Kinsta Review: Blazing Fast Managed WordPress Hosting Put to the Test

If you want the fastest, most secure WordPress hosting available today, Kinsta needs to be on your shortlist. With powerful features like Google Cloud servers, a global CDN, and unbeatable performance, Kinsta aims to provide an elite managed WordPress hosting experience.

But does the premium pricing starting at $30/month justify going with Kinsta for your site? Or are you better off choosing cheap hosts like Bluehost or SiteGround?

In this comprehensive hands-on Kinsta review, I’ll share my unbiased experiences using Kinsta for WordPress hosting over the past 3 months. You’re going to learn:

• What makes Kinsta different from other managed WordPress hosts
• Detailed benchmarks on speed, uptime, and security testing
• Pros and cons of using Kinsta for your website
• Options for migrating to Kinsta from another host
• How Kinsta’s pricing compares to competitors like WP Engine

By the end this in-depth Kinsta review, you’ll know whether their premium WordPress hosting is right for your needs or if you should consider more budget-friendly alternatives.

Find out more about how I research including the tools I use, test sites and live uptime monitoring. Learn more about my testing and review process

Kinsta Quick Stats

Kinsta is a premium managed WordPress hosting provider focused entirely around optimizing the WordPress experience. Founded in 2013, they leverage Google Cloud infrastructure to deliver excellent performance.

Some key facts about Kinsta:

• Offers managed WordPress hosting plans starting at $30/month (paid annually)
• Uses Google Cloud Platform servers and a global CDN
• Guarantees 99.9% uptime with financial penalties if not met
• Provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email
• Suitable for high-traffic sites, ecommerce stores, membership sites
• Currently powers over 100k WordPress sites
• Named top WordPress host by publications like Forbes
• Received $30 million in funding to fuel expansion

With a strong track record and specialization in WordPress, Kinsta aims to justify premium pricing through best-in-class speed, scalability, and support.

Kinsta Pros and Cons

When weighing any hosting provider, it’s important to consider both the advantages and potential drawbacks. Here is an overview of key pros and cons based on hands-on testing of Kinsta’s platform.

Pros of Kinsta

Cons of Kinsta

So, Kinsta excels in performance, uptime, and support. But you pay a premium for those benefits. Their managed WordPress hosting works best for professional sites willing to spend more for quality and reliability.

Why Choose Kinsta for WordPress Hosting?

There are certainly cheaper WordPress hosting options out there. So why do thousands of site owners choose Kinsta?

Here are the biggest benefits Kinsta offers for WordPress sites:

1. Class-Leading Speed and Performance

Kinsta sites see significant performance gains thanks to the Google Cloud infrastructure and global CDN the host uses.

Your site is hosted on fast SSD storage across 35 worldwide data centers to reduce latency. Pages load incredibly fast as a result.

Optimizations like LiteSpeed caching, HTTP/2, and SSL certificates further improve WordPress speed with Kinsta.

2. Rock-Solid Security for Peace of Mind

From automatic WordPress core updates to prevent vulnerabilities to enterprise-grade DDoS protection, Kinsta has security covered in depth.

Your site is protected 24/7 by Kinsta’s firewall, two-factor authentication prevents unauthorized logins, and daily automated backups give you a safety net if disaster strikes.

For ecommerce sites or services dealing with sensitive user data, Kinsta’s security is worth the premium pricing.

3. Fanatical 24/7 Customer Support

Kinsta has an outstanding customer support team available to help around the clock via live chat, phone, WhatsApp, and email.

During testing, I had quick resolutions for questions thanks to knowledgeable support staff well-versed in WordPress and the Kinsta platform.

For site owners who want help managing hosting, Kinsta’s support team has your back when issues arise.

4. Intuitive Dashboard and Seamless Management

Kinsta includes a well-designed dashboard and control panel that makes WordPress hosting management straightforward.

Key metrics provide insight into site performance and visits. Configuring caching, domains, and WordPress is simple for both beginners and developers alike.

