5 Best eCommerce Hosting Providers for All Site Types [2024 List – Compared & Reviewed]

Are you running an eCommerce business? Then, you know that your website is the lifeblood of your business. 

eCommerce hosting comes in budget, a perfect approach you’re heading towards.

Because your website is where you showcase your products, process payments, and engage with your customers. That’s why choosing the RIGHT eCommerce hosting provider is so important.

But… Here’s the thing about eCommerce hosting: there are SO MANY options available, and it can be tough to know where to start. 

We value quality over quantity, so after testing & comparing, I’ve filtered out the best 5 eCommerce hosting providers. I gave preference to both beginner and big scale eCommerce sites while finalizing the options.

 I have also pasted my eCommerce hosting buying guide in this article so that you can use it practically before investing in any hosting service. 

Before we dive into the details of each choice, let me introduce you to the eCommerce hosting services that have passed our tests.

What is eCommerce hosting?

eCommerce hosting is a type of hosting designed specifically for Online stores. In other words, it has special eCommerce features which are usually not available in other types of hosting.

I am talking about eCommerce features like:

• Shopping cart software
• Payment gateways
• Order tracking
• Email, SEO tools
• Cart abandonment recovery
• PCI Compliance
• Store theme
• eCommerce software compatibility (Magento, WooCommerce, or PrestaShop)
• Resources to Scale
• Built in marketing tools
• More

Compared to eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify or WooCommerce, eCommerce hosting offers greater control, scalability, performance, and affordability advantages. You don’t have to pay transaction fees as well, I must say it is a major perk.

Average costs vary based on features and resources, with basic plans starting at $9-$30 per month. 

In eCommerce hosting, while you might encounter various features, the resources or, as you could say, their server, are typically based on a standard hosting plan – Shared, VPS, Dedicated.

So this is the basics of eCommerce hosting.

Top 5 Web Hosts for eCommerce Websites [A Handpicked List]

In today’s eCommerce hosting list, you will find the names of 5 services. So that you can make a wise decision, I have divided these hosts into 2 categories:

• Category 1: Beginner eCommerce sites (500 – 50k traffic monthly)
• Category 2: Mid to large-traffic eCommerce sites (50k+ traffic monthly)

Let’s explore them one by one.

1. Hostinger – Best for Money Value

Key Highlights:

• Storage: 200 – 300 GB SSD
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• RAM: 3 GB – 12 GB
• eCommerce Features: Everything offered by WooCommerce plugin.
• PHP Workers: 60-300
• Business Emails: Free up to 100
• Product Listings: Up to 5000 per month
• Free Domain: Yes
• Daily Backups: Yes
• Database: Unlimited
• Dedicated Resources: Yes
• Dedicated IP: Yes
• Website Builder: Yes
• Data Centers: USA, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, United Kingdom, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil
• Security: DDoS Protection, WAF, Malware Scanner, Secure Access Manager, Free Domain Privacy.
• Money Back Policy: 30 Days

Hostinger is one of the most customer winning eCommerce hosting services out there in the world. They have 20+ million users in their space. 

The first primary reason to stick with Hostinger is money value. They are not just affordable in the market but also offer every feature a user requires in their eCommerce store.

I verified with the eCommerce features checklist manually. Literally, I got only tick marks. Nothing was missed by Hostinger. 

Here, The user has to choose between WooCommerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart, or Magento online store platform to build their store. Or they can build their custom PHP store from scratch.

I personally liked the WooCommerce & WordPress integration with Hostinger. Here, users get all the necessary features of eCommerce, and due to support for WordPress CMS, things remain beginner-friendly, plus functionality expansion is possible through WordPress plugins.

Last year, Hostinger released its AI builder, which was highly appreciated by users. With this AI builder, you can design your site within 5 minutes. It also provides eCommerce store templates. And you can also generate AI product descriptions with it as well.

But do remember, If you prefer their AI builder to design your store, You cannot export the exact design to WordPress.

In terms of performance, Hostinger’s performance is good. You get a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and I have tested it myself. Their servers are reliable and perform well even during sudden traffic spikes.

