Help pick managed wordpress hosting

I need help picking a managed wordpress hosting that automates as much as possible for under $10/month, including email hosting. I’m helping set up a web site for a non profit organization with no expertise in creating web site. I’m ok with computers but not particularly familiar with the web hosting business.

There are managed wordpress hosting that does nothing but wordpress. E.g. wordpress.com. They don’t even host email, and I would have to use another hosting company just for email. However, they seem easy to use (they allow free site so I tried them out).

And there are more general-purpose hosting companies that not only host wordpress, but also email, and other CMS. E.g. hostgator, bluehost

So, with the inconvenience of no email hosting, why does anyone choose wordpress.com? Do they offer something that hostgator or bluehost don’t? Is wordpress.com “more managed” (hence easier to use)?

It seems any hosting company that offers wordpress nowadays claim they offer managed wordpress hosting. But are they all the same or are there different levels of “managed”?