Choosing the right managed WordPress hosting can be a tough call for any website owner.
Kinsta and Flywheel are both frontrunners in this space, offering top-notch services that cater to varied needs.
This blog post will navigate through their differences, helping you pinpoint which host might be the perfect fit for your site’s demands.
Key Takeaways
- Kinsta offers a range of plans with the Google Cloud Platform and includes performance tools like an Application Performance Monitoring tool. They provide daily backups, free CDN, and multiple language support.
- Flywheel caters to agencies and freelancers with tools for easy site management and migrations. Their plans start at $13 per month, offering features like free nightly backups and local development environment.
- Both Kinsta and Flywheel offer automatic WordPress updates, one-click staging areas, 24/7 customer support, and security features like malware scanning. However, their pricing models differ based on visits allowed per month and optional add-ons.
Brief Overview: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Locked in an epic battle for WordPress hosting supremacy, Kinsta and Flywheel each bring their A-game to the table.
As specialists in managed hosting solutions designed exclusively for the world’s favorite content management system, they understand that uptime, speed, and security are at the core of any successful website experience.
Kinsta flexes its muscles with a tech stack that’s as robust as they come—thanks to Google Cloud Platform’s premium tier network—and offers plans bursting at the seams with a range of performance-enhancing features.
Not to be outdone, Flywheel sports a suite tailored more toward designers and agencies, emphasizing collaboration tools like Local by Flywheel for streamlined local development workflows.
Both make managing WordPress sites less of a chore and more of a strategic endeavor with added perks like daily backups and one-click staging environments.
It’s clear: whether you’re scaling up or just starting out, these hosts have your back every step of the way.
Comparing Key Features
When diving into the nitty-gritty of managed WordPress hosting, Kinsta and Flywheel both bring compelling features to the table.
In this showdown, we’re zeroing in on how their key attributes stack up—in areas like performance enhancements, security protocols, and tools that make developers’ lives easier.
Performance features
Kinsta and Flywheel turbocharge WordPress sites with Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure.
They both come with built-in CDNs, making your site faster for visitors around the world.
Kinsta steps up the game by partnering with Cloudflare, providing an extra shield against threats and speeding up load times even more.
Peek under the hood, and you’ll find Kinsta’s secret weapon – its Application Performance Monitoring tool.
This feature gives you a detailed view of how well your website is doing.
It helps you pinpoint any issues that could slow down your site, so you can fix them quickly and keep your pages zooming along at top speed.
Flywheel Content Delivery Network is powered by Fastly.
Flywheel’s CDN is designed to improve the speed, efficiency, and security of websites by leveraging numerous data centers spread across the globe.
Flywheel’s CDN is integrated with WordPress and offers full-page caching, which includes the full HTML of your pages, reducing the time to first byte and improving SEO.
Flywheel’s CDN also offers a custom-built hosting dashboard that makes managing your website(s) much easier, collaboration tools for teams, seamless staging and backups, and outstanding customer support to assist you with any questions or issues you may face.
By leveraging Flywheel’s CDN, you can cache more content, reduce the volume of requests to your origin servers, and achieve lower cloud spend with less variability.
Additionally, Flywheel’s CDN integration helps to speed up the delivery of content to users across the globe, resulting in a faster and more optimized user experience
Overall, both hosts give you pretty good performance features out of the box.
Security and reliability features
Kinsta and Flywheel keep your WordPress sites safe and running smoothly.
They both offer automatic daily backups, so you don’t have to worry about losing your work.
If something goes wrong, on-demand backups are there for you to get back on track quickly.
Your data stays secure off-site too, giving you extra peace of mind.
These hosts protect your site with proactive firewalls and scan regularly for malware, blocking harmful threats before they do damage.
Every plan comes with a free SSL certificate, keeping visitors’ connections to your site private and secure.
For an added layer of security, two-factor authentication makes sure it’s really you logging in.
