What each plan includes
Figures were read on 29 October 2026 from SiteGround's WordPress hosting and shared hosting features pages and KnownHost's managed VPS page. SiteGround does not publish CPU or RAM for its shared plans; it labels server resources Premium (GrowBig) and Geeky (GoGeek).
| Item | SiteGround GrowBig | SiteGround GoGeek | KnownHost Basic VPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-term price | $4.99/mo, prepaid 12 months | $7.99/mo, prepaid 12 months | $43.25/mo |
| Renewal price | $29.99/mo | $44.99/mo | No first-term discount shown |
| Websites | Unlimited | Unlimited | Not stated on plan page |
| Storage | 50 GB | 100 GB | 100 GB NVMe |
| Monthly visits guidance | About 100,000 | About 400,000 | Not metered by visits; 3 TB bandwidth |
| CPU and RAM | Not published (Premium) | Not published (Geeky) | 4 cores, 6 GB guaranteed RAM |
| Root access | Not listed | Not listed | Full root |
| Control panel | No third-party panel listed | No third-party panel listed | cPanel, DirectAdmin or Plesk, preinstalled |
| Daily backups | Included; up to 30 copies on shared plans | Included; up to 30 copies on shared plans | JetBackup add-on, $8.95/mo |
| On-demand backups | 5 slots | 5 slots | Via JetBackup if purchased |
| Staging | Included | Included, with Git | Not listed on plan page |
| Support | 24/7 by phone, chat and tickets | 24/7; priority support listed | 24/7 chat or ticket; OS and panel managed |
Two-year cost math
SiteGround's first-term price applies to the first 12-month prepaid term; the plan then renews at the regular rate. KnownHost lists a monthly price without a first-term discount. Using list prices before tax:
SiteGround's shared hosting features page showed $29.99 as the GoGeek renewal on one plan card and $44.99 in its comparison table; the WordPress hosting page shows $44.99. The table uses $44.99, the higher figure, and you should confirm it at checkout.
| Plan | Year 1 | Year 2 | Two-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround GrowBig | $59.88 | $359.88 | $419.76 |
| SiteGround GoGeek | $95.88 | $539.88 | $635.76 |
| KnownHost Basic | $519.00 | $519.00 | $1,038.00 |
| KnownHost Basic + JetBackup | $626.40 | $626.40 | $1,252.80 |
When dedicated resources matter for a course
Most of what a course student does is logged in: opening lessons, saving progress, taking quizzes, paying. Those requests typically bypass full-page caching and run PHP and database queries on every click. On a shared plan you cannot see how much CPU or memory is reserved for you, so you cannot size against a known number. On a VPS you can measure memory per PHP worker and set worker counts to match the 6 GB you are guaranteed.
That makes the VPS easier to reason about once you have regular live cohorts, timed quizzes at a fixed hour, or launch days where hundreds of people log in together. For a course with steady, spread-out usage and well under SiteGround's visit guidance, the shared plan's built-in staging and backups may be worth more than control you will not use.
Support scope: what each company actually covers
KnownHost's support coverage page includes OS management and troubleshooting, initial security hardening, control panel install and optimization, standard panel component support, MySQL and PHP configuration per panel, and an initial account migration from the same panel type. Third-party applications and custom configurations are best effort, and no WordPress plugin repair is listed for VPS plans.
SiteGround's backup article says restore options are available for all backups under the standard service, keeps up to 30 daily copies on shared plans, and gives GrowBig and higher 5 manual backup slots. On the VPS, you decide retention when you configure JetBackup and a remote backup location, which is more work but also more control.
Who fits which
- SiteGround GrowBig fits: a new or small course under about 100,000 monthly visits that wants staging and backups without a server, and whose owner will budget for the renewal price, not the first-year price.
- SiteGround GoGeek fits: several sites or heavier traffic up to the 400,000 guidance, where Git-based staging and priority support are useful.
- KnownHost Basic fits: a course with predictable peaks that needs guaranteed RAM, root access for custom PHP or server settings, or cPanel for agency-style management of several client sites.
- Skip the VPS if: you would never log in as root and only want WordPress to keep working; you would be paying for control without using it.
- Skip shared if: you have already been told your site is exceeding plan resources, or you need a server-level setting the host will not change.
Checklist before choosing
- Pull last quarter's peak concurrent logged-in users and monthly visits from your analytics.
- Price both options at renewal, not just the first term, and include backups on the VPS side.
- Ask SiteGround what happens when a site exceeds its plan's server resources, since CPU and RAM are not published.
- Ask KnownHost who restores a site from JetBackup if you cannot, and whether that restore work is covered or billed; its plan page already says cores are dedicated.
- Decide who will own WordPress plugin updates and fixes in either case; neither page puts that on the host for plugin conflicts.
- Rehearse the migration on staging and test enrolment, checkout and lesson completion before switching DNS.
Questions before you decide
Is SiteGround cheaper than KnownHost?
In the first year, much cheaper: GrowBig is $59.88 for 12 months prepaid against $519 for KnownHost Basic. From renewal, GoGeek at $44.99 per month is close to KnownHost Basic at $43.25, before KnownHost's $8.95 backup add-on.
Does KnownHost include backups on managed VPS?
The plan page offers JetBackup as an add-on at $8.95 per month or $107.40 per year; the support coverage page includes remote backup location setup.
Does SiteGround publish CPU and RAM for GrowBig or GoGeek?
No. The pages label resources Premium and Geeky and give monthly visit guidance of about 100,000 and 400,000.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- SiteGround: WordPress hosting plans Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround: Shared hosting features Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround: Backup service Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- KnownHost: Managed VPS hosting plans Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- KnownHost: Support coverage Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.