Two Different Things Share One Name.
Hosting several separate WordPress sites is not the same as running a WordPress Multisite network. We are very good at the first, up to ten installs on one account, each properly on its own. The second runs here too, and this page says exactly what that does and does not give you.
Work Out Which One You Want First
Almost every disappointment with multisite hosting starts with these two being treated as the same purchase.
Several Separate Installs
Three, five or ten ordinary WordPress sites on one account and one bill. Each has its own files, its own database, its own plugins and its own staging. This is what most people mean when they ask about hosting several sites.
A WordPress Multisite Network
One WordPress install running a network of sites that share a core, a theme folder, a plugin folder and a database. A different thing entirely, set up inside WordPress rather than bought from a host.
They Are Priced Differently Here
Separate installs each use a website slot on your plan. A Multisite network is one install, so it counts as one website no matter how many sites are inside it. Which is cheaper is not the same question as which is better.
Several Separate Installs, Properly Apart
This is the arrangement the platform is built for, and everything below is on every plan.
Three On Grow, Ten On Scale
Grow holds three websites and Scale holds ten, on one account and one invoice. Each one is a full WordPress install with the whole platform behind it, not a cut-down slot. Build holds one.
Real Isolation Between Them
Each site runs in its own container, as its own Unix user, with its own MySQL database. That holds between your own sites, not just between customers, so one of your sites being compromised does not reach the rest.
One Pool Of Storage And Bandwidth
Allowances belong to the account, not to each site. Scale gives 30 GB of storage and 200 GB of traffic a month across ten sites, so the quiet brochure sites leave room for the busy one.
A Cap On Any Single Site
Set a storage or bandwidth ceiling on an individual site inside the pool, so the one with the video library cannot quietly use everyone else’s share.
Staging On Each Of Them
Every site can be cloned, changed on the copy and pushed back to live, on every plan. The same process works across the whole list rather than on the two sites you paid extra for.
Different Settings Per Site
PHP 8.3 or 8.4 chosen per site, automatic updates on or off per site, password protection per site. An old client site can stay where it is while a new one runs on current PHP.
A Backup And A Restore Each
Files and database every night for each site separately, kept 30 days, restored in one click. Restoring one site does not touch any of the others, which is the practical advantage of keeping them apart.
What A Network Does And Does Not Get
A network is one WordPress install. Everything below follows from that, and none of it is a restriction we have added.
It Runs, As One Website
A Multisite network is a single WordPress install, so it is hosted exactly as any other site here and it uses one website slot on your plan. Turning the network on is done inside WordPress, in your own wp-config.php and files, over SFTP or WP-CLI.
One Container, One Database
Every site in the network shares the same container, the same Unix user and the same MySQL database. The isolation we give separate installs does not exist inside a network, because there is only one install to isolate.
One Backup, One Restore
The nightly backup covers the whole install, so a restore takes the entire network back to that point. You cannot roll back one site in the network and leave the others where they are.
A Plugin Problem Is Network-Wide
A network-activated plugin or a core update applies to every site at once. When something breaks, it breaks everywhere, and that risk is the real cost of the arrangement.
Each Domain Still Connects
If sites in the network use their own domains, each of those domains has to be connected to the site in the members area like any other domain, and the mapping itself is configured inside WordPress.
Separate Suits Most People
If the sites answer to different people, keep them apart. Ten separate installs on Scale give you ten containers, ten databases, ten staging copies and ten restore buttons, and a bad Tuesday on one of them is one site’s problem.
A network makes sense when the sites really are one product: the same theme, the same plugins, the same team, managed from one dashboard, where updating in one place is the whole point. If that is you, run it here as one website and go in knowing that a core update touches every site in it at once.
Not sure which you have? Tell us what the sites are and who looks after them, and we will say which way we would do it, including when the answer is that you do not need ten slots at all.
Ask Us Which Way
Ten Installs On Scale
Ten separate WordPress sites, 30 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth a month, pooled across the account. USD 80 a month billed yearly, or 96 billed monthly.
Scale
$960 a year. That is $192 less than paying monthly.
- Up to 10 websites
- 30 GB storage
- 200 GB bandwidth a month
- A temporary address to test on
Ten Sites, One Account
Up to ten websites sharing one pool of resources. For agencies and studios with a client list.
- Servers In Singapore
- Free SSL On Every Domain
- Daily Backups, Kept 30 Days
- One-Click Staging
- Cloudflare CDN And DDoS Protection
- Nightly Malware Scans
- SFTP And WP-CLI
- PHP 8.3 And Redis
- Support From Real People
Every plan includes the same platform. The only difference is how many websites and how much room they have.
Fewer sites to look after? Grow holds three, with the same platform behind each of them.
What People Ask About Multisite
Which Should I Choose?
If the sites belong to different clients, different businesses or different risk levels, choose separate installs. You get a container, a database, a backup, a staging copy and a cap for each one, and a problem on one stays on one. A Multisite network earns its place when the sites are genuinely one thing, such as a chain of near-identical branch sites you want to manage from a single dashboard with a single set of plugins.
How Many Sites Can I Run On One Account?
One on Build, three on Grow and ten on Scale, as separate WordPress installs. Storage and bandwidth are pooled across the account: 10 GB and 50 GB a month on Build, 20 and 100 on Grow, 30 and 200 on Scale.
Does A Multisite Network Count As One Website?
Yes. It is a single WordPress install, so it uses one website slot however many sites are inside the network. Its files and its database count towards your pooled storage, and all its traffic counts towards your bandwidth.
Can I Stage A Multisite Network?
Staging clones the install, which is the whole network. That is useful for trying a core or plugin update before it reaches every site, and it is not a way to work on one network site in isolation. With separate installs, each has its own staging copy.
Will You Set The Network Up For Me?
No. Enabling Multisite and configuring domain mapping happens inside WordPress, and that is yours to do over SFTP and WP-CLI. We host the install, back it up nightly and keep it running. We also do not move an existing network across for you.
Can I Split A Network Into Separate Installs Later?
That is a WordPress job rather than a hosting one, and it is work: each site has to be exported and imported into a fresh install. It is far easier to start as separate installs if you think the sites might ever go their own way.
What We Do Not Do
Not Our Job
- We do not enable, configure or debug a WordPress Multisite network for you. It is set up inside WordPress, and the network, its plugins and its domain mapping are yours.
- We do not isolate the sites inside a network from each other. They share one container, one Unix user and one database, because they are one WordPress install.
- We do not restore one site out of a network. The backup and the restore cover the whole install.
- We do not move existing sites or networks across for you. Migration is self-service, onto a temporary address first.
- We do not sell unlimited websites. One, three or ten installs, with real storage and bandwidth numbers behind them.
Put The First Site On A Temporary Address
Build one site here, see how the container, the staging copy and the restore behave, then bring the rest of the list across at your own pace.
Start On Scale