I subscribed to a Kinsta hosting plan to observe the features it offers. My goal was to help you better decide whether or not Kinsta is a hosting service worth switching to.
I also tested the performance of a website hosted on it and found decent metrics on Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
So, if you are planning to switch to Kinsta and still have some doubt, then read on. I will share everything I found during my observation.
You can jump to this section to quickly find the technical information about the hosting service of Kinsta such as CPU, RAM and storage interface.
Shortcuts ⤵️
- Kinsta in a nutshell
- Superiority areas
- Core features
- Support
- Performance testing results
- Pros and cons
- Kinsta vs Cloudways vs Rocket.net
- Summary
- FAQ
Kinsta in a Nutshell
Kinsta, as you may already know, is a popular managed hosting service for WordPress. It is a direct competitor of WP Engine.
Kinsta uses Google Cloud to power its hosting service. In Kinsta, every website is installed on a container with isolated resources.
In other words, every website has dedicated virtual resources which are not shared with other websites. Even with other sites from the same account.
That is why Kinsta is capable of delivering a better performance compared to shared hosting services like SiteGround and Bluehost.
CDN is one of the main features that Kinsta offers. It uses Cloudflare for this feature. Unlike Rocket.net, the CDN feature of Kinsta is controllable. You can either disable or enable it via the control panel.
Here are key details of the Kinsta hosting service:
| Cloud platform | Google Cloud |
| Server OS | Ubuntu Linux |
| RAM | 8GB |
| CPU cores | 8 |
| CPU model | AMD EPYC 9B14 |
| Storage interface | NVMe |
| Number of data centers | 37 |
| Web server | Nginx |
| Database | MySQL and MariaDB |
| PHP processor | FPM-FCGI |
| CDN platform | Cloudflare |
| Firewall | Cloudflare |
| DNS manager | Amazon Route 53 |
🚨 You can use Kinsta for free for 2 months via the following button. Annual contract required. If you prefer a monthly contract, you can also use the button to use Kinsta for free for the first month.
TRY KINSTA FOR FREE
2 Areas Where Kinsta is Superior in
If your website serves a global audience, then adding CDN is a must to reduce CPU usage and Kinsta is superior in this area.
As mentioned above, the CDN feature of Kinsta is powered by Cloudflare, which has 300+ data centers around the globe.
Unlike Cloudways which offers Cloudflare CDN as an add-on, Kinsta offers it as a core feature.
The bandwidth varies on each website, depending on your plan. If you are on the lowest plan, you will get the CDN bandwidth of 125GB. Larger than Rocket.net (50GB) and Cloudways (100GB).
You can monitor the CDN usage via the control panel. Kinsta also offers an option to exclude files from CDN.
Apart from playing a role as a CDN feature to serve static content, Cloudflare also plays a role as a firewall and image optimizer in Kinsta.
Another area where Kinsta superior is website development experience.
Kinsta has a companion tool called DevKinsta. It is a super useful tool that you can use to run a WordPress website locally.
The best part of using DevKinsta is that you can sync a local site and a live site hosted on Kinsta. It comes with a feature to push changes from a local site to a live site and vice versa, to pull the current version of a live site before you make changes on a local site.
Core Features of Kinsta
- Performance
- Security
- Backup
- File access and database access
- Development and maintenance
- DNS management
— Performance
There are three core features offered by Kinsta aimed at helping your website to load faster.
- CDN
- Edge Caching
- Early Hints
As mentioned, the hosting service of Kinsta is integrated with Cloudflare to offer a CDN feature for its customers.
In fact, CDN seems to be one of the main selling points of Kinsta. You can control (enable or disable) as well as monitor the CDN bandwidth usage via the control panel.
If you want it, you can also exclude certain URLs to be excluded from CDN.
Apart from CDN, Kinsta also comes with Edge Caching. They are completing each other.
While CDN only stores the static files (images, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS) Edge Caching manages them.
You can go to this page to learn more about Edge Caching in Kinsta.
The caching feature of Kinsta is not only available for the application (website), but also the server.
You can even enable object caching, but a paid add-on is required.
Another performance feature offered by Kinsta that is available as a core feature is Early Hints. When enabled, this feature will preload resources before serving the response from the server.
