Shared hosting is not the “fastest WordPress hosting” like WPX/Matthew Woodward claim.
WPX doesn’t support object cache and has 3 data centers, which is problematic because their CDN (XDN) only has 36 PoPs. And with no full page caching, no Redis, and limited cores/RAM, WPX isn’t designed for WooCommerce/dynamic sites. And while they use LiteSpeed, they insist on using W3TC which lacks critical features like delaying JavaScript and removing unused CSS.
Another problem is downtimes/outages.
Most hosts have a “status page” to keep you updated about downtimes and scheduled maintenance. WPX doesn’t, but there have been many downtime complaints on TrustPilot.
Not having a redundancy system lead to a global outage which included WPX’s own website. Instead of addressing the redundancy system, WPX blamed their partner’s CEO who died just months earlier. Despite all the negative feedback, WPX still hasn’t added a redundancy system.
So don’t let Matthew’s bogus “fastest WordPress hosting” tests fool you. It was a marketing gimmick ranked by affiliate commissions. Matthew got blasted when posting his results in the WordPress Hosting Facebook Group where seasoned veterans like Patrick Gallagher and WP Johnny called him out. Besides, he now ranks SiteGround, A2 Hosting, and Bluehost as top 6.
WPX is basically shared hosting with above average performance… for static sites… when it works… for visitors near their 3 data centers. And since they’re unreliable, I’d look elsewhere.
- WPX specs
- Slow TTFB (targets <400ms globally)
- No redundancy system, blamed global outage on dead CEO
- Frequent downtimes with no monitoring
- No object cache
- XDN has 36 PoPs, no full page caching, lacking features
- W3 Total Cache vs. LiteSpeed Cache
- No clear resource limits leave many things at WPX’s discretion
- 3 data centers (Chicago, London, Sydney)
- WPX dashboard
- Pricing + bandwidth calculator
- 4 LiteSpeed/cloud hosts that are better than WPX
1. WPX Specs
| WPX Business Plan | NameHero Turbo WP | Scala Entry WP Cloud | Cloudways Vultr HF (2GB) | Rocket.net Starter Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Shared | Shared | Cloud | Cloud | Private cloud |
| Server | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed | Apache + Nginx | Apache + Nginx |
| Cores/RAM | 1 core/1GB | 3 cores/3GB | No limit | 1 core/2GB | 32 cores/128GB |
| Storage | 15GB / SATA | Unlimited NVMe | 50GB NVMe | 64GB / NVMe | 10GB / NVMe |
| Database | MariaDB | MariaDB | MariaDB | MariaDB | MariaDB |
| Object cache | x | Redis | Redis | Redis Pro | Redis |
| PHP processor | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed | LiteSpeed | FPM | LiteSpeed |
| CDN | XDN (free) | QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) | QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) | $5/mo Cloudflare Enterprise | Free Cloudflare Enterprise |
| CDN locations | 36 | 81 | 81 | 285 | 285 |
| Full page caching | x | ✓ | ✓ | x | ✓ |
| Smart routing | x | ✓ | Anycast | Argo | Argo |
| Optimize images | x | QUIC | QUIC | Mirage/Polish | x |
| DNS | Internal | Use QUIC | Use QUIC | DNS Made Easy ($5/mo) | Cloudflare |
| Data centers | 3 | 2 | 3 | 44 | Served from Cloudflare’s edge |
| Cache plugin | W3TC | LSC | LSC | Breeze | x |
| Bandwidth or monthly visits | 200GB | 50k visits/mo (estimated) | Unmetered | 2TB bandwidth | 50GB + 250k visits/mo |
| PHP workers | 3 PHP workers | Not listed | Not listed | No limit | No limit |
| Email hosting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | x | x |
| Major incidents | Global outage + downtimes | 2011 2-day node outage | None | None | None |
| Support | B | B | B | B | B |
| Migrations | 5-35 sites | 1 free | 1 free | 1 free + $25/site | Unlimited free |
| TrustPilot rating | 4.9/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.9/5 |
| Intro price | $20.83/mo when paying yearly | $9.98/mo (3 years) | $14.95 (3 years) | $30/mo | $25/mo when paying yearly |
| Renewal price | $20.83/mo | $19.95/mo | $24.95/mo | $30/mo | $25/mo |
2. Slow TTFB (Targets <400ms Globally)
WPX says even with their site speed optimization service, they target a TTFB of under 400ms internationally. Since TTFB is 40% of LCP, a slow TTFB means a worse LCP (4.5s isn’t passing).