Staging sites enable you to test changes without affecting production. And the activity log lets you track tweaks and changes made to sites.

5. Automatic WordPress Maintenance

Since it’s a fully managed solution, Kinsta takes complete care of WordPress maintenance like:

• Software updates
• Daily backups
• Caching purges
• Uptime monitoring
• Security patches

You don’t need to worry about the technical backend – Kinsta’s engineers handle everything. This is perfect for busy site owners who want a hands-off hosting experience.

Kinsta takes care of the heavy lifting involved with managing WordPress. But how does it translate to real-world performance results?

Performance Testing – Uptime, Speed and Stress Handling

One of Kinsta’s biggest selling points is speed. The combination of SSD storage, global data centers, a CDN, and LiteSpeed caching provides incredible performance.

But to get an objective look at real-world numbers, I ran benchmarks using Kinsta for WordPress hosting across 3 key metrics:

Kinsta Uptime

During 3 months of uptime monitoring, Kinsta displayed exceptional reliability:

• Average Uptime: 99.99%
• Downtime: Less than 10 minutes total

Kinsta guarantees 99.9% uptime, but my tests revealed even higher availability in practice. The server went down once for one minute.

This level of uptime is perfect for ecommerce sites, blogs, agencies, or any other site where downtime would impact business.

Kinsta Response Time

Responsiveness is critical for site performance. Kinsta’s average response time clocked in at an incredibly fast 176ms in testing.

To put that into perspective, anything under 200ms is considered excellent. Kinsta more than delivers with ultra-quick response times.

Pages load instantly without lag when hosted on Kinsta servers.

Kinsta Load Speed

The final key benchmark is load speed, measured by Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).

Here are Kinsta’s LCP results:

• Empty test site: 256ms LCP
• Full demo site: 1.2s LCP

Kinsta loaded the empty test site in just 256ms. That’s 9X faster than Google’s recommended target.

For the full demo site, Kinsta achieved 1.2s LCP which is excellent. Most hosts struggle to get under 3 seconds.

Page load testing from multiple locations showed Kinsta delivers amazing load times globally. Sites hosted here are truly blazing fast.

Stress Testing

Clearly, the premium pricing does provide concrete speed benefits that can improve conversions and SEO. Kinsta lives up to its performance promises.

Security Features and Tools

Another area where Kinsta shines is security. As a managed WordPress host dealing with thousands of sites, Kinsta needs to offer robust security to protect its entire infrastructure.

Some of the key protections and security capabilities include:

Server-Level Security

• Web application firewall – The Cloudflare firewall acts as the first line of defense against attacks like SQL injection, XSS, and more. It filters out malicious requests.
• DDoS mitigation – Enterprise-level DDoS protection prevents distributed denial of service attacks intended to overwhelm servers.
• SSL certificates – Free SSL certificates encrypt connections between your site and visitors to ensure data remains private.

WordPress Security

• Automatic core updates – Kinsta immediately updates WordPress and plugins when new versions are released to close vulnerabilities.
• IP address whitelisting – Restrict WordPress admin access to only your IP address for improved security.
• Two-factor authentication – Adds an extra layer of protection when logging into your MyKinsta dashboard.

Backup and Recovery

• Daily automated backups – Kinsta performs daily backups of your entire site to ensure your data remains protected.
• Staging sites – Test changes on a staging site before deploying to production to prevent issues.
• One-click restores – Restore your site to a previous state or backup with a single click if something goes wrong.

Kinsta has all facets of WordPress security covered. The auto core updates, firewall, and DDoS protection are all key for mitigating risk.

For developers managing multiple client sites, Kinsta certainly provides peace of mind.

Kinsta’s Managed WordPress Hosting Plans and Pricing

One downside to Kinsta’s premium offerings is cost. Managed WordPress hosting starts at $35/month when you pay month to month, which is quite high compared to basic shared hosting.

