Complete Guide For The Best E-commerce Hosting Providers

Have you considered starting an online store? If so, you’ll need to sign up for specialized hosting services designed for eCommerce websites. This is a necessary requirement. 

As part of their service, an eCommerce host may offer shopping cart software, payment processing, secure socket layer (SSL) encryption, database support, backups, and much more.

The type of hosting you’ll also get includes the usual features regarding web hosting services, such as disk space, plugins, and safety. So, the question is: who is the industry’s top-rated eCommerce host?

We’ve made a list of the best eCommerce hosting companies and the types of services they offer. This is 2023, and you should get a piece of the online retail industry’s $5.7 trillion pie by starting an eCommerce business.

Benefits of eCommerce Hosting Providers

Efficiency

The use of an eCommerce hosting provider can be incredibly helpful in the management of an eCommerce platform. From backing up crucial data to providing additional features and services, these providers help keep a business running efficiently. By entrusting their hosting to a reliable provider, businesses need not worry about disruptions due to hardware or software issues, ensuring maximum uptime. 

Productivity

E-commerce hosting providers can provide businesses with several unique benefits, but the most impressive is how they can increase productivity. Hosting providers offer access to powerful tools that enable users to manage their eCommerce platform efficiently and maximize profitability. 

Whether you already have an established eCommerce business or are just starting, having a reliable hosting provider on board will result in higher performance and better results. 

Furthermore, eCommerce hosting providers can offer expertise to help businesses stay up-to-date on their website maintenance tasks, ensuring their site remains safe and secure. Ultimately, partnering with an experienced hosting provider is the key to taking your eCommerce presence to the next level.

Requires Little to No Technical Knowledge

E-commerce hosting providers offer merchants many advantages. The greatest perk of this type of service is that it requires little to no technical knowledge on the merchant’s part. Setting up a reliable store with an eCommerce hosting provider can take only a fraction of the time and effort compared to setting up your server from scratch. 

This leaves merchants more time to focus on what matters – optimizing their websites and providing customers with an excellent shopping experience. The user-friendly interface offered by most eCommerce hosting providers ensures even those without coding expertise can configure and customize their stores without help from IT staff or expensive web designers.

Top 14 Best eCommerce Hosting Providers

Shopify

Shopify is a popular eCommerce hosting option that lets eCommerce businesses set up and run their online eCommerce stores by themselves.

Shopify has a simple creative design template, third-party apps, and integration that enables a store to run more smoothly and effectively.

Furthermore, it is free to host. It maintains 99.99% guaranteed uptime and hosts its stores on blazing-fast, high-performance servers, ensuring fast speed for your website

Features

• Drag-and-drop website builder.
• Wide range of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Apple Pay.
• Built-in SEO tools, including automatic generation of sitemaps and meta tags.
• Analytics and reporting tools.
• Supports a wide range of languages, currencies, and taxes.
• Wide range of security features, including SSL certificates and PCI compliance.
• Custom control panel

Overall, Shopify is a great option for businesses of all sizes looking to create an online store. You wouldn’t have to worry about hosting because it has already been provided.

Pricing 

Basic Plan: $32 monthly

Shopify Plan: $92 monthly

Advanced Plan: $399 monthly

Bluehost

Bluehost is a well-known web hosting provider with numerous hosting packages, including eCommerce options, available. The Bluehost control panel is renowned for its user-friendliness, efficiency, fast load speed, and dependability on a dedicated server.

Bluehost has been helping entrepreneurs build their web presence since 2003 and offers a variety of reliable hosting plans along with 24/7 customer support, free domain name and SSL certificate designed to meet the specific needs of eCommerce websites. 

The team of experts at Bluehost understands that when you rely on the internet to run your business, you require speed, reliability, and a secure platform for protecting your payments and data privacy. No matter how big or small your eCommerce needs, Bluehost strives to meet them with comprehensive and affordable website solutions.

Features

• VPS (Virtual Private Server)
• Fast load times 
• Shared, Dedicated, and cloud hosting.
• Intuitive admin interface.
• Support for widely used platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, and OpenCart.
• SSL certificates and daily automatic backups.
• 24/7/365 stellar customer service and automatic software updates.
• Third-party advanced features like tax and shipping calculators can be easily integrated with Bluehost’s services.
• 30-day money-back guarantee.

