Best Ecommerce Hosting: Compared and Reviewed (2022)

We’ll cover the features these hosting companies offer for online stores, the state of their support and security systems, and their performance. We have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump in and find the best ecommerce hosting for small business!

The best ecommerce hosting compared (in a nutshell) 🏆

If you don’t have time to read an in-depth comparison right now, check out this summary of our results (and come back later for the full story!):

If you’re involved in the field of ecommerce, then you know how important picking the right web host can be. It’s a choice that can have a severe impact on the success of your online store.

To get a more complete picture, we set up a simple WooCommerce store with a handful of products using each host. We used the same setup for all four ecommerce hosting solutions – including the store itself and all the other plugins we used – and tested their performance using Pingdom Tools.

1. SiteGround (www.siteground.com)

Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all ecommerce plan, SiteGround offers tailored hosting for several major ecommerce platforms. These include WooCommerce (as seen above), PrestaShop, and Magento.

Ecommerce specific features

• Web Application Firewall (WAF)
• Free Let’s Encrypt certificates
• Custom hosting plans for several major ecommerce platforms
• 24/7 support
• Fully PCI compliant (albeit only for their more expensive tier of plans)
• Daily backup service

Support and security

During our tests, we found that SiteGround’s support team was highly knowledgeable and quick to answer any questions we had via live chat. Furthermore, they offer a nice set of security features that go well beyond what you’d expect based on their low prices.

Final thoughts on SiteGround

Much like our first pick, SiteGround offers a great ecommerce hosting experience for small business at very reasonable prices. Their support team is fantastic, and their security features are a boon for both growing ecommerce enterprises and those just starting off. That said, their ecommerce performance is pretty good, but they offer little in terms of scalability (due to a limited selection of plans).

2. InMotion Hosting (www.inmotionhosting.com)

InMotion Hosting is renowned for its low prices and comprehensive feature set, and its ecommerce hosting solutions are no exception.

Ecommerce specific features

• Dedicated IP addresses for some of their plans (those that don’t fall under the shared hosting umbrella)
• Various SSL options
• Supports multiple ecommerce platforms including PrestaShop, OpenCart, Magento, and WooCommerce
• PCI compliant
• Around-the-clock support
• Automatic backups

Support and security

InMotion Hosting’s ecommerce Hosting plans offer a stable hosting solution on a budget. You get access to a decent set of security features and regular support options, although the host doesn’t excel in either area. However, for this price point you’ll be hard pressed to find a better alternative.

Final thoughts on InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting’s ecommerce Hosting plans are a decent pick for small stores and those new to the field of ecommerce. You get a good set of scalability options and blazing performance at a low price. At the end of the day, however, you’ll probably want to upgrade to their more expensive VPS plans once your store starts growing.

3. A2 Hosting (www.a2hosting.com)

Rounding off our list, we have A2 Hosting. This web host offers ecommerce hosting for small business that support most popular platforms, such as PrestaShop, OpenCart, Magento, and WooCommerce.

Ecommerce specific features

• Dual firewall system
• One-click setups for most major ecommerce platforms
• Automatic backups and server rewind functionality available for some of their plans (beyond the lowest tiers)
• Dedicated IP addresses available for a small fee (approximately $2 per month)
• Free SSL certificates

Support and security

When it comes to support response times, A2 Hosting outshone both our other picks. In most cases, we were able to get in touch with a support specialist in under a minute.

Security-wise, they offer a decent set of features for their price range. Their firewalls are par for the course, but their server rewind feature does come in handy since it functions like an advanced backup. Best of all, this feature is accessible right from your cPanel, which means you can use it to regain control over your site in the event you can’t access it directly.

Final thoughts on A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting offers excellent performance (especially within the US) and reliable support at low prices. It’s a great all-around pick, with a decent set of security features. They don’t have a lot of variation in terms of plans, but their offerings are sturdy enough for small to medium-sized online stores.

4. Kinsta (www.kinsta.com)

Kinsta is a high-end WordPress hosting solution with a variety of plans for businesses of all shapes and sizes. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to take a look at Kinsta’s specialized WooCommerce hosting. Note that this hosting is only compatible with WooCommerce, so if you want to use a different ecommerce plugin or system, you’ll want to look at one of the other options on this list.

