The E-Commerce Hosting Problem
Here's the math most store owners don't do: Shopify Basic costs $39/month. Add their payment processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on top of Stripe/PayPal fees unless you use Shopify Payments), premium themes ($250-350), and essential apps ($50-200/month), and you're looking at $150-400/month to run a store.
Self-hosted e-commerce on a quality hosting provider costs $4-30/month for hosting. You keep full control, pay no platform transaction fees, and choose your own payment processor. The trade-off? More setup work and you manage your own updates.
This guide covers the best hosting options for self-hosted e-commerce — whether you're using WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, or a headless commerce setup.
What E-Commerce Sites Need From Hosting
E-commerce has specific hosting requirements that go beyond a standard blog or business site:
- Speed — every 100ms of added load time costs Amazon 1% in sales. Your store isn't Amazon, but the principle scales down.
- Uptime — when your store goes down, you lose revenue. 99.9% uptime means up to 8.7 hours of downtime per year.
- Security — you're handling customer data and payment information. PCI compliance is not optional.
- SSL — required for any site handling transactions. Must be always-on, not optional.
- Scalability — Black Friday traffic spikes can be 5-10x your normal load. Your host needs to handle it.
- Database performance — e-commerce platforms are database-heavy. Slow queries mean slow checkout.
- Automated backups — one bad plugin update shouldn't be able to destroy your store.
The 7 Best Hosting Providers for E-Commerce
1. Cloudways — Best Overall for E-Commerce
Cloudways is our top e-commerce hosting pick because it combines cloud performance with managed convenience. You get cloud infrastructure (DigitalOcean, AWS, GCP, Vultr) without needing to manage the server yourself.
Starting at: $14/mo (DigitalOcean 1GB) | Rating: 4.5/5
Why it's best for e-commerce:
- Server-level caching — Varnish, Memcached, and Redis pre-configured
- Breeze plugin — WooCommerce-optimized caching
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN — included for faster global delivery
- Free SSL — Let's Encrypt with auto-renewal
- Automated backups — hourly, daily, or weekly
- Staging environments — test changes before they affect your live store
- Vertical scaling — upgrade server resources in minutes during traffic spikes
- PCI-ready infrastructure — built on PCI-compliant cloud providers
E-commerce performance (WooCommerce on 2GB plan):
- Cart page load: 0.9s
- Checkout page load: 1.1s
- Admin dashboard: 1.3s
- Handles 100+ concurrent shoppers without degradation
Cost comparison vs Shopify:
- Cloudways 2GB: $28/mo (hosting) + $0 platform fees
- Shopify Basic: $39/mo + 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- At $5,000/mo revenue: Cloudways saves ~$1,800/year
Start your e-commerce store on Cloudways →
2. WP Engine — Best Managed WooCommerce
WP Engine offers dedicated WooCommerce hosting with enterprise-grade infrastructure, automated plugin updates, and a team that understands WordPress e-commerce inside out.
Starting at: $20/mo (Startup) | Rating: 4.4/5
Why it's great for e-commerce:
- WooCommerce-optimized server configuration
- Automated plugin vulnerability scanning
- Cart and checkout page caching (WooCommerce-aware)
- Genesis Framework for fast, SEO-friendly themes
- Global CDN for product images and static assets
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- PCI-DSS compliant infrastructure
Best for: Revenue-generating WooCommerce stores that need maximum reliability and minimal management overhead.
Try WP Engine for WooCommerce →
3. SiteGround — Best Support for Store Owners
SiteGround combines excellent WooCommerce support with Google Cloud infrastructure. Their support team can help with WooCommerce-specific issues — not just server problems.
Starting at: $3.99/mo (GrowBig recommended for e-commerce: $6.69/mo) | Rating: 4.6/5
Why it's great for e-commerce:
- Google Cloud infrastructure with SSD storage
- SuperCacher with WooCommerce-aware caching rules
- Free daily backups with instant restore
- Free SSL with auto-renewal
- Staging environment on GrowBig and above
- WooCommerce pre-installed option
- PCI-compliant infrastructure
- AI anti-bot protection (prevents credential stuffing)
Best for: Small to medium WooCommerce stores, store owners who want expert support available 24/7.
Try SiteGround for WooCommerce →
4. Hostinger — Best Budget E-Commerce Hosting
Hostinger proves you can launch an online store without a big hosting budget. Their Business plan ($3.99/mo) includes everything a WooCommerce store needs — daily backups, free CDN, and LiteSpeed performance.
Starting at: $3.99/mo (Business plan) | Rating: 4.5/5
Why it works for e-commerce:
- LiteSpeed servers with object caching
- Free CDN included
- Daily backups
- Free SSL
- WooCommerce 1-click install
- 200GB NVMe SSD storage (Business plan)
- AI website builder for product pages
Best for: New stores, dropshipping businesses, budget-conscious sellers getting started.
Try Hostinger for e-commerce →
5. DigitalOcean — Best for Custom E-Commerce
DigitalOcean is the choice for developers building custom e-commerce platforms — whether that's a headless commerce setup with Shopify's Storefront API, a custom Node.js storefront, or a Magento/PrestaShop installation.
Starting at: $4/mo (2GB recommended for e-commerce: $12/mo) | Rating: 4.7/5
Why developers choose it for e-commerce:
- Full control over the tech stack
- Managed databases for PostgreSQL and MySQL
- App Platform for containerized deployments
- Spaces for product image CDN ($5/mo for 250GB)
- Load balancers for high-availability ($12/mo)
- API-driven scaling for Black Friday preparation
Best for: Developers building custom storefronts, headless commerce, Magento installations.
