11 Best E-Commerce Hosting Providers 2021

Choosing the ‘right’ hosting provider is a tough nut to crack for any website, let alone if it is for an e-commerce site. Why? Because having an online store that is credible, reliable, and loads fast have everything to do with your host.

Several website owners leap straight into the first cheap e-commerce hosting provider they find. By the time they realize it might be a wrong call, they deal with the stress of a full website migration.

As such, today, we are discussing the importance of finding the right hosts, aspects to consider when looking for one, and our top picks for the best e-commerce hosting providers. Ready? Let’s go.

Here are the best eCommerce Hosting Companies of 2021 (in no particular order):

1. Bluehost

With more than 2 million hosted websites, Bluehost is one of the top web hosting providers across continents. Also, it is majorly built on open source and has been endorsed by WordPress for a decade straight. A lesser-known fact about Bluehost is that it is also the recommended hosting provider for WooCommerce – the official WordPress e-commerce extension.
Bluehost offers standard shared hosting from US$2.75 monthly (on a three-year contract), with WordPress Pro plans to begin at US$17.95 a month.

For the money, you get an automated setup for WordPress, not to mention other prevalent apps through a Mojo Marketplace-driven system. Also, there is a cPanel-driven space to let expert users modify things.

Further, Bluehost offers a Weebly-based website builder which enables you to build a website of up to six pages, with no extras such as site templates. But still, it’s better than nothing, and more functionality is in the pipeline – plus you get this builder with the basic account.

The support team is available 24/7/365 through all the general channels, all of which you can reach out in just a couple of clicks.

On the flip side, you will experience a price hike when it comes to renewing your package. Even though Bluehost is cheaper in the early stage, most of the add-ons and account upgrades can be pretty pricey. If you want to do things such as security upgrades, server upgrades, and so on, stay prepared to pay a much higher monthly charge.

2. MyResellerHome

When MyResellerHome was established in 2006, it aimed to offer customers easy-to-use, cheap eCommerce website hosting packages. Since its inception, it has come a long way such that now it hosts thousands of domains.

MyResellerHome provides Windows and Linux shared hosting, website hosting, dedicated server hosting, VPS, and SSL certificates. Both the Linux and Windows shared hosting packages are available at four levels – Standard, Personal, Premier, and Plus.

The Windows shared hosting plans are packed with the Windows 2012 R2, Plesk control panel, and support for ASP.NET.

The Linux hosting plans are packed with the Softaculous installer that helps you install various prominent applications such as Joomla, WordPress hosting, and Mambo. On the other hand, the RVsitebuilder website creator offers over 500 templates to develop your e-commerce website hosting without any coding expertise.

MyResellerHome’s shared hosting plans are fairly priced. You can pay for packages with different currencies on annual, biennial, and semi-annual (for higher plans only), payment cycles.

You get a free lifetime domain with the Premier and Plus packages on biennial and annual payment cycles, and the 30-day money-back assurance should cheer you up about making such a bold commitment. The only caveat is that you cannot leverage this “get out” if you trade on the free account migration.

The comprehensive knowledge base is pretty beneficial. That said, you can reach out to the 24/7/365 customer support team via all mediums.

3. SiteGround

While many web hosting providers walk the extra mile to highlight e-commerce abilities, others scarcely mention them at all. SiteGround sets a great precedent – there is no big “build your web store here” header, and yet when you see the details, even its most standard shared hosting package has immense e-commerce power.

A Weebly-based website creator is available to build your store, a case in point. HTTP/2-driven servers and Cloudflare CDN integration improve speeds, decreasing the chance that users will leave the website. And when it is time to purchase, free SSL certificates will assure that the transaction details of your customers are secure.

SiteGround packages contain the Softaculous installer, which allows rapid setup of big-league e-commerce tools and shopping carts such as WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Magento.

The company offers 99.996% uptime, good news when you are operating something as crucial as an e-commerce store. Even if you do face any trouble, round-the-clock support and automatic regular backups should help you recover the situation fast.

