Pressable vs Nexcess:
A Detailed Managed Web Hosting Comparison
Whether you’re an ecommerce business owner, an experienced developer, or an agency managing complex WordPress projects, your hosting choice will directly impact your success.
What are your hosting priorities?
You may be looking for a platform that offers:
- Managed WordPress hosting: Some hosting plans require you to do all the day-to-day management of the server environment. This can be unnecessarily time-consuming, especially if you’re managing a large number of sites.
- More advanced management tools: You may need the ability to assign users different permission levels, create staging and dev environments, and integrate with version management tools.
- Speed and security tools: Some hosts offer built-in performance tools like server-side caching and global edge caching, as well as security features like DDOS protection and free SSL certificates.
- Exceptional customer support: Downtime or critical errors on your website can lead to lost sales and a damaged reputation, so responsive and knowledgeable customer support is critical.
- More resources: Some websites, especially ecommerce stores, can be quite resource intensive. So you’ll want to make sure your hosting plan offers adequate bandwidth, storage, and traffic limits for your needs.
- Easy scalability: Your websites may grow gradually over time or experience traffic spikes during busy seasons for your industry. Your host should be able to accommodate these changes in your site’s traffic and usage.
- The right pricing and plan structure: Pricing isn’t always about monthly costs — it’s also about the services and features included with each plan. Every hosting company sets their plans up a little differently, so it’s always a good idea to read the fine print.
An Overview of Pressable
Pressable was founded in 2010 in San Antonio, Texas, as a managed WordPress hosting provider geared towards freelancers, developers, web designers, and business owners.
Their deep knowledge of WordPress means that their infrastructure and support is 100% focused on an optimized WordPress and WooCommerce hosting experience.
While Pressable’s services are aimed at high-traffic websites, busy ecommerce stores, and WordPress agencies, they offer hosting plans that are suitable for any WordPress site.
Plans are simple and transparent, and are based on the number of sites hosted and the resources required. They come loaded with features that help your WordPress site load quickly, stay secure, and grow as needed. Developers love the flexibility and tools for version control, testing, and collaboration, while less technical users enjoy a hassle-free site management experience with top-notch customer support.
No matter what type of WordPress site you’re creating, if you want a reliable, high-performance hosting partner with in-depth WordPress experience, Pressable is a solid choice.
An Overview of Nexcess
Nexcess is a managed hosting provider known for robust managed WordPress solutions for WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento websites. They also offer their own ecommerce platform and support other types of open-source, PHP-based content management systems like Craft CMS.
With Nexcess, you get hosting plans designed for growing businesses, offering features like auto-scaling, advanced caching, and optimized ecommerce environments. Their hosting is tailored for store owners, agencies, and developers who need reliable, high-performance managed WordPress hosting.
Nexcess might be a good choice for businesses that are just starting out and want to balance budget considerations with features and resources. It’s also well-suited for developers who manage WordPress, Magento, and other open-source CMS sites.
Pressable vs. Nexcess Comparison Table
The easiest way to see how Pressable and Nexcess stack up to one another is to organize everything into a handy comparison table. For the sake of parity, we’ll compare each platform’s starting plan for one site, billed annually.
| Pressable | Nexcess | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $20.83/month billed annually | $17.50/month billed annually |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | 2TB |
| User Visit Limits | 30k visits | Unlimited |
| Storage | 20GB | 15GB |
| Platform | WP Cloud | OpenStack |
| Data Centers | 4 WordPress-dedicated data centers | 10 multi-platform data centers |
| Uptime | 100% uptime guaranteed | 100% uptime guaranteed |
| Customer Support | 24/7 support with WordPress experts Premium Slack support is available | 24/7 chat support Ticket support Phone support |
Pricing: The Numbers Behind the Number
Nexcess starts at $17.50 per month billed annually. Pressable starts at $20.83 per month billed annually. Two factors matter more than the headline figure.
Introductory pricing expires. Nexcess frequently runs promotional rates, and an advertised plan may appear at a strikingly low monthly price. That rate typically applies only to the first several months or the first year, after which pricing returns to the standard rate at renewal. Review the renewal terms before committing. Pressable maintains the same price at signup and at renewal, with no promotional expiration.
Scaling affects the total. Nexcess provides free auto-scaling for the first 24 hours, then charges $6 per hour thereafter. A single sustained traffic event can raise a bill quickly. Pressable does not charge hourly for auto-scaling. If a site requires additional resources over an extended period, Pressable recommends moving to the next plan, with the cost communicated in advance.
Storage, Bandwidth, and Visitors Per Month
Pressable starter plans include 20 GB of storage and unlimited bandwidth. Nexcess starter plans include 15 GB of storage and 2 TB of bandwidth. Pressable entry plans support 30k visits per month, while Nexcess does not implement a traffic cap.
Keep in mind that there are a number of things that influence bandwidth usage, traffic being one of them. If you have a website that has a lot of large images and video content that users download, you may have 25k visitors a month that easily use up your 2TB of bandwidth. In this case, you’d get a better deal with Pressable’s monthly visitor max than with Nexcess’ bandwidth cap.
However, if you have a fairly lightweight site, with most of your image and video content hosted on a CDN or another external service, you may get 50k visitors a month and not go over 2TB of bandwidth. In that case, Nexcess’ hosting package may be the better deal for you.
Both hosts provide scalable solutions, but each may be better suited to different types of websites.