Bluehost is a solid foundation for any eCommerce business dedicated to hosting services because it has many plans and features.

Pricing

Online Store: $24.95 monthly

Online Store Plus Marketplace: $39.95 monthly

Hostinger

Hostinger, one of the solid hosting providers for small businesses, offers powerful features which are relatively cheap for upcoming business owners.

This makes it a favorite among entrepreneurs who want to stay within budget.

Hostinger’s private server stack is optimized for speed for visitors, and they also offer the Cloudflare Content Delivery Network to ensure that people can load pages very quickly.

Hostinger’s user-chat function is a major selling point. It supports multiple eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, and PrestaShop. Hostinger offers 100% uptime support for Magento. They accomplish this by using the Google Cloud platform.

Its customized eCommerce environment allows businesses to keep their product sites quick and efficient without breaking the bank. Sharing access to your online shop with other team members is another useful feature.

Features

• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor 
• A free web address that loads quickly 
• An SSL Certificate
• Daily and weekly backups.

Pricing

Single Plan: $1.99 monthly

Premium Plan: $2.99 monthly

Business Plan: $3.99 monthly

Siteground

SiteGround is a top eCommerce reliable provider for web hosting, offering a one-click installation solution for WooCommerce, that allows you to set up your store in the shortest time possible.

With SiteGround’s web hosting, you can create different web addresses (domains and subdomains) and customize the layout of your website. They offer dependable hosting that is suitable for your online store’s requirements. SiteGround now hosts a large number of websites.

SiteGround also offers a PCI-compliant infrastructure, which means they take extra security measures during times of high website traffic. However, accessing this option may require additional costs.

Every account comes with a free encryption certificate, daily backups, and round-the-clock assistance from the company’s staff.

Features

• Preconfigured caching for your Cloudflare content delivery network 
• Enhanced security
• Automated daily backups
• Page caching
• Staging
• Automatic content management system updates

Pricing

Startup Plan: $19.99 monthly

GrowBig Plan: $29.99 monthly

GoGeek Plan: $44.99 monthly

A2hosting

A2 Hosting is one of the most dedicated hosting plans with the most options. With its compliant servers, users enjoy unmetered disk space, limitless SSD storage, and page load rates up to 20 times faster than those offered by standard servers.

The packages from A2 Hosting have great storage options, reliable uptime, and the most up-to-date customer service. They are also made for online stores. A2’s “Guru team” is reachable by phone and live chat 24/7.

All A2 Hosting plans have an SSL certificate by default to show customers that the company cares about their privacy and security.

When you sign up for A2 Hosting, you’ll automatically be enrolled in their permanent security package, which includes firewall and DDoS protection, along with free, unlimited scanning of your system for any threats. A2 Hosting offers lightning-fast speeds, reliable uptime, and some of the industry’s best customer service.

Not only is it cheap enough for newcomers to try it without breaking the bank, but it also has other shared plans advantages for expensive options.

Features

• WordPress site management tools.
• Free SSL certificate.
• Unlimited email addresses.
• Free site migration.
• One-click installation for WordPress, WooCommerce, Joomla, and more.

Pricing

Run Plan: $11.99 monthly

Jump Plan: $18.99 monthly

Fly Plan: $28.99 monthly

Sell Plan: $41.99 monthly

DreamHost

DreamHost is one of the most popular eCommerce hosting providers offering various features and services to help businesses create and manage their online stores.

With DreamHost, users can easily set up and customize their eCommerce websites using popular eCommerce platforms such as WooCommerce Plugin, Magento, and Shopify.

One of the key features of DreamHost is its flexibility and scalability. Businesses can start with a basic package and upgrade as their needs grow. This makes it easy for them to add more features as their business grows, like more storage and bandwidth.

DreamHost also has several security features, like SSL certificates and daily backups, to protect business websites and customer data.

It also has several ways to help customers, like customer service that is open 24/7 and an impressive feature with helpful tutorials and articles. This means that businesses can easily get the help they need to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Overall, DreamHost is an excellent eCommerce hosting platform for businesses of all sizes. It is a great choice for businesses that want to start or grow their eCommerce sites because of its flexibility, scalability, security during unlimited traffic, and helpful features.

