Kinsta vs Nexcess – “The Better Choice for…”

Kinsta vs Nexcess

95.8 %

Overall Score

Kinsta vs Nexcess

98.8 %

Overall Score

Kinsta is a premium managed WordPress hosting provider known for its high-performance services tailored to businesses, developers, and agencies. It uses Google Cloud’s infrastructure to offer fast and reliable hosting, focusing on optimized speed, security, and customer support. Kinsta is ideal for those who need top-tier performance and scalability, offering features like automatic backups, staging environments, and a user-friendly dashboard.

Nexcess, a division of Liquid Web, provides managed hosting for a wide variety of platforms, including WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento. Nexcess focuses on providing robust eCommerce hosting solutions with built-in optimization for scaling online stores. It offers managed hosting for developers and businesses looking for high performance, with tools like automatic updates, staging environments, and content delivery networks (CDNs).

Kinsta and Nexcess both offer high-performance managed hosting, but Kinsta specializes in premium WordPress hosting with top-tier performance and support. Nexcess, on the other hand, excels in eCommerce hosting, particularly for WooCommerce and Magento. Kinsta’s pricing is higher, reflecting its premium service, while Nexcess offers more flexible plans, catering to a broader range of businesses.

Kinsta

Performance: |5.0| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kinsta offers exceptional performance with its managed WordPress hosting, leveraging Google Cloud’s infrastructure to provide fast loading speeds, scalability, and reliability. Its use of advanced caching technologies and a content delivery network (CDN) ensures optimal performance even during traffic spikes.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kinsta guarantees an uptime of 99.9%, backed by proactive monitoring and automatic failovers. With Google Cloud infrastructure, it ensures high availability and minimizes downtime, providing a reliable hosting experience.

Customer Service: |4.8|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kinsta is known for its exceptional customer service, offering 24/7 support via live chat with expert WordPress developers. Their team is highly skilled in handling complex technical issues, providing fast and effective resolutions. Additionally, Kinsta offers a comprehensive knowledge base and personalized support for high-tier plans.

GoDaddy

Performance: |4.8| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nexcess delivers strong performance for both WordPress and eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce and Magento. With optimized servers, a global CDN, and auto-scaling capabilities, it provides reliable speed and performance, especially for online stores that need to handle high traffic and large product catalogs.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nexcess also guarantees 99.9% uptime, supported by its robust infrastructure and proactive monitoring. Its cloud-based systems and auto-scaling features help maintain reliability and ensure minimal disruption for both websites and eCommerce stores.

Customer Service: |4.7|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nexcess also provides 24/7 customer support through live chat, email, and phone. Their team is experienced in WordPress, WooCommerce, and other platforms, offering quick troubleshooting and technical assistance. Nexcess is praised for its dedicated support for eCommerce businesses and offers a detailed knowledge base for self-service.

Comparison: Both Kinsta and Nexcess offer strong customer support, with Kinsta emphasizing WordPress-specific expertise and personalized assistance for premium clients. Nexcess provides more versatile support across various platforms, particularly for eCommerce, ensuring businesses of all types receive the help they need.

Overall Comparison Kinsta vs Nexcess

Both Nexcess and Kinsta offer premium managed WordPress hosting designed for individuals and businesses. When investing in a premium service, you expect top-notch quality, so I compared these providers to determine which delivers the best value.

I evaluated pricing, performance, features, and more. The verdict? While it was a close contest, Nexcess stands out by providing more practical, time-saving WordPress features and greater resources—all at a lower cost than Kinsta.

Feature KinstaNexcess
Hosting Type Managed WordPress Hosting Managed Hosting for multiple platforms
(WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.)
Infrastructure Google Cloud Cloud-based infrastructure with auto-scaling
Performance High-speed with advanced caching and CDN Optimized for eCommerce with CDN and auto-scaling
Uptime Guarantee 99.9% uptime 99.9% uptime
Customer Support 24/7 expert WordPress support via live chat 24/7 support through live chat, email, and phone
Backup Daily automatic backups Automatic backups with 30-day retention
SSL Certificates Free SSL certificatesFree SSL certificates
Staging Environment Available for testing and updates Available for testing and updates
Pricing Premium pricing for higher performance Flexible pricing plans for various business needs
Ideal for Businesses, agencies, and developers
needing premium WordPress hosting
E-commerce businesses, particularly WooCommerce
and Magento users

1. Plans and Pricing

Nexcess Offers More Resources for Less Money

As previously mentioned, both Nexcess and Kinsta specialize in managed WordPress hosting, but they offer more than just that. Nexcess also provides managed WooCommerce, managed Magento, cloud hosting, and enterprise hosting solutions. On the other hand, Kinsta offers cloud-based application and database hosting as part of its services.

