Stack Decision
Joomla vs WordPress — Both are PHP; the difference is what happens before the cache answers
You need granular permissions and multilingual publishing, and you are trying to work out whether reaching them through plugins costs you anything measurable.
The short answer
Count what each has to load: Joomla ships access levels and multilingual publishing in core, while WordPress reaches the same ground through plugins — and every plugin is code executed before the response, which is a performance variable as well as a maintenance one.
WordPress still wins on reach, ecosystem depth and hiring. Joomla wins where those two core features are requirements from day one. The same cPanel plans run either without adjustment, so this is an architecture decision rather than a hosting one.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
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Drives underneath
Granular user levels and multilingual publishing are core Joomla features rather than additions. They are also the two requirements that most reliably send a WordPress project hunting for third-party extensions, so the comparison often turns on them alone.
There is a measurable dimension to that. Plugins are not free: each one is code loaded on the request path, and the difference between a core feature and a bolted-on equivalent shows up in queries per page and in Total Blocking Time long before it shows up in a feature grid.
Measure what happens before the cache answers
For an anonymous visitor on a well-configured site, neither platform runs at all: LiteSpeed serves the page from cache and PHP never wakes. That is the common case and it is why home-page benchmarks between the two are close to meaningless.
The interesting number is the uncached request — a logged-in editor, a search, a form submission, a cache miss after a purge. Time those, count the queries, and you are measuring the platform rather than the cache in front of it.
Do it with your real extension list installed. A stock install of either is quick; the build you actually intend to run is the only thing worth benchmarking, and the gap between the two is usually larger than the gap between the platforms.
The cache layers available to each here
LiteSpeed handles page caching at server level for both, which is the layer that matters most for anonymous traffic. OPcache keeps compiled PHP in memory regardless of platform. Redis object caching is available where repeated queries are the bottleneck.
Joomla also has its own internal caching, and it is worth understanding that this sits on top of, not instead of, the server cache. Two cache layers configured without reference to each other is a reliable way to serve stale content and then blame the host.
The practical rule is to know which layer answered a given request. Response headers tell you whether the page came from the server cache; from there, everything else is application work you can profile.
Core features versus a plugin stack
Access levels in Joomla are a core concept, so permission logic runs as part of the application. Reaching equivalent granularity in WordPress means a membership or role-management plugin, which is more code, more updates and one more thing that can conflict.
Multilingual publishing follows the same pattern. Joomla handles it natively; WordPress does it through well-established plugins that work perfectly well but add weight and a dependency you now maintain.
None of that makes WordPress the wrong answer. It makes the plugin count part of the decision, and it means you should benchmark the assembled build rather than the platform's reputation.
Running either on the same plan
Turbo carries 20 GB of NVMe, 25 sites, a terabyte of bandwidth and 50 MySQL databases, with per-site PHP version switching in the panel. Either platform installs in one click through Softaculous and both sit behind the same LiteSpeed cache.
That means you can run both, on the same account, with the same configuration, and compare them on your own content rather than on somebody's demo site. It is a rare opportunity for a genuinely controlled comparison.
Staging environments come with the plans, so an extension update on either platform can be rehearsed on a clone. Migrations run in both directions if the first answer turns out to be wrong.
Benchmark the build, not the brand
A stock install of either platform is fast. The build you actually deploy — themes, extensions, integrations — is what your visitors meet, and that is the only thing worth measuring.
Backups run daily on every plan and restoring a file or a database is a click in the panel rather than a support ticket, which makes experimentation cheap.
- Anonymous traffic never reaches PHP
- Time the uncached request instead
- Plugins are code on the request path
- Two cache layers need one plan
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
Either platform in one click
Softaculous installs Joomla, WordPress and 240+ other applications without a build step.
LiteSpeed in front of both
Server-level page caching applied the same way, so anonymous traffic never wakes the application.
Per-site PHP version switching
Run each platform on the version it prefers, on the same account, from the control panel.
Redis when queries repeat
Object caching available where the bottleneck is the same query being answered twice.
Staging on every plan
Rehearse an extension update on a clone before it meets an editor or a visitor.
Migration in either direction
Our engineers move an existing site across free, and the choice you make now is not permanent.
Prices Side by Side
Our figures set beside the household brands
Typical intro and renewal pricing across the market, lined up against ours — including the renewal figure most comparison charts skip.
| Feature | HostingFastMost popular | Typical household-name host | Typical bargain host | Typical loss-leader deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price / mo* | $2.42/mo | $4–$6 | $2–$4 | $1–$3 |
| Renewal price / mo | $2.42/mo | $10–$15 | $8–$12 | $4–$6 |
| Entry-level plan renews at its joining price | ||||
| SSL as standard | ||||
| Migration done for you | ||||
| NVMe drives even on the entry tier | ||||
| Daily backups starting at tier one | ||||
| Real humans on support, 24/7 |
*The figure in our column is the cheapest annual-term plan we sell, drawn live from the catalogue behind our pricing page, so it cannot go stale. The other three columns give the ranges that shared hosts in each bracket tend to advertise: opening offers that usually want a one-to-four-year commitment, then climb the moment it runs out. Naming rivals and printing their prices is something we stopped doing, because a number we cannot verify on the day you read it does not belong here. Put us beside whichever host you are genuinely weighing up. Then read the renewal row harder than any other.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Install both with your real extension list
A stock comparison flatters whichever platform ships less. Build each one the way you intend to run it, then measure — the assembled build is what your visitors will actually meet.
- 2
Time the uncached path
Log in as an editor, run a search, submit a form. Those requests bypass page cache and are where the platform's own cost becomes visible. Count queries alongside the timings.
- 3
Decide which layer is answering
Read the response headers to confirm whether the server cache served the page. Diagnosing an application problem that was actually a cache configuration problem is a very common way to waste a day.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- Softaculous installs Joomla, WordPress and 240+ other applications in one click
- LiteSpeed caching built into the server rather than added by extension
- Per-site PHP version switching from the control panel
- Redis object caching available for query-heavy builds
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, entry plan included
- Staging environments for rehearsing an extension update
- SSH with Git and Composer available at the command line
- Free SSL on every plan, renewed automatically before expiry
- Daily backups with self-service restores from the panel
- Free migration of an existing site, run by our engineers
Frequently Asked
Questions we get asked again and again
Which is faster out of the box on identical hardware?
Close enough that the answer changes with the build. For anonymous visitors neither runs at all, because the LiteSpeed cache answers before PHP is involved. Benchmark the uncached path with your real extension list installed — that gap is usually wider than any gap between the platforms themselves.
Does Joomla's built-in cache replace the server cache?
No, it sits on top of it. Two cache layers configured without reference to each other is a common source of stale content that then gets blamed on the host. Decide which layer is authoritative for a given kind of page and check the response headers to confirm it is behaving.
How many plugins is too many, measured rather than guessed?
There is no count. Load the site as a logged-in user with a profiler running and look at which extensions consume the request. One badly written plugin can outweigh thirty well-behaved ones, so the useful question is which of them is expensive, not how many there are.
Can I run Joomla and WordPress on the same account?
Yes. The multi-site allowances cover it, both install in one click, and per-site PHP version switching lets each sit on the version it prefers. They do share one resource allocation, so run any comparison test before real traffic arrives rather than during it.
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One-click installs, per-site PHP, LiteSpeed in front of each and staging copies to rehearse every update.
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