Features

• Free domain registration and Let’s encrypt free SSL.
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth.
• Easy to use control panel.
• Unlimited email accounts and subdomains (with WordPress unlimited shared plan)
• 1-click installation of WordPress

Pricing

Shared Plan: $2.95 monthly

DreamPress Plan: $16.95 monthly

VPS Plan: $13.75 monthly

Inmotion Hosting

Without a doubt, InMotion hosting aims to give users the best performance, speed, accuracy, and security while still maintaining its customers’ privacy.

It’s also simple to connect with other popular platforms like WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, and Magento.

InMotion Hosting offers WordPress users, such sophisticated caching, and access to Jetpack ( unlimited bandwidth and email)

Technologically-advanced caching is provided with most subscriptions; higher-tier plans additionally include dedicated IP addresses.

Regarding stellar customer service, the InMotion stellar customer service team is always regularly trained to assist you better. In addition, there is malware protection and regular backups if something goes wrong.

Features

• Solid-state drives (SSDs) for all storage.
• NGINX software
• Unlimited bandwidth.
• Custom security suite.
• Ultrastack-powered hosting.
• 24/7 technical support
• eCommerce tools.
• Marketing tools for your website.
• 90-day guarantee.

Pricing

Core Plan: $3.49 monthly

Launch Plan: $6.99 monthly

Power Plan: $6.99 monthly

Pro Plan: $14.99 monthly

Hostgator

Compared to other eCommerce web hosting companies, Hostgator has fewer options for platform optimization than other companies. There are hosting plans for Magento and WordPress.

However, the one-click installation makes it easy to set up an eCommerce platform that is compatible with WordPress, such as WooCommerce.

Hostgator is reliable and scalable, as shown by the fact that the company gives away a free SSL certificate and guarantees a 99.99% uptime guarantee, a feasible and scalable feature on a large scale.

Each package comes with a free domain name for your website. All price tiers come with unlimited bandwidth and free site transfers, so you can have as many customers as possible without worrying about crashing the server.

While the servers are not PCI-compliant out of the box, customer service can help you get to your destination. There are no limits on the number of FTP (file transfer protocol) accounts a user can have, making sending large amounts of data much simpler.

Features

• Continuous Server Scrutiny
• Dedicated and shared servers
• Unlimited storage
• Ad credits
• Unmetered bandwidth
• Site security & SSL
• One-to-one IP eCommerce server status
• Easy app integration
• Domain Registration
• VPS (Virtual Private Server
• Automatic Encryption and dedicated resources for Backups

Pricing

Hatchling Plan: $2.75 monthly

Baby Plan: $3.50 monthly

eCommerce Plan: $5.25 monthly

CloudWays

Cloudways is a narrowly focused cloud-based solution for “pay-as-you-go” eCommerce, as the name suggests. Cloudways is a reliable provider if you want a hosting solution for your website that can grow and change.

Cloudways has a dedicated hosting version control platform that works with several different shopping server resources, including OpenCart, Magento, PrestaShop, and WooCommerce.

It also provides access to various applications and connectors. A cutting-edge control panel and scheduled backups are all standard features of Cloudways’ eCommerce hosting services.

It has a lightning-fast performance thanks to the integrated CDN and self-repairing servers. SSL certification is built in as a standard feature to make sure the client’s safety.

With firewall access for her subscribers and automated protection against DDoS malware attacks, Cloudways exceeds expectations for safety and dependability. However, the PCI Data Security Premium Standard is only partially supported.

Features

• Unlimited WordPress websites
• Free website migration
• 24/7 live chat support
• Team collaboration features
• In-house cache plugin (helps with faster loading times) 

Pricing

Pricing is from $12 to $160

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is an excellent choice for anyone looking to start an eCommerce business. As a trusted hosting provider, GoDaddy offers fast, secure web hosting that can easily be scaled to suit businesses of any size. 

Its feature-rich control panel is easy to use and accessible from any device, allowing users to manage their hosted store from anywhere. Dedicated support ensures customers are always able to handle setting up and running their eCommerce site – allowing more time for marketing and growing the business. 