Development workflows
Flywheel gears up web designers with tools designed for crafting client websites seamlessly.
From staging to live, developers work through each step worry-free and efficiently.
Kinsta takes a different approach, providing its custom dashboard that streamlines the creation of staging environments.
This feature proves vital for development workflows, ensuring changes can be tested without affecting the live site.
Each hosting service includes local development tools that offer a sandbox for experimenting and perfecting sites before they go public.
With Kinsta’s integration of PHP 8.1 support and performance monitoring on all plans, developers get cutting-edge technology at their fingertips.
Flywheel’s focus remains on simplifying tasks like creating backup points and pushing updates, which resonate well with those managing multiple client projects.
Unique Features: Kinsta
Kinsta teams up with Cloudflare to provide top-notch infrastructure.
This means faster load times and better security for your website.
Cloud hosting gives you access to powerful tools, like an integrated CDN, automatic SSL setup, and the latest HTTP/3 support.
Your site stays safe behind a strong firewall that blocks unwanted traffic.
Looking deeper into how your site runs?
Kinsta’s APM tool steps in.
It reveals what’s happening under the hood so you can find issues fast and keep your pages zipping along.
Need to try new ideas safely? The staging area is perfect for this, complete with user roles and logs of every change made.
Plus, Kinsta’s ten pricing plans bring lots of choices; they even toss in two free months if you pay annually!
Unique Features: Flywheel
Flywheel’s Growth Suite gears up agencies with an impressive hosting toolbox.
It blends client management, billing, and site performance under one roof.
This saves time and streamlines workflows like a well-oiled machine.
Designers can use Flywheel to set up demo sites quickly or reuse site blueprints for new projects.
Plus, they have the power to hand off billing to clients easily without hassle.
And for those wanting to expand their business horizon, white labeling allows them to sell hosting services under their own brand name – that’s like having your cake and eating it too!
Their Local development tool is a real game-changer for building websites offline.
It’s user-friendly and makes pushing sites live astonishingly simple.
Just fill out a short form, hit “CREATE SITE,” and you’re on your way – no tech wizardry needed!
This feature is also available with Kinsta which is in the form of DevKinsta.
Kinsta vs Flywheel: Performance and Speed Comparison
When choosing a managed WordPress hosting provider, performance and speed are often top priorities for website owners.
In the digital race, every millisecond counts, so let’s see how Kinsta and Flywheel stack up against each other.
| Aspect | Kinsta | Flywheel |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Google Cloud Platform | Flywheel Cloud Platform |
| Average Load Time | Slightly slower than Flywheel | Marginally faster load times |
| Server-Level Caching | Yes, with Cloudflare integration | Yes, with FlyCache technology |
| Content Delivery Network (CDN) | Cloudflare | Fastly |
| PHP Version | 7.4, 8.0 (default), 8.1 support | 7.4, 8.0 support |
| Data Center Locations | 28 global locations | 5 Datacenters |
| Page Caching | Automatic, also allows purging | Automatic, with server-side optimization |
| Resource Scaling | Auto-scalable CPU and RAM | Quickly scalable, especially for traffic spikes |
| Performance Analytics | Detailed insights with MyKinsta dashboard | Insights provided within the Flywheel dashboard |
Both Kinsta and Flywheel deliver robust solutions that cater to speed-hungry websites, with slight variations that could tilt the scales depending on your precise needs.
Allocate time to scrutinize these differences as they could substantially influence your site’s performance.
User Experience: A Look at the Dashboards
Let’s dive into the user experiences offered by Kinsta’s and Flywheel’s dashboards and reveal how these platforms aim to transform complexity into clarity.
Kinsta hosting dashboard
Kinsta’s MyKinsta dashboard is a control center for your websites.
It shows how much disk space and other resources you’re using.
You can see all the details about your sites on the SITES page.
This makes it easy to track how things are running.
You can also manage users here, setting different permissions for team members.
The activity log keeps track of all that happens, so nothing slips by.