Ecommerce specific features

• Support for WooCommerce (no other ecommerce systems)
• Server-level caching with specialized rules to ensure that WooCommerce functions properly
• Payment gateway performance monitoring
• Performance monitoring tools for WooCommerce and related add-ons
• Automated SSL certification
• Automated daily backups

Support and security

Kinsta offers high-quality customer support with a 4.5 star rating on G2.com. I reached out a couple of times through the live chat to test this out and found that I was always connected to a knowledgeable support worker within a couple of minutes. Kinsta also has several top-notch security measures in place including automated backups and SSL certification, DDoS server protection, and more.

Final thoughts on Kinsta

With plans starting at $29.17, Kinsta is the most expensive option on this list of the best ecommerce hosting solutions, but the cost is earned through a variety of specialized WordPress and WooCommerce tools. If you want to invest in the very best web hosting available, Kinsta is a great choice.

The key features of ecommerce hosting for small business

When choosing the best web hosting for your ecommerce site, you need to be a bit pickier than usual. We’re not talking strictly about performance either – some hosts simply offer more features specific to ecommerce needs.

Let’s not forget, it’s your ecommerce business that we’re talking about here … having the site down for even a relatively short period of time can be brutal on your wallet.

For instance, it’s estimated that Amazon loses $2 million for every minute of downtime!

Granted, the situation is probably not as brutal for you, but still any dollar lost due to website problems is something you shouldn’t have to deal with.

As far as we’re concerned, these are the key features you should keep an eye out for when looking for the right host:

• PCI compliance. If your online store will accept credit card payments, it’s crucial that your host is fully compliant with PCI standards. This is a requirement. Don’t dismiss this as something you “don’t need yet.” Here’s the crucial part: “PCI applies to ALL organizations or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, transmits or stores any cardholder data.”
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. SSL certificates enable you to encrypt your customer’s data for added protection, and they’re quickly becoming the standard even beyond ecommerce. Ideally, you should look for a host that facilitates the setup process for you. And if the host works with Let’s Encrypt – which is free – then even better.
• Dedicated IP addresses: Dedicated IP addresses are reserved for non-shared hosting plans. These may be a bit more expensive, but a professional ecommerce site usually warrants the cost. Furthermore, having your own IP address ensures that you can access your site even if your domain is down, and lets you opt for a private SSL certificate.
• Backup functionality. There are plenty of ways to set up scheduled backups for any platform, but it’s always nice when a web host takes care of that aspect for you. A comprehensive hosting plan will include regular backups and provide you with simple restore options.
• Firewall solution. This is hardly a groundbreaking feature, but it’s still nice to know that your host has its own firewall solution set up. That way, it can protect you in case your website gets attacked by some bot network or another kind of automated DDoS attempt – meant to prevent genuine users (in this case, your customers) from accessing your online store.
• Around-the-clock support. Downtime is the stuff of nightmares for any online store. Not only do you lose out on potential sales each time your store is unavailable, your customers may get the impression your operation isn’t professional. That’s why a good ecommerce host will take all necessary measures to minimize downtime.

Throughout this article, we’ll let you know what web hosts offer each of these features, which should help you make an informed decision. If you don’t see a particular feature listed under the host’s ecommerce specific features section, then that host doesn’t offer it. We’ll also let you know when a key feature is only available on certain plans.

That said, we recommend you don’t make your choice based solely on a list of features. After all, each web host has unique strengths that you’ll want to take into consideration when choosing the best option among ecommerce hosting for small business.

Best ecommerce hosting FAQ 🙋

Final thoughts on the best ecommerce hosting 💭

Your choice of ecommerce web host will have strong repercussions throughout your store’s lifetime. Your host can impact your website’s performance, its security, and the quality of support you have access to. It’s not a decision to be made lightly, but if you follow our advice you should end up on the right path.

If you’re having a hard time making up your mind and picking from these ecommerce hosting for small business, here’s a direct comparison of our performance experiments:

As you can see, A2 Hosting stays consistently below (read: they’re faster than) all the other players, with the exception of SiteGround for Stockholm (which makes SiteGround possibly a better choice for an EU-based online store).

Before we wrap things up, let’s take one final look at the four ecommerce hosting solutions for small business we’ve covered:

1. InMotion Hosting: A great budget option for small online stores that offers good performance.
2. SiteGround: A solid option for modestly-sized and security-conscious stores.
3. A2 Hosting: A great all-around option, with an excellent support system and decent scalability.
4. Kinsta: An excellent choice for highly specialized WordPress and WooCommerce tools + great support.

Here are all the basic details of each platform again:

What do you look for when considering ecommerce hosting for small business? Share your criteria with us in the comments section below!

Original text by John Hughes and Karol K. Layout and presentation by Karol K.