Pantheon vs Rocket.net (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pantheon and Rocket.net share a 2.0 GPA, and only Pantheon has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Pantheon grades higher on the free plan. Rocket.net grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Pantheon
Managed WordPress, Drupal and Next.js hosting for teams
Rocket.net
Managed WordPress hosting served through Cloudflare Enterprise
Which one is for you
Pick Pantheon if
- Fits if you run several WordPress or Drupal sites and want staging by default
- Works for teams that need an uptime SLA and SSO
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want one live site: Gold plus a Basic site is $500 + $42 a month
- Skip it if you want a free site that goes live, since sandboxes can't use a domain
- Watch out: Basic's visitor allowance is 25k a month, or 35k on annual billing
- Watch out: Multidev, automated updates and 24/7 support need Gold, and SSO and an SLA need Platinum or Diamond
Pick Rocket.net if
- Fits if your visitors are spread across lots of countries
- Works for running your hosting from an AI agent or your IDE, through its MCP server
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want email with your hosting, as it points you to Google Workspace
- Skip it if you host anything other than WordPress
- Tight if your site is heavy on media, as storage over the plan is $2 per GB and bandwidth $0.08 per GB
- Watch out: visitors are unmetered, but each plan caps sites, storage and bandwidth
- Pricey if you need dedicated CPU and RAM, as Enterprise starts at $649 a month, outside the refund
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAPantheonFair | 2.0GPARocket.netFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$42 a month for one live site on annual billing, and the Gold workspace is another $500, so $542 for the useful parts. The category middle is $11. | CGraded against the other managed WordPress hosts. Starter is $25 a month billed yearly, so two years cost $600, about $25 a month, the middle of that group. Monthly is $30 after a $1 first month, and it says renewals aren't raised. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe Silver workspace is $0 with 2 sandbox sites, but they can't use a domain, and you need a site plan to go live. | FNo free plan and no trial. The first month on monthly billing is $1, which still isn't free, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Features | BDev, staging and production environments, Git CI/CD, CLI, Multidev, CDN and WAF. The listing names no core gap, though Multidev and 24/7 support need Gold. | BCloudflare Enterprise CDN and firewall, a real-time malware scanner, daily backups kept 30 days, staging, automatic updates, free WP Rocket and WP Umbrella licenses and free migrations. Nothing in the managed WordPress job is missing. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. There are workspaces, site plans and a Git pipeline to set up. | CNo app store rating to go on. Caching and security come set up, so there are fewer plugins to fiddle with, but you're still moving and running a WordPress site. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no integrations or API listed in the record. | BA web dashboard with no app on record, plus an official MCP server covering the whole API, and Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT connected from its AI panel. |
| Best for | WordPress and Drupal for teams | WordPress sites with visitors worldwide |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Pantheon and Rocket.net. How we grade
Price against what you get
Pantheon starts at $42 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Rocket.net starts at $25 a month and scores 2.7.
Rocket.net scores higher and starts $17 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 12 score higher than Pantheon for less, and none scores higher than Rocket.net for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Pantheon also covers page speed.
- Rocket.net also covers malware protection.
At a glance
| Pantheon | Rocket.net | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $42 per month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly), for one live site | $25 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($30 monthly, first month $1) |
| Free plan | Silver workspace: $0 with two sandbox sites; a site plan is needed before going live or connecting a domain. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Pantheon | Rocket.net |
| Price read from | pantheon.io | rocket.net |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Pantheon
- Cost is workspace plus one site plan per live site: Gold with a Basic site is $500 + $42 a month on annual billing.
- Sandbox sites on the free Silver workspace cannot go live or connect a domain without a site plan.
- Annual billing raises the visitor allowance by 40%, for example 35k instead of 25k on Basic.
- Multidev, automated updates and 24/7 support need Gold; SSO, multi-zone failover and an SLA need Platinum or Diamond.
Rocket.net
- It hosts WordPress only and does not include email; the pricing page points to Google Workspace for mail.
- Storage beyond the plan is billed at $2 per GB and bandwidth at $0.08 per GB, unless you move up a plan.
- Enterprise plans with dedicated CPU and RAM start at $649 a month through sales and are excluded from the 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Visitors are unmetered, but each plan caps the number of WordPress sites, storage and bandwidth.