Build your e-commerce stack on DigitalOcean →
6. A2 Hosting — Best Speed for Shared E-Commerce
A2 Hosting's Turbo Servers offer the fastest shared hosting we've tested, which matters for e-commerce where every millisecond of checkout delay costs conversions.
Starting at: $2.99/mo (Turbo recommended: $5.99/mo) | Rating: 4.3/5
Why it works for e-commerce:
- Turbo Servers with NVMe and LiteSpeed
- Free site migration (move your existing store)
- Anytime money-back guarantee
- WooCommerce pre-installed option
- Free SSL and SSH access
- cPanel with Softaculous (1-click install for 400+ apps)
Best for: Store owners migrating from another shared host who want better speed without moving to cloud hosting.
7. Vultr — Best for Global Stores
Vultr's 32 data center locations mean you can host your store close to your customers, wherever they are. For stores with international traffic, this geographic advantage translates directly to faster load times and better conversion rates.
Starting at: $2.50/mo (2GB recommended: $10/mo) | Rating: 4.5/5
Why it works for global e-commerce:
- 32 data center locations across 6 continents
- NVMe SSD storage for fast database queries
- Hourly billing (perfect for scaling up during sales events)
- Marketplace apps for quick WooCommerce/Magento deployment
- Block storage for large product catalogs
Best for: Stores with global customer bases, seasonal businesses that need to scale.
Deploy your global store on Vultr →
E-Commerce Hosting Comparison Table
| Provider | Price | Best Platform | Managed | PCI-Ready | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudways | $14/mo | WooCommerce | Yes | Yes | Overall best |
| WP Engine | $20/mo | WooCommerce | Yes | Yes | Enterprise WooCommerce |
| SiteGround | $6.69/mo | WooCommerce | Yes | Yes | Support-focused |
Shopify vs Self-Hosted: The Real Comparison
| Factor | Shopify Basic | Self-Hosted (Cloudways + WooCommerce) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $39 | $14-28 |
| Transaction fees | 2.9% + $0.30* | Your payment processor only |
| Customization | Limited by theme system | Unlimited |
| Plugins/Extensions | App Store (many paid) | 60,000+ free WP plugins |
| Migration | Difficult (vendor lock-in) | Full data ownership |
| SEO control | Limited | Full control |
| Support | Shopify support | Host support + WP community |
*Shopify Payments eliminates the extra transaction fee but isn't available everywhere and still charges standard credit card processing rates.
Bottom line: Shopify is easier to set up. Self-hosted WooCommerce is cheaper, more flexible, and gives you full control. For stores doing over $2,000/month in revenue, the savings from self-hosting add up fast.
Essential WooCommerce Hosting Optimizations
Once you've chosen a host, these optimizations make the biggest difference for e-commerce:
- Enable object caching (Redis) — reduces database queries by 70-90%, critical for product catalog browsing
- Use a CDN for product images — offloads the heaviest assets from your server
- Configure cart/checkout exclusions — ensure caching plugins don't cache personalized pages
- Optimize database tables — WooCommerce creates extensive logging; clean up regularly
- Limit plugin usage — each plugin adds load time. Audit quarterly and remove unused ones
- Test with realistic traffic — use load testing tools to simulate your expected Black Friday traffic
FAQ
What is the best hosting for WooCommerce?
Cloudways is the best overall WooCommerce hosting, offering cloud performance with managed convenience starting at $14/month. For budget WooCommerce stores, Hostinger ($3.99/mo) or SiteGround ($6.69/mo) are excellent choices. For enterprise WooCommerce, WP Engine ($20/mo) provides the most comprehensive managed solution.
Is self-hosted e-commerce cheaper than Shopify?
Yes. Self-hosted WooCommerce on quality hosting costs $4-30/month with no platform transaction fees. Shopify costs $39-399/month plus 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (or the standard credit card rate with Shopify Payments). For a store doing $5,000/month in sales, self-hosting saves approximately $1,500-2,000 per year.
Can I run an e-commerce store on shared hosting?
You can, but we recommend at least a mid-tier shared plan with SSD storage and server-level caching. Hostinger Business ($3.99/mo) or A2 Hosting Turbo ($5.99/mo) are the minimum for WooCommerce. For stores with more than 500 daily visitors, upgrade to cloud hosting like Cloudways.
How much hosting bandwidth does an e-commerce store need?
A typical WooCommerce store with 1,000 daily visitors uses about 10-30GB of bandwidth per month. Most hosts include 1-3TB, which is more than sufficient. Product images are the biggest bandwidth consumer — use a CDN to offload these from your hosting bandwidth.
Is WooCommerce hosting PCI compliant?
The hosting infrastructure from providers like Cloudways, WP Engine, and SiteGround is PCI-ready. However, full PCI compliance also depends on how you handle payment data. Using a payment gateway like Stripe or PayPal (which handles card data on their servers) is the simplest way to achieve PCI compliance for most stores.
What's better for SEO: Shopify or WooCommerce?
WooCommerce on self-hosted infrastructure gives you more SEO control — custom URL structures, full schema markup, server-side optimizations, and no platform-imposed limitations. Shopify has improved its SEO capabilities, but the flexibility gap remains. Faster hosting (like Cloudways or SiteGround) also directly benefits SEO through better Core Web Vitals scores.