Plan TypeKinsta Nexcess
Pricing Premium pricing, higher cost for advanced featuresFlexible pricing, more budget-friendly options
Basic Plan Starting Price $35/month$15/month
Most Popular Plan $75/month $19/month
Enterprise Plan Custom pricing, starts around $600/month Custom pricing, starts around $500/month
Free Trial No free trial 14-day free trial available

Both Nexcess and Kinsta offer monthly and annual subscription options. Nexcess offers seven managed WordPress plans, whereas Kinsta provides ten options. However, Nexcess is notably more affordable, with its basic Spark plan priced at just ₹1025 per month, compared to Kinsta’s Starter plan at ₹586 per month. Both hosts include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Despite its lower cost, Nexcess provides more generous resources. Kinsta’s Starter plan offers 10GB of SSD storage and 25,000 monthly visits, whereas Nexcess gives 15GB of SSD storage and a robust 2TB of bandwidth, with no limits on monthly visits.

Kinsta provides two free months with annual billing, but this doesn’t give it a pricing advantage. While Nexcess’ new customer discount isn’t as large, it still offers lower overall prices.

So, who wins in this category? It’s clearly Nexcess—cheaper and offering more value for your money than Kinsta.

Hosting Management

FeatureKinsta Nexcess
Control Panel Custom dashboard for WordPress management Custom dashboard with multi-platform support
Managed Updates Automatic updates for WordPress and plugins Automatic updates for WordPress,
WooCommerce, and Magento
Backup Management Daily automatic backups with 30-day retention Automatic backups with 30-day retention
Staging Environment Available for all plans Available for all plans
Performance Optimization Built-in caching, CDN, and performance tools Optimized servers, caching, and CDN for eCommerce
Security FeaturesFree SSL, DDoS protection, and malware scanning Free SSL, server-side security, and monitoring
Scalability Auto-scaling based on traffic Auto-scaling for traffic spikes, especially for eCommerce
Server Monitoring24/7 server monitoring and proactive alerts 24/7 monitoring and proactive alerts
Support for Multiple Websites Yes, depending on the plan Yes, depending on the plan

2. Features

Nexcess Offers Free Unlimited Email – Kinsta Lacks Email Hosting Completely

Both Nexcess and Kinsta provide key features such as free SSL certificates, SSD storage, automatic daily backups, and staging environments. However, when it comes to WordPress management, the two hosts start to differ.

Nexcess provides AI-driven plugin updates. When a plugin update is released, a clone of your site is automatically created, and the update is tested. If no issues are found, it’s then applied to your live site, with ongoing performance monitoring after the update.

Kinsta also allows you to test plugin updates safely, but the process is manual. It automatically creates a site clone with the plugin, but you’ll need to check for issues yourself.

Kinsta excels in other areas, such as checking your site for issues every 2 minutes. If your site goes down, immediate action is taken to restore it. Nexcess provides 24/7 server monitoring, but does not indicate how frequently it checks for issues or how quickly it responds.

The key distinction, however, is that Nexcess includes free email hosting, whereas Kinsta does not provide email hosting at all. If email is crucial for your operations, you’ll need to pay for a third-party service with Kinsta, adding to its already higher costs.

For a more in-depth comparison, see the table below.

FeatureKinstaNexcess
Hosting TypesManaged WordPress Hosting Managed Hosting for WordPress, WooCommerce,
Magento, and more
Free Domain
Free SSL Certificate
Disk Space10 GB – 250 GB15 GB – 800 GB
Bandwidth25,000 monthly visits – 2,500,000 monthly visits2TB – 10TB
Automatic Backups
Control PanelMyKinstaNexcess Client Portal
Email AccountsNo email serviceUnlimited
Free CDN
Free Site Migration
Money-Back Guarantee30 days30 days
InfrastructureGoogle Cloud Infrastructure Cloud-based infrastructure with auto-scaling
CachingAdvanced Caching for speed optimization Built-in caching and optimization for eCommerce
CDN supportBuilt-in CDN for faster loading Global CDN and performance optimization tools
SupportPremium Support with WordPress Experts 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone

While both hosts excel in managed WordPress features, Nexcess takes the win in this round due to its included email hosting, which is a highly valuable addition.