However, SiteGround comes with some cons. For instance, its shared hosting options are confined so you will only get a specific amount of SSD space for the packages you have purchased. If you need more resources, you need to upgrade to the next level.

While you might enjoy a 53% discount as a new user, you will have to cough up the full cost to renew your contract, which certainly annoys many people.

4. Liquid Web

Another e-commerce hosting provider with an impeccable online reputation, Liquid Web scores well at all levels. It helps you handle everything, so you do not need to take care of any technicalities of maintaining and optimizing your server thus offering you peace of mind. Unlike conventional hosts, it only provides managed hosting services for the cloud, dedicated servers, and VPS.

For the WordPress fans, Liquid Web has another surprise – managed WooCommerce plans. You will get a more tailored set of features such as preinstalled plug-ins, and drop-shipping options.

Want Security? Liquid Web is there at your rescue. The company provides free SSLs, firewalls, virtual private networks (VPN), and malware scanning and removal.

Some features come packed with certain plans, while you will have to buy others as add-ons. Further, Liquid Web offers free nightly backups, which will protect your e-commerce site from massive damages.

However, you need to have deep pockets to enjoy this exemplary, business-level service. Further, Liquid Web lacks a shared hosting tier, which is a favorite among small businesses and start-ups.

5. iPage

Getting your first e-commerce store ready and running is usually an expensive affair. Several web hosting providers provide little to no e-commerce functionality in their basic packages, and you will often have to cough up for a high-grade specialist package before you can do anything important.

iPage is a bare exception where even the most basic hosting package offers you more than enough to kick off. A template-based site builder and free online store make it simple to design your store, a case in point.

iPage fits well with all prominent vendors, offering you access to n number of payment methods such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and so on. The company provides a free domain for the initial year, and 24/7 support (toll-free in the UK and the US) to address any urgent issues that might show up.

iPage scores comparatively well concerning uptime and speed tests. The good performance, coupled with the user-friendly services, makes it the best eCommerce hosting for small businesses and start-ups.

There are some limits, too. iPage does not provide any free site migrations. Rather, it will only move a site for a US$150 one-time cost. That’s relatively on the high end. Moreover, iPage does not use cPanel as a dashboard of sorts, rather it goes with an alternative called vDeck, which is not quite as efficient as cPanel.

6. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks has been in action for just over a decade and is one of the most eco-friendly hosts out there. The company returns more than thrice of its utilized resources in the form of renewable energy thus helping to curb the carbon footprint.

GreenGeeks provides three shared packages, although it recommends the Premium one for e-commerce hosting. It is an all-unlimited fix with no compromise on bandwidth, SSD space, or the number of hosted sites.

However, even though you pick the Pro or Lite plans, you can still avail some distinct advantages at your disposal.

PowerCacher is a patented product, thanks to GreenGeeks. The caching tool blends leading-edge technologies such as LSCache to reach optimum content delivery speeds. The platform is available on all plans.

While the standard SSL offers protection to a single domain name, GreenGreeks adds another level of protection with its wildcard SSL, which enables you to encrypt the connection over all the associated sub-domains. Further, the chat operators and ticketing support are efficient to ward off most of your issues.

While GreenGreeks offer pretty reasonable prices on its e-commerce hosting plans, the renewals are a bit pricey, upping the costs to US$9.95 a month for the same basic plan.

7. FastComet

As an e-commerce business, you might have some specific needs that set you apart from many other website operators. SSD storage ensures break-neck load speeds. SSL certificates inspire confidence and trust in customers in the online store. Cutting-edge security measures safeguard your store from intrusions.

FastComet ticks all these boxes while throwing a bundle of extra goodies in the kit – free domain, Cloudflare CDN, and a distinct real-time tracking platform. Talking about patented solutions, FastComet has more than one trick in its belt.

