Liquid Web vs KnownHost
Liquid Web and KnownHost compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Liquid Web scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. Rankings come from the published methodology and sourced data, not from commissions. Disclosure.
Verdict
Liquid WebWins overall
Lansing's managed host since 1997: WordPress plans from $9 with Cloudflare edge CDN and a 100% network SLA, no refunds
Managed cPanel hosting since 2006 on LiteSpeed and NVMe with stated cores and RAM, daily backups and three locations
Liquid Web wins 3 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.7 vs 7.4).
How do the scores compare?
Liquid Web leads on 3 sub-scores, KnownHost on 0. Higher is better.
| Liquid Web | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.0 (better) | 7.0 |
| Support | 8.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Features | 8.5 (better) | 8.0 |
| Value | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Ease of use | 7.5 | 7.5 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| Liquid Web | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.7 (better) | 7.4 |
| Uptime (published)HostingStep 365 d vs TechRadar 30 d; methods differ | 99.99% | 100.00% (better) |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, KnownHost is cheaper ($7.16/mo vs $9.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| Liquid Web | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Essentials WordPress | Basic |
| Intro price | $9.00/mo | $3.47/mo (better) |
| Renewal price | $9.00/mo | $7.16/mo (better) |
| Required term | 1 months (better) | 36 months |
| Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Storage | 15 GB | 10 GB |
| Money back | 0 days | 30 days (better) |
What does each include?
| Liquid Web | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | No | No |
| Free SSL | Free SSL certificates on the WordPress plans | Every plan, every domain |
| Backups | Daily backups kept 7, 14 or 30 days by tier; Acronis backup storage on managed VPS | Daily JetBackup with 2-day and 1-week retention on every plan; extended retention sold as an add-on |
| Free migration | A self-serve migration tool and migration by a person on every WordPress plan | Migration team copies files, databases and email and tests the site |
| Free CDN | Edge CDN powered by Cloudflare on every WordPress plan; CDN overage is usage-billed | No |
| Caching | Object Cache Pro on every WordPress plan | LiteSpeed Web Server with LSCache on every plan; Redis and Memcached optional |
| Staging | Staging sites with visual comparison on Pro and Elite; not on Essentials | No |
| Security | DDoS protection, WAF, Kadence Security Pro and daily malware scans on every plan; Patchstack virtual patching on Elite | Imunify360 with real-time malware scanning and a web application firewall; Patchman optional on Basic and Standard, included above |
| Resource limits | WordPress plans are sized by visitors (50,000 a month on the entry tiers), shared storage and bandwidth; managed VPS plans state vCPU, RAM, SSD and bandwidth | CloudLinux isolation with 1, 2, 4 and 6 cores and 1, 2, 4 and 6 GB memory limits by plan |
| Data center choice | Lansing, Phoenix, Ashburn and Amsterdam, selected on the purchase screen where a plan offers it | Atlanta, Seattle or Amsterdam at checkout |
| Uptime guarantee | 100% network uptime in the SLA with credits up to the monthly charge, claimed within days of an outage; the managed VPS page states 99.9% server uptime | The network page claims a 99.999% availability SLA and 99.99+% uptimes; the terms of service contain no uptime clause or credit schedule |
| Managed VPS | Fully managed from $72 a month for 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD and 3 TB; cPanel, InterWorx or Plesk; Windows available | Not stated |
| Phone support | 24/7 by phone, chat and ticket | A US toll-free number on every page, with 24/7 ticket support |
| Windows hosting | On VPS and dedicated servers | No |
| SSH, Git and cron | Not stated | Every plan, with current PHP versions |
| Not stated | 5, 25 or unlimited mailboxes by plan, with webmail |
Company facts
| Liquid Web | KnownHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | Liquid Web's own platform for WordPress plans; cPanel, InterWorx or Plesk on VPS | cPanel with Softaculous |
| Data centers | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Support channels | chat, phone, ticket, knowledge-base | ticket, phone, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 1997 | 2006 |