3. Performance

Kinsta vs Nexcess: Speed and Performance

Nexcess operates a total of 10 data centers, with six in the US, three in Europe, and one in Australia. In contrast, Kinsta boasts 35 data centers across the globe, including nine in the US, two in Canada, 10 in Europe, two in Australia, one in Israel, nine in Asia, and two in South America.

To enhance its coverage, Kinsta provides free access to the premium Cloudflare Enterprise CDN with all plans. This ensures that your site’s assets are cached across Cloudflare’s global network of 275+ cities, helping visitors load your site quickly, even if they’re far from your selected data center.

While Nexcess also offers its proprietary Edge CDN, it doesn’t match Cloudflare Enterprise in terms of global reach. However, it does improve performance with over 20 locations across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Kinsta leverages Google Cloud’s high-performance C2 machines, whereas Nexcess operates on a shared hosting environment with an NGINX reverse proxy. While Nexcess offers autoscaling to handle traffic spikes, shared hosting means you share server resources with other users.

While Nexcess’ performance was respectable, with test site loading times ranging from 1.1s to 2.8s (averaging 1.6s), the limitations of shared hosting became evident. There was no downtime, fulfilling its 100% uptime guarantee.

Kinsta consistently delivered faster loading speeds, with an impressive average of 1.2s. It maintained excellent performance globally, with 100% uptime, exceeding its 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Kinsta’s extensive global coverage and faster speeds clearly make it the top performer in this category.

Kinsta Page Performance

Performance of Kinsta

Nexcess Page Performance

Performance of Nexcess

4. Ease of Use

Kinsta

User-Friendly Dashboard: Kinsta offers an intuitive, custom-built dashboard designed specifically for WordPress management, making it easy to handle multiple websites.

One-Click Staging: Creating a staging environment for testing or updates is a simple, one-click process.

Automatic Backups: Backups are automatically managed, and users can restore a site with just a few clicks.

Advanced Caching Options: Built-in caching and performance optimizations are automatically applied, requiring minimal user intervention.

Comprehensive Support: Kinsta provides 24/7 support from WordPress experts who can assist with both basic and advanced issues.

Nexcess

Multi-Platform Dashboard: The custom control panel allows easy management of WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and other platforms, making it convenient for users managing multiple sites or platforms.

Automatic Updates: Nexcess automatically handles platform updates, plugins, and security patches, saving time for users.

Ecommerce Focus: Features like built-in WooCommerce and Magento optimizations make it easy for users to manage online stores.

One-Click Staging: Similar to Kinsta, staging environments are easy to set up with a single click for testing or updates.

24/7 Support: Nexcess offers round-the-clock support to help users with any technical issues, ensuring ease of use for all levels of experience.

Hosting Provided by Kinsta vs Nexcess

Kinsta Hosting

Platform Focus: Primarily offers managed WordPress hosting with a focus on performance, security, and scalability.

Infrastructure: Powered by Google Cloud, ensuring high-speed performance and global server locations.

Special Features: Offers features like automatic backups, staging environments, free SSL, and built-in CDN for faster loading.

Optimized for WordPress: Performance tuning and security are tailored specifically for WordPress, including caching and WP-specific tools.

Uptime and Reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee with proactive monitoring and automatic failovers to maintain site availability.

Pricing: Higher pricing, geared towards users needing premium performance and top-tier support.

Nexcess Hosting

Platform Focus: Provides managed hosting for multiple platforms including WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and others.

InfrastructureUtilizes cloud hosting with auto-scaling features, suitable for handling high-traffic and eCommerce sites.

Special Features: Offers automatic backups, free SSL, staging environments, and a built-in CDN for enhanced performance.

Optimized for E-commerce: Strong focus on WooCommerce and Magento hosting, with specific tools for eCommerce businesses to optimize site speed and reliability.

Uptime and Reliability: 99.9% uptime guarantee with proactive monitoring and auto-scaling for handling traffic surges.

Pricing: More flexible pricing, with a variety of plans catering to small businesses to large-scale eCommerce sites.

What Our Customers Have to Say?

Kinsta

Performance: Customers praise Kinsta for exceptional speed, with many noting significant improvements in site load times after migration. The Google Cloud infrastructure is often highlighted for its reliability and scalability.

Customer Support: Users consistently mention the responsive and knowledgeable support team, especially for WordPress-related issues. The support staff is known for providing quick solutions to complex problems.

