Choose WordPress if you want a site you can grow, with staging, backups, and visual editing on the plans that include Elementor. Choose the website builder if you want a no-code page in the browser this week. Choose AI setup or the managed plan if you want a questionnaire, a first draft, or to request updates by support ticket. All three doors check out through the same ParsonsHosting account.
What are the three doors?
ParsonsHosting, based in Sisters, Oregon, sells website subscriptions three ways. They share one login.
WordPress is the long-term path. Install it with WP Toolkit in cPanel. Plans are Basic $50, Business $64, Pro $96, and Elite $225 per month, with a 30-day free trial. Higher plans include Elementor Pro and WooCommerce. Pick this door if you are leaving a rented all-in-one builder and you want to keep the site.
Website builder is the no-code door. Edit in the browser, pick a professional template, and publish, often in under an hour. The builder plan is $28 per month. The managed plan is $50 per month.
AI setup / managed is not a third product name. AI setup is a short questionnaire plus a first draft on the website builder. Managed is the $50/mo plan: we build the site with you during an included launch week, then you request changes by support ticket at /submitticket.php. Three updates a month are included and extra updates are $25 each. Overages are $1 per GB of storage and $0.10 per GB of bandwidth.
Who should choose WordPress?
Pick WordPress when the site has to last, or when you already work in WordPress.
It fits if you want a blog, a large page tree, or a store; if you want to design in the browser without leaving WordPress (Elementor Pro is on the higher plans); if you need staging, backups, malware scanning, and WP Toolkit; or if you work with a designer who already uses WordPress.
Every WordPress plan includes staging, automated backups with restore, WordPress-focused security, and developer support. A simple brochure can live on WordPress. If you will add pages for a year, start here instead of rebuilding later. Start the 30-day trial at /store/wp-hosting if you want to confirm the dashboard before you pay.
Who should choose the website builder?
Pick the website builder when the job is a working public site this week and you do not want the WordPress admin.
It fits if you need a contact form, phone, email, map, and a clear about section, and you are fine starting with one focused page.
The $28 plan includes the no-code editor, pro templates, contact forms, support, and the AI content generator. The $50 managed plan is the same builder with the work handed to us: a launch week to get you live, then 3 updates a month are included, requested by support ticket at /submitticket.php; extra updates are $25 each.
Checkout stays in your ParsonsHosting account. Do not order a second builder from another vendor.
Who should start with AI setup or managed?
Start with AI setup when a blank page is the blocker. Choose managed when you also want updates handled by support ticket.
You still need facts only you know: business name, town, what you sell, phone, and email. The questionnaire and the AI content generator draft headings and body copy. Rewrite anything that does not sound like you.
Use this door if you want a live builder site without writing the first draft, you can spend an hour reviewing copy, or you want updates handled by support ticket on the $50 plan.
Skip it if you already have a WordPress site to migrate, or you need WooCommerce, custom plugins, or a multi-author blog. Order WordPress hosting and install WordPress with WP Toolkit.
How do the prices compare?
| Door | Plan | Price | What you are paying for |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Basic | $50/mo | One site, staging, backups, malware scanning, WP Toolkit |
| WordPress | Business | $64/mo | Same core tools, longer scanning window |
| WordPress | Pro | $96/mo | More resources, Elementor Pro, WooCommerce |
| WordPress | Elite | $225/mo | More sites, more support time |
| Website builder | Basic | $28/mo | No-code editor, templates, forms, AI content generator |
| Website builder | Managed | $50/mo | Launch week, 3 updates a month by support ticket, $25 per extra update; overages $1/GB storage, $0.10/GB bandwidth |
A .com is $18. A .net is $24. OX App Suite email starts at $2.49 per user per month.
What if I change my mind later?
You can start on the website builder and later order WordPress. That is a new plan, then a rebuild or a planned move. Moving a mature WordPress site into the builder is usually a step backward. If WordPress is the better long-term fit, order from /store/wp-hosting and install with WP Toolkit.
How do I order?
- Sign in at https://parsonshosting.com/login.
- For WordPress, open
/store/wp-hostingand start the 30-day trial or pick a plan. - For the website builder or an AI draft, open
/store/ai-website-builder/website-builder-basicfor the $28 plan or/store/managed-websites/managed-websitefor the $50 managed plan. - Add a domain or OX App Suite if you need them.
- Open cPanel. WordPress customers install with WP Toolkit. Builder customers click the Website Builder button in cPanel and edit the site there.
- On the managed plan, open a support ticket at /submitticket.php with a reference to the website when you want a change.
If you are still unsure, open a support ticket at /submitticket.php and say what the site has to do in the first 30 days. We will point you at one door.
Related: How to start a WordPress site on ParsonsHosting; How to build a website in your browser with the ParsonsHosting website builder; How ParsonsHosting AI setup drafts your first website.
Written by Chris Parsons, ParsonsHosting, Sisters, Oregon.
Last updated: October 2026.
