If you’re reading this article you probably know what is SiteGround and Elementor. Both companies provide WordPress hosting services.
However, which one to choose for your website? That is the question. In this comparison I will explain the main differences and eventually help you decide the best one for your needs.
What is the difference between Elementor hosting and SiteGround?
SiteGround provides shared WordPress hosting, meaning that the service will share resources with other websites. Elementor hosting is cloud-based, meaning that your website files are stored on different servers located in the cloud.
While both hosting services are powered by Google Cloud infrastructure, there are differences. Let’s see what they are.
Overview
Elementor hosting
Elementor hosting was previously known as Elementor Cloud. It was priced at $99/year for 1 website but was later rebranded as Elementor hosting which is also billed annually and has more pricing plans.
Elementor got into the hosting business just recently (in 2022). It was the next logical step, to bundle the plugin with hosting, so users can get a complete hosted solution for website building.
In 2022, Elementor acquired Strattic – a hosting platform for headless WordPress, meaning that their ambitions are beyond design-related products.
SiteGround
SiteGround on the other hand has been in the hosting business since 2004. It proved to be a quite reliable provider, always changing and willing to improve.
Currently, they have more than 500 employees from different countries and are headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. The company’s main focus is to provide hosting services and according to their data, they host more than 2.8 Mln websites.
I’ve been using the service for quite a while and never had any major issues. I have also followed their evolution as a company and interacted with them on multiple levels (it was always a good experience).
Pricing
Elementor hosting
Elementor provides 4 WordPress hosting plans:
- Basic
- Business
- Grow
- Scale
Here is what you get with every pricing plan:
| Basic | Business | Grow | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial $9.99/mo. Regular $14.99/mo. | Initial $19.99/mo. Regular $24.99/mo. | Initial $22.99/mo. Regular $32.99/mo. | Initial $49.99/mo. Regular $59.99/mo. |
| 1 Website | 1 website | Up to 3 websites | Up to 3 websites |
| Elementor Pro plugin | Elementor Pro plugin | Elementor Pro plugin | Elementor Pro plugin |
| 10 GB storage | 20 GB storage | 25 GB storage | 40 GB storage |
| 25K visits/month | 50K visits/month | 75K visits/month | 100K visits/month |
| 30 GB/mo bandwidth | 50 GB/mo bandwidth | 75 GB/mo bandwidth | 100 GB/mo bandwidth |
| On-demand backups | On-demand backups | On-demand backups | On-demand backups |
| Backup stored for 14 days | Backup stored for 30 days | Backup stored for 30 days | Backup stored for 30 days |
| Free SSL and CDN | Free SSL and CDN | Free SSL and CDN | Free SSL and CDN |
| Premium support for 1 member | Premium support for 2 members | Premium support for 4 members | Premium support for 6 members |
| Staging | Staging | Staging | Staging |
Even with initial discounts, Elementor hosting is a bit more expensive than SiteGround. However, You get the Elementor Pro plugin with all plans, which is worth at least $59/year.
SiteGround
SiteGround provides 3 WordPress hosting plans:
- StartUp
- GrowBig
- GoGeek
Here is the breakdown of options for every pricing plan:
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek |
|---|---|---|
| Initial $2.99/mo. Regular $14.99/mo. | Initial $4.99/mo. Regular $24.99/mo. | Initial $7.99/mo. Regular $39.99/mo. |
| 1 Website | Unlimited Websites | Unlimited Websites |
| 10 GB Storage | 20 GB Storage | 40 GB Storage |
| 10,000 Visits/Month | 100,000 Visits/Month | 400,000 Visits/Month |
| Unmetered Traffic | Unmetered Traffic | Unmetered Traffic |
| Free WP Installation | Free WP Installation | Free WP Installation |
| Free WP Migration | Free WP Migration | Free WP Migration |
| Free Email Migration | Free Email Migration | Free Email Migration |
| WordPress Autoupdates | WordPress Autoupdates | WordPress Autoupdates |
| Free SSL, CDN & email | Free SSL, CDN & email | Free SSL, CDN & email |
| Daily Backups | Daily Backups | Daily Backups |
| Unlimited Databases | Unlimited Databases | Unlimited Databases |
| 30-Days Money-Back | 30-Days Money-Back | 30-Days Money-Back |
| Dynamic Cache | Dynamic Cache | Dynamic Cache |
| Collaborators | Collaborators | Collaborators |
| Staging | Staging + Git | |
| On-demand Backups | On-demand Backups | |
| Faster PHP | Faster PHP | |
| White-label | ||
| Private DNS | ||
| Priority Support |
As you can see, the introductory prices are very attractive, starting at only $2.99 / month. Keep in mind that these are available for the first 12 months. After that, you will be charged the full price.
