8 website hosting for eCommerce in 2024
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The demand for eCommerce websites has surged significantly as businesses seek to build an online presence and effectively market their products and services. Besides this growing need is the increasing accessibility and ease of hosting eCommerce sites. The current market has many website hosting providers, all vying for the title of the best in the business.
However, don’t let it blind you – not all hosting providers offer eCommerce plans or have enough resources to handle e-shops that require specific features to handle business websites.
An ideal eCommerce hosting provider should offer robust performance, business email services, content management tools, and other eCommerce-specific features to meet the evolving needs of online businesses.
We tested numerous hosting providers to narrow the list to the 8 best hosting for eCommerce services. We’ll guide you through the features to look for and show how these Ecommerce web hosts perform in those areas.
Best eCommerce web hosting in 2024
- Bluehost – the best eCommerce hosting overall
- Hostinger – beginner-friendly host for WordPress stores
- DreamHost – speedy eCommerce host for US businesses
- SiteGround – security-first eCommerce hosting option for WordPress users
- ScalaHosting – eCommerce cloud hosting for growing businesses
- A2 Hosting – best speed-focused eCommerce hosting
- Liquid Web – excellent VPS hosting for eCommerce
- InterServer – eCommerce hosting solution for businesses on a budget
Our in-house research team and expert writers work hand in hand to regularly test hosting services and provide accurate and fact-checked information. Discover the ins and outs of how we test and evaluate website hosting providers.
Best website hosting for online store – our detailed list:
We’ve tested all of our best web hosting providers to end up only with the top picks for eCommerce websites. The criteria to get on our list included performance, features for eCommerce hosting, security, interface, and price-to-value ratio. So, here’s our list of the hosting providers that will surely provide you with all the needed performance and security results, and have the needed features and abilities for you to host your store.
1. Bluehost – the best eCommerce hosting provider in 2024
| eCommerce features: | WordPress integration, free domain, business email accounts, free SSL certificates, automatic backups |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 361ms |
| Best for: | Beginner-friendly hosting |
| Current deal: | Get Bluehost with 81% OFF |
Bluehost is one of the most popular shared hosting providers, focusing mainly on WordPress. It has a solid reputation, and even WordPress recommends it for its significant contribution to the CMS. The main attraction, however, is how easy to use and functional Bluehost is.
eCommerce features: Not only does Bluehost come with seamless WordPress integration, but the installation also comes with staging functionality. Our in-house experience with it was very positive. This feature allows you to create a copy of your eCommerce site and test out changes privately. In addition, you’ll get a free domain for the first year, business email accounts, free SSL certificates, automatic backups, and unlimited bandwidth.
Security: Bluehost offers plenty of security features for your site. For example, it provides PCI compliance, a free SSL certificate, DDoS and firewall protection, and automatic backups for your site.
Performance: We liked that Bluehost services are focused on user experience rather than speed. Over 2 months that we monitored our mock-up eCommerce site, Bluehost had 6 outages that put uptime at 99.9%. At the same time, it comes with a limitation – servers are only in the US. Good news if you're targeting North American audiences, and a no-no if you have your visitors elsewhere. Here are some of the performance metrics we monitored:
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Average response time | 361ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 1.8s |
Customer support: When it comes to customer support, Bluehost offers you plenty of options to choose from – go ahead and pick between live chat, phone calls, ticketing, and email. We tried reaching out to Bluehost’s 24/7 live chat and received fast and professional help.
Price: Bluehost WooCommerce hosting prices start at $6.25/month to cover all the needs that a bigger store may have. Built-in security - free SSL certificates and Jetpack come included. There’s a 30-day money refund, if you decide to change your mind.
All in all, Bluehost is one of the best options for 2024. It’s an all-inclusive option that helps you out every step of the way toward creating and managing a website.
Read the full Bluehost hosting review for more information.
