The world of WordPress is changing fast – are you up to date with what’s happening?
In this exclusive interview with Openprovider, WordPress expert James Lee shares insights and predictions for what lies ahead.
He explores the shifts reshaping the WordPress ecosystem – from rising price pressure and the surge in managed WordPress hosting to the transformative role of AI.
With nearly two decades in tech and cloud hosting, James offers a front-row perspective on where WordPress is headed, what challenges providers face, and how businesses can stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
Openprovider: Firstly James, you attended WordCamp at the Philippine International Convention Center and we were wondering how you view the lay of the WordPress land: Where is WordPress right now?
James Lee: Attending WordCamp Asia 2025 in Manila in February was quite an experience. You could really feel the energy and, honestly, a sense of significant change rather than just the usual business. One thing that stands out is the intense price pressure agencies face, with some competitors quoting incredibly low prices. This kind of market pressure forces everyone to rethink how they operate. Building a quality website takes real skill and effort, and when prices drop so much, finding ways to become more efficient without cutting corners on quality becomes essential.
Beyond the pricing wars, we’re seeing a fundamental shift in hosting itself. Managed WordPress hosting is becoming increasingly popular, and that’s changing customer expectations. Plus, AI is starting to play a big role in how we build and manage sites, with a lot more AI-related tools and ways to use them popping up. So, while WordPress still powers a huge chunk of the web – 43.4% of the websites on the internet run on WordPress, according to the latest numbers from W3Techs – the environment around it is definitely undergoing significant transformation.
OP: In a recent blog, you mentioned a major shift happening in the WordPress hosting industry – Managed WordPress Hosting. What has driven this change?
JL: Absolutely, in my blog post The Shifting Sands of WordPress Hosting, I talked about how Managed WordPress hosting isn’t just a trend, it’s reshaping the market. What’s driving this? It’s really about providing a superior experience that makes managing a WordPress site much easier and more effective. In fact, the Annual Hosting Report shows that 54.3% of hosting providers see the increased adoption of Managed WordPress hosting as the most impactful hosting trend in 2024.
Managed hosts offer big performance advantages. They use faster storage like SSDs and NVMe drives – 50.5% and 46.7% of hosting providers use these respectively, according to the Annual Hosting Report. They also optimize their server setups specifically for WordPress.
Security is another huge driver. Managed providers build in robust protections like constant threat detection and web application firewalls. They also handle automatic updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins. The State of WordPress Security 2025 white paper by Patchstack highlights that 96% of vulnerabilities found in 2024 were in plugins. Relying on automatic updates and proactive security measures built into the hosting environment, rather than just hoping users update everything themselves, makes a big difference.
Add to this expert support teams who specialize in WordPress and helpful tools like staging environments for safe testing. It’s a comprehensive approach that saves users time and worry, making the extra cost well worth it for many.
OP: How do you think the rapid rise of the Managed WordPress hosting market will reshape the industry in the coming years?
JL: The growth of Managed WordPress hosting is creating what I’ve called a “loyalty divide”. When customers move from one traditional host to another, it’s often a straightforward process, and they might easily switch back. But when they move to a managed provider, they often get a completely different experience.
These users get accustomed to streamlined workflows and hosting tailored specifically for WordPress. For many new users, who I call the “TikTok generation” to contrast them with the “Facebook generation” familiar with traditional control panels, their first WordPress experience might be with a managed host’s simple interface, bypassing those older systems entirely.
This changes customer expectations for the long haul.
Once you’ve experienced that level of ease and specialized support, going back feels less appealing. This pushes traditional hosts to adapt. They need to offer similar ease of use and specialized features to stay competitive.
Being involved with solutions like WP Squared, I’ve seen firsthand how such platforms are designed to give traditional providers the tools to offer that modern, managed WordPress experience without needing to rebuild their infrastructure from scratch. It helps them attract that new generation of users and even appeal to existing managed hosting customers looking for more flexibility.
OP: Cloud, mobile, and social media transformed the way we work and live. What lessons from these past revolutions can businesses apply to stay ahead in the evolving WordPress hosting space?
