The 7 Best WordPress Hosts with Automatic Updates

Running a WordPress site means keeping up with updates. Core files, plugins, and themes all need regular patches to stay secure and functional. Miss a few, and you open the door to vulnerabilities, broken features, or worse. The problem is that most site owners have better things to do than log in every week to click update buttons.

That’s where automatic updates come in. The right hosting provider handles this for you, running updates in the background while you focus on content, sales, or whatever your site actually exists to do. But not every host approaches automatic updates the same way. Some update the core only. Others include plugins and themes. A few add testing layers so an update doesn’t accidentally break your homepage at 2 a.m.

GreenGeeks: The Fastest Shared Hosting Option

GreenGeeks takes the top spot here because it delivers managed WordPress performance at shared hosting prices. In independent testing from 2025, GreenGeeks recorded a 395-millisecond time to first byte and a 26-millisecond load handling time. That puts it ahead of every other shared hosting provider tested.

The automatic update system covers WordPress core files and plugins when you enable it through the dashboard. You can set updates to run immediately or schedule them during low-traffic hours. This flexibility helps if you run a site where uptime during business hours matters more than having the latest patch the moment it is released.

What makes GreenGeeks perform this well is LiteSpeed Web Server running under the hood. LiteSpeed processes around 5,100 requests per second, more than double Nginx’s throughput and roughly five times Apache’s. While LiteSpeed can handle 5,100 requests per second at the server level, your actual page load speed will still depend on how heavy your plugins are (PHP execution) and how quickly your site pulls information from its database.

The built-in LS Cache plugin works with this server to push sites, resulting in approximately 4X faster load times compared to standard configurations. At $1.95 per month for the entry plan, GreenGeeks costs a fraction of what managed WordPress hosts charge. You get SSD storage, a free CDN, and SSL certificates included. For anyone who wants automatic updates with strong performance and doesn’t want to pay $35 or more per month, this is the obvious choice.

WP Engine: Built for Managed WordPress

WP Engine earned its reputation as a managed WordPress host by focusing entirely on one platform. The company doesn’t offer general web hosting or support other content management systems. Everything runs through WordPress-specific infrastructure.

In load testing, WP Engine posted a 354-millisecond TTFB and a 19-millisecond load response time. The 99.99% uptime figure means your site stays online almost constantly. Downtime averages less than one hour per year.

The automatic update approach here differs from other providers. WP Engine waits before pushing WordPress core updates to customer sites. Their security team reviews each release and tests it against the platform before rolling it out. This delay adds a layer of protection against updates that cause conflicts with common plugins or themes.

WP Engine starts at $20 per month, which places it in the mid-range for managed hosts. The price includes staging environments, daily backups, and a custom caching system. If your site generates revenue and downtime costs you money, WP Engine offers reliability that cheaper hosts can’t match.

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Kinsta: Premium Hosting with Visual Testing

Kinsta runs on Google Cloud Platform infrastructure, which gives it global data center coverage and strong baseline performance. Testing showed a 418-millisecond TTFB with 26-millisecond load handling under stress, matching GreenGeeks in the second metric.

The automatic update feature on Kinsta includes an interesting addition. For $3 per environment per month after a free first month, you get visual regression testing. The system takes screenshots of your pages before and after updates, comparing them pixel by pixel. If something breaks visually, you get an alert before the change goes live.

Kinsta runs automatic daily updates for plugins and themes, which keeps your site current without manual intervention. The 99.9% uptime guarantee sits slightly below WP Engine but still means minimal downtime across a year.

Starting at $35 per month, Kinsta costs more than most options on this list. The Google Cloud infrastructure and visual testing tools make sense for agencies, developers, or anyone running client sites where a broken homepage means angry phone calls.

Bluehost: Affordable Updates with Cloudflare Integration

Bluehost recorded a 394-millisecond TTFB in testing, putting it close to GreenGeeks on that metric. The load response time of 131 milliseconds is noticeably slower, though still acceptable for most sites.

Automatic WordPress installation comes standard, and updates run for core files and plugins without extra configuration. Bluehost bundles Cloudflare CDN integration, which helps page load times for visitors far from your server location.

The hosting includes SSD storage and built-in security features at the shared hosting tier. Starting prices sit around $2.95 per month, making Bluehost one of the cheaper options with functional automatic updates.

If your site gets moderate traffic and you want hands-off updates without paying managed hosting prices, Bluehost works. The load handling time under stress won’t win any speed awards, but most small business sites and blogs won’t push servers hard enough for that to matter.

DreamHost: Unlimited Storage with Reliable Updates

DreamHost offers something rare in shared hosting: unlimited storage on annual plans. Testing showed a 439-millisecond average page load time with a 137-millisecond server response, placing it behind GreenGeeks and WP Engine on raw speed.

Automatic WordPress updates cover core files, and free SSL certificates come with every plan. DreamHost has been around since 1996, which means the company has outlasted countless competitors and learned from decades of operational problems.

The 100% uptime guarantee sounds bold, but DreamHost backs it with service credits if they fail to deliver. Starting prices around $2.59 per month keep this option accessible for anyone watching their budget.

DreamHost makes sense for sites with large media libraries or extensive archives where storage limits would become expensive elsewhere.

Pressable: Enterprise Features for Growing Sites

Pressable includes Smart WordPress Staging, which lets you test updates in a separate environment before pushing them live. Auto-Scaling handles traffic spikes without manual intervention, and automatic data backups run continuously.

The 100% uptime SLA puts Pressable among the most confident hosts on reliability. Starting at $25 per month, pricing sits between budget shared hosting and premium managed options.

For businesses expecting growth or running promotional campaigns that could spike traffic unpredictably, Pressable’s auto-scaling removes one major worry from the equation.

SiteGround: Strong Support with Update Control

SiteGround offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and includes automatic updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes. The control panel lets you choose which updates run automatically and which require manual approval.

Pricing starts at $2.99 per month for basic plans. SiteGround built its reputation partly on customer support quality, which helps when an update causes unexpected problems.

Conclusion

After comparing all 7 hosts, GreenGeeks delivers the best combination of performance, automatic updates, and pricing. The 395-millisecond TTFB and 26-millisecond load handling time match or beat hosts charging ten times the price. LiteSpeed Web Server processing 5,100 requests per second gives your site headroom to handle traffic without slowing down.

Automatic updates for WordPress core and plugins work reliably, and the $1.95 starting price keeps this accessible for new sites, small businesses, and anyone who doesn’t want to spend $35 per month before their site earns a dollar.

WP Engine and Kinsta offer premium features worth considering if your budget allows, but for most WordPress site owners looking for solid performance with hands-off updates, GreenGeeks is the answer.