If you are running a shop you cannot afford to lose customers due to the unnecessary closure of the shop. The same is true for your eCommerce store. If your eCommerce store is not accessible to customers or it responds slowly then you are surely going to lose customers, and will also hurt your brand reputation in the long run.
That makes it very important to make sure that the eCommerce hosting you choose, must provide you maximum uptime, decent loading speed, and a robust server.
In this article, you will learn about the 5 best eCommerce hosting providers and their ultimate comparison in a very comprehensive way. In addition to that, we will also let you know some of the important factors to consider while choosing a suitable eCommerce hosting, that helps you to make the right decision.
What is eCommerce Hosting?
A website with eCommerce functionality is way different from general websites or a CMS-based website. It has special needs like it needs extra security to win the trust of its customer, it should be able to handle a large amount of traffic, should be able to handle a large number of processes (as many customers will be placing orders simultaneously), should be fast response, and should have enough space to host a large number of files.
Also, the hosting should be compatible with the payment gateway that you intend to use. About 42% of the visitors expect the website to load within 2 seconds.
A good eCommerce hosting package should include features like SSL encryption and certificate, additional security, SSD Storage, CDN enabled, Cloud Hosted, and Easy Backup and Restore functionality, among other usual features to make it your preferred choice for hosting your eCommerce store.
If you are in a hurry, Here is a quick Best e-commerce hosting comparison table for you.
Best eCommerce Hosting – Comparison Table 2023
| Ecommerce hosting Features | WPOven | Shopify | Cloudways | Bluehost | WPEngine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan & Pricing Start from | $16.61 / m | $29 / m | $33.18 / m | $29.95 / m | $29 / m |
| No. of website hosting | Unlimited | 1 | Unlimited | 1 | 1 |
| Dedicated VPS | Dedicated | NA | Dedicated | Dedicated | Dedicated |
| Email Hosting |  |  | | | |
| Monthly No of visits/mo | 50k | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 25K |
| Disk Space | 20 GB SSD | Unlimited | 20 GB | 20 GB | 10 GB |
| Ecommerce features | | | | | |
| Customization & Flexibility | | | | | |
| Free Addons | | | | | |
What you should consider while choosing an e-commerce hosting for your online business?
You might have come across multiple lucrative plans that provide you with some of the features you are looking for. But before directly choosing such plans, you must do deep research about the same and then make your decision.
Here, we have provided you with some points that you must consider while searching for eCommerce hosting for your online store or business.
1. Technical Details About Server
It is understandable that you might not be technically sound enough to get into technical details about the server, but there are some basic things that you should know about it.
You should know if it is Shared, VPS, or Dedicated. A shared server is one that is shared among many websites, whereas a dedicated server is intended to be used for a single website or single account. VPS is a shared server but some limitations are applied to its resources so that they are smartly utilized among the website hosted. Dedicated hosting is the most expensive of them all.
Cloud hosting offers flexible options to manage the resources to be used, which makes it affordable and offers decent performance. Cloud hosting can be used in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS).
Also, you can investigate the hardware used, like whether are they using SSD storage or Hard Disk storage. SSD is much faster than traditional hard disks. If you want to go into much detail you can try to find out what RAMs and processors are being used.
Server Location
This is another factor that you need to take into account while choosing a web server. It is recommended to choose a CDN service, which basically means that the hosting company has servers at various locations, and based on the location of visitors the nearest server is used.
2. Stronge Security
Security is an utmost important feature for your eCommerce store, as it deals with financial transactions as well as your customer’s data and personal information. First and foremost you need to make sure that a Free SSL certificate, firewalls, and DDoS protection to harden the server against attacks.
Also, you need to check whether the web hosting providers have some process in place to scan the malware and prevent hacking attacks. There should be tools to monitor the uptime, downtime, and other activity on your website to identify any suspicious activity. Additional security can include:
- Firewalls
- DDoS Protection
- Suspicious login detection
- Spam filters
- Viru Protection
- Malware Scanning
- Hacking Protection and Recovery
3. Backup and Restore
There might be some instances where you would want to restore your WordPress website to a previous workable version. For such instances, your company should provide you with automatic backup services as well as an easy restore option.
WPOven offers daily offsite backup and single-click restoration services. Check out our article on “How to restore your backup with WPOven“.
