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Updated: Feb 1, 2024, 3:42pm
Fact Checked
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If your e-commerce platform or website builder does not include a hosting service as part of its plan, you will need to select a reliable e-commerce web host. There are many options available, so we did the research to help you find the best solution for your needs.
Here are the best e-commerce hosting providers of February 2024. We chose these services based on multiple factors, including pricing, features, uptime guarantees, ease of use, popularity and customer reviews. Any one of these e-commerce hosting services will give you a decent head start when it comes to making your website profitable.
Featured Partner Offer
1
Bluehost
On Bluehost.com’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
2
Hostgator
On Hostgator’s Website
Starting price
$2.75 USD ($3.68 CAD)per month
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Namecheap
On Namecheap’s Website
Starting price
$1.58 USD ($2.15 CAD) per month (with 24 months contract)
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, host three sites, low-cost VPS hosting
4
DreamHost
On DreamHosts’ Website
Starting price
$2.59 USD ($3.47 CAD) per month
Money-Back Guarantee
97 days
Inclusions
Top-rated tech support, free domain name, free SSL certificate
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We reviewed 15 providers using a detailed process to help you find the seven best e-commerce hosting services for small businesses. Pricing, hosting features, customer ratings and a final review by our panel of experts all played key roles in determining the rankings of providers for our list. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
$1 CAD per month
For the first year
Yes
$1 CAD per month
For the first year
Yes
IONOS is a top choice for e-commerce web hosting because of its focus on speed and performance. Its dual-platform technology allows for faster performance by hosting web servers and storage on the same platform. You get scalable performance, allowing for easy adjustments to handle increasing traffic. Additionally, the use of the HTTP/2 protocol helps to ensure fast page load times, which is essential for an e-commerce site.
IONOS places a strong emphasis on security, including DDoS protection and automatic backups of up to six days of data. You’ll also get a Wildcard SSL certificate and site scan for extra protection. In terms of state-of-the-art features, IONOS includes a content delivery network and a mobile admin app. It also supports the latest version of PHP, including a JIT compiler and a 768MB memory limit.
Learn more: Read our full IONOS review.
Who should use it:
IONOS is an ideal choice for anyone looking for reliable e-commerce web hosting that places a strong emphasis on performance and security.
$9.95 USD ($13.45 CAD) per month
The first year
Yes
$9.95 USD ($13.45 CAD) per month
The first year
Yes
Bluehost is an ideal choice for businesses that want to offer booking and appointment services through their online store. It provides a range of features powered by YITH, including a user-friendly dashboard that allows you to easily sync your calendar with your store. This makes it convenient for customers to schedule appointments or reserve services.
Other notable features of Bluehost include website analytics, 40GB of SSD storage, a free domain for the first year, free SSL and Yoast SEO. In addition to booking and appointment capabilities, Bluehost also offers gift cards, store creation with the Wonder Theme, wishlists, product search and filtering, and more. You’ll also get daily backups from Jetpack, automated WordPress updates, secure online payments and the ability to sell an unlimited number of products.
Learn more: Read our full Bluehost review.
Who should use it:
Any business that wants to offer booking and appointment services through an online store should consider Bluehost.
$3.75 USD ($5.07 CAD) per month
The first year
Yes
$3.75 USD ($5.07 CAD) per month
The first year
Yes
HostGator offers many levels of service for its e-commerce store owners. These are Shared Web Hosting, Website Builder, WordPress Hosting, Dedicated, VPS and Reseller. Within each tier are multiple plan options, depending on your business goals and the level of service you need. Brand-new store owners should choose the Shared Web Hosting option’s Hatchling Plan, Baby Plan or Business Plan.
Even if you’re an established e-commerce business, there’s an option for you. The highest tier is perfect for Enterprise-level needs and is much cheaper than other e-commerce hosts for the same level of service. The drawback to having so many options is you may have a difficult time choosing which plan you need. If this is the case, chat with its sales team right from the feature menu.
It’s also important to note that the low pricing is only an introductory offer. After your first year, rates increase dramatically. For example, the Hatchling plan increases from $3.75 USD ($5.07 CAD) to $6.25 USD ($8.45 CAD) per month. However, you can reduce the overall cost by committing to a longer term. A three-year plan equates to $5.25 USD ($7.10 CAD) per month, which is significantly closer to the introductory rate.
Learn more: Read our full HostGator review.
Who should use it:
With HostGator, you pay for what your business needs, which makes it perfect for businesses on a budget. After you’ve outgrown your chosen hosting option, you can upgrade to a higher level of service.
$2.95 USD ($3.98 CAD) per month
With a yearly plan
Yes
$2.95 USD ($3.98 CAD) per month
With a yearly plan
Yes
DreamHost is one of the most popular e-commerce hosting companies and offers a 100% uptime guarantee. It’s older than Google and is one of the three host companies recommended directly by WordPress. Its e-commerce plans include WooCommerce software. Choose from three plans for e-commerce hosting: DreamPress, DreamPress Plus and DreamPress Pro.
Enjoy unlimited email, a minimum of 50 GB of SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, one-click staging and free automated WordPress migrations. All plans also come with a website builder, a storefront theme and WooCommerce included.