Same as CDN and Edge Caching, Early Hints is also a part of Kinsta’s Cloudflare integration.
— Security
Firewall and DDoS protection are two of the security features that Kinsta offers. They are available as core features and a part of integration with Cloudflare.
Unfortunately, Kinsta offers no feature to monitor the activities of the firewall like Rocket.net and Cloudways.
If you want to block traffic from specific IP addresses, you can do so easily thanks to the IP deny feature.
Kinsta also offers malware removal which is available for free. Meaning that if your website is infected by malware, you can ask the Kinsta support team to remove it at no additional cost.
However, you need to perform the malware scanner yourself using a reliable malware scanner plugin of your choice.
Kinsta offers no feature that proactively scans malware.
Another security feature that Kinsta offers is password protection. This feature is quite useful to password-protect a staging site so that only those who have the password can access it.
— Backup
There are two types of backups offered by Kinsta: automatic backup and manual backup.
For automatic backup, Kinsta performs it every day and each backup is available on your server for 14 days.
To minimize disk usage, Kinsta uses incremental backup technique.
Hourly backup option is also available, but a paid extra add-on is required to enable it.
For manual backup, Kinsta allows you to create up to 5 backups. When a new manual backup is created, Kinsta will store the file for 14 days too.
Please note that Kinsta stores the backup files on the same host machine as your site so be careful when creating a manual backup as it can make your storage getting bulkier.
Kinsta allows you to store your backup files to an external location (Amazon S3 and Google Cloud). However, you will be charged a $2 fee per month for this feature.
Another notable thing regarding the backup feature in Kinsta is that you can only create a downloadable backup once per week.
— File Access and Database Access
Kinsta doesn’t offer a built-in file manager feature like Rocket.net and Rapyd Cloud. If you need an instant solution to access your WordPress files, I recommend you to install plugins like Filester, WP File Manager and Advanced File Manager.
If you prefer not to install a file manager plugin, you have two options to access your files.
First, you can use FileZilla or a similar tool. Second, you can SSH.
Each website already has a pre-defined user which you can use to access files either via FTP or SSH. You can also create a new FTP user if you want.
# Database Access
How about database access?
Instead of offering database access using PhpMyAdmin like most hosting services, Kinsta builds its own GUI-based database management feature called Database Studio.
It’s super clean and easy to use. Not only can you use Database Studio to view the tables of the database, but you can also add a new record, add a new table, run SQL console, and so on.
— Development and Maintenance
Kinsta doesn’t offer a built-in feature for local development using Git like Cloudways. But it doesn’t matter because you have DevKinsta as the Git replacement.
You can use DevKinsta to create a clone of your live website on a local environment for a saver development.
Or, you can test changes on a staging site and push them to a live once everything goes well.
Here are some development and maintenance features that Kinsta offers:
# Staging Environment
Kinsta offers two staging environment types: Standard and Premium.
The Standard staging environment is available for free, while the Premium one requires an extra subscription fee.
For a basic testing purpose, the Standard staging environment is more than enough. You can use this staging environment to test a new design, to test custom code, to test plugin updates, and so on.
Once you are done testing the changes, you can push them to the live site.
Unfortunately, Kinsta offers no option to pull the changes from a live site. As a comparison, the staging feature of Cloudways offers the option.
You can only create one staging environment per site. The feature itself is accessible via the menu bar.
# Analytics and Monitoring
The analytics feature offered by Kinsta is useful to monitor the usage of resources on your hosting account.
You can use the feature to monitor usage stats like CDN and edge and top requests. The feature also allows you to monitor PHP performance and HTTP status code.
Kinsta displays all the above stats in an easy-to-learn chart format.
## APM
Apart from the analytics feature which you can use to monitor the resources usage as I elaborated above, Kinsta also comes with APM (Application Performance Monitoring).
The feature is aimed specifically at identifying PHP performance bottlenecks and troubleshooting your WordPress site. With APM, you can monitor overall transaction time of PHP and MySLQL.
You can also easily identify slowest database queries, slowest external request, slowest WordPress hooks, and slowest plugins on your website with the feature.
