Liquid Web: A Comprehensive Review of Their Managed WordPress Hosting:
Liquid Web is a renowned and popular provider of managed WordPress hosting, offering enticing plans. But how do they stack up for you and your website? This review presents the results of various performance tests conducted on our WordPress websites hosted with Liquid Web.
To provide a comprehensive assessment, we utilized data from paid tools to gauge website speed and performance during traffic surges. Beyond promotional content, this review delves into the actual customer experience to uncover the truth about being a Liquid Web user.
💡 Note: Seeking high-performance, WordPress-optimized hosting? Check out our post on Comparing The Best Managed WordPress Hosting Services.
At first glance, Liquid Web may seem like any other managed WordPress web host. However, after reading this review, you’ll discover its areas of superiority over competitors, as well as potential areas for improvement.
If you’re searching for the ideal host for your website, Liquid Web deserves consideration. Armed with the insights from this review, you’ll soon determine whether they align with your requirements or if your search should continue.
Let’s dive in…
Table of Contents
- About Liquid Web Hosting
- What Sets Liquid Web Apart?
- Liquid Web Managed WordPress Hosting Plans
- Overage Fees
- Hosting Plans Summary
- Key Features
- WordPress Optimized Servers
- WordPress Website Management
- Automatic WordPress Website Backups
- Staging Sites
- Site Stencils
- iThemes Sync Pro
- iThemes Security Pro
- Access to Other Premium Plugins
- Liquid Web User Experience
- Customer Account and Website Management
- The WordPress Dashboard
- Customer Support
- Live Chat, Telephone, and Email Support
- Downsides of Liquid Web
- Limited Data Center Location Options
- Relatively Basic Backup System
- INCLUDED WORDPRESS THEMES
- Hosting Performance Test Results
- Loading Time Test Results
- Lightweight Theme Site Speed Results
- Heavyweight Theme Loading Time Results
- Loading Time Summary
- Load Impact Performance Testing Results
- Uptime Test Results
- Loading Time Test Results
- Technical Details
- Final Thoughts
About Liquid Web Hosting: Liquid Web is a privately held company headquartered in Michigan, US. Unlike many managed WordPress hosting providers, they own their data centers, ensuring complete control over their network. If you value a host that maintains full network oversight, Liquid Web is particularly appealing.
Liquid Web specializes in high-end hosting, including managed WordPress hosting. Here are some quick stats highlighting the company’s scale:
- Over a million sites under management
- Serving over 30,000 customers across 130 countries
- Employs over 500 hosting professionals
- Hosts prominent brands like National Geographic, FedEx, and Motorola
- Liquid Web’s Net Promoter Score ranks it among the world’s most-loved brands.
A few years ago, Liquid Web made the strategic decision to discontinue shared hosting in order to focus exclusively on delivering top-tier hosting solutions for site and store owners with complex needs. This is advantageous for those seeking managed WordPress hosting and a company dedicated to providing premium services rather than competing in the low-cost shared web hosting market.
While the Liquid Web website can be overwhelming at times due to the abundance of information, this review will equip you with everything you need to determine whether they are the right host for your project.
What Sets Liquid Web Apart? Unlike reputable web hosts such as SiteGround, Bluehost, and GoDaddy, Liquid Web does not offer shared hosting. Instead, they concentrate on delivering high-end hosting solutions. However, they are not limited to WordPress-only hosting, as they also provide VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting packages.
This approach allows Liquid Web to allocate their staff and resources to serving customers with more complex hosting requirements, rather than catering to basic website owners. Consequently, they can provide a premium service to clients with demanding expectations.
Another advantage of choosing Liquid Web is the breadth of knowledge their staff possesses. Unlike companies exclusively offering managed WordPress hosting, Liquid Web’s personnel has expertise in a wide range of high-end hosting services and solutions. If they determine that your WordPress website would be better served by dedicated or cloud hosting, they can recommend a more suitable plan from their portfolio, eliminating the need for you to seek such a product elsewhere.
With a large team dedicated to delivering premium hosting, your website will likely receive superior care from knowledgeable experts compared to companies operating in the lower end of the hosting market.
