WP Alpha vs Melbourne IT
An honest comparison for WordPress site owners weighing up Melbourne IT. Where Melbourne IT is the better choice, this page says so.
Side by side
| Compared | WP Alpha | Melbourne IT |
|---|---|---|
| Server locations | Sydney, Melbourne, London, Chicago | cPanel plans state Sydney (Global Switch data centre); WP page says Australian data centres it owns, no city named. |
| Entry price | A$29, £15.95 or US$24.95 a month | WP Starter A$15.91/mo on 1-yr term (A$190.86/yr, 50% off); pay monthly A$31.81/mo; renewal not stated; AUD inc GST. |
| Free migration | Yes, done for you | cPanel plans list free migrations; WP page says they can help if you are on cPanel, otherwise you migrate yourself. |
| Updates tested on a staging copy first | Yes | WP Smart Updates listed: WP Toolkit clones the site, tests, updates the clone and reports; you enable it, not staff-run. |
| Backups | Every two hours offsite, plus your own hourly backups to your own storage | Daily website and email backups with self-serve 1-click restore in cPanel; retention and restore fee not stated. |
| Malware scanning and cleanup | Daily scans, cleanup included | Malware scanning and removal listed as included on all WordPress plans. |
| Firewall | Business grade WAF on every plan | Yes, web application firewall, firewall and DDoS protection listed on all WordPress plans. |
| Traffic limits | None. No metering, no overage fees | Unlimited bandwidth on all WordPress plans; no visitor cap stated; no overage fee stated. |
| Support | 24/7 live chat and tickets | 24/7 live chat and phone (1300 654 677) on the contact page; 24×7 Australian help desk; tickets via the portal. |
| Contract | None. 30-day money-back guarantee | Monthly or 1 or 2 year terms; 30-day no-quibble money-back on first term (terms); early exit fee up to 6 months’ fees. |
Melbourne IT column read from Melbourne IT’s own pages on 2026-10-10, prices in AUD inc GST. Sources: www.melbourneit.com.au, www.melbourneit.com.au, www.melbourneit.com.au, www.melbourneit.com.au, www.melbourneit.com.au, melbourneit.au.
Where Melbourne IT is the better choice
- Microsoft 365 and Professional Email bundles with the domain and hosting on one bill.
- Cheap cPanel for non-WordPress sites: cPanel Starter A$9.03/mo on a 1-yr term with free migration and a free domain.
- Corporate domain portfolio management (Melbourne IT Corporate) alongside the hosting.
- Managed VPS when a shared plan is too small.
Switching from Melbourne IT
We migrate your site for free. We move it, you approve it, then DNS changes, and 99 of 100 migrations happen with no downtime window. Your old host stays live until you say so.
Portal at melbourneit.au: the Products and Services tab lists hosting with a login button through to cPanel; backups are taken and restored inside cPanel (1-click restore on WP plans, or phpMyAdmin export per the help doc). EPP code: Products and Services > the domain > Manage your domain name > Get EPP Code, which pops up for you to copy.
Which hosting fits your business?
The simple rule: if you pay for your traffic, in ad spend or in SEO, choose Fully Managed. If customers find you on their own, Basic is all you need.
The one to pick if customers find you on their own
Basic Managed Hosting
A reliable site with minimum hassle.
For businesses that win their work through reputation, referrals and repeat customers. Your site needs to be there, look right and load fast whenever someone looks you up. It is important, but it is not the engine of the business, its traffic needs are small, and it does not need a team working on it.
This is you if
- Your site is a brochure, a portfolio, a local service site or a small store
- Customers find you through referrals, word of mouth or your Google listing
- You are not paying for clicks or running an SEO campaign
- A few hours of downtime would be annoying, not expensive
- You want updates, backups and security handled, and never to think about hosting
On a bad day: the site is slow for an afternoon. We fix it, and nobody is out of pocket.
From A$29 a month
See Basic Managed plansThe one to pick if you advertise
Fully Managed Hosting
For businesses that market online, every day.
For businesses proactively marketing online: running Google Ads or other paid traffic, doing SEO aggressively, including for AI search, and relying on the site day by day, sometimes hour by hour, to generate leads, customers and sales. Downtime and issues have a serious impact on the bottom line.
This is you if
- You run Google Ads, Meta ads or other paid traffic to the site
- You invest in SEO, in Google and increasingly in AI answers, and being found is tied to revenue
- The site brings in enquiries, bookings, calls or orders every day
- An hour of downtime, a broken form or a slow checkout costs real money
- You chose the hosting, and you do not want to be the one who gets the 7am call
On a bad day: the site is slow for an afternoon while your ads keep running. You pay for every click and lose the enquiries. Our job is to make sure that day does not happen, and to catch it fast if it does.
You do not need this if customers find you without ads or an SEO push. Basic will serve you well, and if you ask us, we will tell you so.
From US$99 a month
See Fully Managed plansThe one to pick if you need to prove what works
Fully Managed, with the Conversion Tracking Pack
For businesses that need proof of what the site produces.
Everything in Fully Managed, plus PixelYourSite and CallRail set up and kept working, so every form, sale and phone call is credited to the ad, keyword or page that produced it. Your monthly report shows leads, sales and calls next to speed and uptime.
This is you if
- You want to know which ads and keywords bring in customers, not just clicks
- Phone calls are a large share of your enquiries
- You report marketing results to a boss, a board or a client
- Your ad platforms are bidding without seeing all your conversions
On a bad day: a plugin update quietly stops your forms reporting to Google Ads, and the bidding drifts for weeks before anyone notices. We test the tracking on a schedule, so it is days, not weeks.
Any Fully Managed plan, plus US$99 a month and a US$295 setup
See what is in the packWhat customers say
6 stars! I was so excited to work with these guys as they had been recommended . Brendan always looks after everything I need
These people are amazing! Ash and Brendon have saved my site from a complete disaster. Hire them and pay attention to their suggestions. You will be rewarded far more than their fees!
I have been in ecommerce for 20 years. I WISH I had discovered these guys 20 years ago. Don’t hesitate signing up with them, they always solve the issue when no one else can. Worth every penny.
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