Key features
Pantheon
- Dev, staging and production
- Every plan includes separate development, staging and production environments with built-in version control and backups.
- WordPress and Drupal
- Sites run WordPress or Drupal, and the platform pages also describe Next.js hosting and a serverless CMS option.
- Git-based pipeline and CLI
- A Git-based CI/CD pipeline and a command line interface come with the free Silver workspace.
- Multidev environments
- On-demand environments for testing changes in parallel are part of the Gold workspace and above.
- Autopilot updates
- The Gold workspace adds automated updates and visual regression testing for plugin and core updates.
- Global CDN and WAF
- The platform lists a global CDN with a web application firewall, and Platinum adds an advanced CDN with WAF.
Rocket.net
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and firewall
- Every site is served through Cloudflare Enterprise with its web application firewall switched on, and a server-side scanner checks files for malware in real time.
- Daily backups and staging
- Backups run automatically each day and are kept for 30 days. Free staging environments let updates be tested before they reach the live site.
- Bundled plugin licenses
- Plans include WP Rocket for caching and WP Umbrella for monitoring and maintenance at no extra charge.
- AI panel and MCP server
- Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT can be connected to any site for content, SEO and code work, and an official MCP server covers the whole Rocket.net API.
- Automatic updates and activity log
- WordPress core, plugin and theme updates can run automatically, and an activity log records changes made on each site.
- Free migrations and support
- Sites are moved over free from any host, and support by live chat and tickets is open 24/7 on every plan.
Plans
Pantheon
Silver workspace$0
per month, plus a site plan to go live
Two sandbox sites, Git-based CI/CD, a command line interface and basic chat support. Sandbox sites cannot use a domain.
Gold workspace$500
per month, billed annually ($600 billed monthly)
Everything in Silver plus on-demand environments (Multidev), automated updates, visual regression testing and 24/7 support.
Basic site plan$42
per month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly)
For small, low-traffic sites: 35k monthly visitors on annual billing (25k monthly), 1 app container and 5 custom domains.
Performance Small site plan$160
per month, billed annually ($200 billed monthly)
35k visitors on annual billing (25k monthly), 1 app container and 10 custom domains. Medium is $275 ($350 monthly).
Performance Large site plan$550
per month, billed annually ($700 billed monthly)
210k visitors on annual billing (150k monthly) and 3 app containers. XL is $917 ($1,150 monthly) for 420k visitors.
Platinum and DiamondCustom
Sold through sales for up to 100M visitors: multi-zone failover, SSO, an uptime SLA for elite sites and an advanced CDN with WAF.
Rocket.net
Starter$25
per month for 1 site, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
10 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth and unmetered visitors. On monthly billing the first month is $1, then $30 a month.
Pro$50
per month for 3 sites, billed annually ($60 billed monthly)
20 GB storage and 100 GB bandwidth. On monthly billing the first month is $1, then $60 a month.
Business$83
per month for 10 sites, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)
40 GB storage and 300 GB bandwidth. On monthly billing the first month is $1, then $100 a month.
Expert$166
per month for 25 sites, billed annually ($200 billed monthly)
50 GB storage and 500 GB bandwidth for people managing several client sites. First month $1 on monthly billing.
Agency Tier 1$83
per month for 10 sites, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)
50 GB storage, 200 GB bandwidth and the Agency Toolkit. Nine higher tiers run up to 200 sites at $1,333 a month, billed annually.
Ways to pay less
Pantheon
- Annual discount
Annual billing lowers the monthly rate
Site plans are cheaper per month when billed annually, for example Basic at $42 instead of $55, and annual billing also adds about 40% more visitors.
Rocket.net
- Other savings
First month for $1 on monthly billing
Every plan billed monthly costs $1 for the first month, then its regular rate, such as $30 a month for Starter. Rocket.net says renewals are not raised.
- Annual discount
Two months free with yearly billing
Paying yearly gives two months free on any plan: Starter drops from $30 to $25 a month and Pro from $60 to $50.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Pantheon or Rocket.net?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Rocket.net is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $42 a month for Pantheon. Pantheon starts at $42 per month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly), for one live site, and Rocket.net starts at $25 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($30 monthly, first month $1).
Which has a free plan, Pantheon or Rocket.net?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Pantheon has a free plan. Rocket.net does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.