4. Single Click Installations
You should be able to install the popularly used application like WordPress easily on your hosting. This is a very common feature that is available with almost all hosting companies.
At WPOven we provide you with pre-installed WordPress on your websites that are hosted on our servers. Here is the guide on how to get started with WPOven.
5. Easy to Upgrade and Rollback
There are scripts that need to be upgraded with time. Your web hosting should offer easy options to upgrade these. For example, PHP versions are constantly upgrading. A web hosting company will offer you to choose and upgrade to various versions available, and even options to roll back to previous versions.
If by chance you have upgraded to the latest yet unstable version which is not compatible with some themes or plugins, you might want to roll back to the previous version to keep your website working.
6. Payment Gateway Compatibility
A payment gateway is the most vital part of your eCommerce system if it fails your whole system fails. You have to make sure that the payment gateway that you intend to use will be supported by your hosting. You can ask your hosting company about it before purchasing the plan.
7. Sufficient Bandwidth and Number of Visits
You should understand that more visitors to your website means more consumption of bandwidth, and if you have a clear idea of how many visitors you expect per month on your website you can work out the amount of bandwidth that your website will need.
Most web hosting providers have plans that offer unlimited bandwidth, you can choose those plans if you are unsure about the number of visitors hitting your website. It is extremely important to consider bandwidth as a hosting factor if you have high-resolution images or high-definition videos on your website, as they will consume more bandwidth.
8. Sufficient File Storage Space
Any website consists of some pages (HTML, PHP, etc.), and some files including product images, PDFs, videos, audio, etc. Each one of them occupies some space. As you grow your website these files tend to increase. The plugins and themes that you update with time will have more files and hence will consume more storage.
Your web hosting plan should offer sufficient space to host these files. You should always keep an eye on the storage space being utilized so that if in case you are running out of space you can upgrade the plan. Again, some hosting providers offer unlimited space.
9. Reliable Support
Help from Tech support is inevitable. You need it at some point in time, sooner or later. You never know what may go wrong. Hence to troubleshoot the technical issues you will need help from the technical desk of the hosting provider. The best hosting companies offer 24X7 technical support that is really effective.
10. User-friendly dashboard
This is another important factor in choosing a good eCommerce hosting service. Wp Oven provides a comprehensive dashboard, through which you can manage your WordPress website as well as view other vital information about the web server and the resources.
11. Monitoring and Management Tools
To make your website work efficiently you need some basic tools using which you can monitor and manage your website as well as hosting. There are various WordPress hosting plans that offer tools like managing site cache (essential for site speed), debugging, PHP management, HTTPS management, DNS Management, Analytics, Performance Monitoring, etc. which you can use. You will also need tools to improve your PageSpeed and Redis score to gain load time and improve accessibility as well as search engine rankings.
12. Developer Friendly
The hosting provider should also offer integrated tools to stage your website while under development, so you can test it in a live environment, and easily sync it. Some hosting providers also provide access to development tools like Git and WP-CLI. There are dedicated WordPress hosting plans that go really well if your eCommerce store is based on Woocommerce. These hosting plans are specially optimized for WordPress.
13. Easy Migration
The web hosting company you intend to choose should not pose any issues in case you want to migrate away from the website to another hosting company. You should identify the constraints and restrictions that you might face in such a situation by the server. You should understand how easy it is to export the database and download the files. Also, if you are moving from another server to the new server, please check if the new server company offers free migration as well.
14. User Management
As your eCommerce store grows you will have more people on your team helping you manage your website. You can check with your hosting provider if they have a feature to add users to manage the website.
15. Multisite setup
If you have multiple eCommerce stores, you should be able to host and manage them from the same account. Almost all the top eCommerce web hosting companies have packages that allow you to host multiple sites from the same dashboard. It is a very convenient option to manage multiple sites from the same account.
16. Free Emails
The success of your eCommerce store also depends on:
- Building trust
- Good tech support over email
You should always use your domain email ([email protected]), as it will build a sense of trust and reliability among your customers. Choose a hosting provider that also provides good email hosting as well. Some hosting companies also have a limit on the number of emails that you can use or the storage space that you can use for emails. It is recommended to know these details about email hosting in advance.
17. Budget
This is another important consideration in taking the final call about your eCommerce store hosting. Hosting is not a single-time investment, but it is something that has to be paid out on a monthly or yearly basis. So you have to be careful while taking this decision.
