WordPress hosting in Africa comes in two main forms: ordinary shared hosting, where you install and maintain WordPress yourself, and managed WordPress hosting, where the provider handles updates, backups and malware clean-up for you. Shared hosting is cheaper and suits people with time and some skill; managed hosting costs more but replaces maintenance work. Either way, check speed, security, server location, payment options and support hours before you buy.
What WordPress needs from a host
- A current PHP version and a MySQL or MariaDB database. WordPress runs on both, and newer PHP versions are generally faster and better supported.
- Fast storage and server-level caching. NVMe drives and a web server such as LiteSpeed with its WordPress caching plugin reduce the time to generate each page.
- Free SSL, installed and renewed automatically.
- Daily backups you can restore quickly.
- Security at the server and the edge: malware scanning on the server and a web application firewall in front of the site.
Option 1: Shared hosting with WordPress
You get a cPanel account, install WordPress with a one-click installer, and look after updates, plugins and security yourself.
Suits: personal sites, small business sites and developers comfortable maintaining WordPress.
Your jobs: updating WordPress core, themes and plugins; checking nothing breaks after updates; removing unused plugins; restoring from backup if something goes wrong; responding if the site is hacked.
At Tremhost: web hosting on cPanel with LiteSpeed, NVMe, CloudLinux, Imunify360, free SSL, daily backups and Softaculous for one-click WordPress installs. Himalaya is $30 a year and Bvumba $5 a month or $50 a year. The Help Centre explains how to install WordPress.
Option 2: Managed WordPress hosting
The provider runs the WordPress layer as well as the server. Good managed hosting tests updates before applying them, keeps daily backups, scans for and removes malware, and configures caching and a CDN.
Suits: businesses whose website brings in sales or enquiries, with no one in-house to maintain it; agencies managing several client sites; small WooCommerce stores.
At Tremhost: every managed WordPress plan includes core, theme and plugin updates tested on a staging copy first, daily backups, malware scanning and removal, caching and CDN set up for you, free SSL, free migration and Cloudflare Pro on every site:
- Micro: $15 a month or $175 a year. One site, 20 GB NVMe, 20 GB bandwidth.
- Business: $20 a month or $232 a year. Two sites, 50 GB NVMe, 50 GB bandwidth.
- Professional: $30 a month or $350 a year. Four sites, 100 GB NVMe, 100 GB bandwidth, priority support.
How to choose between them
- Count the hours. Estimate how many hours a month you or a contractor spend on updates, backups and fixes, and what that time costs.
- Weigh the risk. If a broken or hacked site would stop sales, managed hosting reduces that risk.
- Count the sites. Managed plans are priced by number of sites; shared plans by storage.
- Check your skills. If no one knows how to fix a plugin conflict or clean malware, managed hosting fills that gap.
Questions specific to African businesses
Where are the servers?
Distance adds delay, but caching and a CDN narrow the gap for visitors. Tremhost’s shared hosting runs in Europe and the USA (its data centres page lists the locations for each service), and Cloudflare, which Tremhost uses on managed WordPress, has a data centre in Harare. For a custom WordPress build that needs a server in South Africa, a Tremhost VPS can be placed in Johannesburg.
Can you pay every year without problems?
Tremhost bills in US dollars and accepts EcoCash, InnBucks, ZimSwitch, Omari, Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin, Tron and Litecoin. Plans renew at the sign-up price.
Who answers when the site breaks?
Tremhost support is by ticket, WhatsApp on +263 73 563 9917 or a booked call, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00 CAT. Hacked sites can get free same-day triage through Armor SOS on working days.
Protecting a WordPress site you already have
If your site is on another host and you only want protection in front of it, Tremhost’s Armor Guard puts Cloudflare Pro in front of one site for $9 a month, configured and monitored by Tremhost. You can try Cloudflare Pro free for 15 days with no card.
Frequently asked questions
Is shared hosting good enough for WordPress?
Yes, for most small sites, if the platform uses fast storage, caching and daily backups and someone keeps WordPress updated.
Can Tremhost move my WordPress site?
Yes. Migration is free on managed WordPress and from other cPanel hosts, and most sites move within 24 hours.
Is there a refund if it does not suit me?
First orders of web hosting and managed WordPress have a 30-day refund.
Next step
Compare Micro, Business and Professional on the Tremhost managed WordPress page, from $15 a month.