2. Hostinger – best beginner-friendly eCommerce hosting for WordPress stores
| eCommerce features: | 1-click installer, LiteSpeed web servers, free custom domain, business email accounts, SSL, WP-CLI integration |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 511ms |
| Best for: | Cheapest eCommerce hosting services |
| Current deal: | Get Hostinger with 87% OFF |
Hostinger is an amazing eCommerce hosting provider. While the platform is simplistic in functionality, you can expect some of the fastest page load times, as well as the high reliability.
eCommerce features: One thing to note about Hostinger shared plans we were impressed with is that it comes with a 1-click installer that includes the selection of the most popular Ecommerce CMSs like Magento, PrestaShop, or Joomla. Plus, the sites are hosted on LiteSpeed web servers that include caching. You also get features like a free custom domain, business email accounts, SSL, and WP-CLI integration, which is a generous amount of features compared to its price and what other market-leading providers like SiteGround offer.
Security: To ensure the best security for your online store, you get free SSL, weekly backups, server-level, and web application firewalls, as well as server monitoring, and DDoS protection. Additionally, we found that Hostinger’s vault has the highest PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance to ensure the highest security standards are met, which is a huge bonus.
Performance: We found out that Hostinger has 8 data centers worldwide – the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Lithuania, India, Brazil, and Singapore. We tested Hostinger’s performance on shared hosting plans with our mock-up eCommerce site, and has a very impressive experience with very good uptime and fast page loading:
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Average response time | 511ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 936ms |
Customer support: For any problems that might come your way, Hostinger’s customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, emails, or the ticketing system. The agents are knowledgeable and eager to help.
Price: Hostinger’s Cloud hosting plan price which starts at $6.45/month is excellent for bigger online store needs – it comes with a free domain, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, and daily backups. The plan also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case you change your mind.
In short, if you’re looking to start an eCommerce business, Hostinger is a great option, and on a budget. At the same time, it delivers A+ performance and a good user experience.
Visit our Hostinger review for more information.
3. DreamHost – best hosting for eCommerce WordPress with great speeds
| eCommerce features: | WooCommerce, storefront themes, unlimited email accounts, and bandwidth |
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Speed: | 231ms |
| Best for: | Cheap and reliable hosting for starting an eCommerce business |
| Current deal: | Get DreamHost with 72% OFF |
DreamHost is a leading eCommerce hosting provider with a focus on WordPress sites, strong security, and ease of use. It comes with generous resources, and you’ll have your store running in the shortest amount of time possible, thanks to a well-designed user interface.
eCommerce features: With DreamHost, you get pre-installed WooCommerce on WordPress, storefront themes, unlimited email accounts, as well as bandwidth. We liked that DreamHost has seamless shopping cart integration, robust inventory management tools, and support for various payment gateways, empowering businesses to create and manage their online stores efficiently.
Security: All DreamHost’s plans come with free SSLs, automatic daily backups, domain privacy, a web application firewall, and Cloudflare CDN to guarantee your site's security. Besides, DreamHost is PCI-compliant, which gives an extra layer of security.
Performance: During the tests, we were impressed with DreamHost's server performance – it’s almost flawless, and response time was also very speedy, based on tests we ran with GTMetrix on our mock-up eCommerce site. However, there's one limitation of DreamHost though – it's only fit for those eCommerce stores that have their main audience in the US. That's where all of the provider's servers are located. There’s also a free CDN that will help users to access your site from anywhere in the world speedily. Here are some of the performance metrics we recorded:
| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 231ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 1.6s |
Customer support: We tested the support between multiple customer support channels, such as live chat (5:30 AM - 9:30 PM PT), phone support, and 24/7 email tickets. It was professional and informative.
Pricing: DreamHost has a managed WordPress package, that starts at $12.99/month for bigger eCommerce sites. It includes a free domain, unlimited bandwidth, a 1-click installer, and more notable eCommerce features. There’s also a very generous 97-day money-back guarantee.
DreamHost, together with Hostinger, remains one of the best hosting providers for eCommerce, thanks to its straightforward approach, excellent features, and steady performance.
Check out our DreamHost review for more information.
