I was sick of getting 5xx errors & slow backend & frontend due to low resource allocation for a WooCommerce website. It was a time to move to a different hosting company. I tried WPengine. I tried Kinsta. But then I moved to Nestify…Read on to find out why.
Enter: Nestify. They are nowhere as big nor well-marketed as other managed WordPress hosting companies like WPengine, Kinsta, Cloudways and others. Still, they are well worth considering. More so if you’re running a WooCommerce store, partially due to their generous allocation of resources.
Apart from managed WooCommerce & WordPress hosting, Nestify also offers hosting for custom solutions for any PHP website built on Laravel, Drupal or Joomla. And with brands such as Walmart and PetSmart using their hosting services, they must be doing something right.
How I reviewed Nestify?
I’ve been using Nestify for years for both my own and client websites. This very website is hosted on Nestify, and I have years long experience using it for a client’s WooCommerce-based website as well. More on that below!
First choice: Kinsta. They promised their plans scale well and wouldn't have problem handling traffic & request for this particular client. Alas, it suffered from the same problem as WPengine and the solution offered was equally expensive. But what was the issue that reared its ugly head over and over again?
PHP workers. Both WPengine and Kinsta offered a very limited number of PHP workers in their < $1,000 plans. PHP workers are essential for websites with a large number of non-cached requests, such as those coming from checkout pages in WooCommerce, or websites that use a lot of plugins (which was the case with this particular client). I believe at the time WPEngine plan offered 4 PHP workers and same holds true for Kinsta, which clearly wasn't enough for this client, with 502/504 errors occurring several times per week. For the same monthly charge as on WPengine and Kinsta, Nestify offered 16 PHP workers. And do you know how many 502/504 errors the client experienced since then? Zero. I rest my case!
What's under the hood?
Nestify servers are running on Nginx with MariaDB and Redis. They currently have 6 data centers around the world, with a healthy mix of Digital Ocean and AWS servers.
Each Nestify plan comes with the following:
- SSH access
- Automated daily backups (safely stored away from the server)
- WP-CLI
- Cloudflare CDN
- Free SSL
- Staging environment
- Daily scans for vurnabilities
- Free (unlimited!) migrations
- Git support
- Integrated caching system
- No forbidden plugins (you can install ANY plugin you want)
Technical stack
Most hosting companies nowadays offer SSH access and Nestify is no different, in addition to Git & WP-CLI support and a choice between PHP versions from 5.6 to 7.4 with a click of the button. CloudFlare CDN is also included in the package as well as Cloudflare or Let’s Encrypt SSL.
Security
Nestify will scan your website on a daily basis to look for vulnerabilities and malware. This is not to say you should get complacent, but it does provide at least some piece of mind. As do automated daily backups which are stored safely on a remote locations away from the original server.
Even in case you DO get hacked, Nestify will clean up your website and patch any vulnerabilities you might have due to themes or plugins you’re using….free of charge!
Caching
Free migrations
I moved this website from Cloudways to Nestify (that’s another story!) and used their free migration services, which worked out perfectly.
Inside Nestify Dashboard
Similar to other WordPress-centered hosting companies, Nestify has a custom built dashboard which is very user-friendly. You can lunch new servers and websites with just a couple of button clicks directly from the dashboard. It takes less than 30 seconds to lunch a new WordPress website:
Overview
All most important information is in this tab, including default WordPress administrator login credentials, SSH/SFTP information as well as database credentials. With a click of the button you can password protect the entire website to block all incoming traffic.
Domains
The next in line is Analytics tab with basic statistics on unique visitors & bandwidth spent, followed by Domains area where you can choose between Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt SSL. There is also a link to “Manage DNS” page where you’ll find “Clear CDN cache” button and a link to edit DNS records if you wish to do so.
Redirects
Instead of installing another plugin or messing with .htaccess, Nestify provides a feature to add redirects directly from your dashboard with regex support. Just choose a source, destination and type of redirect. Easy peasy!
Backups
All production and staging websites on Nestify are backed up on a daily basis, but keep in mind that backups are saved only for the last 30 days. Aside from automatic backups, Nestify offers backups on demand.
There are other interesting options here as well:
- Download the backup and keep it locally. The backup includes all server files + database.
- Restore previous backup with a click of the button
- Restore backup on another site. This feature comes handy when making changes on staging before pushing it to production, or vica versa.
Finally, there is a Cache area where you can control page/browser cache status as well as add your own cache exclusions.
More advanced users will be happy to hear that you can use git push for your website, switch between PHP versions, reset file permissions or look through server logs – all directly from Nestify dashboard. This is also where you can access phpMyAdmin with a single click.
Is Nestify's Support up to the task?
Technical support can make or break a company. Unlike hosting companies I’ve previously used, Nestify support cases are handled directly by their skilled engineers and developers. That’s a big plus in my book, and for a couple of reasons.
First of all, you won’t waste time by going through generic responses of Level 1 support before you’re transferred to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Secondly, they can fix the problem right then and there for you! I personally had many issues resolved by Nestify support engineers, ranging from caching issues I’ve been unable to recognize to troubleshooting plugins, conflicts and even custom code tweaking. Your mileage may very.
With 24/7 live chat support, I’ve never experienced an issues that couldn’t be resolved by Nestify staff. Direct support via phone & Slack is only available for enterprise plans.
Nestify plans and pricing
All Nestify plans come with free migrations (for unlimited number of websites) and 60-day no-questions-asked money back guarantee. Did I mention they offer a free 7-day trial, even for their most expensive managed hosting plan? No credit card required.
I was surprised to discover that Nestify doesn’t limit the number of websites you can host or monthly traffic for all of their plans, which range from $9/month VPS with a single CPU and 2 GB Ram to a $599/month cloud powerhouse featuring 8 CPUs, 32 GB Ram, 480 GB SSD storage and 40 PHP workers. That’s a lot more bang for your buck than other hosting companies offer, and a lot of more freedom with no limits on plugins, number of visitors & websites hosted with Nestify.
Nestify Managed WordPress Hosting Plans
Final Thoughts
Over the last decade, I’ve been using many shared and managed WordPress hosts. Compared to the big boys in the field, Nestify delivers on their promises. Not only that, but they offer the best bang for your back deal among all managed WordPress hosts I’ve encountered. This is very obvious even when comparing one of their cheapest $19/month plans with other hosting companies:
The only real downside is the lack of direct phone support for customers who aren’t on one of their enterprise plans. They also don’t offer an email service, which is common for managed WordPress hosting companies and cannot be held against them.
Speaking of cons, their cheapest package of $9/month may still be too expensive for starter websites that aren’t profitable just yet. But if you’re running a WooCommerce store, then this should be a non-issue. Especially considering the amount of PHP workers and other perks they’ll set you up with!
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Thank you for this review – it is exactly what I needed to know. I want to get off of SiteGround after they sent me a letter late last month telling me our site would go offline before the end of the month because we were using too many “CPU Minutes” unless we took action. I have never even heard of CPU Minutes. And guess what: There is no way for me to see the total number of CPU Minutes we have used – I have to “chat” with them and let them look it up for me.
I have narrowed my choices to Cloudways and Nestify. Not many articles on Nestify, so I am very happy that I found your review. Thank you. Ed
Hey, thanks for the comment. I will be updating this review soon – but long story short, I moved one of my clients from Nestify to Cloudways and they experienced a significant reduction in load speed, both front and back-end.