You can also manage your WordPress databases, apps, and any web project with your own Dockerfile.
With MyKinsta, moving your site is simple.
Kinsta’s dashboard includes a Migrations menu too.
This makes it simple for users to move individual sites around, including free migrations if you’re coming from WP Engine or Flywheel.
Choose between two migration options: Premium for hands-off help or Basic if you want to do it yourself.
Keep an eye on everything with ease from this single, powerful dashboard.
The MyKinsta dashboard is easy to use and provides a seamless experience, allowing even those with limited technical knowledge to navigate and control their projects.
The dashboard’s intuitive design and clear organization make it easy to find and access the desired features.
Flywheel hosting dashboard
Flywheel’s dashboard offers a different approach, focusing on simplicity and organization.
All your sites pop up in one list with filters to help find what you need fast.
Just click on a site to access tools like backups or check detailed analytics.
Flywheel makes it simple to keep everything in check without getting lost in too many details.
You can easily navigate through different sections like site statistics, billing information, and backups without feeling overwhelmed.
They have a colorful interface that shows you everything at a glance – from your site’s performance to recent activity.
Getting things done is quick with Flywheel.
There’s no digging around for tools or settings.
If you need to create a new WordPress install, it’s just a few clicks away.
Managing databases or accessing SFTP is also straightforward, making tasks like updating content or installing plugins hassle-free.
Pricing Models
Exploring the pricing models of Kinsta and Flywheel reveals a fascinating landscape of cost versus value, where understanding overage fees and the nuances of each plan could mean significant savings for your website.
Kinsta pricing
Kinsta offers a range of managed WordPress hosting plans to fit various needs and budgets.
You can start with their entry-level plan at $30 per month, which is great for small websites or blogs.
As your site grows, you might consider higher-tier plans.
These go up to $1,500 per month for enterprise-level solutions that handle millions of visits.
You won’t have to worry about hitting traffic limits without notice either.
Kinsta charges an overage fee of only $1 per extra 1,000 visits, which is half the cost compared to some competitors like WP Engine.
Plus, if you choose annual billing, Kinsta gives you two months free—a nice saving for long-term planning!
Flywheel pricing
Flywheel’s pricing starts out gentle on your wallet, with their Tiny plan costing just $13 each month.
It’s a solid choice if you’re running a smaller site and need quality hosting without the hefty price tag.
However, keep an eye on your site’s traffic and storage use.
The Tiny plan is priced is ideal for small, simple installs.
However, it comes with a limit of 5,000 monthly visits, 5GB of storage, and 20GB of bandwidth
If a site exceeds these limits, Flywheel charges overage fees for additional visits and storage.
This plan may not be suitable for sites with higher traffic or storage needs.
Additionally, the Tiny plan only allows for one WordPress site, which may be a limitation for users who need to host multiple sites.
Therefore, it’s important for users to assess their specific needs and consider these limitations before choosing the Tiny plan.
You’ll also spend another $10 monthly for every website that needs a CDN to deliver content faster around the globe.
This can quickly add up, so it’s crucial to factor these potential extras into your budget planning.
Which is why we consider the Starter Plan suitable for most beginners as the Tiny Plan is just too limited for our liking.
Overage fees
Watch out for overage fees with both Kinsta and Flywheel.
You’ll get charged if your website goes over the set number of visitors allowed in your hosting plan.
For every 1,000 extra visitors, Kinsta and Flywheel add $1 to your bill.
These fees can add up quickly, so keep an eye on your site’s traffic.
Make sure you know your site’s limits on visits, storage, and bandwidth too.
If you go past those limits each month, expect additional charges.
With Kinsta charging less than WP Engine for visitor count overages – only $1 versus WP Engine’s $2 per 1,000 visits – it pays to understand these details when choosing a managed WordPress host.
Add-Ons
Kinsta and Flywheel both let you add extra features to your hosting plans.
These add-ons can boost your website’s power or increase how much you can do with your plan.