4. SiteGround – secure eCommerce hosting option
| eCommerce features: | Free shopping carts, eShop transfer, unmetered bandwidth |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 217ms |
| Best for: | Premium-class online store hosting |
| Current deal: | Get SiteGround with 83% OFF |
SiteGround ticks all the boxes when it comes to online store hosting. It’s fast, powerful, reliable, easy to use, and scalable. Focused on WordPress hosting, SiteGround is not the cheapest eCommerce hosting provider on the list, but you do get the best service possible.
eCommerce features: We tested SiteGround eCommerce hosting plans that include additional features, like free shopping carts with installation, free eShop transfer, multiple physical server locations across three continents, and unmetered bandwidth. We personally enjoyed using SiteGround, as all the features mentioned were easy to tackle and use. Also, all the business essentials are covered, like professional email accounts are there for marketing.
Security: SiteGround develops its own tools for making WordPress sites the fastest and most secure possible. That’s a custom PHP setup, 3-level caching, Nginx web server, and on-site optimizations. There’s also constant monitoring, Web-Application firewalls (WAF), daily backups, and SSL certificates are there for 360° security. And SiteGround also offers PCI compliance hosting by default, which is one of the security criteria we don’t overlook.
Performance: Generally, speed depends a lot on where your site is hosted. The closer it is to the visitor, the more optimal the performance will be. Luckily, we found that SiteGround lets you choose from the US, Europe, Asia, and Australian data center locations. All SiteGround performance metrics, based on GTMetrix tests, proved to be top of the class – it is reliable, stable, and able to load websites very fast. Here are the metrics we got:
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Average response time | 217ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 1.1s |
Customer support: Additionally, SiteGround has impressive customer support. Help is available 24/7 through various channels such as live chat, phone, and ticketing. As for the agents, they are helpful, fast, and skilled.
Price: SiteGround prices start at $2.99/month and go all the way up to $7.99/month for shared hosting. Alternatively, very large online stores can choose Cloud hosting starting at $100.00/month. All the plans include free SSL, free email, daily backups, while the more expensive plans include options to migrate and collaborate. For shared hosting, SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Altogether, there are really few options for eCommerce sites that can compete with the well-rounded service of SiteGround. It’s one of the fastest and most functional providers available in the market right now.
Read our full SiteGround review for more information.
5. ScalaHosting – flexible eCommerce cloud hosting for medium-sized online stores
| eCommerce features: | 1-click installer, automated updates, custom domain name, unlimited email accounts |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 443ms |
| Best for: | Affordable cloud hosting for growing online stores |
| Current deal: | Get ScalaHosting with 71% OFF |
ScalaHosting offers affordable and flexible cloud hosting for medium-sized eCommerce websites. While this product is fairly new, the host is proud to offer you generous server resources and very good performance, so your online store can be up and running at all times.
eCommerce features: All ScalaHosting’s plans include a 1-click installer that has over 400 different scripts to choose from, including the most popular CMSs for eCommerce. We liked how user-friendly it was. Plus, staging, cloning, and automated updates are also included, alongside freebies like a custom domain name and unlimited email addresses, which is a huge bonus.
Security: All ScalaHosting cloud plans come with SShield security, virus and spam protection, free security scans, daily automated backups, and brute-force protection. Besides, ScalaHosting is PCI compliant. They have been audited and certified by a third-party auditor to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This means that they have implemented the necessary security controls to protect customer credit card data.
Performance: In terms of performance, ScalaHosting didn’t disappoint us either. The host offers numerous data centers in the US and EU, plus you also get a free Cloudflare CDN. More so, throughout our testing, the host did not experience a single outage and showed a speedy average response time, which is as impressing as the other leading providers:
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Average response time: | 443ms |
| Fully built site loading time: | 1.8s |
Customer support: ScalaHosting offers very speedy and helpful support via a 24/7 live chat and ticketing system. To deliver only the highest quality, the host promises to respond to your queries in under 30 sec via live chat, and under 15 min through a ticketing system. ScalaHosting's support staff are knowledgeable about their products and services and were able to help us with a variety of issues.
Pricing: ScalaHosting offers 4 cloud plans with the entry plan retailing for as low as $2.66/month. It comes with a free domain, unlimited bandwidth, SSL certificates, and more eCommerce-focused features. More so, the host offers an anytime unconditional money-back guarantee for unused services.
As a whole, ScalaHosting is a great option for those looking to run a website with eCommerce functionalities. The host is very secure, speedy, and flexible, meaning that you can scale your online store anytime.