If you pay annually for your plan, you can save up to 17%. One of the best features is its 24/7 expert WordPress support. If your site breaks, or you mess up any of the coding, an expert can walk you through how to fix it. Other host companies charge hundreds of dollars for this service.
Who should use it:
If you desire a 100% uptime guarantee, you’ll want to choose DreamHost for your e-commerce hosting.
$3.49 USD ($4.72 CAD) per month
Yes
Yes
$3.49 USD ($4.72 CAD) per month
Yes
Yes
InMotion Hosting is a good option for businesses of all sizes that are looking to host an e-commerce website. It offers a variety of hosting plans to meet the needs of different types of online stores, including those that are just starting out and those that are well-established and have high levels of traffic.
InMotion Hosting has a strong focus on customer support and offers a range of features specifically designed for e-commerce, such as unlimited products, unlimited storage and a free SSL certificate. Additionally, it offers a range of security features to help protect your store and your customers’ information, such as suPHP, which helps keep your website even safer. It’s like a special set of rules that makes sure only certain people can do certain things on the website.
Who should use it:
Businesses that want a simple setup process and reliable customer support should consider InMotion Hosting.
$4.99 USD ($6.74 CAD) per month
Yes
Yes
$4.99 USD ($6.74 CAD) per month
Yes
Yes
TMDHosting’s e-commerce plans offering unlimited storage are ideal for larger websites because they allow for the storage of a large amount of data, including product images, customer information and other website assets. This is particularly useful for larger websites that have a large inventory or that expect to experience high levels of traffic.
In addition to unlimited storage, TMDHosting’s e-commerce plans also offer unlimited bandwidth, which is the amount of data that can be transferred to and from your website in a given period of time. This is important for larger websites because it ensures that your website can handle a large volume of traffic without slowing down or crashing.
Who should use it:
TMDHosting’s e-commerce plans are ideal for larger businesses with a significant amount of inventory or that experience high levels of traffic.
$2.99 USD ($4.04 CAD) per month
With a yearly plan
Yes
$2.99 USD ($4.04 CAD) per month
With a yearly plan
Yes
SiteGround’s e-commerce hosting plans are powered by WooCommerce and offer a range of features to support the needs of online stores. Its cheapest plan includes the ability to host one website, with 10GB of web space and the capacity to handle up to 10,000 visits per month. The plan offers unmetered traffic, meaning there is no limit on the amount of data that can be transferred to and from the website.
SiteGround also includes a range of tools and services to help set up and manage your online store, including free WordPress installation, a WordPress migrator tool and automatic WordPress updates. While the regular price appears steep compared to competitors, it seems that discounts are often offered. Your first year can start as low as $2.99 USD ($4.04 CAD) monthly but will renew at the regular rate of $14.99 USD ($20.26 CAD) per month.
Who should use it:
Tech-savvy e-commerce site owners who want to run their business via WordPress and WooCommerce.
An e-commerce platform is a software application or system that allows businesses to create and manage an online store. It provides the tools and features needed to sell products and services online, such as a shopping cart, payment processing and inventory management. An e-commerce platform is different from an e-commerce host in that it is a company that provides the servers and technology needed to host and display an online store on the Internet.
When deciding whether to use an e-commerce platform or an e-commerce host, it’s important to consider the specific needs and goals of your business. An e-commerce platform is typically a good choice for businesses that want a comprehensive solution for building and managing an online store. It offers a wide range of features and tools and often includes options for customizing the look and feel of the store.
On the other hand, an e-commerce host is typically a good choice for businesses that already have an established online store and just need a provider to host and display it on the Internet.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Squarespace is a popular e-commerce platform because of its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and extensive range of customizable templates. It also offers a host of features for inventory management, including the ability to track inventory levels, set low stock alerts and track orders. Its API allows developers to build custom integrations with other systems.
Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to set up and manage an online store, even for non-technical users. Squarespace templates are also mobile-friendly and the platform is known for its reliability. In addition, Squarespace offers 24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
Learn more: Read our full Squarespace review.
Who should use it:
Squarespace is a good option for small to medium-sized businesses looking for an easy-to-use, customizable and reliable e-commerce platform.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Wix is a good option for e-commerce businesses because it has a powerful drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy to create a professional-looking online store. With Wix, you can choose from a wide range of templates and design elements to create a store that matches your brand and aesthetic. It also offers inventory management tools, including the ability to track stock levels and process orders. Additionally, Wix stores can be integrated with payment gateways and other e-commerce solutions to help streamline the checkout process.
Learn more: Read our full Wix review.
Who should use it:
Wix is a great choice for small to medium-sized businesses that are looking for an easy way to create an online store.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs who want abandoned cart recovery, which sends automatic emails to customers who abandon their shopping carts.
There are many e-commerce host companies to choose from. To find the best fit for your business, carefully consider costs, availability of customer support, customer reviews and how easy the software is to use. There are also several features you should ensure the platform provides.
