I’m not writing this as a hypothetical. I ran this blog on BandwagonHost for a period, then moved everything to Hostinger. Both were in active use for real traffic, not test environments.
This comparison covers what actually changed after switching — speed, price, setup experience, and who I’d recommend each one to. If you want the full Hostinger performance data with screenshots, that’s in my one-month Hostinger review.
What These Two Products Actually Are
This is important because the comparison isn’t apples to apples, and most articles skip over it.
BandwagonHost sells VPS (Virtual Private Servers). You get a slice of a physical server running Linux. It’s yours to configure however you want — but that means you configure it. Installing a web server, PHP, MySQL, WordPress: all manual. BandwagonHost’s main selling point for Chinese users is CN2 GIA routing, which gives better connectivity between China and overseas servers.
Hostinger sells managed shared hosting. You get a pre-configured WordPress environment running on LiteSpeed servers. One-click install, SSL with one button, caching already set up. You manage content, not infrastructure.
If you’re a developer who wants full server control, these serve different purposes. If you’re a blogger or small site owner who wants WordPress running well without server administration, they’re competing for the same job — and that’s the comparison I’m making here.
Price
BandwagonHost’s entry VPS: $169.99/year (approximately ¥1,230).
Hostinger Business shared hosting: roughly $36–84/year depending on term length and promotions (approximately ¥260–600). Multi-year terms lock in the lower rate.
Hostinger is meaningfully cheaper. The gap is larger if you factor in that BandwagonHost’s entry VPS is genuinely the minimum — to get decent WordPress performance from a VPS, you’d typically want at least 2GB RAM, which pushes the price higher.
One thing to know about Hostinger: the first-term promotional rate is lower than the renewal rate. This is standard across the hosting industry but worth knowing before you commit. Choosing a longer initial term (2–4 years) extends the promotional rate and works out cheaper over time.
Speed: What Actually Changed After Switching
This is the part that surprised me most, because BandwagonHost’s CN2 GIA routing has a good reputation — and my VPS had decent specs.
After switching to Hostinger, I ran the same site through GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights, WebPageTest, and Pingdom. The results for international visitors (US, Europe) were better on Hostinger than they were on my BandwagonHost VPS:
- GTmetrix: Grade A, 99% Performance, LCP 742ms
- Google PageSpeed Insights: 97 desktop, 100 SEO, 100 Best Practices
- WebPageTest: LCP 0.653s, TTFB 88ms, Total Blocking Time 0
- Pingdom: 841ms load time (B/84 — the B is a Brotli vs Gzip detection quirk, not a real performance issue)
Why did managed shared hosting outperform a VPS? Two reasons. First, LiteSpeed is a highly optimized web server with built-in caching that’s specifically tuned for WordPress — a generic VPS running Nginx or Apache doesn’t have that out of the box. Second, my BandwagonHost VPS wasn’t optimally configured for WordPress. A well-tuned VPS would perform better, but that requires real server administration time and knowledge.
For most bloggers, “managed and fast” beats “full control but requires tuning.”
Setup Experience
BandwagonHost gives you a Linux server. Getting WordPress running requires: choosing and installing a web server (Nginx or Apache), installing PHP and the right extensions, installing MySQL, creating a database and user, downloading WordPress, configuring wp-config.php, setting up SSL. Experienced Linux users can do this in under an hour. If you’re less comfortable with the command line, plan for longer, and plan for debugging.
Hostinger: hPanel → Add Website → WordPress → choose domain → set admin credentials → done. Under two minutes to a running WordPress installation. SSL is one button. The full setup walkthrough took me under two hours from purchase to a live site with plugins configured.
If setup time and technical complexity matter to you, this difference is significant.
Who Each Is Actually For
| Hostinger Shared Hosting | BandwagonHost VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$36–84/year | $169.99/year (entry level) |
| Setup | One-click WordPress, 2 minutes | Manual server config, 1–3 hours |
| Technical skill needed | None for WordPress | Linux / server admin basics |
| WordPress performance | Excellent (LiteSpeed optimized) | Depends on your configuration |
| International speed | Fast (US/EU servers, LiteSpeed) | Variable — depends on node and config |
| China connectivity | Not specifically optimized | CN2 GIA routing (main selling point) |
| Server control | Limited (shared environment) | Full root access |
| Best for | Bloggers, side projects, international sites | Developers, China-optimized routing needs |
The One Area Where BandwagonHost Still Wins
CN2 GIA routing. If your primary audience is in mainland China and you need reliable, fast connectivity from China to your overseas server, BandwagonHost’s premium routing tier is genuinely better for that specific use case. Hostinger doesn’t offer CN2 GIA.
For a site serving an international English-speaking audience — which is what I’m building — this advantage doesn’t apply. But if your situation is different, it’s worth factoring in.
One Honest Note on Hostinger
I encountered one odd thing after switching: a mismatch between what my FTP client showed and what the live site was actually serving. Files visible in the browser weren’t always visible via FTP, and vice versa. The site functioned perfectly throughout — this appears to be a LiteSpeed caching or directory mapping behavior. But if you manage files via FTP regularly, it’s worth knowing about. Full details in the review.
My Verdict After Switching
For what I’m doing — a WordPress blog aimed at international readers, built and maintained by one person without a server administration background — Hostinger is the better choice by a clear margin. It’s cheaper, faster out of the box, and the setup removed a category of problems I used to have.
I’d recommend BandwagonHost to someone who specifically needs China-optimized routing, or to a developer who wants full VPS control for a project where that matters. For everyone else building a WordPress site for a global audience: the managed shared hosting route makes more practical sense.
(Affiliate link — your price is unchanged.)
👉 See Hostinger’s current pricing →
I used both services on this blog. Affiliate arrangement with Hostinger exists — I earn a commission if you purchase through my link, at no cost to you. No relationship with BandwagonHost.
Leave a Reply