Ease of Use: The custom-built dashboard is frequently appreciated for its simplicity and ease of navigation, with many users finding it intuitive even for non-technical individuals.

Reliability: Customers value the 99.9% uptime guarantee, with many reporting minimal downtime and fast issue resolution when problems occur.

Security: Kinsta’s built-in security measures, like daily malware scanning and free SSL certificates, are often praised for providing peace of mind to customers.

Overall Satisfaction: Many users mention that Kinsta’s premium pricing is justified by the excellent performance, support, and features provided, especially for businesses and agencies requiring high-quality managed WordPress hosting.

Nexcess 

Performance: Customers commend Nexcess for delivering fast load times and strong performance, especially for eCommerce websites. Many note the effectiveness of the built-in optimizations for platforms like WooCommerce and Magento.

Customer Support: Nexcess is frequently praised for offering responsive and knowledgeable customer service, with support available 24/7 through live chat, email, and phone. Users appreciate the personalized attention provided for eCommerce concerns.

Ease of Use: The Nexcess dashboard is appreciated for its multi-platform support, allowing users to manage WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento sites from one place. The ease of setting up staging environments and managing backups is frequently highlighted.

Reliability: Customers report a stable hosting experience with minimal downtime, noting that Nexcess’s auto-scaling and monitoring features are particularly valuable during traffic surges.

Security: Users value Nexcess for its security features, including free SSL certificates, DDoS protection, and proactive monitoring, which ensures their sites remain secure.

Overall Satisfaction: Many customers are satisfied with Nexcess’s flexible pricing, especially for small and mid-sized eCommerce businesses. They appreciate the high-quality hosting options at more affordable price points compared to other premium services.

Advantage of Kinsta and Nexcess

Kinsta Nexcess
High-performance managed WordPress hostingManaged hosting for multiple platforms
(WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.)
Powered by Google Cloud for fast, reliable hosting Auto-scaling infrastructure for handling traffic spikes
Premium customer support with WordPress expertise24/7 support available via live chat, email, and phone
Built-in CDN for faster website loading Built-in optimizations for WooCommerce and Magento
Daily backups with 30-day retention Flexible pricing plans for various business needs
Custom-built dashboard for easy site management Multi-platform management from a single dashboard

Disadvantage of Kinsta and Nexcess

Kinsta Nexcess
Higher pricing, especially for lower-tier plans Higher pricing for advanced eCommerce plans
No shared hosting options, only managed plansLimited support for non-eCommerce platforms
Limited to WordPress hosting, less variety May not be as optimized for simple websites
No free domain registration included Backup retention period shorter than competitors (30 days)
No email hosting optionLimited features on lower-tier plans
Some features are only available on higher plansSlower support response during peak times

5. Support

Nexcess Offers More Support Channels than Kinsta

Both Nexcess and Kinsta provide comprehensive knowledge bases filled with guides and tutorials to help with the basics. These resources can be useful for getting started, but if you encounter issues or need further assistance, reaching out to support may be your best option.

Nexcess offers 24/7 support through live chat, phone, tickets, and email. I personally tested their live chat by asking about switching my website to a different data center. Although my initial question was unclear, the Nexcess support agent quickly directed me to relevant documentation once I provided more details.

Kinsta 

24/7 Availability: Kinsta offers round-the-clock customer support through live chat, ensuring that assistance is always available, no matter the time zone.

WordPress ExpertiseTheir support team is highly specialized in WordPress, with many team members having advanced knowledge in managing WordPress issues and optimizations.

Fast Response Times: Customers often report quick and efficient responses, with issues being resolved in a timely manner, even for complex technical problems.

Premium Support for Higher Plans: Higher-tier plans offer more personalized support, with a dedicated support team providing faster resolutions and more in-depth assistance.

Comprehensive Knowledge Base: Kinsta offers a detailed knowledge base with tutorials, guides, and troubleshooting articles, allowing customers to solve many common issues independently.

Proactive Monitoring: Kinsta’s team actively monitors accounts, often resolving issues before customers are even aware of them, contributing to an overall seamless experience.

Nexcess

24/7 Availability: Nexcess provides 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone, ensuring that customers can reach out for help at any time.

Multi-Platform Expertise: Their support team is well-versed in various platforms, including WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and others, offering a broad range of support for different needs.

E-commerce Focus: Special attention is given to eCommerce businesses, with support specifically tailored to platforms like WooCommerce and Magento, addressing unique challenges related to online stores.