Kinsta shines here, giving you more choices to fit what your site needs.
You might pick from additional backup options, more security for keeping hackers out, or special tools for developers.
Some of the add-ons available with Kinsta include:
- Nginx Reverse Proxy: This add-on supports loading WordPress from a subdirectory while a separate website is hosted on the root domain.
- Redis: A powerful in-memory data store that can be used as a caching layer, database, and message broker.
- Automatic External Backups: Kinsta provides reliable backup solutions, including a 6-hour backup add-on for quick data recovery.
- Plugin and Theme Management: Kinsta allows users to manage their site’s themes and plugins directly from the MyKinsta dashboard, with certain restrictions on the use of specific plugins for performance and security reasons.
- Gmail Add-Ons: Kinsta also offers Gmail add-ons and extensions to enhance email productivity, such as Gmelius and Sortd.
These add-ons are designed to supercharge websites hosted on Kinsta, providing additional features, security, and performance enhancements.
Flywheel has its own set of extras too.
They help make managing a WordPress multisite easier and adding a content delivery network (CDN) faster.
This is great if you need to reach people all over the world quickly with your website’s pages and posts.
The available add-ons include Performance Insights, Managed Plugin Updates, and some other Custom Add-ons.
Performance Insights provides monthly reports on your site’s performance, highlighting areas of improvement and actionable recommendations.
Managed Plugin Updates combines AI technology with WordPress experts to manage plugin updates, ensuring your site stays up-to-date and secure.
Custom Add-ons are also available, and you can contact Flywheel’s product specialists for more details.
With these add-ons, both hosts try hard to make sure they have something for everyone—no matter what kind of site you’re running!
Comparing Customer Support Services
Flywheel steps up the game for agencies with phone support, but you’ll need one of their bigger plans to dial in.
Whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, both Kinsta and Flywheel have your back with round-the-clock live chat help.
They know problems don’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule.
Live chat teams are ready to jump on any issue, from site hiccups to full-blown crashes.
Need help? Just reach out.
These pros are like website guardians: always there, fiercely protecting your digital turf against unwanted bugs and glitches.
Overall, both companies offer excellent support so we couldn’t really pick a winner.
However, it is worth mentioning that Kinsta doesn’t have an option for phone support, instead you can only get Live Chat support.
Kinsta vs Flywheel: Which Offers Better Language Support?
Kinsta stands out with its multilingual support.
They help customers in several languages including English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
This makes it easier for more people to use their services confidently.
On the other hand, Flywheel keeps it simple by offering support solely in English.
While this might work for many users, those who prefer other languages might find Kinsta more accommodating.
If you’re comfortable with English only, both options are fine.
But if you need help in another language, Kinsta is likely the better choice.
Their team is ready to assist in multiple languages which can be a big plus for non-English speakers looking for quality WordPress hosting.
WordPress Website Migrations: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Kinsta and Flywheel both make moving your WordPress site easy, but they do it in slightly different ways.
Kinsta offers unlimited free migrations from any web host, handled by their expert team to ensure a smooth transition with hardly any downtime.
They’ve successfully moved over 2100 sites in just the last three months and offer this free service for any number of sites across all their plans.
Flywheel, meanwhile, gives you the tools to move your site yourself with their Flywheel Migrations plugin, along with options for using third-party plugins like WP Migrate Pro or WP Migrate Lite and Local.
You can keep an eye on the migration process yourself, and Flywheel’s support team is on standby to help out if you need it.
Both services provide dependable and user-friendly migration solutions, with Kinsta focusing on professional migrations and Flywheel blending do-it-yourself with professional support.
WordPress Website Backups: Kinsta vs Flywheel
When looking at how Kinsta and Flywheel handle backups for WordPress sites, there are a few key points to note:
Backup Frequency
- Kinsta automatically backs up your site every day and gives you the choice to add more frequent backups—every hour or every 6 hours—as extra services.