From beginner-level set-up through advanced software integration tools, GoDaddy provides everything needed for a world-class storefront.

Features

• Reporting tools
• Advanced search and filtering options
• Integrated blog
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Integrated social media and SEO
• Mobile-optimized checkout
• Video or 3D product demos

Pricing

Basic Plan: $9.99 monthly

Standard Plan: $10.49 monthly

Premium Plan: $14.99 monthly

eCommerce Plan: $16.99 monthly

Wix

Wix is one of the leading eCommerce hosting providers and can provide an ideal platform for those wanting to establish their own business online. With top-of-the-line features, such as easy checkout systems, integrated payment options, and an array of stunning templates, Wix ensures starting up an eCommerce store is simple, easy, and stress-free. 

Additionally, all plans offer powerful analytics packages and unlimited bandwidth, so you know exactly how your site performs. 

Because security is a priority, all stores come with SSL encryption technology and automatic daily backups, giving you peace of mind that your data is safe and secure. 

Features

• Customizations.
• Marketing Tools
• Templates
• Site Analytics
• Email Integrations
• Drag and Drop
• Content Management

Pricing

Connect Domain Plan: $4.50 monthly

Combo Plan: $8.50 monthly

Unlimited Plan: $12.50 monthly

VIP Plan: $24.50 monthly

Liquid Web

Liquid Web makes running your online store convenient, easy, and secure. It offers a wide range of high-performance features and comes with an SLA that promises 100% uptime – so you won’t have to worry about long downtimes. 

With the one-click installation process, setting up your store is extremely straightforward. Your server is managed for you, so there are no complicated VPS technicalities to worry about. 

You also get advanced options through a super user-friendly control panel and access to unlimited traffic. Plus, the website staging feature allows you to test out changes before rolling them out publicly. 

When it comes to security, Liquid Web’s got you covered with custom firewalls, SSL certificates, 24/7 monitoring, and offsite backups – giving you complete peace of mind. Overall, it is a great platform for hosting an online store; all backed by excellent customer service support.

Features

• Multiple choices for control panels.
• cPanel option.
• Domain name registration and hosting.
• InterWorx option.
• Acronis backups.
• Cloudflare integration (speeds your site loading)
• Hundreds of web hosting tools through Softaculous.
• Email hosting.

Pricing

Managed WooCommerce Hosting: $13.30 monthly

VPS Hosting: $25 monthly

Dedicated Hosting: $169 monthly

iPage

iPage offers domain name registration and web hosting services, making it a great choice if you are looking to setup your own website or blog. 

ipage makes it incredibly easy to turn your business vision into a reality. With their template-based website builder, you can quickly design and customize your own online store without a single line of code. 

Plus, ipage offers terrific integrations with leading shopping carts such as AgoraCart and Zen Cart so you can seamlessly offer the products and services that customers are sure to love. 

Also included is a free domain for the first year, plus 24/7 phone (toll-free in the US and UK) and chat support that’s always on hand to deal with any urgent matters that might arise. 

From start to finish, ipage has all the tools you need to successfully run an online shop – including accepting payments through PayPal!

Features

• Storage Limits
• Email Hosting
• Control Panel Integration
• E-Commerce Integration
• CMS Support
• Bandwidth Allowance
• Database Support
• File Management
• Web Framework Support
• Security Tools

Pricing

12 month term: $2.99 monthly

24 month term: $2.49 monthly

36 month term: $1.99 monthly

IONOS

Ionos features plans tailored to your needs, ionos is perfect for businesses of all sizes. With their easy-to-use platform, built-in password manager and a Smart Setup wizard that gets you online in just a few clicks, it’s easier than ever to set up your own professional website or manage existing ones. 

Combining a streamlined webpage design process with exceptional features, it’s easy to get your store started in no time. You don’t need to be a web design expert to create something beautiful; just pick one of its lovely templates and customize it to match your vision. 

With its reliable system and simple process, IONOS can offer an effective platform for taking your business online. Plus, with options like domain registration and customizable email addresses available at incredibly low prices, ionos offers the best bang for your buck. 