Quick Resolution Times: Customers generally report fast response times and effective solutions, particularly for urgent issues impacting site performance or uptime.

Comprehensive Help Center: Nexcess provides a detailed knowledge base, offering tutorials and troubleshooting articles that help users resolve common issues on their own.

Scalability Support: Support staff assists with scaling issues, including traffic spikes, site migrations, and optimizing performance for growing businesses.

Both hosts offer responsive and helpful 24/7 support, making it difficult to choose a clear winner in this category. However, Nexcess edges out Kinsta, thanks to its inclusion of 24/7 phone support.

6. Security

Kinsta Offers More Advanced Security Features

Nexcess blocks internet threats with the ModSecurity web application firewall to protect your website. Additionally, it provides the premium iThemes Security Pro plugin for free with all plans. This WordPress security suite monitors core files for unauthorized changes, blocks malicious IPs, and defends against brute force attacks.

Kinsta takes security a step further by combining Cloudflare’s enterprise-level firewall with the Google Cloud Platform IP-based firewall, blocking many threats before they reach your server.

Both hosts use their CDNs to mitigate DDoS attacks, but Kinsta’s CDN offers unmetered, enterprise-level DDoS protection, capable of stopping even the most significant attacks. Although Nexcess’ CDN is capable of managing minor threats, it could not have the resources necessary to combat more significant attacks.

Kinsta also provides a dedicated malware team that monitors servers 24/7 for malicious activity. This team will resolve any issues, and if your site is compromised, Kinsta guarantees a free fix. Nexcess does not offer a similar guarantee.

Security FeatureKinsta Nexcess
SSL CertificatesFree SSL certificates included Free SSL certificates included
DDoS Protection Built-in DDoS protectionDDoS protection included
Malware Scanning Daily malware scanning Proactive malware scanning and security monitoring
FirewallsWeb application firewall for added security Web application firewall for all plans
Backup Security Daily backups with encrypted data Daily backups with encrypted data
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)Available for additional account security Available for additional account security

In summary, Kinsta’s robust security features make it the clear winner in this category.

Final Recommendations

CriteriaKinsta Nexcess
Best For Premium WordPress hosting for businesses and agencies E-commerce sites (WooCommerce, Magento)
Pricing Higher pricing for top-tier performance Flexible, more affordable pricing
Performance Excellent speed, reliability for WordPress Strong performance for WordPress & eCommerce
Customer Support 24/7 WordPress expert support 24/7 support with eCommerce focus
Ease of Use Intuitive dashboard, easy WordPress managementUser-friendly control panel for multiple platforms
Security Advanced security with daily scanning & free SSL Strong security with monitoring & free SSL
Backup and Uptime 99.9% uptime, daily backups (30-day retention) 99.9% uptime, daily backups (30-day retention)
Ideal Choice Best for high-performance WordPress hosting Ideal for growing eCommerce businesses

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Answer: Kinsta is a managed WordPress hosting provider known for high-performance hosting powered by Google Cloud, offering fast speeds, security, and scalability for businesses, agencies, and developers.
  • Answer: Nexcess supports WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and other platforms, making it ideal for a wide range of websites and eCommerce businesses.
  • Answer: No, Kinsta does not offer a free trial. However, they provide a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied with the service.

Answer: Nexcess pricing starts at $15/month for basic WordPress hosting, with more advanced plans for eCommerce and high-traffic sites. Pricing depends on the platform and features you require.

  • Answer: Yes, Kinsta supports multiple websites depending on the plan you choose. Higher-tier plans allow more sites with additional resources.

Answer: Yes, Nexcess offers a 14-day money-back guarantee for shared hosting plans, allowing customers to try the service risk-free.

  • Answer: Kinsta offers 24/7 support via live chat with WordPress experts, along with a detailed knowledge base and advanced troubleshooting help.

Answer: Yes, Nexcess specializes in eCommerce hosting, particularly for WooCommerce and Magento, offering tailored support and optimizations for online stores.

  • Answer: Kinsta offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee with proactive monitoring and automatic failovers to ensure minimal downtime.
  • Answer: Yes, Nexcess provides automatic daily backups with a 30-day retention period, ensuring your data is securely stored.
  • Answer: Kinsta includes free SSL certificates, daily malware scanning, DDoS protection, and proactive monitoring to ensure your website remains secure.

Answer: Yes, Nexcess offers auto-scaling features to handle traffic surges, making it a solid choice for eCommerce sites with variable traffic.

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