- Flywheel sticks to nightly backups but doesn’t offer the option for storing backups externally.
Backup Storage
- Depending on which plan you choose with Kinsta, your backups will be kept for either 14 to 30 days. They also allow you to use an add-on to save your backups on Amazon S3 or Google Cloud for extra security.
- The duration for which Flywheel keeps backups is about 30 days.
In short, Kinsta offers more options when it comes to how often and where your site’s backups are stored, providing add-ons for more frequent and external backups.
Flywheel keeps it simple with nightly backups but doesn’t support external backup storage.
WordPress Software Updates: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Back in the day, one of the perks of managed WordPress hosting was handling WordPress software updates, which set it apart from more affordable shared hosting options.
Nowadays, WordPress itself offers automatic updates for its software, themes, and plugins.
But there’s a twist with Flywheel: for an $8 monthly fee per site, they’ll take over managing your plugin updates.
This service isn’t just about convenience; it adds a layer of safety by testing updates before applying them.
Flywheel uses visual regression testing to check your site before and after updates.
If any problems pop up, they’ll revert your site to its previous state and alert their support team to fix the issue.
On the other hand, Kinsta doesn’t offer this specific service.
So, you’re left with two choices: let WordPress auto-update or handle updates manually.
If you go manual, it’s wise to back up your site first.
That way, if updates cause any trouble, you can easily restore your site to its former glory.
Staging Sites: Kinsta vs Flywheel
When developing or updating a WordPress site, having access to a staging environment is crucial.
This feature allows you to test changes and updates without affecting the live site.
Both Kinsta and Flywheel understand this need and offer staging solutions, but they approach it in slightly different ways.
Kinsta’s Staging Environment
Kinsta provides a one-click staging environment across all its plans, making it incredibly easy to clone your live site for testing purposes.
The staging area is fully isolated from your live site, ensuring that any changes made during testing won’t impact your site’s visitors.
Once you’re satisfied with the updates, Kinsta allows you to push changes from staging to live with just a few clicks.
This seamless integration between staging and live environments simplifies the development process, especially for major updates or site overhauls.
Flywheel’s Staging Solution
Flywheel also offers a one-click staging feature, emphasizing ease of use and efficiency.
Similar to Kinsta, the staging site on Flywheel is completely separate from the live version, providing a safe space for testing.
Flywheel stands out with its Local development tool, which complements the staging feature by allowing developers to work on sites locally on their computers before pushing changes to the staging site.
This combination of Local and staging provides a robust development workflow, particularly beneficial for designers and developers looking for more granular control over their site’s development process.
Disallowed Plugins: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Both Kinsta and Flywheel, like many hosting providers, have specific lists of plugins that aren’t allowed on the websites they host.
This is usually because these plugins can cause performance issues or conflicts with the hosting environment.
Often, the features offered by these disallowed plugins, like backups and caching, are already provided by the hosting services themselves.
To see which plugins are not permitted, you can check out the detailed lists on the Flywheel and Kinsta websites.
WordPress Themes: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Kinsta doesn’t offer WordPress themes directly. Instead, they focus on providing top-notch hosting services and let you choose any theme you like. You can upload themes from developers worldwide or use ones from marketplaces like ThemeForest.
Flywheel teams up with the Genesis Framework and offers StudioPress themes for free with their plans. This is a big plus if you’re looking for high-quality, professional-looking designs right out of the box.
Customers love using StudioPress themes on Flywheel because they are reliable and come with great support. With Kinsta, you have complete freedom to pick your favorite theme and customize it as much as you want.
Both options are great depending on what’s important to you: a wide selection of themes or a premium set included in your hosting plan.
Analytics: Kinsta vs Flywheel
Kinsta and Flywheel both give you tools to track your website’s performance.
With these analytics, you can see how many people visit your site, where they come from, and which pages they like best.
You’ll also find data on how well your site loads for visitors.
This helps you make smart decisions about improvements or changes to keep things running fast.
