Uncovering the Hidden Costs of DIY Hosting

Digital experiences define brand reputation and revenue, and as a result, hosting decisions are no longer just about servers or subscriptions. They’re strategic choices that shape resilience, performance, and how effectively teams can focus on innovation instead of maintenance.

The burden of self-hosting

Global Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) research from WP Engine, which surveyed more than 800 IT and business leaders, shows that when businesses choose DIY hosting, they often underestimate the burden. The cost of self-hosting is high, not just in dollars, but in human hours and lost opportunities.

Our data reveals that 60–70% of digital infrastructure costs are “invisible.” They don’t show up neatly on invoices, but they show up in developer hours spent on:

• Manually updating core software, plugins, and themes.
• Troubleshooting performance issues, plugin conflicts, and caching.
• Handling security patching, SSL renewals, and DDoS mitigation.
• Monitoring uptime and load balancing.
  

Yes, these are critical tasks, but they divert valuable talent away from projects that actually move the business forward, such as building new features and making user experiences more efficient and enjoyable.

The bigger picture

The research also found that mid-size and enterprise organizations spend, on average, $2.6 million annually maintaining their digital platforms when factoring in developer salaries, agency fees, hosting costs, subscriptions, and downtime losses.

And it’s not just money. The most pernicious hidden cost is the complexity teams are forced to manage. Every delay in load speed, every hour of downtime, every sprint lost to firefighting instead of innovating has a ripple effect on an organization’s revenue, reputation, and retention.

By contrast, managed hosting bakes performance, security, and scalability into a predictable package for WordPress^Ⓡ[1] site owners. Instead of reinventing the wheel, internal teams reclaim time for higher-value work. Organizations using managed hosting for their WordPress sites report up to 44% lower TCO compared to proprietary platforms, thanks to:

• Minimal or no licensing fees.
• Faster time-to-market through the extensive plugin ecosystem.
• Simpler API connectivity with modern tools.
• Streamlined workflows that free developers from low-level maintenance.

Short-term savings vs. long-term trade-offs

DIY hosting may seem like a lower-cost option at first glance, but those savings erode fast. Costs rise with every breach recovered, every late-night scale-up, and every burned-out developer who leaves for a role where they can use their skills to build instead of patch.

In the end, the most expensive thing your organization can waste isn’t money, it’s the time, focus, and creativity of your most talented people.

A new perspective

Hosting is no longer a commodity expense; it’s a strategic decision. More often than not, the smarter choice is to let hosting experts manage infrastructure complexity with predictable costs, so your teams can focus on creating, innovating, and driving growth.

The companies that thrive will be the ones investing in long-term value. By making strategic choices now, you can build a scalable, high-performing digital presence that minimizes unnecessary costs and supports sustainable growth. The result is an efficient, reliable foundation for your digital operations. 

Want to learn more? Check out our Total Cost of Ownership Report or reach out to our team to learn how managed hosting can reduce the burden on your technical teams and improve your long-term strategy.

^{1WP Engine is a proud member and supporter of the community of WordPress® users. The WordPress® trademarks are the intellectual property of the WordPress Foundation, and the Woo® and WooCommerce® trademarks are the intellectual property of WooCommerce, Inc. Uses of the WordPress®, Woo®, and WooCommerce® names in this website are for identification purposes only and do not imply an endorsement by WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce, Inc. WP Engine is not endorsed or owned by, or affiliated with, the WordPress Foundation or WooCommerce, Inc.}