You can check out our ScalaHosting review for more details.
6. A2 Hosting – speed-focused eCommerce hosting provider
| eCommerce features: | LiteSpeed web servers, unlimited bandwidth, free automated backups, business email accounts, SSD storage |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 597ms |
| Best for: | Speed-focused hosting for online stores |
| Current deal: | Get A2 Hosting with 86% OFF |
A2 Hosting has both affordable plans and more premium options that are all generously packed with advanced features. At the same time, its Turbo-labeled plans are essentially designed for eCommerce projects thanks to the top-tier hardware and software combo implemented on them.
eCommerce features: After reviewing and testing A2 Hosting in-house, we experienced that all A2 Hosting plans include software configurations that are speed-oriented. You get fast LiteSpeed web servers with 3-level caching for both static and dynamic elements of your site. More so, you’ll get unlimited bandwidth, free automated backups, business email accounts, and SSD storage.
Security: A2 hosting has top-of-the-class hardware and doesn’t play around when it comes to security. You’ll get a free SSL certificate, DDoS protection, a firewall, automatic backups, and enhanced security tools for malware detection and patching. However, we found that A2 Hosting does not support PCI compliance, which is quite a drawback.
Performance: What we liked about A2 Hosting in terms of performance – it has server locations between three continents with the exact locations being in Michigan, Arizona, Amsterdam, and Singapore, which is great, as it’s not solely based in the US.
Speaking of performance, A2 Hosting delivers reliable but quite average-speed server results yet compensates with a very fast page load time. In over 2 months that we tested, A2 Hosting was down for 7 minutes in total. That’s a very good 99.99% uptime but can be improved:
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Average response time | 597ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 1.4s |
Customer support: A2 Hosting offers plenty of customer support options, including a ticketing system, phone support, and live chat. Even though it’s not quite as user-friendly as other market-leading providers, the support we got was extensive and helpful.
Price: The prices for A2 Hosting start quite affordably at $3.75/month, but the true value is with the Turbo plans that start at $4.75/month, which is quite expensive. The plans include big SSD storage, unlimited databases and bandwidth, free backup, and more eCommerce-focused features.
To put it briefly, A2 Hosting is a reliable, fast, and well-equipped provider that focuses on speed and security. It’s a classic option for good eCommerce hosting.
For more insights, check out our A2 Hosting review.
7. Liquid Web – excellent hosting for eCommerce sites
| eCommerce features: | 1-click installer, 10TB bandwidth, InterWorc control panel, SSL certificate, PCI scans |
| Uptime: | 100% |
| Speed: | 521ms |
| Best for: | eCommerce stores that need mission-critical reliability |
| Current deal: | Get Liquid Web with 85% OFF |
Liquid Web is a powerful managed VPS option for your growing online store. It comes with a 100% uptime agreement backed by an SLA (Service Level Agreement). That’s a guarantee of reliability and speed.
eCommerce features: What we noticed from the very start was that Liquid Web offers a fast entrance into the market via a smooth 1-click install process (which we really liked) with the most popular CMS – WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. All plans come with 10 TB bandwidth and an InterWorx control panel. The main difference between the plans is the size of the SSD disk space, RAM, and number of CPUs. You also get an SSL certificate and PCI scans to ensure that you’re safely storing consumers' credit card data.
Security: Liquid Web has advanced security methods in place. Servers are fully secured by the provider, and you do get SSL certificates to protect your website. Other features include custom firewalls, off-site backups, and 24/7 server monitoring. Liquid Web also brings PCI-compliant data system solutions.
Performance: Just as expected, Liquid Web does deliver on its guarantees – it’s fast and reliable. We monitored Liquid Web for around 17 days, during which it had 0 outages. Additionally, Liquid Web’s servers are located in the US and Europe. Here are the metrics we ended up after our in-house testing:
| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 521ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 1.2s |
Customer support: Customer support is top-notch – Liquid Web commits to answering all live chat messages in 59 seconds. The technical support that we tried was nearly instant.