The dashboards at Kinsta and Flywheel display different graphs and numbers in a clear way.
They show uptime percentages, resource usage, response times, and more.
If your site gets really busy or if something unusual happens, these details help you understand what’s going on.
Final Thoughts on Kinsta vs. Flywheel
Kinsta’s strength lies in its high-performance hosting environment, powered by the Google Cloud Platform, making it an excellent choice for websites where speed and reliability are paramount.
With its extensive global network of data centers, Kinsta is well-suited for businesses targeting a global audience, ensuring fast loading times worldwide.
The platform’s emphasis on security and expert-led migrations also makes it a reliable choice for large-scale websites or businesses with critical operations online.
Flywheel, on the other hand, shines with its user-friendly approach, making it ideal for freelancers, agencies, and designers.
The integration of the Local development tool and the focus on collaboration features are significant advantages for teams working on multiple WordPress sites.
Flywheel’s pricing structure, offering a more affordable entry-level plan, can be attractive for new websites or those with lower traffic volumes.
Recommendations for Specific Types of Users or Websites
- For Large Businesses and High-Traffic Websites: Kinsta’s scalable infrastructure and advanced security features make it the preferred choice for large businesses and websites experiencing high volumes of traffic. The ability to choose from a wide range of data centers also helps in optimizing site performance for a global audience.
- For Freelancers, Designers, and Agencies: Flywheel’s user-friendly interface, collaboration tools, and the Local development environment make it an excellent choice for web professionals managing multiple WordPress sites for clients. The white-label option and reseller hosting capabilities further enhance its appeal to this audience.
- For Startups and Small Businesses: Startups and small businesses looking for cost-effective yet reliable hosting might find Flywheel’s entry-level plan more appealing. As the business grows, migrating to a higher-tier plan or even switching to Kinsta for enhanced performance and features could be considered.
- For Developers and Technical Users: Users who prefer a hands-on approach to site management and customization might lean towards Kinsta for its developer-friendly tools and advanced site management capabilities.
FAQ’s
Is Kinsta a reliable hosting provider?
Yes, Kinsta is considered a highly reliable hosting provider.
It utilizes the Google Cloud Platform to ensure high performance and speed, offering a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
With its focus on security, daily backups, and expert support, Kinsta is trusted by businesses of all sizes for hosting WordPress sites.
Is Flywheel hosting worth it?
Flywheel hosting is definitely worth considering, especially for freelancers, agencies, and web designers.
Its user-friendly interface, collaboration tools, and the Local by Flywheel development tool make it a great choice for those managing multiple WordPress sites.
Additionally, its performance, security features, and customer support add value to its hosting plans.
What is the alternative to Flywheel?
A popular alternative to Flywheel is WP Engine.
Similar to Flywheel, WP Engine specializes in managed WordPress hosting and offers a range of features designed for WordPress users, including staging environments, daily backups, and a suite of performance and security tools.
Both cater to a similar audience but may differ in specific offerings and pricing structures.
What are the benefits of Kinsta?
Kinsta offers several benefits, including:
- High-speed performance leveraging the Google Cloud Platform
- A secure hosting environment with proactive security measures
- Daily backups and easy restoration options
- A developer-friendly platform with tools like SSH access, Git, and staging environments
- Expert 24/7 support for all users
- A global network of data centers for faster website loading times worldwide
Who uses Kinsta?
Kinsta is used by a wide range of users, from bloggers and small business owners to large enterprises and eCommerce sites.
Its scalable hosting solutions cater to websites of all sizes and types, particularly those that prioritize reliability, security, and speed.
Agencies and developers also appreciate Kinsta for its advanced features and tools.
Is Kinsta only for WordPress?
Yes, Kinsta is exclusively a managed WordPress hosting provider.
It specializes in WordPress and is optimized for running WordPress websites efficiently.
This focus allows Kinsta to offer specialized services and support tailored to the unique requirements of WordPress site owners.