Add-on Costs
If you look closely at the comparison table, you’ll see a few areas where Nexcess and Pressable charge extra. However, Nexcess has more upcharges overall.
Nexcess offers free auto-scaling for the first 24 hours, but charges $6/hr thereafter. Pressable does not charge for auto-scaling, but if your site requires additional resources for sustained periods of time, they may recommend upgrading to the next plan.
The hosts vary in their traffic allowances – Pressable offers unlimited bandwidth and Nexcess has caps per plan, but Nexcess offers unlimited visits and Pressable has limits per plan.
One more hidden cost to consider is introductory pricing. Nexcess often runs introductory pricing sales. In bold text, you might see the price say “Only $6/month” or something enticingly low. These prices are usually only for the first few months or a special deal for the first year of hosting. Then, the prices increases to their standard rates after that.
Developer Tools
Pressable and Nexcess both offer valuable tools for agencies and developers. However, Pressable has more advanced features for version control, site deployment, and team member management.
Both platforms offer SSH and SFTP access, although there are some areas of your site that you can’t change via SFTP with Pressable — certain file permissions and some pre-installed plugins like Jetpack and Akismet, for instance. Nexcess does offer a bit more flexibility in that regard, although both hosts prevent the deletion or modification of any must-use plugins.

They both also allow access to the database via phpMyAdmin, one-click staging, and the ability to manage team members and their permissions.
Where Pressable and Nexcess differ, however, is in the additional developer-oriented tools that Pressable includes with all hosting packages, including:
- Smart staging-to-production push via data sync: Pressable gives you the ability to push select data to your production site to avoid issues that may occur with completely overwriting the database or specific directories. It gives you more granular control over what is updated when deploying changes. This is especially important when it comes to highly dynamic sites like ecommerce and membership sites.
- Robust API with webhooks and custom application capabilities: Pressable’s API facilitates integration with other tools and services, enabling custom workflows and automation.
- Bulk operations across multiple sites: Manage multiple sites efficiently with bulk operations, saving time on repetitive tasks.
- Site activity and web server logs: Access detailed logs to monitor site activity and troubleshoot issues effectively.
- Preconfigured WP-CLI and Git integrations: Instead of having to integrate these tools manually via SSH for each site, Pressable speeds up development workflow with WP-CLI and Git access integrated for all hosting plans.
WooCommerce Support and Scalability
Pressable stands out with its WooCommerce-optimized hosting environment, designed specifically to provide seamless performance for online stores. It offers built-in caching, auto-scaling, and automatic failover to ensure that your store remains fast and reliable, even during high traffic periods.
Hosting plans include features like integration with popular payment gateways, advanced development and deployment tools, and robust security tools, which are essential for maintaining a secure and efficient online store. Additionally, Pressable’s relationship with Automattic ensures that customers have 24/7 access to Happiness Engineers with the most in-depth knowledge of both WordPress and WooCommerce.
Nexcess, on the other hand, offers WooCommerce-specific plans with features aimed at both beginner and advanced users who need fine-tuned control over their store’s functionality Nexcess offers built-in performance optimization tools like image compression, a CDN, and automatic scaling, along with monitoring tools to help with site performance. They also include some themes, store templates, and site builder tools, which can be helpful for less experienced store owners.
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Support for Agencies and Multiple Websites
One thing that puts Pressable over the top when it comes to features for agencies is their integration with Automattic for Agencies. Automattic for Agencies members get access to premium Jetpack tools like instant search, video hosting, Jetpack CRM, and automated social media post scheduling.
| Pressable | Nexcess | |
|---|---|---|
| Staging environment | Yes | Yes |
| Client site management | Yes | Yes |
| User management | Yes | Yes |
| Granular permissions | Yes | – |
| Migration tools | Yes | Yes |
| GitHub integration | Yes | – |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| SSH | Yes | Yes |
| SFTP file management | Yes | Yes |
| WP-CLI | Yes | – |
| Integration w/ Automattic for Agencies | Yes | – |
Agency members also receive discounts on Pressable hosting plans, special pricing on WooCommerce extensions, and revenue sharing opportunities when they recommend top Automattic tools to clients. Plus, you’ll get access to features that simplify workflows with centralized billing, advanced multi-site management, and client site licensing.
Customer Support and Assistance
Both Pressable and Nexcess have 24/7 customer support through live chat and support tickets, but Pressable’s relationship with Automattic gives it an edge for WordPress and WooCommerce-specific support and subject matter expertise.
Nexcess, on the other hand, offers broader support for other content management systems, so may be ideal for agencies that manage a variety of websites beyond just WordPress sites.
Experience Superior Hosting
Both Pressable and Nexcess offer excellent hosting solutions, but Pressable stands out for its WordPress and WooCommerce expertise, premium security features, transparent pricing, agency and developer-focused tools, and reliable support.
If you’re just getting started with WordPress hosting, you can hit the ground running with exceptional support from seasoned WordPress experts. As your business expands, your hosting plan will evolve alongside it, seamlessly scaling to accommodate traffic surges without slowing down your site or adding unexpected costs.
For agencies or professionals managing multiple WordPress sites, Pressable provides a suite of tools designed to streamline your processes, impress your clients, and boost your revenue, all while saving you valuable time.
Ready to deliver fast, secure, and scalable WordPress and WooCommerce sites? Let Pressable help!