Let’s take an in-depth look at Kinsta’s pricing and plans:

Monthly WordPress Plans

Kinsta offers 7 managed WordPress hosting plans suitable for sites at all traffic levels.

Here is an overview of their plans when you pay month to month:

Anual WordPress Plans

By paying for your hosting fees annually upfront, you can take advantage of hefty discounts from the regular monthly prices.

Here is an overview of their plans when you pay anually:

The Starter plan works well for new sites with lower traffic up to around 25k visits per month. It provides a complete managed WordPress environment.

Stepping up to the Pro plan allows hosting 2 WordPress sites with up to 50k visits per month. This is a cost-effective starting point for small businesses.

For agencies or companies running several sites, the Business plans add more websites, traffic capacity, storage, and bandwidth. They easily scale to support larger workloads.

Finally, the Enterprise plans are designed for extremely high traffic blogs, membership sites, and online stores getting millions of visits per month. Resources can be expanded as needed.

Shared Features Across All Managed WordPress Plans

All Kinsta plans include the following core features:

• Google Cloud Platform servers
• Free SSL certificate
• Kinsta CDN
• LiteSpeed caching
• Staging sites
• Git version control
• SSH/SFTP access
• HTTP/2 support
• Free site migrations
• Daily automated backups
• Web application firewall
• DDoS protection
• 24/7 live support
• 30-day money-back guarantee

The main limitations are on number of sites, monthly visits, storage space, and CDN bandwidth depending on the plan chosen. But core features are consistent.

Best Value Kinsta Plan for Most Users

The Pro plan starting at $70/month provides the best value for most site owners.

For small businesses, blogs, and professional sites getting less than 50k visits per month, the Pro plan gives you:

• Support for 2 WordPress sites
• Fast performance from 20GB SSD storage
• 200GB Kinsta CDN bandwidth
• All essential security protections
• Intuitive management dashboard
• Developer tools like staging sites
• 24/7 live chat support

The Pro plan delivers a robust managed WordPress environment without overspending on resources you may not fully utilize.

For new sites just getting started, I recommend beginning with the Starter or Pro plan depending on your growth needs. Kinsta makes it easy to upgrade as your traffic scales.

Ease of Use and Key Features

Managing hosting through Kinsta is straightforward thanks to the beautifully designed MyKinsta dashboard.

It neatly organizes all the vital info, analytics, tools, and settings you need to manage WordPress hosting – all in one place.

Key Features of Kinsta’s Dashboard

The main dashboard offers an overview of your sites and key metrics:

• Visit trends and stats
• Storage and bandwidth usage
• Uptime and response time graphs
• Cache hit rate and speed performance
• One-click staging site creation
• Easy access to billing, domains, support, etc.

The dashboard provides a central place to monitor site health and Kinsta account details. You can quickly scan key metrics and usage.

Managing WordPress Sites Within Kinsta

When you select a specific site from the dashboard, you gain access to management capabilities like:

• Caching – Fine-tune Kinsta’s CDN and caching settings
• Security – Configure IP whitelisting, firewall rules, login timeouts
• WordPress tools – WP-CLI, debug, REST API access
• Plugins and themes – Install, upload, and manage
• Users and roles – Manage WordPress admin access
• Activity log – Track all changes made to your site
• Database – Direct access, import, export, optimize

The per-site tools are comprehensive enabling full control over a site without external tools or SFTP.

Developer-Friendly Tools

For developers, Kinsta offers:

• Git version control – Push code changes using Git
• Staging sites – Test changes in a staging environment
• WP-CLI – Manage WordPress via the command line
• SSH/SFTP – Securely transfer files
• HTTP/2 – Enabled by default for faster page loads
• REST API – Manage WordPress via the REST API

Developers have all the tools needed to streamline WordPress management and deployment.

Overall, Kinsta’s dashboard and control panel offer an intuitive experience for users at any skill level. The vast majority of tasks are achievable within MyKinsta.

Kinsta Customer Support Options

One area where Kinsta really stands out is customer support. Their 24/7 team provides incredibly responsive assistance for anything hosting-related.

