Managed vs Unmanaged Hosting: Which Do You Need?
When you buy web hosting, you'll often see "managed" and "unmanaged" options. The difference matters, and picking the wrong one can cost you time, stress or a broken website.
Unmanaged hosting
With unmanaged hosting, you get the server space — and everything else is up to you. Updates, security, backups and fixing things when they break are your responsibility. It's cheaper, but it assumes you (or someone on your team) are comfortable with the technical side.
Managed hosting
With managed hosting, the provider handles the technical work for you: security, updates, backups, monitoring and support. You focus on your business; they keep the site fast, safe and online.
Which should you choose?
- Choose unmanaged if you have the technical skills and want maximum control at the lowest price.
- Choose managed if you'd rather not think about servers, and you value peace of mind and support.
For most small businesses, managed hosting pays for itself the first time something goes wrong at 9pm and someone else fixes it. See our hosting plans — both options are available.