Visit Hostinger review to learn more about its performance.

The only disadvantage here is related to customer support. They are available 24/7 via live chat, but phone support is not available. 

In summary, if your site is new or receives up to 50,000 monthly visitors, and you’re looking for the most affordable option in the market, you can opt for Hostinger’s WooCommerce hosting. Setting up a store with WooCommerce or PrestaShop is just a one-click process, and they also offer free migration & free domain. While the performance may not be at an ultra level, at this price point, you get the best in the market.

Pros:

• Allowing the installation of 300 websites with one license gives a big advantage to those who need to onboard multiple eCommerce clients at the minimum cost possible
• 100% PCI compliance.
• Affordable in the market.
• Lots of perks are available for free such as a free domain, free migration, free daily backups, and a free staging environment.
• 100% integrated with a popular eCommerce store builder called WooCommerce.
• One-click store setup through AI builder is possible. Alternatively, users can install popular CMS like WordPress, Magento, and Drupal and set it up further.
• Extremely easy to use hPanel to get the management tasks done.
• Managed WooCommerce Hosting plans have the capacity to handle up to 5000 products/month.
• Except for business plans, you get dedicated resources on your WooCommerce hosting server. 
• The plans are fairly structured. The features are equally divided among them.

Cons:

• Support quality could be better with the availability of Phone communication.
• Business eCommerce plan looks weaker.

Pricing:

The Hostinger Managed WooCommerce hosting plans start from $3.99/mo and go up to $29.99/mo. The maximum savings can be applied if you choose a longer tenure subscription at a time.

After reviewing it carefully, I don’t think you should opt for a Business plan unless you are just about to begin and the current monthly traffic is under 5000. The business plan doesn’t offer dedicated resources and hence offers an average level of performance.

Beyond that, All three plans look good and fair as per the features they are offering in a set pricing point. 

Click the button below to offer a maximum discount on Hostinger Managed WooCommerce hosting.

Read: How to Install Hostinger Hosting [Step by Step]

2. Bluehost – Readymade Setup for Multi-channel Online Store

Key Highlights:

• Storage: 40 – 100GB SSD
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• eCommerce Features: Bookings & Appointments, Shipping, Product Search, Gift Cards, Wish Lists, Customer Accounts, Multi-channel selling
• Product Listings: Up to 5000 per month
• Free Domain: Yes
• Daily Backups: Yes
• Dedicated Resources: No
• Dedicated IP: No
• Data Centers: India, USA, London, and China
• Security: DDoS Protection, WAF, Malware Scanner, Free Domain Privacy, Spam Protection.
• Money Back Policy: 30 Days

Bluehost is another option for beginners and those users who are looking for a more simplified readymade online store setup.

They also adopt the WooCommerce-WordPress approach. But here, you’ll get YITH’s paid plugins (worth $450) included in your hosting plan. YITH is a plugin service that creates add-ons for WooCommerce, enhancing the functionality of the WooCommerce store builder.

For instance, while WooCommerce doesn’t come with a gift card feature by default, Bluehost provides you with YITH tools, allowing you to offer gift card creation options to your store users at no extra cost. This is just one advantage of integrating YITH tools that we’ve discussed.

Bluehost is preferable even in situations where you need booking and reservation functionality on your eCommerce site along with selling products. 

And don’t forget they have an in-house system that enables selling on third-party marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy & more.

Compared to previous hosting, Bluehost offers better eCommerce functionality, but it does have some serious limitations. For instance, the SSD size is small, with a maximum storage limit of 100 GB, which may seem insufficient sooner or later. 

Talking about performance, my tests have shown good results, but not the best. However, it aligns well with the pricing plans and the features they offer.

Visit Bluehost review to learn more.

Bluehost is ultimately a good option for small to mid level stores if we see the robust eCommerce functionality available here. But you have to make a wise decision as storage is somewhat limited. 