Best eCommerce Hosting options for your online store
The best ecommerce hosting is one that is reliable, easy to use, and provides you with all the features required to run an online store or business successfully without disrupting your budget. Keeping all these points in mind, we have brought you some of the best eCommerce hosting providers to know what they have to offer.
1. WPOven
WPOven is one of the leading Fully Managed VPS hosting providers, that offers a unique and fully WordPress-friendly ecommerce hosting platform.
It provides you with all the critical features to run and grow your online store without any compromises. WPOven assures you of a simple, user-friendly, and affordable ecommerce hosting solution for your online business. Upon signup, you will be provided with 14 days risk-free, access to premium plugins and themes, Free email, unlimited site hosting, and top-notch enterprise-level security to protect your data.
WPOven provides you with complete WordPress maintenance services along with their hosting plans without any extra charges.
- Plans Start From $16.61 (USD)/ mo
- Unlimited Websites hosting
- Unmetered No. of Website visits
- Free Email Hosting
- Upto 99% Uptime Guarantee
- Dedicate VPS with Free CDN
- Enterprise-grade security for all plans
- Anti-hacking Support
Pros and Cons of WPOven
Pros
- Only Dedicated server resources
- Affordable and simple plans
- Unlimited staging and Free Migration
- Automatic Backup and one-click Restore
- More storage and Unlimited Bandwidth
- VA support (SEO & Graphics Services)
- Malware scan, anti-hacking support, and monitoring
- Multisite setup
Cons
- Underrated
- We don’t think WPOven lacks any feature that can be a deal breaker for agencies
2. Shopify
Shopify is one of the popular dedicated ecommerce platforms that makes it easy for users to build and start their online stores. It’s a really convenient way for anyone to start selling things online without having to worry about building a website from scratch or figuring out how to process payments.
Shopify is a company that provides a platform for people to set up and run an online store. It takes care of all that stuff for you, and they even have lots of helpful tools to make managing your store and tracking your orders easy. Plus, they have lots of different design templates you can use to make your store look professional and unique.
- Plans Start From $29 (USD)/ mo
- Unlimited email forwarding
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Level 1 PCI compliance protection
- Free Sub-domain
- Fully self-hosted platform
- Unlimited disk space
Pros and Cons of Shopify
Pros
- Beginner friendly and very intuitive to use
- Multiple Payment options
- Variety of themes, apps, and plugins
- in-built SEO and Marketing
Cons
- Highly expensive plans
- No dedicated or VPS hosting
- Limited customization and flexibility
- No email hosting
- Difficult to Exit from Shopify
- Limitations in content marketing
You can also check out our dedicated post on Woocommerce vs Shopify and learn which can be a better option for your online store.
3. Cloudways
Cloudways is another globally Managed WordPress hosting provider that also offers dedicated ecommerce hosting. It offers you multiple cloud platforms or IaaS to choose from and with a varied price range.
Due to the multiple options available, it becomes an ideal hosting platform for both personal users as well as businesses. By hosting an e-commerce store on Cloudways, users can take advantage of the platform’s fast and reliable hosting services, as well as its range of features and tools to manage and maintain their store.
- Plans Start From $33.18 (USD) per month
- Unlimited Websites hosting
- No of Website visits: Unlimited
- One-click Installation (Magento, Woocommerce & Presta)
- WordPress Expert Support
- Dedicated VPS
Pros and cons of Cloudways
Pros
- Easy to choose from multiple server locations
- Pay-as-you-go pricing for specific needs of e-commerce store
- Automatic self-healing servers
- Advanced security to protect stored data and transactions
Cons
- Effective prices become expensive
- No Free CDN and Email hosting
- Paid Addons, offsite Backup, and Security
- Limited hardened server
- Paid Malware scanning and cleanup
You can also check out our dedicated page on comparison between “WPOven Vs Cloudways” and get a clear idea about how WPOven stands ahead of Cloudways in terms of every field.
4. Bluehost
Bluehost is a US-based Web hosting company, whose also data centers are located globally. It is a WordPress-friendly ecommerce hosting provider that offers affordable and simple features for your online store.
Bluehost has a dedicated ecommerce hosting plan “Online store” that offers you a lot of additional eCommerce features such as Jetpack daily backups, Secure online payments, Unlimited products, etc.
