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As of October 2026, Liquid Web is a good fit for small businesses and stores that want managed WordPress or WooCommerce at a flat price, from $19 a month for one site, with room to move up to VPS, dedicated or Cloud Dedicated servers at the same company. Its weak points sit in the fine print: the terms say fees are non-refundable, several usage charges carry no published rate, and its own pages quote five different uptime figures. This review is based on Liquid Web’s published plans, documentation and terms, checked in October 2026; it does not include our own speed tests.
Our Web Hosting Price Index compares intro and renewal prices across 22 hosting plans.
In this guide
Liquid Web at a glance
| Item | As of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Company | Liquid Web, LLC by Nexcess Corp. |
| Managed WordPress and WooCommerce | From $19 a month for 1 site and 50,000 monthly visits, with no intro discount shown |
| Servers | Self-managed VPS from $5 a month; most VPS, dedicated and Cloud Dedicated plans half price for the first 2 months |
| Support | 24/7; ticket or live chat for WordPress and WooCommerce |
| Uptime guarantee | 100% network uptime in the SLA; product pages quote 99.9% to 99.9999% |
| Money-back guarantee | None advertised; the terms say fees are non-refundable |
| Email on WordPress plans | Not included by default |
Who Liquid Web is today
Liquid Web’s footer reads “Liquid Web, LLC by Nexcess Corp.,” and its managed WordPress page refers to “Liquid Web by Nexcess.” The site header lists Nexcess.com, Servers.com and LiquidWeb.com side by side, and the homepage claims 28+ years in operation.
Servers (VPS, dedicated and Cloud Dedicated) are sold on liquidweb.com, and the main System Status link goes to status.liquidweb.com. WordPress and WooCommerce plans, which the homepage groups with Magento as “Sites and stores,” are also sold through a Liquid Web checkout at sites-portal.liquidweb.com, but their status link goes to status.nexcess.net and their help docs redirect to docs.nexcess.com. The Bare Metal menu item leaves the site for Servers.com, whose Scalable Bare Metal is billed by the hour.
What Liquid Web sells
Managed WordPress and WooCommerce
The Pro and Elite tiers cost $19 and $29 a month for one site with 50,000 monthly visits (a cheaper $9 Essentials tier is no longer offered), and plans scale to 25 sites and 400,000 visits per site. Annual billing takes 10% off. WooCommerce plans cost the same and, per Liquid Web, “include the same resources and PHP workers.”
The tiers differ in backup retention (14 or 30 days of daily backups); Elite adds Patchstack virtual patching, done-for-you migration and, for WooCommerce, PHP worker autoscaling. Full price tables are in our Liquid Web pricing guide.
VPS
A self-managed VPS starts at $5 a month for 1 vCPU and 1GB of RAM. Managed VPS starts at 2 vCPU and 4GB for $36 a month for two months, then $72, and adds 24/7 help with setup, security patches and software updates. Windows is offered from 4GB up.
Dedicated and Cloud Dedicated
Managed dedicated servers start at $77 a month for two months, then $154. Cloud Dedicated adds a virtualization layer to dedicated hardware, and its plan table starts at $87 for two months, then $174. The dedicated hosting hub lists US, European and Australian data centers.
Liquid Web pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| $19 a month for one managed WordPress site, with no intro rate shown | The terms say “all Fees are non-refundable”; no money-back guarantee is advertised |
| Elite WooCommerce plans autoscale PHP workers, up to 40 on the largest plans | No published rate for autoscaling past 24 hours a month or CDN overage |
| Daily backups kept 14 to 30 days, plus a WAF and malware scans on every plan | The terms make backups your responsibility |
| The SLA promises 100% network uptime, with 10x downtime credits for dedicated clients | Product pages quote 99.9% to 99.9999%, and the SLA doesn’t mention WordPress plans |
| 24/7 support by ticket or live chat | First-response targets “are not guaranteed” |
| VPS, Windows, dedicated and Cloud Dedicated servers from one vendor | Email hosting isn’t included on WordPress plans by default |
| 25-site plans from $199 a month, or $7.96 a site | Storage is shared: 10 Pro sites at 50,000 visits share 15GB |
Documented strengths
Support terms
For WordPress and WooCommerce, Liquid Web’s help-docs address for Sites & Stores support redirects to a Nexcess support page: the team is available “24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” by ticket or live chat from the portal. The SLA page targets a first chat response in under one minute and tickets within one hour, but adds that these “are not part of an SLA and are not guaranteed.” Fully managed VPS plans add monitoring, system and control panel updates, firewall setup and PHP support.
Uptime guarantee
The Liquid Web SLA guarantees 100% network uptime for all services, and it “assures that all major routing devices within our network are reachable from the global internet 100% of the time.” If it’s missed, dedicated hosting clients can request a credit of 10 times the downtime, within 5 business days, capped at the monthly recurring charge. Dedicated servers also get a hardware replacement target of 30 minutes “in most cases,” with the same 10x credit.
Security
Every WordPress and WooCommerce plan lists DDoS protection, a web application firewall and Kadence Security Pro, and the page copy adds daily malware scans and free SSL. For stores, Liquid Web says its hosting environment is PCI DSS compliant, with an Attestation of Compliance available on request, while “your store’s own PCI compliance remains your responsibility.”
