MemberHost compared with other WordPress hosts

Five questions to ask any host about a membership site

Every comparison above works through the same questions. They are worth asking whichever host you pick, us included.

1. What happens to a logged-in member's request? Most page caches step aside once someone logs in, so member page views usually run PHP. Ask how many PHP workers or threads your plan gets, and what happens when they are all busy.
2. Is object caching on, and has it been tested with your plugins? Redis can speed up logged-in pages, but MemberPress lists the Redis Object Cache plugin as incompatible and advises turning object caching off. Ask whether the host tests it against your stack or switches it on for everyone.
3. Which pages are excluded from the cache? Checkout, account, login and course progress pages change from one member to the next, and a shared cache can serve the wrong or stale version. Ask whether the exclusions are set for your plugins or left for you to find.
4. Who fixes a plugin problem? Many hosts stop at the server. If a slow query or a plugin conflict is the real cause, find out whether support will look at it or send you to a developer.
5. What does the uptime promise actually cover? Read the SLA, not the headline number: what counts as downtime, what is excluded, and what you get back if it is missed.

The MemberPress incompatibility is on its own plugin and theme incompatibilities page. For how logged-in traffic loads a server, see concurrent users, and for our own uptime terms, see our SLA.