However, Liquid Web’s unique advantages extend beyond this aspect. As you continue reading, you’ll discover additional areas where Liquid Web sets itself apart from the competition.
Liquid Web offers a range of hosting services, but this review focuses on their managed WordPress hosting plans. The plans start at $19 per month or $190 per year if paid annually. Each plan includes a monthly bandwidth allowance of 5 TB. Here’s a summary of the plans:
- Spark: $19 per month for one WordPress website and 15 GB of SSD storage.
- Maker: $79 per month for up to five WordPress websites and 40 GB of SSD storage.
- Builder: $149 per month for up to 25 WordPress websites and 100 GB of SSD storage.
- Producer: $299 per month for up to 50 WordPress websites and 300 GB of SSD storage.
- Executive: $549 per month for up to 100 WordPress websites and 500 GB of SSD storage.
- Enterprise: $999 per month for up to 250 WordPress websites and 800 GB of SSD storage.
Liquid Web also offers managed WooCommerce hosting for those creating online shops with WordPress. The WooCommerce plans are optimized for e-commerce stores and include additional features.
While there is a 5 TB bandwidth allowance on each plan, Liquid Web does not charge overage fees. This allowance is in place to prevent abuse, but exceeding it typically has no immediate consequences.
When considering a hosting provider, price is not the only factor to consider. Features, performance, and customer service are equally important. Liquid Web provides CDN access, free auto-enabled SSL certificates, and 24/7 live chat and telephone support, making them a competitive option.
Here are some key features of Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting:
- WordPress Optimized Servers: The hosting environment is specifically designed and configured to deliver fast and reliable performance for WordPress websites. Liquid Web uses Nginx, PHP 7, a custom caching solution, and image compression to create a stable and performance-focused platform.
- WordPress Website Management: The core WordPress software is automatically updated by default. However, you can pause this feature for more control over updates. Liquid Web also updates your plugins after testing them for compatibility.
- Automatic WordPress Website Backups: The managed hosting service includes daily automatic website backups. These backups are stored safely on Liquid Web servers for 30 days. You can easily access and restore backups through the Liquid Web dashboard.
- Staging Sites: You can create a staging site, a copy of your live site, to test new plugins, themes, and changes. Liquid Web includes this feature on all managed WordPress hosting plans.
- Site Stencils: Liquid Web allows you to create a copy of your site, known as a stencil, to use as a starting point for new projects. This feature is beneficial if you want to replicate a design or combination of themes and plugins for multiple sites.
Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting plans are competitively priced and offer a range of useful features for website management. The hosting environment is optimized for WordPress, and the company provides automatic backups, staging sites, and site stencils to enhance the development process.
Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting plans above the Spark plan provide access to iThemes Sync Pro, which is a tool that simplifies the management of WordPress websites. Normally costing $11 per month, iThemes Sync Pro allows you to update themes and plugins for all your websites through a central dashboard.
Additionally, Liquid Web includes iThemes Security Pro, a powerful security plugin, on all managed WordPress hosting plans above the Spark plan. iThemes Security Pro offers advanced security features like two-factor authentication, automatic malware scanning, and file system monitoring.
Customers also get access to other premium plugins. The Liquid Web managed WordPress bundle includes the premium Beaver Builder Lite page builder plugin and the premium WPForms Lite online form builder plugin at no extra cost.
Signing up and launching a new WordPress website with Liquid Web is a straightforward process. The account dashboard is easy to navigate and allows you to manage your account and website settings. You can configure site settings, enable/disable automatic updates, set password protection, and switch PHP versions. The dashboard also allows you to create additional user accounts for team collaboration.
Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting plans come with pre-installed plugins such as iThemes Security Pro, iThemes Sync, WPMerge, and image compression and optimization extensions. These plugins can be removed if desired. The WordPress dashboard is minimally modified, with the only addition being an empty cache button for purging the Liquid Web Varnish cache.
It’s important to note that managed WordPress hosting plans, including Liquid Web’s, do not provide access to a control panel like cPanel for managing your account or installing additional software. However, if you require features like a website setup wizard, you can install the Jetpack plugin.
Overall, Liquid Web offers a user-friendly experience with convenient management tools, security features, and access to premium plugins for WordPress websites.