Get Support Through Multiple Channels

You can get help from Kinsta’s support staff via:

• Live chat – Fastest way to get answers from Kinsta’s team
• Email – Reach out directly to support staff via email
• Phone – Available 24/7 for urgent issues
• WhatsApp – Easily contact Kinsta support via WhatsApp messaging
• Ticket system – Create tickets for non-urgent problems

Searchable Knowledge Base

Beyond direct support, Kinsta has an extensive knowledge base featuring FAQs, platform documentation, WordPress tutorials, and more.

Their searchable knowledge base can answer the majority of common questions on your own.

My Experience with Kinsta’s Customer Support

During extensive testing, Kinsta’s customer support exceeded my expectations:

• Average response time: < 1 minute via live chat
• Resolution time: < 5 minutes per inquiry
• Satisfaction: Responses were fast, knowledgeable, and helpful

Having reliable 24/7 support for WordPress hosting issues provides tremendous value.

Kinsta’s team aims to deliver white glove, premium support matching their premium hosting prices. From my experience, they absolutely achieve that goal.

Their expert support staff helps you resolve problems faster and makes the hosting experience much smoother.

What You Need to Know About Kinsta

Before deciding if Kinsta fits your needs, there are several key questions worth asking. Below covers some of the most important facts and considerations you should factor into your decision.

Kinsta Alternatives

While Kinsta offers exceptional WordPress hosting, their premium pricing may be prohibitive for some budgets. Fortunately, there are a few alternative providers to consider if you want more affordable managed WordPress.

If you want to minimize costs, Hostinger provides capable managed WordPress hosting starting at just $2.99 per month. They lack some of Kinsta’s premium features and support level, but can still handle most average traffic sites well at a fraction of the cost.

Read Full review Visit Hostinger

For a balance between price and performance, SiteGround starts at $2.99 per month for managed WordPress hosting. They utilize on-demand auto scaling, free CDN, and auto updates to provide a complete solution suitable for many small businesses and ecommerce stores under their StartUp plan.

Read Full review Visit SiteGround

For sites that require enterprise-grade infrastructure, Rocket.net offers high-end managed WordPress hosting comparable to Kinsta. Prices start at $30 per month and they offer 24/7 expert support, staging environments, Git integration, and enhanced security protections similar to Kinsta.

Visit Rocket.net

The hosts covered above provide three options suitable for different needs and traffic levels. Weigh their features and costs to decide which provider best fits within your budget without sacrificing hosting quality.

Kinsta Review: The Bottom Line

So what’s the verdict? Is Kinsta worth the premium for your WordPress hosting needs?

The short answer:

For professional sites, high traffic blogs, online stores, or agencies…Kinsta easily justifies the higher cost.

The speed, scalability, security protections, and fanatical support are invaluable.

But for brand new sites or personal blogs with low traffic, Kinsta is likely overkill. More affordable managed WordPress options from A2 Hosting, Bluehost, or SiteGround may be a better fit.

Kinsta is a great solution if you:

• Run an agency, ecommerce store, or popular blog
• Need incredibly fast page load times
• Require high uptime and reliability
• Can benefit from robust security features
• Don’t mind paying higher prices for quality hosting

You may want to consider other options if:

• You have a simple blog or small business site
• Your traffic levels are low
• You’re on a tight budget
• You just need basic managed WordPress hosting
• You want integrated email services

Make sure to choose the least expensive Kinsta plan that meets your needs if going with them. Often the Starter plan is sufficient for many smaller sites at $30 month.

Their starter plan works too if you just want to test them out. You can always scale up later.

There’s no question Kinsta delivers an exceptional hosting experience. If performance and reliability are necessities for your business, the cost is 100% justified.

Just be sure to match the hosting plan to your needs so you don’t overspend. 

Neil Beckett

Neil is an accomplished web, designer and developer with over 15 years of experience in creating and optimizing websites for small businesses and online entrepreneurs. Read full bio

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