I Tried Nexcess Hosting
I made the decision to try HTE’s hosting on a managed hosting plan from Nexcess.
I’d been using a different host for four years, Siteground, with generally good service. However, there were two issues that led to me shopping around for a new web host.
- My old hosting service moved my site from its own servers to a white-labeled version of Google Cloud instead. I really don’t want my site hosted by Google at all. In fact, I was honestly a little insulted that they did this without giving me any notice, and without my approval.
- Their servers kept going down, taking our site with them. The HTE website was repeatedly down for hours at a time. Our entire business operates online, so this is just plain unacceptable.
When I was looking for new hosting, there were a few key features I wanted:
- Helpful, responsive 24/7 support
- Fast, secure, and stable in-house servers
- No traffic limits or overage charges. Some hosting companies — including the one I was with in the past — will throttle your site abruptly if your traffic climbs over the limit. Nexcess never does this.
- Automatic, daily website backups
- The ability to use a staging site to test out major changes safely
My last hosting company didn’t manage my hosting; it was just a shared hosting package.
Honestly, I’d never even known how much I was missing by not using managed WordPress hosting.
I used Nexcess for years and can’t ever imagine going back to hosting that I need to manage myself.
I was very impressed with Nexcess’s team. It’s large enough to provide impeccable support and server management, but at the same time, it didn’t feel like a faceless corporate entity or treat me as a statistic.
What is Managed WordPress Hosting?
Odds are, you’re currently using shared hosting, whether you are aware of it or not.
Shared hosting packages are an excellent choice for getting started and getting your site off the ground.
But as your business grows and your traffic keeps climbing, you’ll find that eventually, you need to go a step further with your hosting.
Managed hosting is what it sounds like — the hosting company takes a far more active role in managing and maintaining your site, giving you a lot less to juggle and worry about.
Some of the things they’ll take care of for you include:
- Making sure your site is backed up
- Updating your themes and plugins regularly
- Keeping an eye on your site’s security
- Speeding up your site
You’ve either been doing this stuff on your own, or worse, not at all.
Your job is to run and grow your business, not learn how to maintain servers.
Why You Should Try Managed Hosting
If you’ve got a successful site and you’ve been using shared hosting, there’s no better time than now to make the switch to a managed WordPress hosting package from Nexcess.
Little to No Downtime
Ever run into unexpected downtime, when your site just won’t load, because of something on the server end of things?
It’s a massive pain, and even with a quality shared hosting plan from a good provider, it can still happen every now and again. In many cases, it’s because your site has more traffic than the server can manage.
With managed hosting, this doesn’t happen.
Speeds up your WordPress Site
Managed WordPress hosting from Nexcess is designed specifically for WordPress sites. Everything is optimized for WordPress specifically, keeping your site loading fast.
Faster loading times create a seamless user experience. If things take more than a second or two to load, users often bounce. This is especially important for ecommerce — people won’t wait around for things to load when they could go to a competitor.
Fast load times reassure customers that your site is legitimate and trustworthy — something that’s super important when they’re giving you their credit card info.
Get On-demand Specialized Support
With managed hosting from Nexcess, you’ll get support from trained, experienced WordPress experts with the knowledge to troubleshoot just about any problem that might come up.
Having the support reps trained on a specific CMS — in this case, WordPress — is a huge advantage.
Nexcess Features: What You’ll Get
Nexcess is ideal for “mission critical” businesses, where any website downtime is guaranteed to eat into your bottom line. They have the robust infrastructure to handle the demands of a business that relies on their website for revenue.
Their hosting plans include a suite of great features:
- 14-day free trial for WordPress plans (no credit card required)
- High-speed performance and zero downtime
- Free SSL certificate
- Amazing 24/7 technical support
- Automatic WordPress core & plugin updates
- Free site migrations
- Multi-layered caching
- Security and malware monitoring
- Multi-site management dashboard
- No traffic overages or limits, with automatic scaling
- Automatic image compression
- Multiple site management tools
- Daily backups
- Development tools such as Git, WP-CLI and SSH
For larger operations with more unique requirements, Nexcess offers additional customized solutions.
Here’s a closer look at Nexcess’ standout features.
Nexcess Hosting Management
When it comes to simplicity and functionality, Nexcess’s user interface hits the mark. The platform offers a native dashboard that doubles as your website management hub, making it a breeze to manage your site whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned pro.
