Are Expensive Managed Hosting Plans Just a Scam for Non-Techies?

[Shawn Gossman]

Sometimes, these managed hosting plans can be quite expensive.

But hosting companies make it out like managing these servers is really significant and time-consuming.

But are they really?

Or are hosting companies using this sort of verbiage to justify a scheme to make the most money from those who fall for it?

 

[frm]

I would go with a managed hosting plan over a shared hosting plan, depending on the company offering the services and what their experience is, i.e., do they offer managed hosting specifically for WordPress, or do they offer managed hosting that is right for each individual customer?

A managed host, from my perspective, has much more to lose than these large conglomerate shared hosting companies, which will update when they want, which can take your site down.

A managed host won't just update your system because PHP 8.5 was released (on about November 20, 2025) and drop support for PHP 8.4. They know that each customer has their own needs and have to meet those needs to keep the customer. They can also optimize for your solution over a shared host that optimizes for everyone, which might not necessarily have any benefit to some customers, and quite the opposite effect to others.

Just my 2c.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I would go with a managed hosting plan over a shared hosting plan, depending on the company offering the services and what their experience is, i.e., do they offer managed hosting specifically for WordPress, or do they offer managed hosting that is right for each individual customer?

A managed host, from my perspective, has much more to lose than these large conglomerate shared hosting companies, which will update when they want, which can take your site down.

A managed host won't just update your system because PHP 8.5 was released (on about November 20, 2025) and drop support for PHP 8.4. They know that each customer has their own needs and have to meet those needs to keep the customer. They can also optimize for your solution over a shared host that optimizes for everyone, which might not necessarily have any benefit to some customers, and quite the opposite effect to others.

Just my 2c.

I feel like you're right.

I do wonder if some hosting companies, even reputable ones, are adjusting the pricing for "managed" benefits more than it needs to be but have pretty much found that as a way to profit.

All businesses tend to do something of that nature, it's a nature of capitalism, really.