KeyCDN measures TTFB in 10 global locations. <400ms isn’t fast considering hosts like Rocket.net average <100ms.
3. No Redundancy System, Blamed Global Outage On Dead CEO
Here’s the Facebook post.
On 8/2/2021, WPX had a global outage (worldwide, not just Chicago) due to not having a redundancy system, which means there’s a single point of failure. WPX said using one was too expensive. Thousands of customer websites were down for about 5 hours, including WPX’s site.
During the outage, the only communication was that it would be resolved shortly. WPX then blamed Steadfast’s CEO who died just months earlier, even though BigScoots uses Steadfast and had 0 downtime since they use a redundancy system. WPX’s official response continues to blame Steadfast and to this date, they only said they’ll “investigate” a redundancy system. As one person points out, WPX’s CDN doesn’t take precautions like the “Always On” in Cloudflare.
4. Frequent Downtimes With No Monitoring
WPX doesn’t have a network status page either, so it’s pretty much impossible to track uptimes across all WPX’s servers, but you can find many individual reports of their frequent downtimes.
5. No Object Cache
WPX doesn’t support Redis or Memcached.
This is a big disadvantage since it speeds up your site while reducing server load (and is especially good for WooCommerce/dynamic sites). Which means if you installed LiteSpeed Cache with their hosting, you can’t pass the object cache connection test. Normally, you would enable Redis or Memcached in your hosting account, then use LiteSpeed Cache to integrate it.
6. XDN Has 36 PoPs, No Full Page Caching, Lacking Features
XDN was the secret weapon that helped win speed tests done by Kevin Ohashi and Matthew Woodward (so does this mean they will also be testing Cloudflare Enterprise on other hosts)?
XDN only has 34 PoPs and doesn’t cache dynamic assets. Which means dynamic sites (like WooCommerce) are at a disadvantage. It also means you may not see a big TTFB improvement in tools like KeyCDN/SpeedVitals since dynamic caching is one of the best ways to reduce TTFB.
There’s no mention of load balancing, smart routing (i.e. Argo/Anycast), or security features.
Since WPX uses LiteSpeed, you’re better off using QUIC.cloud’s CDN with 83 PoPs, dynamic caching, and several other speed/security features. QUIC.cloud is also needed for page/image optimizations to work in LiteSpeed Cache (critical CSS, unique CSS, LQIP) while you would be missing out on these features with XDN. However, you would ideally want to use QUIC.cloud’s paid/standard plan since their free plan only uses 6 PoPs and doesn’t include DDoS protection.
7. W3 Total Cache vs. LiteSpeed Cache
WPX uses LiteSpeed servers, nice!
So why do they recommend W3 Total Cache when LiteSpeed Cache has a lot more features to improve core web vitals? You can use free plugins like WP-Optimize, Flying Scripts, Heartbeat Control, and an image optimization plugin like Optimole, but that would mean a lot of extra plugins. I have detailed tutorials for the W3 Total Cache settings and LiteSpeed Cache settings.
| W3 Total Cache | LiteSpeed Cache | |
|---|---|---|
| Delay JavaScript | x | ✓ |
| Critical CSS | x | via QUIC |
| Remove unused CSS | x | via QUIC |
| Load CSS asynchronously | Pro | ✓ |
| Preload links | x | ✓ |
| Lazy load videos | x | ✓ |
| Exclude viewport images from lazy | x | ✓ |
| Lazy load Google Maps | Pro | ✓ |
| Lazy load HTML selectors | x | ✓ |
| Host third-party code locally | x | ✓ |
| First time visit optimization | x | Guest Mode |
| ESI (edge side includes) | x | ✓ |
| Database cleanup | x | ✓ |
| Gravatar cache | x | ✓ |
| Heartbeat control | x | ✓ |
| DNS prefetch | x | ✓ |
| Image compression | Pro | via QUIC |
| WebP | Pro | via QUIC |
| Add missing image dimensions | x | ✓ |
| Low quality image placeholder | x | via QUIC |
| Price | Freemium (Pro: $99/year) | Free |
8. No clear Resource Limits Leave Many Things At WPX’s Discretion
Most hosts list clear resource limits in their TOS and policy pages.