Liquid Web sets itself apart from other high-end and managed WordPress hosting companies by prioritizing exceptional customer service. Their commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in their high Net Promoter Score. They back up their claims by providing support-related features.
All managed WordPress hosting plans offer 24/7/365 access to live chat, telephone, and email support channels. Liquid Web guarantees response times and offers a partial refund if they fail to meet those standards. They also provide a 100 percent uptime guarantee.
During our review, we found Liquid Web’s support staff to be easily accessible and helpful via email and live chat.
However, there are a couple of downsides to consider. The design of Liquid Web’s website may not be as sleek as some competitors, although it contains a wealth of useful content for thorough research. Another drawback is the limited range of data center locations available. Liquid Web offers only three locations, whereas other hosts provide a more extensive selection worldwide. However, it’s worth noting that Liquid Web owns its data centers rather than leasing servers.
Liquid Web’s backup system is relatively basic compared to some other hosts, limiting the options for restoring backups. Additionally, the regular managed hosting plans do not include access to WordPress themes, unlike some competitors.
Despite these limitations, the features offered by Liquid Web, including 24/7 access to live chat, telephone, and email support, make them a competitive option.
To assess hosting performance, we conducted loading time tests using Pingdom over a seven-day period.
For a lightweight theme site, utilizing the default Twenty Nineteen theme, the average loading time was an impressive 358 milliseconds. In comparison, other managed WordPress hosts in a similar price range had average loading times ranging from 538 to 603 milliseconds.
Overall, Liquid Web demonstrates strong hosting performance and, coupled with their emphasis on customer support, remains a compelling choice for managed WordPress hosting.
HEAVYWEIGHT THEME LOADING TIME RESULTS
If you’re planning to create a more feature-rich website, opting for a multipurpose theme like Avada might be a better choice.
For our second test, we installed the popular Avada theme, along with the necessary plugins, and imported its Agency website demo. Over a seven-day monitoring period, Pingdom recorded an average loading time of 959 milliseconds for the homepage of this website.
This average loading time of 959 milliseconds is similar to the speed of the same site hosted by Pressable (958 milliseconds) and the WordPress.com Business plan (1.06 seconds).
Comparatively, Liquid Web’s hosted site outperformed other hosts in a similar price range. The site loaded faster than Kinsta (1.25 seconds), WP Engine (1.43 seconds), and DreamPress (1.89 seconds).
Additionally, we tested the loading time of a blog post on our second test site, which also used the Avada theme. After seven days of monitoring, the blog post had an average loading time of 974 milliseconds.
In summary, both of our test sites demonstrated impressive average loading times, making Liquid Web a suitable option for both simple and feature-rich websites in terms of site speed. These loading times also compare favorably to other managed WordPress hosts we’ve reviewed.
However, it’s important to note that these results are based on test sites with no traffic. To provide a comprehensive performance assessment, we conducted a test to evaluate how well our site hosted by Liquid Web could handle multiple virtual users accessing it simultaneously.
LOAD IMPACT PERFORMANCE TESTING RESULTS To
assess the performance of websites hosted by Liquid Web under traffic conditions, we conducted load impact tests using the premium Load Impact service. The purpose was to simulate multiple visitors accessing our test site, which utilized the Avada theme, simultaneously.
During the test, Load Impact gradually increased the number of virtual users accessing the site from one to 200 over a five-minute period. The response time of the site was regularly recorded to analyze its performance with varying user loads.
In the results below, the blue line represents the number of virtual users (VUs) accessing the site, while the green line depicts the response time of the monitored page.
Load Impact Test Results The response time remained stable until approximately 130 users were accessing the site, after which it slightly increased without causing unresponsiveness. (click to enlarge)
As evident from the chart, the number of simultaneous virtual users accessing the page had an impact on the site’s response time. However, it was only when around 130 users accessed the site simultaneously that the response time began to rise. Even then, the test site remained responsive, unlike some shared hosting platforms that struggled to handle 50 concurrent users.
For detailed test information, including an interactive chart, you can refer to the Load Impact website.