Even so, the average price is quite competitive when you calculate it for a few years (about $9 – 10 / month for the cheapest plan).
Learn more about SiteGround WordPress hosting plans and how to choose the best one for your needs.
Connecting a domain name
Elementor hosting
Pointing a domain name to Elementor hosting is not that easy, but it’s manageable. You will have to add an A and CNAME record in your domain settings with your provider (for example Namecheap).
Here is a handy step by step guide on how to point a domain name to Elementor hosting.
SiteGround
You can buy a domain name via SiteGround, but I recommend a specialized service like Namecheap.
Pointing a domain name to SiteGround is simple. I’ve described the process of pointing a Namecheap domain to SiteGround. The steps are pretty similar for other domain registrars, so use this guide as a reference point.
Ease of use and file management
Elementor hosting
The hosting service is quite easy to use and was created for users who don’t have advanced technical knowledge.
Elementor hosting doesn’t have a cPanel or a custom hosting control panel and you can’t use FTP (file transfer protocol) to connect to your website.
SiteGround
I find SiteGround pretty easy to use. You don’t need advanced technical skills to setup and manage it. Some technical background is always good to have though.
They used to provide cPanel for hosting management but later launched their own control panel called Site Tools. The new panel is well organized, intuitive and user friendly.
The File Manager is also available in the Site Tools area. There is no need to use an FTP client to upload or delete files on your website, you can do it directly in your SiteGround account.
Storage
Elementor hosting
Elementor offers at least 10 GB of storage for the cheapest plan and up to 40 GB of storage for the biggest plan. They use SSDs (solid state drives) for storage, which are more reliable, power efficient and provide better performance.
SiteGround
SiteGround provides the same amount of storage, from 10 GB to 40 GB, but there are fewer plans. The files are also stored on SSD drives and the servers have pretty solid specs.
Number of websites
Elementor hosting
Elementor allows you to host only 1 website with the Basic plan and up to 10 websites with the Scale plan. That is not great news if you have multiple websites.
SiteGround
Siteground allows you to host only 1 website with the StartUp plan, but you get unlimited websites if you go for the bigger plans. If you need to host multiple websites, SiteGround is definitely worth it.
Caching
Elementor hosting
Caching is performed on the CDN level and is managed by Cloudflare. It also provides an advanced page caching feature that stores frequently accessed data in the server’s memory.
No WordPress caching optimizations are provided by default. You will need to use a 3rd party WordPress plugin for that.
SiteGround
SiteGround provides multiple levels of caching. Static and dynamic cache are enabled by default and Memcached memory caching system is available in all WordPress hosting plans.
Optimization plugins
Elementor hosting
While Elementor doesn’t have a built-in optimization plugin, it works well with most popular performance related plugins, except SG Optimizer and WP Total Cache. See the full list of incompatible plugins.
SiteGround
SiteGround built an in-house optimization plugin called SG Optimizer. It initially worked with their hosting only, but now it’s compatible with multiple hosting providers.
Its main goal is to improve your website speed and it offers a wide variety of features to achieve that. It’s free to use and is currently used by more than 1 Mln website owners.
I wrote a guide on the best settings for SG Optimizer, so you can use it as a reference to configure it on your website.
Performance
Elementor hosting vs SiteGround, is either fast?
