The three plans side by side
Prices and features below come from SiteGround's WordPress hosting and shared feature pages. CPU, inode and database figures come from SiteGround's fair-use knowledge base article, which was last updated in October 2021; ask SiteGround to confirm current values before relying on them.
| StartUp | GrowBig | GoGeek | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro / regular price | $2.99 / $17.99 per month | $4.99 / $29.99 per month | $7.99 / $44.99 per month |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Web space | 10GB | 50GB | 100GB |
| Suitable monthly visits (cached, reference only) | ~10,000 | ~100,000 | ~400,000 |
| CPU seconds red-flag values (2021 KB) | 1,000/hour, 10,000/day, 300,000/month | 2,000/hour, 20,000/day, 600,000/month | 4,000/hour, 40,000/day, 800,000/month |
| Inodes (files, folders, emails) | 200,000 | 400,000 | 600,000 |
| Staging | No | Yes | Yes |
| Manual backup slots | No | 5 | 5 |
| 30% faster PHP (SiteGround claim) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Priority support, Git, white label, private DNS | No | No | Yes |
| Email sending quota per hour | 400 | 400 | 800 |
What the visit numbers do and do not mean for students
SiteGround describes the monthly visit figures as the number of visits a plan is most suitable for when every site is properly using its caching, and calls them a point of reference rather than a restriction. That assumption weakens on a course site. SiteGround's Speed Optimizer documentation says logged-in content is not cached by default, so a student who opens ten lessons and submits a quiz generates a dozen PHP requests rather than one cached page.
A better way to choose is to ask which resource you will hit first: disk space (video and backups in the account), inodes (many small files and emails), or CPU seconds (uncached logged-in traffic). For most course sites without self-hosted video, CPU seconds come first.
Mapping plans to course-site stages
The student counts in this table are editorial guidance, not SiteGround figures. Your theme, plugins and how students use the site change the load far more than headcount does, which is why the CPU graph is the deciding evidence.
| Stage | Typical shape | Plan to start with | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-launch | Sales page, waitlist, blog; no student logins | StartUp | One site, ~10,000 cached visits, lowest regular price |
| First paid course | Dozens to a few hundred students, logins spread over the day | GrowBig | Staging for plugin updates, double StartUp's CPU thresholds |
| Growing catalog or cohorts | Several hundred active students, scheduled live sessions, several sites | GoGeek | Higher hourly CPU threshold for spikes, priority support |
| Launch-day spikes that hit limits after optimization | Many students at once, long reports or imports | Cloud | Dedicated CPU and RAM instead of fair-use thresholds |
Worked example: when GoGeek pays for itself
Take a GrowBig course site that, after caching exclusions are tuned, shows about 18,000 CPU seconds on its busiest days around a monthly cohort start, close to GrowBig's 20,000-per-day red-flag value. The 2021 thresholds also show the hourly cap matters: 2,000 CPU seconds an hour on GrowBig means a two-hour live session that consumes 2,500 CPU seconds an hour would cross the hourly line even if the daily total is fine. GoGeek doubles the hourly value to 4,000.
At regular prices the upgrade costs $44.99 minus $29.99, or $15 a month, $180 a year. If one restricted launch costs you even a handful of refunds or a day of sales, $180 a year is cheap insurance. If your graph sits at a quarter of GrowBig's thresholds, the $180 buys nothing you will use, unless you need GoGeek's priority support or Git.
Upgrading mid-term is allowed. SiteGround's Terms of Service say the upgrade fee covers the difference in fees between the two plans.
Checklist before you pick a plan
- Count sites: StartUp allows one website; a separate staging domain or second brand needs GrowBig.
- Check disk usage on your current host including backups and email, and compare with 10GB, 50GB and 100GB.
- Keep databases under 1GB each; SiteGround's feature page and fair-use article both state this limit.
- Estimate inodes: export file counts from your current host; large media libraries and busy mailboxes add up.
- Decide whether you need staging before every plugin update. If yes, StartUp is out.
- Budget at the regular price: $215.88, $359.88 or $539.88 a year for StartUp, GrowBig or GoGeek.
Questions before you decide
Does StartUp include staging?
No. SiteGround's feature comparison marks staging as unavailable on StartUp, and its staging tutorial says SiteGround Staging is available on GrowBig and GoGeek for WordPress sites.
Is there a GoGeek price discrepancy?
On the date checked, one plan card on SiteGround's shared features page showed GoGeek renewing at $29.99, while the comparison table on the same page and the WordPress hosting page showed $44.99. Confirm the renewal price at checkout.
Can I downgrade later?
SiteGround's Terms of Service say downgrades are subject to availability and are allowed only if the plan was not previously upgraded because it exceeded that plan's parameters.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- SiteGround WordPress hosting plans and prices Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround shared hosting feature comparison Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: Fair use of server resources (page dated 12 October 2021) Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround tutorial: SiteGround Staging Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: Backup service Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround tutorial: Speed Optimizer caching settings Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- SiteGround Terms of Service Accessed 29 Oct 2026
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