An acquaintance asked me, “Do you have any recommended servers for hosting WordPress for a US audience?” So I’ll introduce the recommended VPS I suggested.

Consultation Details

I’m helping with an acquaintance’s website (the engineer who built it apparently disappeared lol), They’re using AWS, and I can’t touch it at all, so I’m completely confused and almost crying.

Please tell me the benefits of using AWS for a regular website. Conversely, if I’m going to do maintenance going forward, I feel like switching to an easier rental server would be a good conclusion… Is that understanding correct? In that case, do you have any recommended US rental servers?

Usually, I use Sakura VPS, but it feels a bit slow when accessed from the US…

The website requirements are as follows:

• WordPress hosting
• Mainly using the default post functionality
• Static pages: About 10 pages
• Dynamic pages: About 4 pages

Daily access is about 100 PVs, at most 500 PVs.

My (the consultant’s) skill level is setting up WordPress on Sakura rental server using Filezilla. (dead eyes)

Response Content

Amazon LightSail is Recommended

Q) Can someone tell me the benefits of using AWS for a regular website? A) If you’re using EC2, I don’t think there are any particular benefits. If I had to say, there’s the free tier, but since there’s a time limit of a year or so, considering pros and cons, I think the complexity disadvantages outweigh the benefits. AWS Cloud Free Tier | AWS

If it’s Lightsail, I think it’s fine as is. Building WordPress with Custom Domain and SSL Support Using Amazon’s VPS Service (Lightsail) ($3.50~/month) | DevelopersIO

Q) Conversely, if I’m going to do maintenance going forward, I feel like switching to an easier rental server would be a good conclusion… Is that understanding correct? A) Yes

Other Recommended VPS are "DigitalOcean" and "Linode"

Q) In that case, do you have any recommended US rental servers? A) If access from the US is the main concern, I recommend either “DigitalOcean” or “Linode”.

DigitalOcean Pricing on DigitalOcean - Cloud virtual machine & storage pricing

Linode Cloud Server Plans and Pricing - Linode

Personally, I recommend Linode because it also has a Tokyo region, so if you handle more in the future, you can also handle VPS for Japan. I think the $5 plan is sufficient.

I have referral codes, so please use them!

DigitalOcean: https://m.do.co/c/371f60382751

Linode: https://www.linode.com/?r=edd6f2793f5820f9c6d12dd386459c52b1e667ec

Q) Usually, I use Sakura VPS, but it feels a bit slow when accessed from the US… A) That’s right. You can’t exceed the speed of light, so it’s better to host in a region close to the US.

Could Using wordpress.com Paid Plan Be an Option?

Q) Daily access is about 100 PVs, at most 500 PVs. A) I think the $5 plan above is sufficient. Or, I thought it might be better overall to just use wordpress.com as is. WordPress.com Plans and Pricing – Get Started for Free Today!

If you want to use custom themes, it costs ¥2,900/month, but otherwise you can use it from ¥500.

That’s all from the Gemba on recommending Linode VPS for hosting WordPress for US audiences.