Features

• Unlimited websites.
• Site analytics.
• Unlimited storage and databases.
• Maximum CPU and MEM resources.
• Advanced security features.
• Professional email and website domain (first year)
• Lightning-fast CDN.

Pricing

Starter: Free

Business: $6.99 monthly

eCommerce: $12.99 monthly

Factors to Consider When Choosing an eCommerce Hosting Provider 

When choosing an eCommerce hosting provider, it is essential to consider your website needs. What kind of features and services will be required for a successful website? Will you sell products, collect payments, run marketing campaigns, and write blog posts? Evaluating what you need from a hosting provider is a critical first step when deciding on the right host for your online business. 

Large Bandwidth and File Storage

When choosing an eCommerce hosting provider, it is important to consider the amount of bandwidth and file storage it provides. If you anticipate a high amount of website traffic or plan on selling large amounts of digital products, look for a provider offering unlimited bandwidth, so your website doesn’t slow down due to a lack of room. 

Many businesses are also transitioning their POS systems and product catalogs to the cloud — be sure to select a hosting provider with adequate file storage options that can accommodate your business needs. 

If you expect frequent updates to inventory and customer databases, a good cloud-based hosting platform can make all the difference in convenience and seamless operations. 

Accessibility is also important; providers offering HXML support drastically reduce time spent uploading files and updating content on your site, so customers have the best experience possible when shopping with you.

Account Limitations

One of the most important considerations when selecting an e-commerce hosting platform is understanding and preparing for the account limitations. Items like storage space, database usage, and file size all need to be considered. 

Some platforms provide extensive options to increase product offerings by utilizing larger store spaces and databases to accommodate increased demands. Different payment gateways and methods can be used with varying degrees of restriction depending on the plan you choose. 

Overall, researching your platform’s capabilities as well as any limitations will help ensure that you make the best choice for your business.

Technical Support

When selecting an eCommerce hosting provider, technical support should always be a major factor. It is essential to have access to support staff whenever questions or problems arise. eCommerce businesses routinely require assistance and expertise that the hosting provider can provide. 

Getting technical support 24/7 is highly beneficial, especially for websites that must be operational at all times. Standard customer services solutions such as live chat, email, and phone can ensure any issues will be addressed promptly. 

Ultimately, when choosing a web host for an online business, investigate the availability of technical support before making a long-term commitment.

Data Recovery

When choosing an eCommerce hosting provider, it is critical to consider data recovery capability. This can be a lifesaver if or when something goes wrong with your site, or a disaster takes out your servers. It is important to ask the hosting provider about their backup mechanisms and the timeline for recovering data should you ever need it. 

Ensure their policy and practice match your needs, as not all hosting providers offer the same level of data protection. Be sure to conduct due diligence by researching reviews and talking to other customers with experience with the provider before committing. 

Data recovery should not be taken lightly and is important in ensuring that your online business remains safe and secure.

Website Needs

E-commerce websites are generally heavy. So, you’ll need to decide how much storage your content calendar can accommodate. Additionally, you’ll need unlimited bandwidth for your website to function well.

You should also think about a good amount of bandwidth so that your site stays stable when a lot of people visit it at once.

Hosting Type

When selecting an eCommerce hosting provider, your hosting type is crucial. Not only should it ensure your website is reliable and high performing, but it also impacts your business in other positive ways. 

For example, dedicated hosting gives your customers a more personalized experience with faster page loading speeds as you’re not sharing resources with another website. Alternatively, if you have numerous sites or stores to manage, consider using a VPS solution, which allows for far greater scalability and flexibility than shared hosting. 

Whichever option you choose, understanding the various types of eCommerce hosting can help you make an informed decision that best meets the needs of your business.

Security

You and your customer’s personal information, credit card payments, and files need to be safeguarded, so be sure your site has the newest security measures.

The use of a secure socket layer (SSL) certificate, compliance with PCI (payment card industry) standards, protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, protection against spam and malware, and regular website backups are just a few examples of what you need to keep in mind.

Privacy Policy

When selecting an eCommerce hosting provider, it is important to see what privacy policy they can offer. This will ensure that the information collected on your eCommerce website is well-protected and secure, minimizing the risk of any data being stolen or accessed by people with malicious intent. 