Pros

• The support is really good. Here, you have phone support as well along with 24*7 live chat service
• You get a free domain and daily backups
• The eCommerce features package is really comprehensive in Bluehost – You get multi-channel support, Bookings & appointments, Gift cards, Wish Lists, etc right inbuilt into the plan. Saves you approx $450 monthly.
• The eCommerce store setup is quick and hassle-free. You have all eCommerce features built into your store and you only need to activate them.

Cons

• You might have to pay a migration fee of $149 per site.
• Even with their highest-end plan, you can only install one website.
• The data centers are fewer.
• You cannot create eCommerce with other software except WooCommerce.
• Bluehost eCommerce plans are not dedicated, hence you have to share resources with others which ultimately affects the overall performance.
• The renewal charges are so high.
• Business emails are not free. You get a 3-month trial of Bluehost email hosting. Afterwards, you have to pay an additional $2.49/mo for renewing this add-on subscription.
• Doesn’t have a built-in eCommerce website builder

Pricing:

Making a decision on Bluehost pricing plans won’t be complicated as it offers only 2 eCommerce hosting plans: 

• Online Store: $8.95/month
• Online Store + Marketplace: $12.95/month

Both have equivalent eCommerce hosting features. However, you have the advantage of multi-channel selling in the second plan.

Visit Bluehost official page to learn more.

Our list of beginner eCommerce hosting service providers is now over. These 2 options are a perfect option if the traffic is low and you have a low budget.

Now let’s move to the high-end eCommerce hosting options which are known for scalability, performance, and top security.

3. Liquid Web – Best for Handling Bulk Traffic eCommerce Stores

Key Highlights:

• Storage: 30 – 800 GB SSD
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Supported Application: WooCommerce & Magento
• Number of Orders: Unlimited
• eCommerce Features: PCI Compliance, Product Catalogs, Unlimited Emails, Site Templates, Cart Abandonment tools, Website Builder & More.
• PHP Workers: 60-300
• Daily Backups: Yes
• Database: Unlimited
• Dedicated Resources: Yes
• Dedicated IP: Yes
• Website Builder: Yes
• Data Centers: USA (6), Eu (2), Asia (1)
• Security: Proactive monitoring, Free SSL, Malware Detection & Remediation, More
• Free Migration: Yes
• Staging: Yes
• Money Back Policy: 30 Days

Liquid Web hosting company better known for VPS plans, also offers fully managed WooCommerce or Magento eCommerce hosting plans through their in-house brand Nexcess.

Let me share with you a thing quickly…Well, I tested Liquid Web in detail and found that their customer support quality is remarkable. I mean their engineers are highly knowledgeable, trained, and ready to serve you in a situation where a website gets hacked or goes completely dead.

So why Liquid Web for Online store setup?

Liquid Web offers a “managed service,” meaning takes care of the backend of your store efficiently, leaving you to simply use the WooCommerce plugin as you wish. Your preferred design and features are entirely up to you.

Additionally, Liquid Web focuses on scalability. They offer plans with storage that can scale from 30 GB to 800 GB, suitable for enterprise-level eCommerce sites.

Another great aspect is that Liquid Web provides access to various third-party plugins and tools, along with WooCommerce Premium, at no extra cost. For example:

• They offer a tool for cart abandonment.
• They provide analytics tools to improve product conversions.
• Their WooCommerce automated testing tool alerts you to checkout problems, sales trends, transaction issues, and more.
• They support integration with the ElasticSearch plugin.
• They offer payment gateway plugins & free invoice generator
• They provide numerous store design tools for free, including the Astra Pro theme, WooCommerce Bundles, Beaver Builder, and more.

You’re investing a significant amount in Liquid Web, so you can’t afford to compromise on performance, right? 

Well, during our recent tests, we observed 100% uptime, which they also guarantee in writing. Moreover, this eCommerce hosting has a good capacity to handle bulk traffic because it allocates extra PHP workers in situations of high traffic, which boosts the performance of dynamic sites like eCommerce platforms.

Visit Liquid Web review to learn more about the performance.

Ultimately, Liquid Web’s eCommerce hosting plans are excellent for dynamic and high-traffic eCommerce sites. They offer efficient handling of bulk traffic, tight security, and real-life support from agents who are ready to help. Plus, many eCommerce features are included by default, and installing the WooCommerce shop builder can take your WordPress store site to the next level.

