Which Is Best For SMEs?

WordPress is one of the founding fathers of the website builder market. It’s been around for donkey’s years and, according to its website, 43% of web pages are built using the software.

Hostinger acquired Zyro in 2022, and the original Zyro platform itself was only just founded in 2020. Before the acquisition, the  platform hadn’t quite reached the dizzying user numbers of WordPress. Still, according to our research, it has recently pulled out some impressive updates to its software – and also boasts an unrivalled list of deals and discounts.

Its cheaper offers make Hostinger the more affordable option, which is a great pull factor for small businesses. But WordPress’s customisable tools mean you’ll get greater design flexibility – another major consideration for SMEs when it comes to branding.

So which of these small business website platforms should be crowned the fairest of them all?

In the below article we’ll break down the main benefits and drawbacks offered by both WordPress and Hostinger, to give a thorough overview based on our expert Startups.co.uk research, so you can make an informed decision of which is the best for your firm.

Want to save time? We’ve designed a simple, online comparison tool that will match you with provider quotes from the top website builders for small businesses. It’s completely free and based on our own expert research.

Hostinger vs. WordPress: head to head

While both Hostinger and WordPress qualify as website builders, there are some big differences between the two that we need to get out of the way.

Hostinger is a design-led web builder that uses drag-and-drop tools to help users create an online site without requiring much skill. It also has an ecommerce function so you use the platform to create an online store.

In contrast, WordPress is a website builder platform that focuses more on coding, extensions and third-party apps for you to build up a website with.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how each platform compares to the other:

Hostinger

• Has more templates than WordPress
• Is more mobile-friendly than WordPress
• Does not have an app marketplace
• More affordable pricing, but no freemium option

WordPress

• Has better blogging tools than Hostinger
• Has a much steeper learning curve
• Better at integrations
• Has a free plan

Hostinger pricing vs. WordPress pricing

In terms of value for money, these two are difficult to compare. Their offerings are very different, but we think Hostinger offers that little bit of extra value for small businesses given its strong list of core website builder functions and high quality features, coupled with a low price point. WordPress does have more functions, but only if you are patient enough to install and master its thousands of plugins, which most small business owners just won’t have the time to do.

WordPress has a freemium plan, which means it might appear to be the more generous platform in terms of scalability. However, the renewal prices of Hostinger’s sole website builder plan can come out to be very cheap if you choose a longer subscription. This means you won’t have any drastic hikes when your first term ends, and you could end up paying the very low first term fees for up to four years (a rarity in the website builder industry).

All Hostinger users are also offered a 30-day money back guarantee – handy if you want to trial the platform without risking your budget.

Hostinger pricing

Hostinger Website Builder

£11.99 per month (£2.59 with first term deal)

Renewal prices by subscription length:

• 48 months: £5.99
• 24 months: £6.99
• 12 months: £5.99

Hostinger’s website builder comes with a free custom domain, so you don’t have to include any Hostinger branding in your URL.

It also has an ecommerce function, so is a good product to start with if you’re a small online retailer. You won’t be limited in terms of storage and bandwidth, which means your website will be able to host thousands of visitors every day, without breaking a sweat. You’ll be able to sell up to 500 products, and Hostinger also lets you sell on Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon.

On top of this, you’ll gain access to Hostinger’s image library, which has over 1 million high-quality photos and illustrations across a range of topics to decorate your pages. Other features include:

• SEO (search engine optimisation)-friendly templates
• AI branding tools, for consistency across the site
• Free contact email for site visitors
• Designer templates

However, since Hostinger only provides you with the ecommerce basics and has a limit on the number of items you can sell, we think Wix offers the better ecommerce plan if you’re looking to sell lots of products and host a large inventory line.

Are there discounts available?

Hostinger definitely outranks WordPress when it comes to discounts. Currently, our readers can get up to an 81% discount on and get online from just £2.33/month with the discount code STARTUPS. This deal comes with a free domain and 3 months for free with any subscription of 12 months or longer.