A good privacy policy should also include reasonable guidelines for collecting, using, and sharing the data you collect from customers. It’s essential to look for a hosting provider that can clearly explain the features of their overall security structure, so you can rest assured that payment information, customer records, and private data remain safe and confidential.

Pricing

Regarding pricing policies, there are two options: choosing a shared hosting plan or opting for dedicated servers. Shared hosting plans offer more cost flexibility with various tiered options that can accommodate businesses of any size. At the same time, a dedicated server provides exclusive access to all the resources and privacy needed for sensitive, secure transactions. 

Ultimately, the right choice will depend on your budget and how much control you want over your store’s online presence.

Performance

When choosing an eCommerce hosting provider, performance should be at the top of the priority list. Having a website that loads quickly and efficiently improves user experience and boosts conversion rates. Many hosting companies specialize in eCommerce hosting solutions, offering tailored solutions such as server speed optimization and content delivery networks. 

To rank well in search engines and attract visitors, speed should be a top priority. Ideally, your server’s loading time should be less than 600 milliseconds, and you should allow up to three seconds for the website to fully load. 

Additionally, customer reviews are a valuable resource for evaluating the performance of an eCommerce host provider. It’s important to read reviews carefully to determine if the hosting provider meets customers’ expectations for website performance. By taking these steps, businesses can ensure that their eCommerce sites function effectively and provide value to customers. 

Development Experience

When choosing one, it’s important to consider your level of development experience. Professional developers should prioritize platforms with a wide range of coding languages and frameworks, while those with minimal or no experience should select a platform that provides intuitive setup and comprehensive support. 

The right platform can make the difference between success and failure in the e-commerce space, so take the time to weigh your options carefully and make sure you have chosen one that will help your business grow.

Traffic Capacity

While eCommerce hosting providers offer numerous benefits, if you’re anticipating a high volume of website traffic, the traffic capacity offered by these services should be at the top of your priority list.  

Many eCommerce hosting plans can accommodate a certain number of visitors simultaneously, but peak times can quickly flood servers and push them past their limits. To ensure you don’t get stuck with a failed website during high demand, look for hosting plans that promise adequate coverage for all traffic scenarios. 

While most providers will offer some way to monitor usage and enhance as needed, finding out how much supplementary capacity is on hand could be critical when looking for the best host for your eCommerce store.

Management Features

 Ensuring the provider offers enough management features is necessary to keep your website secure and running smoothly. Features such as configurable user permissions, custom domain names, SSL certificates, and malware scanning are all essential when choosing an eCommerce hosting provider. 

Researching providers and understanding their feature sets will ensure you have everything needed to build a successful online store.

Refund Policy and Guarantees

When it comes to finding an eCommerce hosting provider, you must take your time and research any Refund Policies and Guarantees. 

Reputable and reliable providers will offer full money-back guarantees with no hidden fees or strings attached in order to ensure customers have time to properly assess the service before committing. 

On the other hand, a rushed decision into purchasing a hosting package that’s not backed by a money-back offer could easily mean challenging circumstances if the service is not up to scratch. 

Therefore, when selecting an eCommerce hosting provider, make sure to read their Terms & Conditions thoroughly and ask questions along the way if needed. A well-informed decision will lead you closer to finding the perfect host for your online business!

Analytics

When deciding on an e-commerce hosting site for your business, one of the most important factors to consider is analytics. As an online business owner, you will want to track spending and customer behavior in order to drive future decision making. 

Make sure that the hosting site you choose comes with a reliable analytics package that provides detailed insight into your customers’ engagement and buying habits. 

Pay close attention to the type of data it provides – for example, does it capture overall visitor numbers or does it provide more specific information about cart abandonment rates? 

With the right analytics solution, you can make informed decisions about how best to optimize your e-commerce store and reach higher levels of success.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Using the right online eCommerce hosting can make or break your business. With this guide, you can now confidently choose a hosting provider that best fits your need and goals while considering the factors to consider when making an informed decision.

Researching and reading customer reviews is important as it provides more insight into what hosting provider is better suited for you. By utilizing our comprehensive guide for the best eCommerce hosting providers,  you will be confident in your selection and set up shop quickly. Investing in good e-hosting from the start will make all the difference in the future of your enterprise.