However, the main drawback is the pricing plan structure. Their plans might seem expensive, and some of the starting plans may have insufficient storage capacity. Because of this, you might end up choosing the higher-priced plans, which may not be affordable for everyone.

Pros:

• Bandwidth is transparent
• Additional PHP workers act as game changer in performance-level
• 100% uptime guarantee has been given in writing.
• Advanced level store features have been built into the store by default.
• Unique store features like WooCommerce audit, and sales performance monitor are also included.
• 100% PCI compliance
• The setup is smooth, as everything comes preconfigured
• Phone support is available
• Lots of additional plugins and tools have been allotted which play a huge role in store expansion

Cons:

• Free domain name is not available
• Only standard and growth plans have the advantage of dedicated resources.
• Data centers are less

Pricing:

In Liquid web WooCommerce based eCommerce hosting, you will find 7 plans ($21/month – $492.75/month) differentiated by storage and number of sites. 

The good thing is you can opt for monthly plans if you wish to test things first and expand later on.

Except in the starter plan, You will see equivalent eCommerce features in others. Beyond the enterprise plan (800 GB storage) requirement, you can connect with the Liquid web team and ask for a custom made plan as well.

Try Liquid web eCommerce hosting risk free as they offer free migration and 30 days no-question refund policy.

4. Cloudways – Best For Real Time Scaling

Key Highlights:

• Storage: 25 – 1280 GB SSD
• Bandwidth: 1-9 TB
• RAM: 1 GB – 64 GB
• eCommerce Features: Everything offered by WooCommerce or Magento shop builder.
• Daily Backups: Yes
• Database: Unlimited
• Dedicated Resources: Yes
• Data Centers: 60+
• Staging Environment: Supported
• Security: Dedicated Firewall, SSL, 2FA, IP Whitelisting, Application Isolation, 24*7 Real Time Monitoring
• Free Migration: Only 1 Site
• Money Back Policy: Not Supported
• Free trial: 3 Days

If you’re looking for a highly secured cloud based hosting platform to host your online stores, Cloudways is an excellent choice.

Well, here you have options to choose your server from 3 top class service providers: Digital Ocean, AWS, and Google Cloud.

All three cloud servers are known for the best reliability and Cloudways is the only service where you have the option to pick your desired data center from 60+ locations. 

But this is not the end.

The primary advantage of Cloudways eCommerce hosting is real-time scaling support. This means you can start with any plan on Cloudways if you’re unsure about how much storage, RAM, and bandwidth you need.

And as soon as your site’s traffic increases or you require more resources, you can easily scale up or down your resources with just a few clicks.

Thanks to this real-time scaling, you can save a lot of money, which is not possible on a hosting platform with fixed plans.

When it comes to eCommerce features, Cloudways eCommerce hosting provides the same features as your eCommerce app. Here, you can set up your store using builders like WooCommerce or Magento. 

Cloudways uses built-in caching technology, and with its extensive network of 60+ closely located data centers, the performance level is very high.

During my tests, I found that Cloudways’ TTFB time (Server response time) is just 0.165 seconds. Your store customers are unlikely to bounce back if your site page loads in such a short period of time.

Everything seemed great to me about Cloudways until I found out that Business emails are not free here. Even you have to pay an additional amount for configuring a single account.

And yes, there is no money back guarantee here.

Ultimately pick Cloudways only if you aren’t sure about the expected resources you need in the future. You can easily scale as per your requirements without wasting any money. Plus you must know how to use WooCommerce OR Magento or other supported store builders to get things done.

Pros:

• Cloudways believes in a pay-as-you-go policy, meaning users only pay for the resources their site demands in real-time. This ensures zero wastage of money.
• Cloudways hourly backups, a demanded feature for high traffic dynamic eCommerce websites could be really useful. 
• Unlimited eCommerce websites can be installed no matter the plan you choose
• There is no complaint about performance and security features
• Installing WooCommerce is a 1 click job

Cons:

• Money Back Guarantee is not available. However, you can try Cloudways 3 days free trial facility.
• Phone support is not available
• The user interface is not beginner friendly
• Business emails are not free, you have to configure this through a paid addon called Rackspace ($1 per month)
• You won’t find any ready-made eCommerce features here. Your feature options depend on the eCommerce app builder (like WooCommerce) you choose.