See what other money-saving deals are currently available here.

WordPress pricing

WordPress Free

Yearly: £0
Monthly: £0

WordPress’s free plan is a good way to test out the platform’s features as it comes with a handful of free themes. But the freemium version also comes with an unavoidable branded WordPress.com subdomain and ads, which means it definitely shouldn’t be thought of as a long-term solution for hosting your own website.

WordPress Personal

Yearly: £3
Monthly: £6

The benefits of this plan include a free domain for one year, no WordPress ads on your site, and email support from the WordPress sales team. However, as the name indicates, it’s more suited to personal rather than professional use.

WordPress Premium

Yearly: £7
Monthly: £13

WordPress Premium is a little more generous as a plan. You’ll be able to integrate with Google Analytics and earn ad revenue, which means it works well as a marketing tool.

However, you won’t be able to take advantage of any of WordPress’s 50,000+ plugins, so you’ll have very limited functionality at this level. It’s best for those that want a way to generate a bit of extra revenue.

WordPress Business

Yearly: £20
Monthly: £27

The most popular choice amongst SMEs, WordPress Business is where the platform’s positives really come to light. With this plan you can:

• Access more than 50,000 WordPress plugins
• Use advanced SEO tools
• Gain automated site backups and one-click restore
• Utilise SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) and Database Access for added data protection

This is where the platform’s famous blogging and SEO tools appear, making it an unmatched resource for websites that need a CMS first and foremost. However, it’s priced at nearly three times the cost of Hostinger.

So, if you’re not a content-hosting website and you decide that having access to a massive DIY library of plugins isn’t your main priority, or if you want to go for something stripped-back and quick to set up, Hostinger is the better and more budget-friendly option.

Are there any discounts available?

Although not on the same scale as Hostinger, WordPress does have some generous deals available for subscribers. You’ll find consistent one-off deals of 10%-20% around the internet and on the platform’s website, so it’s very unlikely you’ll ever pay full price for the product.

Does Hostinger or WordPress offer the best free plan?

It can be rare to find a decent free plan within the website builder market. Of the two platforms, WordPress offers the better free option.

As we mentioned earlier, the freemium version does mean you’ll be stuck with an unavoidable branded WordPress.com subdomain and ads. However, you’ll be able to design basic page layouts and familiarise yourself with the interface – an unparalleled tutorial that you can keep using for as long as you need.

Hostinger doesn’t have a freemium version, but its payment plans are all so heavily discounted that users can find themselves spending as little as a few pounds per month on its premium plan. Plus, if you want to get to know the platform like WordPress, there’s also a free 14-day trial to sink your teeth into with no financial risk.

Best value: Hostinger

Our research gave Hostinger a strong 3.8 out of 5 for value for money, and we think it’s the better platform for getting the most out of your budget.

WordPress.com has the bigger range of plan options – from the cheap, basic solution to the expensive, endlessly-functional builder – while Hostinger offers the most affordable plan, and leaves less room for scalability.

In other words, Hostinger gives you the tools you need for a decent website at a lower price point while WordPress takes the crown only if you’re willing to pay top dollar.

Winner: Hostinger

Website features: WordPress

App market

WordPress.com wins when it comes to app markets. This is because Hostinger has no app widgets available to choose from, which severely restricts users looking to customise their site’s functionality.

With the former, you’ll be able to make use of all the forms, chatbots, marketing apps and images/videos you need, although WordPress is still noticeably lacking any reporting or analytics tools. Still, it outscores Hostinger easily in this round.

Blogging

As we’ve mentioned previously, this is WordPress’s area of expertise. Its blogging features are second to none in this competitive market, leaving Hostinger fighting to keep up.