WPX’s TOS doesn’t list these, but explains how they can terminate your account without a refund for various reasons. Two of these being excessive use of CPU/MySQL resources which aren’t clearly listed. Even if your behavior is “insulting” to WPX, your account can be terminated.
Their “unlimited bandwidth” on higher plans don’t have numbers. Instead, they have a “reasonable use” limit at WPX’s discretion.
9. 3 Data Centers (Chicago, London, Sydney)
Since WPX only has 3 data centers, your site might be significantly slower if visitors aren’t close to here. CDNs and full page caching help make this (less) important, but XDN doesn’t support it.
| Chicago, IL (USA) | London (England) | Sydney (Australia) |
10. WPX Dashboard
WPX uses their own custom dashboard.
It’s easy to use especially for basic things like email, backups, SSL, staging, and FTP. But some people think it’s oversimplified and lacks features. Beginners shouldn’t have any problem navigating the dashboard, but some advanced users may find they don’t have as much control.
Staging usually works fine, but there have been a few error reports in Facebook groups. They only let you create 1 copy, in which case you would need to use something like the WP Staging.
11. Pricing + Bandwidth Calculator
How much bandwidth each plan has:
| WPX Plan | Websites | Storage | Bandwidth | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | Up to 5 | 10GB | 100GB | $24.99/mo | $20.83/mo |
| Professional | Up to 15 | 20GB | 200GB | $49.99/mo | $41.58/mo |
| Elite | Up to 35 | 40GB | “Unlimited” | $99.00/mo | $83.25/mo |
Their bandwidth calculator recommends a plan based on your website’s average page size, monthly visitors, and average page views.
12. 4 LiteSpeed/Cloud Hosts That Are Better Than WPX
Rocket.net – here’s how easy it was to get a <100ms global TTFB:
- Reach out to Ben Gabler if you need an intro.
- Benchmark your TTFB in KeyCDN and your LCP in PSI or GTmetrix.
- Sign up for Rocket.net (it’s $1 your first month so you can try them).
- Let them move your site (many agents have 10 years experience on them).
- Upgrade to the latest compatible PHP version, then ask support to install Redis.
- Remove any image optimization, security, CDN plugins. You don’t need them anymore.
- Retest TTFB/LCP (TTFB is 40% of LCP, that’s why people have seen a 452% improvement).
- Then you add FlyingPress into the mix, and hopefully your GTmetrix report looks like this.
WPX is shared hosting with SATA SSDs, low cores/RAM, no object cache, and an inferior CDN with 36 PoPs and no full page caching. Rocket.net is cloud hosting with faster NVMe SSDs, 32 cores/128GB RAM, Redis, and Cloudflare Enterprise is a powerhouse for reducing TTFB with 285 PoPs, APO, Argo Smart Routing, load balancing, as well as Mirage/Polish for image optimization.
You can find more migration results on their TrustPilot profile or read through the feedback they’ve been getting in Facebook groups (along with Ben’s AMA). Ben is a smart dude and his background is crazy impressive. He was HostGator’s COO, StackPath’s Chief Product Officer, GoDaddy’s Senior Product Manager, and now he’s CEO at Rocket.net. Just watch the interview:
LiteSpeed Hosts – If you’re stuck on using LiteSpeed, look at NameHero’s Turbo WordPress plan (shared LiteSpeed hosting with NVMe on their US data center) or Scala’s Entry WP Cloud plan (cloud LiteSpeed hosting with NVMe on their US data center). For sites not based in the US, look intro ChemiCloud’s WordPress Turbo plan since they have more data centers and 9/11 of them use NVMe. ChemiCloud also has a Turbo+ Boost add-on that scales cores/RAM from 3 cores + 3GB RAM to 6 cores + 6GB RAM for $6-7/mo, so it’s essentially scalable shared LiteSpeed hosting.
Cheers,
Tom