Pricing:

Under Cloudways, Hosting an eCommerce website typically starts at approximately $11 to $14 per month. However, expenses can vary based on your chosen server, RAM, Storage, and Bandwidth.

All plans have assigned free SSL, the same level of security features, auto healing, hourly backups, and a dedicated staging environment.

5. InMotion – Alternate eCommerce Host Option

InMotion Hosting is a perfect hosting choice if you’re looking for WooCommerce hosting that’s built on cloud VPS infrastructure. InMotion offers an easy-to-use dashboard that helps you easily manage automatic backups, boost the performance of your website and collaborate with team members.

Why use eCommerce hosting from InMotion Hosting?

InMotion offers the following benefits for eCommerce users.

Powerful infrastructure: InMotion uses powerful cloud VPS infrastructure, offering dedicated resources and server-level caching. Its infrastructure helps you improve your online store’s speed (including Core Web Vitals scores). 

It also offers you W3 Total Cache (by default), which helps you with caching for object storage, database caching, browser caching, lazy loading, and more.

Faster Load Times: With InMotion WooCommerce hosting, you’ll get access to dedicated resources and server caching which helps you boost your site speed.

Pricing: 

InMotion eCommerce plans start from $14/month in which you get 2v CPU, 3 GB RAM, 75 GB SSD, and 3 TB bandwidth.

All the monthly billing subscriptions from InMotion Hosting come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Annual billing subscriptions get a 90-day money-back guarantee.

eCommerce Hosting Buying Guide [Which Factors to Consider] 

In online stores, your sales will depend on how fast your site loads. If it takes too long, your customers will abandon your store. It’s as simple as that. 

That’s why you need to consider a few things when purchasing eCommerce web hosting, which are mentioned below.

1. Speed: No matter what web host you pick, it should offer superior performance. It should offer all the essential features like SSD storage plans, in-built CDN, caching and the latest web servers to make your website loading times faster.
2. Uptime: Uptime in web hosting is the amount of time a website or server is available to users. Pick a web host that has at least a 99.9% uptime guarantee. 
3. Backups: Website backups are mandatory for online stores. You can easily restore your website files and product pages in case of data loss. It’s better to pick a web host that offers FREE daily backups
4. Security: The web host you choose should provide essential security features like SSL certificates, firewalls, brute-force protection, etc.
5. eCommerce-friendly features: If you’re going for eCommerce hosting, ensure the web host offers all the necessary features like shopping carts, order management, the ability to create unlimited filters to help your customers quickly find the products they are looking for, etc.
6. Choose a PCI Compliant host: Ensure that your hosting provider meets PCI compliance standards. Since online stores often process credit card payments, adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is crucial. Verify that your chosen host is PCI compliant before setting up your online store.

Above all, the eCommerce hosting platform should provide 24/7 customer support so you can solve your online store issues instantly when things go wrong.

FAQs on Best Hosting for eCommerce

Here are some of the FAQs on eCommerce web hosting.

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Final Thoughts

When choosing an eCommerce hosting provider, make sure to consider your specific needs. For example, if you mostly sell products with high-resolution images, you’ll need a hosting provider with plenty of storage space and bandwidth.

Also, consider your budget and website traffic needs. 

Today we have covered 5 best web hosting for eCommerce options that are suitable for different users and situations. 

Here is a recap of them:

• Hostinger: Offer best money-features value in the market
• Bluehost: Best for Instant setup comes with pre-built eCommerce features
• Liquid Web: Best for high bulk traffic & real human customer support
• Cloudways: Best for scalability & high performance
• InMotion: A best alternative option 

What are your thoughts on the best eCommerce hosts listed here? Have any questions? Let us know in the comments.