Price: Surprisingly, Liquid Web is not a bank-account-ripping provider, thanks to a huge introductory discount. The cheapest plan costs just $8.85/month with a 2-year subscription. All plans come with unlimited sites, dedicated IP, monitoring, Cloudflare CDN, an integrated firewall, and SecureServer. However, Liquid Web doesn’t provide a 30-day money-back guarantee as most of the notable providers do.
To conclude this all, if you have (or plan on having) a big and popular eCommerce store, Liquid Web is among the best options for it. The reliability and security are guaranteed.
For more information, head over to our Liquid Web review.
8. InterServer – best eCommerce hosting solution for businesses on a budget
| eCommerce features: | Unlimited websites, storage, business emails, multiple payment gateways |
| Uptime: | 99.9% |
| Speed: | 662ms |
| Best for: | Affordable no-fuss hosting |
| Current deal: | Get InterServer, now 65% OFF |
InterServer is an affordable, fully configurable option for your eCommerce hosting needs. It has enough resources to have a small eCommerce site running efficiently. Plus, the billing is very attractive for low budgets.
eCommerce features: Our experience with InterServer was good. Even though it’s not as smooth and feature-packed like other leading providers like Hostinger, InterServer has the basics. It provides you with unlimited websites, storage, and business emails. It also supports multiple payment gateways and makes it easy to both have a full-fledged eCommerce site or to sell only the selected products on your site.
Security: Security is taken very seriously. InterServer takes care of all essentials such as SSL, backups, firewalls, malware scanning, and even disaster recovery for you. Interserver hosting is not PCI compliant for its shared hosting plans. However, it is PCI compliant for its VPS and dedicated hosting plans.
Interface: You get a standard and easy-to-use interface for hosting management. InterServer is among the providers that still use cPanel.
Performance: Unlike other popular platforms like Hostinger, InterServer limits the number of users, which was kind of a drawback we discovered when testing. It uses only 50% of its server capacity and has servers only in the US. This ensures that there are enough resources to offer the best eCommerce hosting for small businesses without experiencing any issues. However, the servers are located in the US only.
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Average response time | 662ms |
| Fully built website loading time | 2.3s |
Customer support: InterServer offers plenty of customer support options, such as 24/7 live chat, phone, email, and Messenger. Not all customer service options were smooth sailing when we tried them but it provided the needed information.
Price: With a discount, you can get InterServer for as low as $2.50/month with monthly, 6-month, and yearly plans. Other than that, it has 3 shared hosting options as well as VPS to scale. With each plan, you get free SSL certificates, professional website migration, and weekly automatic backups. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Altogether, InterServer is a no-fuss option when you need a simple and reliable provider. It’s great for businesses that consider selling online as a side project.
Read our InterServer review for more insights.
How we tested the best eCommerce hosting services
To select only the best website hosting options for our list, we tested all of the providers. The criteria for our test included:
- eCommerce features. For the hosting provider to get on our list, it had to provide sufficient features for eCommerce sites. That includes management features like cPannel, or a custom version of it. In addition, we looked for features like free SSL, business emails, 1-click installation, easy WordPress/WooCommerce, PrestaShop CMS setup functionalities, and more features.
- Performance. For an eCommerce site, performance is really important. Therefore, we only picked the providers that, during our tests, met the required avg. server response time under 600ms and fully loaded time of up to 3 seconds for the best performance. We tested the uptime and server average response time with Pingdom, website loading speed with GTMetrix, visitors load with K6.io tools.
- Security. We tested the security capabilities of these hosting providers so you could safely host your website and also protect your customer data. So we checked and picked only those providers that offer firewall protections, have PCI (payment card industry) rules, protect from DDoS attacks, and have automatic backups.
- Customer support. We made sure that the providers in our list have efficient customer support available for any issues that may arise from hosting your Ecommerce site, feature implementation, or any performance or security questions.