Both platforms enable you to use:

• Writer profiles
• Display categories
• Social sharing
• Blog-specific SEO

However, with WordPress.com you’ll also get:

• Blogging analytics tools
• Comments enabled
• An archive tool
• Post scheduling

SEO and marketing

These two platforms demonstrate nearly identical lists of SEO tools, including keyword search capabilities, Google Analytics integration, and social media integration.

In terms of marketing, there are some severe limitations for both platforms – although for different reasons. On Hostinger you can integrate with Instagram and host social icons, but that’s about it. There are also very few third-party marketing apps available, unlike WordPress.com which has several to choose from.

Site speed

Slow websites are a big bugbear for many consumers, so it’s good to look for a website builder that can cope with large traffic numbers in case you have a boom in visitors.

We ranked Hostinger and WordPress on their overall performance in areas like desktop server response time. The former wins, scoring 87 out of 100, compared to WordPress’s 76.

On mobile the gap is even larger, with Hostinger scoring a huge 15 points higher than WordPress.

Specialist features

Outside of the key categories above, there are also some cherry-on-top tools offered by both Hostinger and WordPress. Here’s a quick breakdown of each platform’s additional functionalities:

	WordPress.com	Hostinger
Auto update	Y	Y
Content import/export	Y	Y
Webforms	Y	Y
Newsletter management	Y	Y
Online booking	Y	Y
Online store builder	Y	Y
AI Writer	N	Y
Surveys	Y	N
Logo maker	N	Y

Winner: WordPress.com

Design functionality: WordPress

Templates

WordPress offers themes rather than templates. In WordPress terminology, a template is a page layout that’s available within a theme. The platform has around 50 standard templates for its page layouts, but more than 11,000 themes available to download through its app market.

In terms of design, these are attractive to look at, but they also span only a thin range of categories. Some small businesses will therefore be spoilt for choice, whereas some will have no options at all.

In comparison, Hostinger’s templates offer a wider range of categories to choose from – including weddings – and you can easily switch out templates for more flexibility. With WordPress, on the other hand, it’s not possible for you to switch out templates, only themes. There are more than 130 beautifully-designed templates to choose from with Hostinger.

Brand, UX and design

WordPress’s themes scored considerably lower than Hostinger’s for user experience, as the developers definitely haven’t prioritised design aesthetics. Our testers found that they weren’t great for colour choices and didn’t look modern or current enough in comparison to Hostinger’s options.

However, both platforms did score well for consistency – an important feature for small business branding.

Despite having fewer options to choose from, Hostinger’s templates were said to be unique and better looking, with our users stating they were much more desirable than its rivals’ offerings.

Hostinger’s templates were also easier to find. This is because WordPress requires you to add new themes by installing a .zip file, whereas the former uses a more intuitive ‘add section’ button which brings up a neat list of layouts for you to browse through.

Mobile editor

You can amend your site’s desktop format in both the Hostinger and WordPress builders, and this will automatically update the way your site is viewed on mobile devices.

But Hostinger, unlike WordPress, also permits you to edit the mobile version of your site. In fact, the former’s editing tools are so good that you can even create a new website from your mobile using Hostinger – extremely useful if you’re someone who works on the go.

Winner: WordPress

Help and support: Hostinger

From the get-go, Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat support. There’s also email support and a knowledge base provided at this level. This means you’ll be able to contact a friendly sales team representative as soon as a problem arises – a huge benefit if you encounter a major issue that could affect cash flow, such as ads crashing.

WordPress’s support system is more staggered, and directly correlates to what you’re paying. Even non-users can access the builder’s knowledge base and support forum, so there’s always some form of assistance available online. However, you won’t get live chat assistance unless you’re on WordPress Business or higher, which leaves lower-tier users in the lurch.

Winner: Hostinger

Customer score: Draw

As the more established player, WordPress has a bigger customer base than Hostinger, which means it wins in terms of brand recognition and market awareness. We conducted a keyword search test in our research and found WordPress had 789,000 search results.