PHP worker autoscaling on Elite
Liquid Web’s WooCommerce page says PHP worker autoscaling is “available exclusively on Elite plans.” During a sale or traffic surge, workers scale “up to 40 workers on our largest plans, with the first 24 hours each month included.” It also states there are no transaction fees or order limits. Our PHP workers guide explains why workers matter at checkout.
Weaknesses and gotchas
No refund window
The Terms of Service, effective May 8, 2024, say that except where stated, “all Services are non-cancellable and all Fees are non-refundable.” No current pricing or product page advertises a money-back guarantee. Orders renew automatically, not renewing takes written notice 30 days before the term ends, and leaving early costs the remaining monthly fees, or the full prepaid amount on prepaid plans. Fees can rise on 30 days’ notice, from the next renewal term.
Unpriced extras
The plan pages say usage-based extras (autoscaling, CDN overage) “are listed in plan details,” yet those pages print no rate. The only published rate is on a Nexcess page that Liquid Web’s Sites & Stores CDN billing doc redirects to: 250GB of Nexcess CDN bandwidth free each month, then $0.10 per GB. Performance Shield shows no price, and the base number of PHP workers on each plan isn’t published.
Email and backups
WordPress plan cards don’t list email, and the Sites & Stores documentation for Managed WordPress says the platform “does not include email hosting by default,” so budget for a separate mail service. Backups are included, but the terms say “You shall be responsible for maintaining all backups of all Customer Data on our servers” and call any backup help a courtesy. Keep your own off-site copy.
Pages that contradict each other
Get answers in writing on these points, because Liquid Web’s pages disagree:
- Uptime. The homepage says 99.99%, the WordPress page a “99.9999% power and network SLA,” the pricing page “99.999% uptime guaranteed,” the WooCommerce page 99.99% and managed VPS a “99.9% server uptime guarantee.” The SLA says 100% network uptime and doesn’t mention WordPress or WooCommerce.
- Cloudflare Enterprise. The WordPress page says plans include it; the WooCommerce page lists it as an add-on.
Liquid Web vs Kinsta, WP Engine and Cloudways
| Plan | Price | Sites | Traffic | Storage | Trial or refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Web Pro | $19 a month | 1 | 50,000 visits | 15GB | None advertised |
| Kinsta Single 35k | $35 a month or $350 a year | 1 | 35,000 visits | 10GB | First month free on select plans; 30-day money-back |
| WP Engine Essential | $35 a month, or $336 for the first year | 1 | 25,000 visits | 10GB | None on the plans page |
| Cloudways Flexible, DigitalOcean Standard 1GB | $11 a month, billed hourly | Unlimited | Unlimited visits, 1TB transfer | 25GB | 3-day free trial |
Kinsta costs more per site, but its pricing page lists 24/7 support in 8 languages and a 30-day money-back guarantee, and its SLA guarantees 99.9% uptime (99.99% on custom plans). WP Engine‘s plans page starts its 99.99% uptime SLA at Core, not Essential, and $336 is a first-year price for new customers. Cloudways bills by server, and its pricing page lists 24/7/365 support on all plans. Details: Kinsta, WP Engine and Cloudways pricing.
Who Liquid Web fits, and who it doesn’t
Liquid Web fits:
- A small business that wants managed WordPress for $19 to $29 a month, with no intro price shown.
- A WooCommerce store that expects sale-day spikes, on Elite, where PHP workers autoscale.
- An agency with many light sites: 25 Pro sites cost $199 a month, and Liquid Web runs an agency partner program (see our agency hosting guide).
- A business likely to need a VPS, Windows or a dedicated server later.
It fits less well if:
- You want a trial or refund window. Kinsta and Cloudways publish one.
- You want mailboxes bundled with hosting.
- You run several media-heavy sites, since storage is shared across a plan’s sites.
- You need a clear, written uptime number for a WordPress plan.
See our managed WordPress and WooCommerce guides for alternatives.
Bottom line
On paper, Liquid Web is good value for managed WordPress: $19 buys one site with 50,000 visits, a WAF, malware scans and daily backups, and Elite adds autoscaling for busy stores. The trade-offs are in the contract, so ask sales which SLA covers your plan and what autoscaling and CDN overage cost. With annual billing saving only 10% and fees non-refundable, monthly billing is the lower-risk start. When you’re ready, see Liquid Web’s current plans.
Frequently asked questions
Is Liquid Web good for WordPress?
Based on its published plans, it’s strong value. As of October 2026, $19 a month covers one site with 50,000 monthly visits, daily backups, a WAF and malware scans, and Elite adds PHP worker autoscaling for stores. The gaps are no email by default, no advertised refund and no published rates for usage extras.
Does Liquid Web offer a money-back guarantee?
No current pricing or product page advertises one, and the Terms of Service say fees are non-refundable except where the terms provide otherwise. If a refund window matters, get it in writing first.
What uptime does Liquid Web guarantee?
Its SLA guarantees 100% network uptime, meaning its major routing devices are reachable, with a credit of 10 times the downtime for dedicated clients. Product pages quote 99.9% (managed VPS) to 99.9999% (WordPress), so ask which applies to your plan.
Is Liquid Web part of Nexcess?
Its footer reads “Liquid Web, LLC by Nexcess Corp.,” its WordPress page says “Liquid Web by Nexcess,” and its Sites & Stores help docs and status page sit on Nexcess domains. Liquid Web still sells the WordPress and WooCommerce plans through its own checkout.
Last checked: October 2026. Prices and plans change; check the vendor’s page before you buy.