Best eCommerce website hosting comparison
Let’s explore how each Ecommerce hosting provider compares to each other:
| Provider | Bluehost | Hostinger | DreamHost | SiteGround | ScalaHosting | A2 Hosting | Liquid Web | InterServer |
| Brand |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Rating | ||||||||
| SSD | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free SSL | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free domain | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Speed | 361ms | 511ms | 231ms | 217ms | 443ms | 597ms | 521ms | 662ms |
| Uptime | 99.9% | 99.9% | 100% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 100% | 99.99% |
| Data center location | US only | Yes, 8 | US only | Yes, 5 | Yes, US and EU | Yes, 4 | Yes, 3 | US only |
| Price range | From $1.99/month | From $1.66/month | From $2.59/month | From $2.99/month | From $2.66/month | From $1.75/month | From $5.00/month | From $2.50/month |
| Review | Bluehost review | Hostinger review | DreamHost review | SiteGround review | ScalaHosting review | A2 Hosting review | Liquid Web review | InterServer review |
What is eCommerce hosting?
eCommerce hosting is a web hosting service aimed at businesses. It offers all needed infrastructure and features needed to host an online store. eCommerce hosting services come with unlimited bandwidth, large server space, security, and speed features for managing a successful business site.
eCommerce website hosting providers also should come with features to help you manage your business, like PCI rules to protect your customers’ credit information, business emails, SSL certificates, and website management systems like cPanner, hPannel, or any other CMS.
How to choose the best eCommerce hosting?
There are a couple of things you can consider that will make choosing a good hosting for your online store easy:
- Online store needs. eCommerce websites are generally heavy. So, you’ll need to decide how much storage you’ll need for all your content (and how many products the site will be selling), plugins, and site integration to be fully functional. In addition, features like free SSL, business email, custom domains, and others are very useful for eCommerce sites. Plus, a reasonable amount of bandwidth, so your site would not crash during traffic spikes.
- Security. You need to make sure that you have all of the latest security features to protect the privacy, details, and files of you and your site’s clients, as they will own accounts with certain personal information. Hence, the providers needs to offer an SSL certificate, sticking to PCI (payment card industry) rules, preventing DDoS attacks, avoiding spam and malware, and website backups.
- Performance. Speed is important both for customers and search engines if you're planning to get visitors by ranking high on search queries. The results you should seek are an avg. server response time under 600ms, fully loaded time up to 3 seconds.
- Management features. The ease of use of a hosting provider can definitely make or break it. Some providers offer a standard cPanel control panel, which is easy to use even for complete newbies. Others have custom control panels that are just as well-organized as the cPanel.
- Hosting type. To host an eCommerce site you can either opt for a shared, cloud, or VPS hosting solution. This choice will depend on the size of your website and the traffic on it. Shared hosting doesn’t have a lot of storage space and bandwidth is a little limited, while cloud and VPS are much more suitable for small to medium online stores with medium traffic.
- Scalability. It’s important that users would be able to upgrade easily if they outgrow their plan. Also, it’s important that there are many options to upgrade to.
Alternatives for eCommerce hosting
For eCommerce, you can pick from a few different types of hosting. Here are the main ones and what they are best for:
- Website builders – you can use a website builder to create your eCommerce page as well. This way you can customize your site, get useful SEO and marketing tools to grow your business. You can check out our list of the Best website builders for small businesses for more information.
- Cloud-based hosting – this is one of the most popular hosting types because it can support businesses of all sizes. Additionally, this is one of the most stable hosting types since it won’t take down the entire site if there's an issue with servers.
- Shared hosting – this is the best budget-friendly web hosting option for your site. This way, multiple different sites are hosted on a shared server. This type of hosting is the best for small businesses with small to moderate traffic.
- VPS hosting – similar to shared hosting in the fact that different sites share the same server; however, each site has its own resources. It’s also a great option for those with less hosting experience.
- Dedicated servers – this version offers dedicated servers for each site. You’ll get the best performance results and flexible customization; however, it’s not beginner-friendly.
eCommerce hosting vs platforms vs web builders
eCommerce hosting, eCommerce platforms, and website builders vary on the tech knowledge needed, the tools provided, and overall cost.
| Platform | eCommerce hosting | Website builder | eCommerce platform |
| Ease of use | Can be very easy or more complicated depending on the provider | Can be very easy or more complicated depending on the website builder | Depends on the platform |
| Speed | Tends to be fast | Tends to be slower | Depends on the platform |
| SEO | Average SEO tools | Above-average SEO tools | Depends on the platform |
| Security | Tends to have more security features | Tends to have fewer security features | Depends on the platform |
| Best for | Beginners and small business owners | Creatives and more advanced users | Users looking to run an eCommerce site only |
eCommerce hosting
The combination between a CMS and hosting provides the most control over your website. You can design it beautifully, optimize it for search engines, and tweak it periodically to keep your marketing fresh.
