When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, big names such as WP Engine and FlyWheel will be the first in your mind. I recently came across Kinsta and I realized that there aren’t many Kinsta WordPress hosting reviews out there.
You see, I have a thing for web hosting and I love trying out new hosting services. Yes, I tried out Kinsta by hosting my new project, Hostingify and I was instantly hooked! Of course, more on that later.
Let’s go right into the introduction and the review, shall we?
What is Kinsta WordPress hosting?
Here’s a fact — Kinsta isn’t the most popular WordPress hosting in town because there are other big players in the industry who are offering better prices.
So, what Kinsta did was simple. They revamped their pricing strategy and makes it more affordable for people like you and me.
Kinsta doesn’t only offer WordPress hosting, they are the first of its kind to offer managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud Platform. As a result, your website will load faster (like seriously fast).
Premium WordPress hosting for everyone, small or large
Kinsta is a managed WordPress hosting provider where we take care of all your needs regarding your website. We run our services on cutting edge technology and take support seriously. View Kinsta plans here.
Kinsta WordPress Hosting Review
Why should I be using Kinsta WordPress hosting? Continue reading to find out more!
What does Kinsta offers?
Just like any other managed WordPress hosting, Kinsta offers a nice set of features which will make your website management life much easier.
Kinsta managed WordPress hosting comes with several plans, and each of the plan comes with specific features such as security, fast loading speed and daily backups.
Kinsta offers a worry-free managed hosting so that you can leave all the website hosting matters to Kinsta — and focus on your business.
Kinsta offers reliability, performance and security under one roof. It’s custom-built infrastructure along with Google Cloud Platform allows websites to load at blazing fast speed and scalability.
Kinsta WordPress hosting review: How fast is Kinsta?
When I choose a web host, my biggest concern is the speed and I will test it out to ensure that my site is loading fast (thus, happier website visitors).
In this Kinsta WordPress hosting review, I believe it is only fair for me to include my speed test results using Kinsta.
I started with a brand new website and installed the basic theme, along with three plugins (Hello Dolly, Akismet and Jetpack).
0.7 seconds website loading speed tested on GTMetrix
550 ms (0.55 seconds) website loading speed tested on Pingdom
W-O-W!
I know a lot of shared web hosting in the market is not able to perform at this speed. Sure, you may debate that the page size is smaller than most standard websites but website loading speed under 1 second is definitely something to shout about.
How to setup website on Kinsta?
Setting up a website is always the hardest part. With Kinsta managed WordPress hosting, you can easily migrate websites to Kinsta or create a brand new one from scratch.
Follow these steps to get started on Kinsta.
1. Getting started on Kinsta
Kinsta dashboard is the first thing you will see when you login to the backend.
Kinsta management dashboard is beautiful and it is very easy to use. You need to click on the “Add Website” button to add your first website to Kinsta managed WordPress hosting.
This is what you will see after clicking on the “Add Website” button.
2. Creating a new account and choosing the datacenter
The next step is to create a new account for your site. This is what it looks like by default.
Kinsta runs on Google Cloud Platform. Therefore, you can easily choose different datacenters closest to your target audience.
You can choose to host your website from 15 different datacenters around the world
The next step is to name the instance, selecting the custom domain option and the decision on installing WordPress to your site’s account.
Note from the editor
Do not forget to select “Add a brand new WordPress install” if you are adding a fresh website to your Kinsta account.
3. Describe your new site
Enter the details of your new site and you can select additional options such as multisite, installing WooCommerce and installing Yoast SEO plugin by default.
Once the setup is done, click on the “Add” button Kinsta will automatically create the new site for you. This is what you will see.
4. Migrating website to Kinsta
Already have a website and want to migrate to Kinsta?
Use Kinsta free migration service to migrate your site over!
Every new Kinsta account is entitle for one free migration. If you need help migrating your site to Kinsta, you can request the free migration service through the Kinsta management dashboard.
5. Kinsta DNS
This Kinsta managed WordPress hosting review is not complete without mentioning Kinsta DNS service.
What is Kinsta DNS and how it works? See the image below.
Using Kinsta DNS is a great way to make sure your website connection is always safe and reduce the chances of server downtime.
It is recommended for you to use Kinsta DNS
Changing record is important to use Kinsta DNS
Changing A record using Kinsta DNS
How to change CNAME record using Kinsta DNS
6. Kinsta Content Delivery Network (Kinsta CDN)
Once your website is propagated correctly to Kinsta DNS, the best way to speed up your site is through enabling Kinsta CDN. Kinsta CDN is a free service that comes with all Kinsta packages.
Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review
Once you have finished all the steps above, you have successfully create a new site (or add a site) to your Kinsta hosting.
But wait, that’s not all!
Kinsta managed WordPress hosting comes with several features which are extremely important.
As you can see above, there are several options in the Tools segment including:
I love the way user interface and friendliness of the Kinsta management system or dashboard as it makes is super easy for beginners to manage their websites.
Backup and restore easily using Kinsta
Kinsta allows you to easily manage all your backups through a simple, single platform.
Kinsta redirect rule (as easy as 1, 2 and 3)
Need to do a redirection from www to non-www, or vice versa? You can easily do so using Kinsta redirect rule option!
This is the sample of how I redirect from www to non-www using Kinsta
Kinsta plugin updater
This is where Kinsta shine as no other managed WordPress hosting offers this feature.
You can easily update and manage all your website plugins on Kinsta website management dashboard. This is extremely useful if you are managing multiple websites at the same time.
Kinsta staging environment
Last but not least, Kinsta staging environment puts Kinsta on par with major managed WordPress hosting providers such as WP Engine.
You can easily create and clone websites on Kinsta with just a few clicks — You don’t have to worry that you break the side or simply for testing purposes.
Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Pricing
How much does Kinsta managed WordPress hosting costs? The smallest plan starts at $30 per month that comes with all the features such as Kinsta DNS and Kinsta CDN.
You can see the full pricing table here.
Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Is Kinsta worth it?
Being a competitive and demanding website owners, I got to admit that Kinsta certainly ‘wows’ me in certain ways. As a matter of fact, I’m surprised with the server performance by Kinsta as well as the support level of the crew.
If you are looking for a managed WordPress hosting that is affordable and powerful, take a look at Kinsta and see what it can do for you today!