The security tool contains numerous protection tiers over your e-commerce website. On a server level, you have advanced DDoS protection, a web application firewall (WAF), and malware scanning and removal. Your account is under sage hands too. You can leverage SSL certificates, regular backups, and advanced brute force shielding.

The RocketBooster tool offers instant speed optimizations for WordPress websites, courtesy FastComet’s ultrafast LiteSpeed server technology. The company blends it with Varnish and SSD-only hard drives for optimized dynamic and static content caching.

The support team will provide genuine replies and take their time to put light on some additional queries you might have.

FastComet’s basic deal is pretty reasonable, beginning at US$3.95 a month. However, once the initial signup duration ends, you will face 3X higher costs. Case in point, the cheapest FastCloud Plan will cost you US$9.95 rather than the initial $3.95 per month.

8. DreamHost

Ensuring a smooth and impeccable online presence has been DreamHost’s ultimate aim, and the hosting provider has been chasing it vigorously. More than 750,000 WordPress installations, 400,000+ customers, and over 1.5 million websites overall – the ever-growing client base speak loads about its quality of services.

Besides the basic web hosting plans, DreamHost provides a couple of patented tools:

• DreamObjects – cloud storage
• DreamCompute – cloud computing services
• DreamPress – managed WordPress

DreamHost’s shared plans are perfectly optimized for any e-commerce business, containing SSL certificates, fast SSD storage, and free website migration. Moreover, it is doing wonders for WooCommerce and WordPress customers – automatic updates, essential plug-ins and preinstalled software, and secure offsite back-ups.

One of the recent features will let you create a staging space with just one click. Test, modify, tweak – you get all the liberty without any risk.

JetPack is one of the most prominent WordPress plug-ins for a reason. The multi-purpose tool boosts WordPress websites and comes with amazing features such as high-speed CDN, brute force attack protection, and real-time statistics.

DreamHost understands the importance of in-time assistance and provides a live chat as a means of interaction. The operators always reply promptly and show immense expertise in hosting-associated queries.

However, DreamHost does have some cons. Some hosting features from the dashboard are missing. The control panel can be tough to navigate due to loads of options. Further, DreamHost does not offer live chat 24/7; it is available only from 5:30 AM-9:30 PM Pacific Time.

9. InMotion

InMotion is a Virginia-based hosting provider, running on both Windows and Linux web servers. The firm is one of the few hosts that provide premium design expertise to rookie store owners.

InMotion provides three distinct shared hosting plans; however, digging deeper, you will realize that the first one is not e-commerce-ready. This leaves you with the Pro and Power deals.

You can host up to six websites on the mid package and unlimited on the highest one, which is perfect if you have numerous store projects on your sleeve.

All accounts are pre-armed with SSD storage for optimized speeds. The solution is significantly faster and more dependable versus the conventional HDD, and it is gradually substituting hard drives as the industry standard in website hosting.

Speaking of money-back assurances, InMotion is one of the best e-commerce hosting providers. While many hosts offer 30 days to try out the service risk-free, InMotion raises the bar and offers refunds until day 90.

Despite such a generous offer, you have to pay the amount for a full year in advance. This does mean a small gamble but it will be worth your investment. Further, if you have bought lower-end plans, you can host a limited number of websites, and the number of databases you can create.

10. HostGator

HostGator drives some of the best e-commerce websites from its two data centers in Houston (Texas) and Provo (Utah). One thing that singles out HostGator from the other e-commerce hosts on this round-up is that the company does not define any plans for web stores. Rather, it asserts that all shared plans are ideally optimized for the job. Having said that, the plans are rather bare-boned.

The SSL certificate offers a protective wall between your host’s web server and the visitor browser. Once activated, your website pages are enveloped with 256-bit encryption and go through a secure HTTPS protocol.

HostGator’s cPanel contains an easy-to-use auto-installer, having more than 450 various applications. Nearly a tenth of those is e-commerce tools. This means that building your shopping cart does not need any coding expertise and takes around a minute.

