The Best Hosting For Your LearnDash Course Site
Getting the best hosting for your learning management system (LMS) site is crucial for performance. Using reputable hosting helps avoid unnecessary downtime, improves site speed, and protects against cyberattacks.
Of course, many hosting companies will offer the above benefits. So, which one is right for your LearnDash course? Let’s break down some of the best hosting options for your LearnDash WordPress site.
How To Choose Hosting For Your LearnDash Course Site
From multimedia support to traffic monitoring, online e-learning programs have specific demands. If your course site includes integrations like WooCommerce for ecommerce capabilities, then you’ll need hosting that can support those additional complexities.
Our hosting recommendations are based on four factors— speed/performance, support, flexibility/functionality, and price. Let’s take a detailed look at each factor.
Speed/Performance: Most WordPress sites can be easily cached because they only feature a blog or a few pages. But since LearnDash is an application site that supports online learning, it requires a bit more power to stay online during traffic increases. When looking for hosting, you’ll need to choose one that’s a bit more robust than the cheaper options.
Support: If you’re not a technical expert, you’ll need help when problems arise. When you experience unexplained outages or need to access site backups, it’s always best to have quick and easy access to a support team that knows WordPress. Your hosting solution should emphasize knowledge of WordPress and offer various contact methods that include chat and phone support.
Flexibility: Flexibility is important when you need to support things like multiple subdomains, video embeds or forums, and custom rule creation for caching for performance optimization. Your host needs to be flexible enough to support the complex functionality of LMS sites.
Price: There are an endless amount of website hosting options available that promise the same things. This makes choosing the right one even more difficult. Sometimes, the price can be the deciding factor. For the best hosting sites, you should typically expect to pay around $30 per month or more.
Hosting Recommendations For Your LearnDash Course Site
If you’re looking for convenience and want everything LearnDash has to offer without having to worry about managing your site, check out LearnDash Cloud. With LearnDash Cloud, you get access to LearnDash, optimized hosting, stellar support, and our ProPanel add-on for $29/mo (or $25/mo when paid annually.) Who better to host your courses than the creators themselves? LearnDash Cloud comes with 24/7 After Hours support for urgent matters, so you always have help available.
If you are just starting, SiteGround is a good option. They have three main plans for their shared hosting, with the top-tier option costing around $40/mo. (However, they seem to have frequent sales as low as $7/mo.) We’ve tested their hosting, and it’s quite fast for the cost. Their middle plan is a good starting point, which you can ramp up as needed.
Arguably one of the more popular names in regards to WordPress-specific hosting, WPEngine starts at $25/mo and is a great option for your LearnDash-powered program. They excel at support, which is critical when it comes to hosting platforms. Convenient chat support is always available if something goes awry and you need quick help.
A 1-site license with Nexcess only costs $19/mo, which is a super affordable option. Nexcess includes the CDN, staging, SSL, multiple sites, and more. You also get custom caching and greater PHP workers for high concurrency. And there are no limits to how often you get visitors, too.
At $30/mo, Kinsta has a solid offering with reliable speed, service, and support. Kinsta markets itself as “premium” hosting, but we find it’s a good value for the benefits. It’s fully-managed hosting, which means their team takes care of your backend tasks. Big names like Ubisoft and Freshbooks call themselves Kinsta customers. LearnDashers also say positive things about their hosting.
LearnDash customers love the fact Pressidium goes out of their way to configure their servers specifically for LearnDash. If you have a popular LearnDash site, Pressidium will work with you for optimal site performance. They’ve got a great blog that explains why they’re the best high-performance option for LearnDash, justifying their $42/mo price tag. If you’re looking for something specific for LearnDash, Pressidium is your best bet.
Do More With LearnDash
No matter which hosting option you choose, you can rest assured that your LearnDash course site is in good hands.
Want a visual walkthrough? Check out our video on best hosting options for LearnDash:
Questions? We’re happy to answer hosting-related questions. Not sure yet if LearnDash is right for you? Give the demo a try and see how LearnDash integrates into your WordPress site.
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