- Pick a content management system dedicated to eCommerce. Magento is a good open-source CMS that is simple to manage. Check out our list of best Magento web hosting providers to see great options for the job.
- Install an eCommerce plugin, like WooCommerce, onto your WordPress website. Here are some of the best web hosting providers for WooCommerce hosting.
- Make sure that the hosting provider is PCI compliant. Online stores require online payments, most often, credit card payments specifically. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI) is a set of guidelines established by credit card companies to protect cardholders’ information when used online. When picking the host for your online store, make sure that it's a PCI compliant provider.
If you want a site that’s truly yours, the combination of an eCommerce hosting plan and a CMS is the best way to go. It will require some technical knowledge, but it’s the best option for your site.
Website builder
Website builders are an all-in-one thing. You get hosting, design, and the tools like payment getaways, abandoned cart recovery, and many more to launch and manage fully-rounded online stores. This comes at an extra cost and sacrifice of some independence.
Website builders are costlier because they provide everything you need to have a fully functional online store in no time at all. Go for it if you do not have the time to use a CMS. Some of the best builders for an eCommerce site are Shopify and Wix.
eCommerce platforms
An eCommerce platform is essentially a website builder with tools for eCommerce sites specifically. That’s the most expensive option on the list as they usually have advanced and custom-made billing, marketing, and shipping features. They are easy to use but more expensive and less flexible than CMS.
Some of the eCommerce platforms are Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento – they provide businesses with tools to create online stores. Shopify is user-friendly and versatile, while WooCommerce integrates seamlessly with WordPress. BigCommerce offers scalability and advanced features, and Magento prioritizes flexibility and customization. Each platform caters to different business needs, from small startups to large enterprises.
Video review
Check out the best eCommerce providers overview in our video guide:
Final thoughts
Plenty of web hosting providers claim to offer the best eCommerce hosting. However, few of them are actually capable of delivering hosting that’s good enough to trust your business with.
A reliable eCommerce web hosting provider must offer excellent performance results so that your site can be accessed quickly. As well, there needs to be reliable security features implemented for both your site and your customers, this includes firewalls, DDoS protection, and PCI rules if you’re dealing with credit information.
Additionally, a reliable eCommerce provider should provide features to help you build up your business site, like business emails, SSL certification, and management platforms, among other features.
So to really see which hosts are reliable enough to host your online store, we tested the top options and in the end, we’ve concluded that Bluehost is the winner and the best eCommerce hosting provider thanks to its flawless performance, excellent features for eCommerce, and being well-designed. Hostinger is also considered to be one of the best eCommerce hosting providers that perfectly suits beginners and advanced users looking for A+ performance.
FAQ
Which hosting is best for eCommerce?
Bluehost is the best hosting provider for eCommerce. It offers both great performance and prices, not to mention, it also has incredible security features.
How to choose an eCommerce host?
When choosing the best eCommerce host, you have to consider a lot of different factors. That includes what type of hosting you need, the performance, security points, management features, and interface ease of use.
How much does it cost to host an online store?
The price for hosting an online store can vary depending on the provider you select. Our top-choice Bluehost is a very budget-friendly option, and you can purchase it starting at $1.99/month.
What kind of hosting do I need for eCommerce?
Shared hosting is good for smaller eCommerce stores, yet bigger sites should better look at managed services or VPS with dedicated resources. Because you share the resources with shared hosting plans, other websites might limit the possibility for your site to grow.
Is shared hosting good for an eCommerce store?
Shared hosting is good for smaller eCommerce stores. It’s a pretty limited option to use, it will support fewer people, lesser bandwidth, and performance results.
Is WordPress good for an eCommerce store?
WordPress is very good for eCommerce stores. It has the flexibility and tools to customize your shop as much as needed, something that other platforms might lack. Sure, it’s more complex to start with, but many beginners learn it easily.
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