If you go with the Business plan, you can avail of a private Comodo SSL, anonymous FTP, and free dedicated IP. However, you need to fork out more money to get to such sweeter deals.

Also, you might have a tough time with the support operators; they often sound like robots or copying tutorials word by word. If you are lucky you can get decent help from some operators, but when you go a bit technical, things quickly start to fall apart.

So, think twice before going with HostGator if you want to run a serious business project.

11. GoDaddy

Operating since 1997, GoDaddy is one of the frontrunners in web hosting services. You do not need to do initial investments if you want to test GoDaddy’s e-commerce website hosting. Signing up a GoDaddy account is all it takes, with no payment details required.

What are you getting for that?

Starting right away, the focus is on easy website building and utmost exposure. All the site pages you build are mobile-friendly, which means your e-commerce website will appear great on all devices and screens.

GoDaddy’s e-commerce website builder can be easily integrated with Google’s services such as Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and Google Maps. Also, it comes all set to manage your online communication. You can design attractive email templates, plan their dispatch, and monitor the results of your ad campaign.

Going forward, GoDaddy is pretty big to back as many communication channels as possible. You have a 24/7 live chat, domestic phone lines in various countries, video guides, tutorials, and internal ticketing.

Although GoDaddy offers some of the cheapest plans, there are some caveats. The hosting provider offers backups at US$2.99 per month and website security at US$5.59 per month, which renews at US$6.99 per month.

Moreover, GoDaddy does not provide any free managed migrations. You need to pay US$99.99 per site and per database, and the process requires 7–10 business days – expensive as well as slow.

Importance of Finding the Right Hosting Provider

E-commerce, at present, has become a tremendously worthwhile platform for retailers. However, the quality of the web hosting services that several small/medium businesses are leveraging is often far from satisfactory. We live in an era of instant contentment. Today, 47% of consumers expect a page load speed of at most two seconds.

Besides the customer experience, various search engines utilize website speed as a ranking criterion as they take longer to deliver results if they cannot figure out and index websites rapidly.

Even though almost anyone can start an e-commerce website, businesses need to carry out proper security protocol before consumers make purchases. If your e-commerce site is not encrypted with HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), your website will be marked as “not secure” on search engines. And this does not uplift consumer confidence in your brand.

Moving ahead, if your customer base cannot access your e-commerce site, they cannot purchase. The amount of revenue lost during an hour of downtime relies on your sales volume, the time of day, the number of people influenced, and traffic. Recent reports suggest that Costco.com would lose US$11,082 per minute of downtime while Amazon would lose US$220,318.80.

Customers’ expectations are ever-evolving, and your e-commerce hosting website must instill confidence to keep up with that trend. Businesses that invest mindfully in their web experience will witness greater rates of customer expenditure, referral, and retention.

Quick Tips to Choose the Right Hosting Provider

While considering which e-commerce hosting company to opt for, you need to think through and investigate certain features, so that you can get the ideal deal for your specific requirements.

Always do comprehensive research and do not settle for anything less than the best e-commerce hosting provider that fulfills your requirements. Make sure the hosting provider you go with ticks the following boxes:

• Uptime: As a potential hosting client, you should look for a 99.9% uptime.
• Large-scale compatibility: Is compatible with your choice of e-commerce software.
• Secure: Offers a sturdy defense from malware and hackers.
• Reliable: Offers a skilled and dependable support crew to ensure the smooth operation of your website.
• Scalable: Adapts your site growth.
• Value for money: Balances the features you require at a reasonable cost.

Final Thoughts

Many brand-new e-commerce websites fall prey to the usual issues – poor security, slow loading speed, and inadequate support due to a bad web host. Starting with a conventional shared host may look cheap, however, is not worth the negative impact on your bottom line.

MyResellerHome offers top-notch solutions as well as cost-effective plans that are scalable per your business requirements. We’re available round the clock whenever you need help. If you require an e-commerce hosting platform that delivers unmatched performance no matter the size of your website (and goals), we have you covered.