Although the capability to handle 200 virtual users simultaneously is impressive, similar performance levels were observed in our reviews of other managed hosts in the same price range, such as DreamHost, Kinsta, Pressable, WP Engine, and the WordPress.com Business plan. Therefore, if you anticipate substantial visitor numbers or sudden traffic spikes, any of these hosts would be suitable options.
UPTIME TEST RESULTS Liquid Web places significant emphasis on uptime, guaranteeing 100 percent uptime. Based on our 12-day monitoring with Pingdom, no instances of downtime were detected for either of our two test websites.
Pingdom Uptime Results Pingdom reported no instances of downtime for either of our test websites. (click to enlarge)
In the event that uptime falls below 100 percent, Liquid Web offers the possibility of receiving a refund on some hosting fees, as outlined in their service level agreement.
While achieving 100 percent uptime is commendable, Liquid Web is not the only host to accomplish this feat. Most of the managed WordPress hosts we’ve tested have achieved a perfect uptime score, unlike some shared hosting plans reviewed.
Overall, our test sites displayed excellent loading times, impressive traffic handling capabilities, and reliable uptime. As such, if you seek a fast and dependable web host, Liquid Web certainly fulfills those criteria.
Technical Details Before concluding our review, here are additional technical details about Liquid Web’s managed WordPress hosting service:
- Website caching: Liquid Web employs Varnish caching, but customers have the option to disable it and use their preferred caching plugin or service.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): Managed WordPress hosting plans include access to a global CDN through integration with Cloudflare.
- PHP: PHP 7.2 is the default version, but customers can switch to 5.6, 7.0, and 7.1 through the dashboard.
- HTTP/2.0: All managed WordPress hosting plans utilize HTTP/2.0 and Nginx.
- SSL: Free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates are automatically applied to sites, or customers can use their own purchased SSL certificates.
- SFTP & SSH: Server space can be accessed via SFTP and SSH using preferred software.
- Server file manager: There is no browser-based file manager for accessing server space and files.
- Database access: The WordPress website database can be accessed through phpMyAdmin.
- Email service: Liquid Web offers email hosting as an optional add-on service starting at $1 per month.
- WordPress website management: The managed service automatically updates WordPress software and plugins, which can be disabled via the Liquid Web dashboard if needed.
- Plugin restrictions: Unlike some other managed WordPress hosts, there are no disallowed plugins.
- Security measures: Liquid Web monitors their servers for security issues using an in-house service. While they do not monitor hosted sites, iThemes Security Pro, included in plans above the entry-level Spark plan, offers this feature.
- Post-hack clean-up services: Liquid Web conducts site scans to assist in fixing hacked sites, but they do not provide clean-up services.
- Data center locations: Liquid Web owns the data centers where customer sites are hosted, with locations in Phoenix, AZ, and Lansing, MI, in the US, and Amsterdam, NL, in Europe.
- Staging sites: A website staging service is available on all managed WordPress hosting plans.
- WordPress website migration: Liquid Web offers free migration of existing WordPress websites to their servers, utilizing a combination of automated tools and manual transfer.
- Uptime checks and guarantee: Servers are monitored for downtime, but not the hosted sites. However, the included iThemes tools provide this service for plans above the entry-level Spark plan. There is a 100% uptime guarantee, with compensation if this level is not achieved.
- Support channels: All managed WordPress hosting plans include access to 24/7/365 live chat, telephone, and email support. The service level agreement ensures that live chat and telephone requests are answered within 59 seconds, while email requests receive a response within 59 minutes, with possible refunds if not met.
Considering the above information, you can make a more informed decision regarding whether to sign up with this host.
Final Thoughts Liquid Web demonstrated exceptional performance in terms of site speed, load impact handling, and 100 percent uptime, which should not be overlooked.
In fact, the ability to handle traffic spikes without additional charges makes this host an excellent choice for those concerned about rapid audience growth or viral content.
The absence of access to premium themes may deter some, but considering that even the best WordPress themes typically cost less than $100, this should not be a decisive factor for hosting one or two websites.
Overall, Liquid Web’s pricing aligns with most competitors in the market, while offering almost all the features found elsewhere. With their impressive performance scores from our tests, Liquid Web undoubtedly deserves a prominent place at the top of your shortlist.