Another analytics feature offered by Kinsta is New Relic. But you need to have a New Relic account and set up an integration to use this feature.
# Auto Updates
Since version 3.7, WordPress already comes with automatic updates for the core, followed by automatic updates for plugins started in version 5.5.
The automatic updates feature in WordPress relies on WP Cron to work.
By default, Kinsta uses the WordPress’ built-in automatic updates, but you can switch to Kinsta’s automatic updates if you want. However, you need to pay an extra fee of $3 per month per environment.
It’s a pity because auto updates should be available for free on a high-price managed hosting like Kinsta. In Rocket.net auto updates are available for free.
# PHP Switcher
As I displayed in this table, Kinsta uses PHP-FPM as its PHP processor. The default PHP version that Kinsta uses itself is PHP 8.2. You can switch a higher or lowest PHP version if you want.
The lowest PHP version that Kinsta supports is PHP version 7.4. When necessary, Kinsta allows you to restart the PHP engine.
Unlike Cloudways (which also uses the same PHP processor as Kinsta), Kinsta doesn’t allow you to set custom PHP configurations.
# Bulk Actions
Kinsta mainly targets WordPress agencies. No wonder it comes with some agency-focused features. One of which is bulk actions.
The feature is quite useful if you manage multiple websites on Kinsta. You can use this feature to perform bulk actions. Such as managing updates, disabling/enabling CDN, switching PHP versions, and so on.
— DNS Management
When you host your website on Kinsta, you have two options to connect your domain. You can either use the DNS manager of your domain registrar or use the DNS manager of Kinsta.
If you prefer the second option, then you can go to the DNS menu inside the Kinsta dashboard. From here, you can add the necessary DNS records for your domain.
If you use Google Workspace for your professional email, you can add Gmail MX records with a single click.
The DNS manager of Kinsta is powered by Amazon Route 53 which has super quick propagation.
In my own experience when connecting a custom domain using Kinsta’s DNS manager, I could verify my domain ownership almost instantly instead of waiting for minutes or hours.
If you want to learn the performance of Amazon Route 53, you can refer to this page.
Kinsta Support
I personally don’t recommend a hosting service in which the support is staffed by AI. Because if a hosting service uses AI for its support, it is a sign that customers are not the priority.
That’s why I don’t recommend SiteGround (I switched away from it) because SiteGround support is staffed by ChatGPT-powered bot.
What about Kinsta?
Kinsta uses live chat for its support. You will always be greeted directly by a human after answering some questions regarding your problem.
Kinsta uses Intercom to power its live chat support. The same platform used by Cloudways and Rapyd Cloud.
Live chat is the only support type offered by Kinsta. It doesn’t offer ticket-based support like Cloudways and Rocket.net.
Kinsta Uptime and Performance Testing Results
I have created a page on UptimeRobot long before writing this review aimed at monitoring the downtime history of some popular hosting services.
As you can see below, Kinsta has an excellent uptime history.
However, when it comes to average response time, Kinsta is not that good (477ms). Pressable (30ms) and Rocket.net (74ms) have better average response time than Kinsta.
— Performance Testing Results of Kinsta
I created a dedicated page using Divi 5 to test the performance of Kinsta. The page has the following details:
- Page size: 687KB
- Page requests: 40
Here is the screenshot of the page.
Since I wanted to test the performance of Kinsta, I applied no optimization tweaks to the page.
# Testing Results on GTMetrix
You can click on the above images to enlarge them.
# Testing Results on PageSpeed Insights
Pros and Cons of Kinsta
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Large CDN bandwidth | Pricey |
| Seamless development experience with DevKinsta | Low monthly visits cap |
| Live chat by humans, not bot | Some features require add-ons |
| Useful DNS manager | No file manager |
| Clean, intuitive control panel | |
| Excellent performance on desktop | |
| Isolated resources with high enough specs | |
| Offers 1-month free trial | |
| Free malware removal | |
| Unlimited free migration |
Kinsta vs Cloudways vs Rocket.net
Kinsta is a cloud hosting service that directly competes with Rocket.net. The two share similar features although in some areas Kinsta is better than Rocket.net.
