Last verified 34 days ago·28 sources·Updated automatically
Flywheel and SiteGround compared across Company facts, Pricing, Performance & infrastructure, WordPress management, Support & security and Platform & integrations — every fact sourced and re-verified from each vendor's public material.
Flywheel
Managed WordPress hosting built for designers and creative agencies; now part of WP Engine.
60 days60-day money-back guarantee (excludes Agency and Custom plans)
30 days30-day money-back guarantee on shared/WordPress hosting
Performance & infrastructure
Underlying Cloud
Google CloudRuns on the Google Cloud Platform
Google CloudRuns on Google Cloud
Datacenter Locations
55 data center regions worldwide
1111 hosting datacenter regions across 4 continents (CDN edge network is separate and larger)
Free CDN
Free global CDN powered by Fastly on all plans
Built-in CDN included free on all plans
Web Server
NGINXNGINX serving static files and reverse-proxying PHP-FPM
NGINXNGINX front-ends Apache (NGINX Direct Delivery enabled by default)
Built-in Object Cache
Page caching only (FlyCache); no persistent object cache
Persistent object cache (Memcached) available on all plans incl. entry, via Site Tools / Speed Optimizer
Latest PHP Version
8.2PHP 8.2 (default for new sites); 7.4 also selectable
8.4PHP 8.4 generally available
Free SSL Certificate
Free Let's Encrypt SSL (Simple SSL) with any plan
Free SSL included on all plans, auto-renewed
WordPress management
Automatic WordPress Updates
Automatic major and minor WordPress core updates
Managed automatic WordPress core/plugin updates
Staging Environments
One-click staging sites included on all plans
Staging not on entry StartUp plan; unlocks on GrowBig and above (GoGeek adds Git)
Automatic Daily Backups
Automatic nightly backups with one-click restore
Free automatic daily backups on all plans, one-click restore
Backup Retention (Days)
30 days30 days of nightly backups retained
30 days30 days of backup history retained
Free Site Migration
Free site migrations included
Free site migrations (Migrator plugin self-serve; free expert migrations on higher tiers)
SSH & WP-CLI Access
SSH gateway with WP-CLI on all Cloud Platform sites
SSH and WP-CLI on all plans including entry StartUp
WordPress Multisite Support
Multisite requires Freelance, Agency, or Custom plan; not on the entry Starter plan
WordPress Multisite officially supported (subdomain and subdirectory), documented setup
Support & security
Uptime SLA (%)
99.9%99.9% uptime
99.9%Marketed 99.9% (no contractual SLA)
24/7 Support
24/7/365 chat support on all plans
24/7 expert support on all plans (live chat, tickets, phone); GoGeek adds priority support
Malware Removal / Hack Fix
Free malware cleanup / hack fix if your site is infected on-platform
Malware cleanup is a paid service, not a free hack-fix guarantee
WAF / DDoS Protection
Fastly-based WAF and DDoS protection at the edge, included on all plans
Custom in-house WAF + DDoS protection on every server, included free on all plans
Platform & integrations
Control Panel
customCustom Flywheel dashboard (replaces cPanel)
customCustom Site Tools control panel (SiteGround's own, not cPanel)
White-Label / Agency Features
Billing transfer to clients, collaborators, and multi-site management for agencies
White-label access (GoGeek), collaborator/client roles, custom client packages, reseller program
Email Hosting Included
No email hosting; Flywheel recommends a dedicated provider like Google Workspace
Free unlimited email accounts at your domain on all plans
The verdict
Flywheel
Best for managed staging and hands-off malware cleanup
Flywheel includes one-click staging on its $25 entry plan, where SiteGround restricts staging to GrowBig and up. It also covers free malware removal if a hosted site is hacked, while SiteGround charges for cleanup. Its 60-day money-back window doubles SiteGround's 30. Pick it for a single managed site with a safety net.
SiteGround starts at $17.99 vs Flywheel's $25 and bundles free email hosting at your domain, which Flywheel omits entirely. Its entry plan supports WordPress Multisite and a persistent object cache, both absent on Flywheel's Starter tier, plus newer PHP 8.4 (vs 8.2) and 11 datacenters to Flywheel's 5. Pick it for more stack and lower entry cost.
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