If you opt for one of Bluehost’s hosting plans, you may receive a free domain name. However, keep in mind that the company may also try to sell you additional services. Some users have reported issues with the reliability of their hosting, the quality of customer support, and the cost of renewing their plans.
It’s important to carefully consider your hosting needs and do your own research before committing to Bluehost or any other hosting provider.
- Plans Start From $29.95 (USD)/mo
- Google my business verification
- 1 website & Free email
- Unmetered No. of Website visits
- Free domain for one year
- 100GB SSD storage
- Powered by YITH
- Dedicated VPS
Pros and cons of Bluehost
Pros
- A wide selection of popular tools and options are available for website design.
- Automatic WordPress installation and updates
- Plenty of Freebees provided
- Easy and intuitive setup
Cons
- Irritating constant upsell pitching
- Not that fast as compared to its competitors
- No uptime guarantee
- Higher renewal prices & Paid migration service
5. WP Engine
WP Engine is a well-known Managed WordPress hosting provider that you also might have heard of. Proudly market themselves as a top-of-A-line hosting provider and boast about their plans packed full of unique features.
They have also a dedicated ecommerce hosting plan “eCommerce solutions for Woocommerce” and offer a wide range of additional ecommerce features along with regularly managed WordPress hosting features.
- Ecommerce hosting Plan Start From $29/mo
- No. of websites: 1
- No of visits: 25k/mo
- Email Hosting: No
- Auto plugin updated for site safety
- Premium ecommerce themes & blocks
- Dedicated Hosting
- Increase Woo caching upto 90%
Pros and cons of WPEngine
Pros
- Evercache Technology used for faster Page loading
- one click store creation
- Genesis Pro(blocks & themes)
- Free solution for Hacked or compromised sites
Cons
- Highly expensive Plans
- No Free Site Migration and Free Email
- You have to deal with extra charges if your plan limit exceeds
- You have to pay extra for adding more websites and site monitoring
Also, check out our comparison page on WPOven vs WPEngine and learn why WPOven is a better WPEngine alternative.
Conclusion
It has often been found that eCommerce store owners who have no idea about how web servers and hosting works struggle to get it right and get stuck in getting the hosting issues resolved instead of focusing on growing their eCommerce store. Moreover, frequent outage issues and more downtime lead to losing customers. By the time you decide to move out, it has already done the damage.
Hence we recommend that you understand the unique requirements of your eCommerce store and its operations, and choose the hosting which is reliable, has good reviews, is economical, and offers best-in-class service and support. Good hosting is the first step in making your eCommerce store leap into the next orbit in no time.
If you are still confused and unable to make the right decision, you can again check out the comparison table given below :
Best eCommerce Hosting – Comparison Table 2023
| Ecommerce hosting Features | WPOven | Shopify | Cloudways | Bluehost | WPEngine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan & Pricing Starts from | $16.61 / m | $29 / m | $33.18 / m | $29.95 / m | $29 / m |
| No. of website hosting | Unlimited | 1 | Unlimited | 1 | 1 |
| Dedicated VPS | Dedicated | NA | Dedicated | Dedicated | Dedicated |
| Email Hosting | | | | | |
| Monthly No of visits/mo | 50k | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 25K |
| Disk Space | 20 GB SSD | Unlimited | 20 GB | 20 GB | 10 GB |
| Ecommerce features | | | | | |
| Customization & Flexibility | | | | | |
| Free Addons | | | | | |
If you find this post helpful and would like to share your valuable opinions about it, please do let us know in the comment section below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is e commerce hosting?
eCommerce hosting is a different type of web hosting that has special needs, such as extra security to win the trust of its customer, it should be able to handle a large amount of traffic, should be able to handle a large number of processes, should be fast response, and should have enough space to host a large number of files.
Which ecommerce platform is best for small business?
You can easily start your small-scale online business with all the enterprise-grade features by choosing WPOven’s Fastest, most secure, and fully managed dedicated hosting at a starting price of $16.61 per month.
What are the 3 types of web hosting?
The three types of web hosting are:
1. Shared hosting
2. VPS hosting
3. Dedicated hosting
I am a Co-Founder at WPOven INC currently living in Vancouver, Canada. My interests range from Web Development to Product development and Client projects. I am also interested in web development, WordPress, and entrepreneurship.
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