However, our ranking found this was Hostinger’s highest scoring area thanks to an impressive level of customer satisfaction from the newcomer. 82% of our testers said they would recommend Hostinger to a friend – the same score achieved by industry leader Wix.

Winner: This one’s too tough to call – a draw.

Ease of use: Hostinger

There’s no feeling worse than getting stuck watching hours of video tutorials when you’re trying to get to grips with a new software – particularly if it’s your first time building a website.

It probably won’t surprise you to read that WordPress is not the easiest tool to master if you’re a new starter. More complex platforms naturally come with a steeper learning curve, and its ‘block’ style editor can feel quite clunky in comparison to Hostinger’s more intuitive drag-and-drop interface.

You don’t necessarily need to have tons of coding knowledge to use either product. But if you want to add advanced features in WordPress (such as tables or charts), then the backend does require you to design some elements yourself – which you’ll struggle with if you’ve no web developer experience.

Winner: Hostinger

Overall score

Category	Winner
Website features	WordPress.com
Design functionalities	WordPress.com
Value for money	Hostinger
Help and support	Hostinger
Ease of use	Hostinger
Customer score	Draw

How do Hostinger and WordPress compare to the website builder market?

There are lots of fish in the website builder sea, which means you should research carefully before you tackle the question of which to choose.

Here’s how Hostinger and WordPress stand up against their market competitors:

Final verdict

WordPress and Hostinger offer two very different solutions to small business users, and they both received similar scores in our six website builder scoring categories, with Hostinger just beating WordPress to the post thanks to its outstanding ease of use.

Generally, a review of WordPress.com and Hostinger can be summed up as comparing power with ease.

If you’re a small business that needs to be able to host a large amount of content or copy, then WordPress.com is your go-to. Its primary use is for blogging and SEO, and its huge app market means there are very few functions it isn’t able to perform – but you’ll have to shell out a large amount of time and money to master it.

On the other hand, if you’re a small business owner new to website building, we strongly recommend Hostinger as a simple but solid software choice. Thanks to its easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, much more affordable pricing, and excellent help and support tools, it’s a platform made for building undemanding websites that get the job done. Plus, as a relatively new piece of software, we’re sure it’s one to watch for the future.

Hostinger vs. WordPress FAQs

Does WordPress have a blog?

WordPress is the number one website builder when it comes to blogging tools. Its huge range of elements permits comments, social integration, and tagging. You can also use plugins to customise your blog in whichever way you imagine.

The WordPress blog editor is more complex than Hostinger’s, but it’s still intuitive and pretty much the benchmark for blog design. If you’re an informational or content-heavy website, we’d recommend it over Hostinger.

Is Hostinger better than WordPress?

For small businesses, yes. There are some key areas where WordPress outperforms Hostinger, such as blogging, but the latter’s recent builder updates have given it a fresh pair of legs in the website builder race.

Hostinger has affordable pricing and a simple, user-friendly interface, which means it’s easy to launch a new business website without wasting time or money – two of the main resources SMEs need to preserve. That’s why we think Hostinger is better than WordPress for small business users.

Is making a website on WordPress free?

WordPress does offer a free plan. However, since it’s an open-source platform, this option comes with some caveats.

While WordPress gives you the freedom to use, modify, build upon, and redistribute your website in any way you like, you will also need to pay for certain website features that Hostinger offers for free – such as a domain name – which means it’s not without added costs.

How much does it cost to use Hostinger?

Hostinger sits much lower on the cost spectrum compared to WordPress. Its price point is aimed at small businesses, and its lowest subscription renewal price for SMEs costs just £5.99 per month.

This makes it one of the most affordable website builders on the market today, and a likeable option for startups launching their first online site or SMEs that want to preserve cash flow for other areas of their business.

Interested in building your own website? Finding the right tool is half of the journey – the rest is learning how to use it. Read our guide to learn more about how to create your own small business website.