When it comes to performance there is no clear winner here, as the plans offer different options and there are so many variables to take into account: users’ location, CDN, caching, optimization settings and many more.
It basically makes no sense to perform head-to-head speed tests, as the results won’t be accurate.
Both services provide decent performance, but if you’re crazy about site speed scores, you have 2 options:
- Choose a bigger plan
- Optimize your website for speed
If you don’t have thousands of visitors per day, both hosting services will handle your traffic well.
Security
Elementor hosting
Elementor hosting is serious about security and offers multiple features by default. For example:
- Cloudflare firewall
- DDoS protection
- Site locks
SiteGround
SiteGround provides enhanced security by default. They made sure that your website is protected and you don’t have to bother too much about basic security.
Here are some available features:
- Custom WAF (web application firewall)
- AI powered anti-bot system
- SiteGround Security plugin
SSL and CDN
Elementor hosting
Elementor provides a free SSL certificate and CDN from Cloudflare. SSL is a must these days, to ensure that your website is secure and CDN (content delivery network) is good to have if you have multiple visitors from different countries.
SiteGround
Similarly, SiteGround offers free SSL certificates from Let’s Encrypt. You can install a single certificate or wildcard certificates at no extra cost.
They used to provide a free CDN (content delivery network) via Cloudflare but later switched to their own default network. It’s free to use and enabling/disabling is very simple.
You’ll need to use SiteGround’s nameservers though to make it work. Anyway, only enable CDN if you have lots of visitors from all over the world. Otherwise, don’t bother too much about it.
Email hosting
Elementor hosting
Free email hosting is not included in any plan. If you need a custom email address like name@yourwebsite.com, you will need to buy a 3rd party email service. This will imply an additional expense.
SiteGround
SiteGround provides free email hosting in all plans, and you can create as many email accounts with your domain name as you wish. This will save you extra $s.
There is also a free email migrator tool, allowing you to quickly and easily migrate your email accounts. No advanced technical skills are required.
Backups
Elementor hosting
Elementor will store your backup files for a minimum of 14 days with the Basic plan and 30 days with any other plan. There are also on-demand backups, meaning that you can create backups manually whenever you want.
SiteGround
SiteGround will automatically backup your website every day and allow you to restore any backup for the last 30 days. This option is available for free in all plans.
On-demand backups are only available with bigger plans – GrowBig and GoGeek. Having a backup option is extremely important, trust me, I had to rollback the website a few times and it helped me a lot.
If you have lots of articles on your website, it’s recommended to manually backup all your WordPress posts, so you don’t rely on default backups only.
Support
Elementor hosting
Elementor offers the following support options:
- Online chat
- Knowledge base
- Email ticketing system
- Facebook group
- Elementor Academy
The support is limited to a specific number of users (from 1 to 6 members), based on the plan you have.
The support is good, but you might sometimes feel that the service lacks full commitment and transparency.
Elementor has a 3.8 rate on Trustpilot, which is great but not excellent.
SiteGround
SiteGround provides the following support options:
- Online chat
- Email ticketing system
- Phone support
- Tutorials
- Knowledge base
SiteGround was known for its excellent support service. Some users complained about the declining quality of their support, but I’ve always experienced a great service with them.
I still think that their support service is top notch and it’s one of their core values. After all, why invest less in support if it’s one of the main drivers of your business?
They are currently rated at 4.6 on Trustpilot, which is excellent.
Which hosting service is better?
Is Elementor hosting worth it?
Yes, but mainly if you’ll be using the Elementor website builder and don’t mind paying extra for an email service. There are also some plugins that are not compatible.
You don’t get free website and email migration and the bandwidth is limited. On the other hand, you get on-demand backups with all plans and free SSL and CDN from Cloudflare.
Is SiteGround hosting worth it?
Yes, if you want a decent WordPress hosting service, need an excellent support service, free site/email migration, require custom emails at no extra cost and have a tight budget initially (they offer great introductory prices).
SiteGround is also a great choice for those who have multiple websites, require daily backups and powerful speed optimization options via their own plugin SG Optimizer.
