Flywheel vs Nexcess: Complete 2026 Comparison
In-depth comparison of these two hosting providers across pricing, performance, features, and support.
Overall Winner
Nexcess
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Performance, Best Support, Best for Developers
- 4.0/5 overall rating
Category Winners
Best Price
Flywheel
$15.00/mo vs $21.00/mo
Best Value
Tie
Similar renewal pricing
Best Performance
Nexcess
100% uptime, 4.0/5 rating
Best Support
Nexcess
Live chat, Phone
Best for WordPress
Tie
Similar WordPress features
Best for Developers
Nexcess
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Flywheel
Higher ease of use score (8.5/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Managed WordPress | Managed WordPress |
| Monthly Price | $15.00/mo | $21.00/mo |
| Renewal Price | $15.00 | $21.00 |
| Renewal Markup | 0% | 0% |
| Overall Rating | 4.0/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 100% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.4/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 350 | 2,635 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $180.00 | $252.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $180.00 | $252.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 60 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | ||
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 5 GB | 15 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | 20 GB | 2000 GB |
| Max Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Max Databases | — | — |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | ||
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | ||
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | ||
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | DDoS protection included | Enterprise DDoS protection included |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Nightly (automatic) | Daily |
| Backup Retention | 30 days | 30 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base | Live Chat, Ticket, Phone, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | — | 24/7/365 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | 1 min |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 0 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Fastly CDN | Nexcess CDN (22 global edge locations) |
| Server Locations | North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia | US-Central (Phoenix), US-West (Los Angeles), EU-Central (Amsterdam) |
| Server Location Count | 10 | 3 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | ||
| Brotli Compression | ||
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | Flywheel Dashboard | Nexcess Portal |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | — | — |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 2 days | 1 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | Free | Free |
| Migration Quality | 5.0/10 | — |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Support Quality | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | 20GB included on Tiny plan; $1-2 per 1,000 extra visitors; may be charged for consistent overages | No overage fees, traffic caps, or metered pageviews - unlimited bandwidth included |
| Storage Overage | $1/GB for storage over limit | No overage fees - storage included in plan |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2012 | 2000 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | WP Engine (acquired 2019 for ~$200M) | Liquid Web (acquired 2019; merging as one brand) |
| Green Hosting | ||
| Instant Activation | ||
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | visits | no-caps |
| Monthly Visit Limit | 5,000 | Unlimited |
| Visit Overage Cost | $2.00 | $0.00 |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | ||
| Dev Env Name | Local | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada | United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany |
| Local Currencies | USD | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, SOC 2 | GDPR, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2 |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 |
| BBB Rating | NR | A+ |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | — |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | ||
| Image Optimization | ||
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | — | — |
| FTP Accounts | — | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | 60-day money-back guarantee for Tiny, Startup, and non-custom Freelance plans | Full refund within 30 days |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | — |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewing) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | — | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | ||
| Object Cache Type | Page Caching | Redis |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Per sale | Per sale |
| Commission Amount | $50-$500 per sale depending on plan; 90-day cookie | Up to $200 per sale |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $1.00 | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; excessive resource usage | Violation of ToS; non-payment |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Designers and creative agencies; WordPress freelancers; Users wanting free Local development tool; Those who prefer Flywheel's interface over WP Engine; Budget managed WordPress users ($15/mo entry); Sites needing free demo sites feature | WooCommerce stores needing managed hosting; Magento e-commerce sites; WordPress sites requiring auto-scaling; Businesses needing PCI/HIPAA compliance; Users wanting 100% uptime guarantee |
| Avoid If | Need phone support; Need PCI compliance (use WP Engine instead); Need Redis caching; Large storage requirements; Prefer independent company (owned by WP Engine) | Budget-conscious; Need many data center locations; Prefer cPanel; Need email hosting included; Concerned about post-acquisition support quality |
| Known Issues | Owned by WP Engine since 2019; No phone support; No Redis caching; Storage limited on entry plan (5GB); No dedicated IPs; No PCI compliance unlike parent WP Engine; Fewer features than Kinsta at similar price point | Support quality declined after Liquid Web acquisition (outsourced); Hidden fees reported (unexpected charges); Premium pricing may be high for some; No email hosting; Limited to 3 data center regions; Magento hosting specialty but complex |
| Unique Selling Point | Designer-focused managed WordPress with free Local development tool and lower price than parent WP Engine | E-commerce expertise with managed WooCommerce and Magento hosting, 100% uptime SLA, and PCI/HIPAA compliance |
| Ideal Customer | Designer or creative agency wanting managed WordPress with great local development tools at lower cost than WP Engine | E-commerce business needing managed WooCommerce or Magento hosting with auto-scaling and enterprise compliance |
| Best Alternative To | WP Engine | WP Engine |
| Primary Competitors | WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways | Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways, Liquid Web |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Flywheel if you...
- Want to save money ($15.00/mo vs $21.00/mo)
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (10 available)
Choose Nexcess if you...
- Need phone support
- Want to run Node.js applications
- Need enterprise-grade features