JL: Past technological revolutions teach us a clear lesson: you must adapt and meet your users where they are, anticipating their needs. Cloud computing showed us the power of scalability and flexibility, and we see this reflected in the increasing demand for better website performance and scalability, with 91.2% of providers reporting this trend according to the Annual Hosting Report. Mobile and social media emphasized the need for seamless user experiences, simplicity, and getting value instantly.
Businesses in WordPress hosting can apply these lessons by focusing intensely on the user experience. Make managing a website feel as intuitive and easy as using a popular app on your phone. Embrace new technologies, just like businesses adopted cloud infrastructure or built mobile apps.
Managed hosting is a great example of applying these lessons – it simplifies the technical complexities and focuses on what the user needs: performance and security without the hassle.
AI is the next big wave. Integrating AI tools can automate tasks, improve support, and enhance security. For instance, AI is already being used by 64.5% of providers to enhance customer support, and 29.7% are exploring its potential for scaling infrastructure and optimizing resources, according to the same Annual Hosting Report. Staying ahead means being agile, adopting new tools, and always making the user’s journey as smooth as possible.
OP: As WordPress hosting evolves, how can providers strike the right balance between delivering cutting-edge performance, robust security, and a seamless user experience?
JL: Striking that balance is definitely the big challenge, but it’s also where providers can really shine. You can’t just focus on one area: performance, security, and user experience all need to work together seamlessly.
For performance, providers need to invest in the right hardware. This includes fast NVMe storage and processors with high clock speeds, often referred to as high-frequency computing. Since WordPress is largely a single-threaded application, a faster CPU clock speed can significantly improve its performance, sometimes even more than having a large number of cores. Providers also need to optimize their server configurations and offer tools that help users optimize their own sites.
Security needs a multi-layered approach. It’s more than just a basic firewall. The Patchstack whitepaper points out that generic WAF solutions, for example, often struggle to fully address WordPress-specific attacks because they lack deep visibility into the application itself. Effective security requires proactive threat detection, regular malware scanning, and effective vulnerability management. The whitepaper found that 33% of vulnerabilities in 2024 weren’t fixed in time for public disclosure, highlighting the need for solutions like virtual patching, which Patchstack provides, to protect sites even before an official update is available.
A seamless user experience ties it all together. This means offering intuitive control panels, easy access to all the tools users need, and providing quick, knowledgeable support. It’s about making the technical aspects disappear so users can focus on their website’s content and business goals. Managed hosting models aim to provide this integrated balance, handling the technical heavy lifting while offering a clean, user-friendly interface. Solutions like WP Squared are designed to help providers deliver this kind of streamlined experience.
OP: Considering the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, what specific impacts do you foresee AI having on the future of WordPress hosting?
JL: AI is set to have a truly transformative impact on WordPress hosting, and we’re already seeing the early stages.
Think about the operational side first. AI is becoming a powerful tool for server management and optimization. It can automatically monitor servers, predict potential issues before they cause problems, and even scale resources dynamically based on traffic. This helps make hosting more stable and efficient. According to the Annual Hosting Report, 29.7% of providers are already exploring AI’s potential for scaling infrastructure and optimizing resources.
AI is also giving a big boost to customer support. AI-powered chatbots can handle common questions instantly, 24/7, improving response times and freeing up human support staff for more complex issues. In fact, 64.5% of providers are using or planning to use AI to improve customer support, based on the same Annual Hosting Report. AI can also help route support tickets more effectively, making sure users get to the right human expert faster when they need to.
For website owners and agencies, AI is becoming a powerful assistant. Tools like Extendify use AI to help generate initial website structures, draft content and even generate images based on simple prompts. This means these tools can get the website 80% ready, drastically speeding up the initial build phase of a website project. My blog post AI + WordPress: The Power Duo You Can’t Ignore dives into how these tools can achieve this significant acceleration.
AI will also enhance security by getting better at detecting complex threats and analyzing malware patterns. However, the Patchstack white paper points out that AI could also make it easier for malicious actors to find and exploit vulnerabilities faster.
Overall, AI will automate more routine tasks, enabling hosting providers to offer more efficient and potentially lower-cost services. It will also empower users and agencies to build and manage websites more quickly and effectively, allowing them to focus on the creative and strategic aspects of their online presence. It’s a powerful tool that enhances what humans can do.
Op: Thanks for your time and outstanding insights, James!
You can follow James over on Linkedin here.
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