Navigating between your account and hosting settings is smooth and intuitive. You just need to click “Plans” to get to the control panel, which is your go-to place for managing everything website-related.
The Nexcess control panel is packed with valuable features while still being easy to use. They include:
- Performance Metrics: Under “Performance,” you can monitor storage and bandwidth usage, clear caches, and more. This section is essentially key for keeping an eye on how your site is running..
- Email Management: Find “Email” for creating and managing mailboxes and aliases in just a couple of clicks.
- Staging and Development Environments: Under “Environment,” you get access to a staging area where you can test out new themes, plugins, and layouts without impacting your live site.
Nexcess Performance and Speed
It’s no secret that downtime and website lags are revenue killers. If they happen too often, they can even harm your business’ reputation!
Thankfully, Nexcess is reliable in this area. I tested out the provider over three months and, in that time, our site didn’t go down once.
Page load time also remained consistently fast, between 0-1 seconds throughout our tests.
Nexcess Security
With Nexcess, you won’t have to worry about manually backing up your data. The provider delivers 30 days of automatic backups without you having to click a button. All this data is stored on remote servers, too, which enhances security.
On top of that, Nexcess throws in automatic malware monitoring at no extra cost. Their plans come packed with a free web application firewall (WAF), daily scanning, and anti-spam features. And let’s not forget the free SSL certificate—this encrypts the data flowing between your server and your visitors, keeping everything secure and confidential.
In short, Nexcess has you covered with robust security features, so you can focus on your business without sweating the details of cybersecurity.
Nexcess Customer Support
Nexcess’ customer support team is, in a word, brilliant. With 24/7 support 365 days a year, this provider makes sure you’re never stuck with a problem for too long.
Even though I didn’t have any problems using Nexcess, I tested out the support team’s response time by asking a couple of configuration questions. First, I tried the live chat feature. A support representative replied within roughly 90 seconds, and my query was answered in under five minutes.
On the phone, Nexcess’s support team is also responsive and helpful. I spoke with a representative in two minutes, and my question was answered instantly.
In addition, if you’re not satisfied with Nexcess for any reason, the provider also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try out the hosting provider in depth before really committing.
Plans & Pricing: Find Your Perfect Managed Hosting Package
Nexcess offers three different pricing tiers, starting at just $19/month and going up from there.
They’re owned by a company called Liquid Web. Their slogan is “The Most Helpful Humans in Hosting,” and they really do live up to that promise. They own data centers in eight different locations, in both the US and internationally.
Nexcess Managed Hosting Pricing Plans
Nexcess offers a selection of different pricing plans for managed WordPress hosting, starting at just $19 a month.
These prices are based on a monthly subscription, but if you pay annually, you’ll get 2 months free.
| Package | Spark | Maker | Designer | Builder | Producer | Executive | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of websites | 1 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 250 |
| Storage | 15 GB | 40 GB | 60 GB | 100 GB | 300 GB | 500 GB | 800 GB |
| Bandwidth | 2 TB | 3 TB | 4 TB | 5 TB | 5 TB | 10 TB | 10 TB |
| Staging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days | Every 30 Days |
| Email accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Monthly Price | $19 | $79 | $109 | $149 | $299 | $549 | $999 |
Nexcess Pricing Plans for WooCommerce Sites
Nexcess also offers a suite of plans specifically for online retailers using WooCommerce for WordPress.
| Starter | Creator | Merchant | Standard | Growth | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of stores | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Storage | 30 GB | 60 GB | 100 GB | 300 GB | 500 GB | 800 GB |
| Recommended volume of orders per hour | Up to 500 | Up to 1,000 | Up to 2,500 | Up to 3,000 | Up to 5,000 | Up to 10,000 |
| Bandwidth | 3 TB | 5 TB | 5 TB | 5 TB | 10 TB | 10 TB |
| Monthly Price (based on annual plan) | $15 | $65 | $124 | $249 | $457 | $832 |
Summing up
Ultimately, I can’t praise Nexcess enough. This hosting provider is super affordable and reliable, with a great user experience. Whether you’re just diving into the world of managed web hosting or want a solution that’s both simple and powerful, Nexxus is sure to hit the mark.