When choosing an e-commerce hosting service, it’s important to consider the level of security and encryption that the service provides. Here are some factors to consider:
There are several types of hosting services available, each with its own set of features and benefits. Here is a bulleted list of some of the most common types of hosting services:
The cost of hosting an e-commerce website can vary widely depending on the size and complexity of your website, the amount of traffic you receive and the resources you need. Here are some general estimates of how much it may cost to host an e-commerce website:
There are several factors that can impact the cost of hosting an e-commerce website, including:
There may be price changes after a promotional period, so it’s important to carefully read the terms of service and understand any renewal pricing before signing up for a hosting plan.
To reduce the cost of hosting, you can try the following:
When considering which are the best e-commerce hosting companies of 2024, we wanted to make sure they were cost-effective, easy to use and had features important to e-commerce business owners. We also considered real customer reviews and added benefits rarely found in a hosting company.
Here are some of the categories we used to rank the providers that made the top of the list.
Fees should be minimal for e-commerce hosts, aside from a monthly service plan and per-transaction fees charged by the payment provider. Our focus was on each provider’s starting cost for its plans, what it charged to renew once the initial contract ended, how many sites were covered under its plan and if it offered a money-back guarantee and the length of that guarantee. The hosting services with low starting prices, lower renewal prices and lengthy money-back guarantee periods fared the best in our rankings. Pricing accounted for 10% of our weighted scoring.
Certain features and functionalities are essential for an e-commerce hosting service to provide. For example, does the host company have a 100% uptime guarantee? If not, do customers have to pay extra to get help from tech support? Along those same lines is customer support. Many host companies have 24/7 support 365 days per year. This is the standard because downtime costs an e-commerce store money, so those hosting services that offered 24/7 support scored best.
Other general features we expected to see included offering unlimited storage and bandwidth―if not included in a standard plan, then definitely in a premium plan―providing free domain name and SSL certificates and offering encryption protection and cPanel control panel software developed.
Some additional features we wanted to see included providers that offered free domain privacy protection and business email addresses, a content delivery network (CDN), website builder and providing automatic backups of data. We weighted features at 50% of our total score.
We wanted to know what e-commerce business owners think of the e-commerce host they use. We turned to third-party review websites to gauge user opinions of these services, looking at reviews that scored at least 3.5 out of 5. Hosting services that had at least 300 reviews scored higher in our rankings. These accounted for 10% of the total score.
Analyzing customer reviews, our experts looked at four key metrics to gauge how well these e-commerce hosting companies provide their services. One such metric is the ease of use. Do business owners have to do any coding or does the host have a website builder that makes it easy to set up a storefront? The other metrics we considered were any stand-out features, overall popularity and value for the money. Altogether, this analysis made up 30% of the total score.
Canadian specific editing and research (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.
Featured Partner Offer
1
Bluehost
On Bluehost.com’s Website
Starting price
$2.95 USD ($4.05 CAD) per month
Storage and bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth, and SSD storage starts at 10GB
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name and SSL for a year, free CDN
2
Hostgator
On Hostgator’s Website
Starting price
$2.75 USD ($3.68 CAD)per month
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Namecheap
On Namecheap’s Website
Starting price
$1.58 USD ($2.15 CAD) per month (with 24 months contract)
Money-Back Guarantee
30 days
Inclusions
Free SSL certificate, host three sites, low-cost VPS hosting
4
DreamHost
On DreamHosts’ Website
Starting price
$2.59 USD ($3.47 CAD) per month
Money-Back Guarantee
97 days
Inclusions
Top-rated tech support, free domain name, free SSL certificate
Shared hosting can be a good option for small e-commerce businesses that are starting out and don’t have much traffic or many resources. It is the most affordable type of hosting and can be a good way to test the waters and see if e-commerce is right for your business. However, shared hosting can have some limitations when it comes to e-commerce, and you may outgrow the resources provided by shared hosting if your website starts to receive much traffic.
To host your own e-commerce website, you need to own and maintain physical servers. For smaller e-commerce sites, this is cost-prohibitive but it might make sense for a larger operation.
If you’re planning to start a dropshipping business, you need to ensure that your website can both handle the traffic and also help you process orders in an organized fashion. Any of the options on our list here will make a great web host, but be sure to choose an appropriate e-commerce platform that can handle dropshipping functionality. An industry leader in this area is Shopify, one of our top picks.
The best features offered by an e-commerce hosting platform for someone new to building their own website, or just starting out with an online retail business, include a hosting site that offers marketing and SEO tools, assistance with e-commerce selling, security features, such as secure sockets layer (SSL) protocols and two-factor authentication (2FA) or multifactor authentication, and simple-to-use website building features, such as a drag-and-drop tool. Ideally, these will come as part of an inclusive package that you pay for all at once.
An e-commerce platform gives you the tools to design an attractive-looking page or series of pages for customers to visit and learn more about you, but that website has to be hosted somewhere, which is what an e-commerce website host does. Websites are hosted on platforms that can support the traffic being sent to them.
Kathy Haan, MBA is a former financial advisor-turned-writer and business coach. For over a decade, she’s helped small business owners make money online. When she’s not trying out the latest tech or travel blogging with her family, you can find her curling up with a good novel.
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