Similarly, Rocket.net is better than Kinsta in some areas. Such as automatic updates and automatic backup.
Cloudways is another competitor of Kinsta although the main hosting service that the two offer is different.
Kinsta mainly offers managed cloud hosting service for WordPress, while the main hosting service that Cloudways offers is cloud VPS (Cloudways also offers a fully managed hosting service for WordPress called Cloudways Autonomous).
I have created the following table to make it easier for you to compare the main features and specs offered by Kinsta, Cloudways and Rocket.net.
| Kinsta | Cloudways | Rocket.net | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting type | Managed hosting | VPS | Managed hosting |
| Data centers | 38 | 40+ | 8 |
| Number of websites | 1 | Unlimited | 1 |
| Storage | 10GB | 25GB | 10GB |
| Monthly visits cap | 35,000 | Unlimited | 250,000 |
| Migration | Always free | 1 free then $25/site | Always free |
| Core features | DNS manager, firewall, SSL, caching, PHP switcher, SFTP, SSH, automatic backup, staging, CDN | Firewall, SSL, multi-layer caching, PHP switcher, SFTP, SSH, staging, Git, WP CLI | File manager, firewall, SSL, caching, PHP switcher, SFTP, SSH, automatic backup, staging, CDN, WP CLI |
| Support | Live chat | Ticket, live chat, private Slack channel | Ticket, live chat |
| Starting price | $35/month | $11/month | $30/month |
| Learn more | Learn More | Learn More |
Summary
Kinsta is a managed cloud hosting service for WordPress that primarily target agencies who want to build fast-to-load websites. It comes with CDN and Edge Caching available as core features.
The CDN and Edge Caching features of Kinsta are powered by Cloudflare in which the data centers are located in over 300 locations worldwide. Apart from CDN and Edge Caching, Kinsta also functions Cloudways as a firewall and image optimizer.
The main hosting infrastructure of Kinsta is powered by Google Cloud. Kinsta uses the CPU model of AMD EPYC 9B14 with an NVMe storage.
In Kinsta, every website has isolated resources but Kinsta is not a VPS. Instead, it uses container technology powered by Docker to offer isolated virtual resources for each website.
Kinsta is capable of delivering great performance, but it is not for everyone. Especially if you need a hosting service for a high traffic website given that Kinsta has a low monthly visit cap.
Kinsta is a hosting service for you if:
- You need a hosting service capable of delivering high performance
- You often work with local environment
- You hate AI-staffed support
- You need a hosting with a solid security feature
Conversely, Kinsta is not a hosting for you if:
- You need an affordable hosting for a high-traffic site
- You need an affordable hosting to host multiple websites
- You are new to WordPress and want to create your first-ever website
If you are interested in trying Kinsta, you can simply visit its official website.
FAQs Around Kinsta
Does Kinsta offer free migration?
Yes. Kinsta does offer free migration as part of its core service. You can migrate unlimited WordPress websites to Kinsta for free.
To migrate a website to Kinsta, you can click the Request migration option when attempting to add a new website.
Does Kinsta have plugin restrictions?
Kinsta already has features like caching, backup and image optimizer. These features are available at the server level. To avoid conflict, Kinsta restricts plugins that have the same functionality as Kinsta’s core features.
Some examples of plugins that are not allowed in Kinsta are BackupBuddy, BackWPup, and Duplicator Pro.
Security plugins are allowed, but some of them may not be compatible with the Kinsta environment. This includes Wordfence.
Other than those plugins, you can install any plugin you want. You can visit this page to find out the full list of restricted plugins in Kinsta.
Is Kinta worth it?
Overall, Kinsta is a great hosting service. It comes with a bunch of useful core features and it also has great performance.
However, to make sure whether or not Kinsta is a good fit, you need to re-look at your needs. If you need an affordable hosting to handle a high amount of traffic, then Kinsta is not a good fit.
If you need a hosting service that is capable of delivering a good performance, regardless of the traffic limit, then Kinsta is a good fit.
Does Kinsta use cPanel?
No. Kinsta has its own control panel built in-house. The control panel of Kinsta has a cleaner, easier-to-use than cPanel. Here is the screenshot of the main screen of the Kinsta’s control panel.
