So it was just under a year before I decided to move away from FlyWheel. Flywheel is a dedicated hosting platform for WordPress bloggers. I moved over to them because they did a lot of things that I didn't want to manage such as security, updating, backups, etc.
I was really happy with them as they had amazing support and definitely helped me with some issues son my blog. They were easy to deal with and they did everything on my blog to make sure it was always up and running. I didn't have to think if my blog was down. I had my trust in their platform.
... FYI this is going to be a one-directional comparison because I needed a feature or access that FlyWheel couldn't allow.
Then I wanted to use certain plugins and themes and this is when I ran into issues. After working with the support of the plugin and theme I wanted to use, there were security issues that FlyWheel will not allow. I understand they want to make sure my blog is well protected and I applaud them for that.
I am concerned when I want to do something on the backend, I will not be able to. So it took me to realize that I had to move away from FlyWheel. I decided to go with SiteGround. I was already hosting with them anyways on some small sites, so I decided to use their managed side for WordPress.
The transfer was simple, as you get 1 free domain transfer when you sign up with SiteGround, it took less than 2 hours for them to fully transfer my blog over. After doing some cleaning and updating, I did a speed test to see where my blog was at.
Here is the result from the original post on FlyWheel, which I did improve prior.
Here is the speed test when I fully switched to SiteGround. Now there is a slight speed change, but also the page size also decreased with the new theme I have implemented as well. So there isn't as much request to the server or heavy page size, still, the load speed time is very similar.
So the speed is matchable? A tad bit slower even with lower requests and smaller page size, but I think it is fine. SiteGround does have a limit on space and visits. It is 10,000 visits and 10gigs of stored data. I suggest you get the GrowBig plan since you can host as many domains as you want.
I do like that you get access to your cPanel. I didn't think I needed it as I would just throw a ticket to FlyWheel and they would handle everything and I appreciated it. Sometimes I just want to get things done instead of waiting, yes I am impatient, and I just want access to my backend.
Personally, I didn't realize that I enjoy working on the backend of my site sometimes.
In any case, FlyWheel does not give you backend access, just standard FTP. They are very big on security and want to make sure that there is no easy access for a person to gain access to your website. Security is definitely there.
FlyWheel even suggests not to use security plugins like Wordfence or any Optimizer plugin because they cache and have their own firewalls to protect your websites.
At the end of the switch, I had to move over to SiteGround, just because I am used to having a backend and I wanted a server that is still accessible but still secured. I wanted access to cPanel because I am somewhat a nerd.
I wanted to create my own plugins and put them on the blog. I wanted security without exchanging access is what I was trying to say.
Overall, I have no hate for FlyWheel, they did a great job hosting my blog for almost a year. I just had to move to another hosting provider just because there are some things a marketing nerd needs.
Why you should use FlyWheel?
- If you do not want to manage your own server
- If you do not want to worry about backups, security, page cache, page speed
- Assurance your website will be 100% up (my blog was 100% up while hosted on FlyWheel)
- You are not creating your own plugins
- You are not using special plugins that require heavy cron jobs
Why you should use SiteGround?
- You are a nerd and need cPanel access
- Want to manage your own backups, page cache, and security
- Creating your own code or plugins for your own blog
- Need access to the backend of your blog for testing
- Want to be a WebHost manager
Even looking at the backend interface, FlyWheel is super simple. Straight to the point on what sites you have and access to your backups. SiteGround does look more technical but gives you access to a lot of tools for your blog. It really depends on what you want.
These are just a quick list of why I think you need these web host providers. I am very one-directional here just because of the issue I ran into. I didn't go in-depth of all the other features but overall, if you just want to forget your blog and just write content, FlyWheel is the move.
If you want to create and operate your website then SiteGround is the move for you. It just gives you more freedom of owning a website.
