WooCommerce hosting: what makes it different and which are the best?

Running a webshop on WordPress and WooCommerce demands more from your hosting than a regular website. Products, orders, payments, inventory - it all needs to work fast and stable. A slow webshop directly costs you revenue. That's why WooCommerce hosting is not standard WordPress hosting. It requires specific optimizations, more computing power and reliability. But what exactly makes WooCommerce hosting different? And which host fits your webshop? ## What makes WooCommerce hosting different? WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that lets you build a webshop. But free doesn't mean it asks little from your server. On the contrary - a webshop loads your hosting much heavier than a blog. With every product page, WordPress needs to fetch data from multiple database tables. Stock, prices, variants, reviews - it all comes from the database. Have 500 products? Then you quickly have thousands of database queries per day. Payments, checkout and customer accounts also demand a lot from your server. These processes cannot be cached because they need real-time data. Every order generates emails, updates stock and writes to the database. ### Resource requirements for WooCommerce **Database performance** - WooCommerce uses the MySQL database intensively. A slow database means slow product pages and frustrating checkout. **PHP resources** - WooCommerce runs on PHP. You need enough PHP workers to handle multiple visitors simultaneously. Too few workers = timeout errors. **RAM memory** - The more products and orders, the more memory you need. For an average webshop, 2GB RAM is the minimum. **Storage space** - Product images, order data and customer data pile up. Count on at least 10GB, preferably 20GB+ for growth. **Reliable uptime** - Every minute your shop is offline, you lose sales. Uptime of 99.9% is essential. ## Why regular shared hosting is not enough Shared hosting is cheap because you share a server with hundreds of other websites. But for WooCommerce that's often a problem. **Too slow during busy periods** - Black Friday, a social media post that goes viral, a newsletter to your list - suddenly you have a lot of traffic. Shared hosting often crashes during spikes. **Resource limits** - Shared hosts strictly limit CPU and RAM usage. Exceed that limit? Then your shop is slowed down or even temporarily blocked. **Shared IP addresses** - On shared hosting you share your IP with other sites. Does one of those sites spam? Then your IP can end up on a blacklist. That damages your email deliverability. **No WooCommerce optimizations** - Standard hosting is not tuned for WooCommerce. No object caching, no optimized MySQL settings. For a hobby webshop with little traffic, shared hosting can work. But as soon as you want to sell seriously, you notice the limitations. ## What to look for in WooCommerce hosting? **Sufficient resources** - At least 2GB RAM, 2 CPU cores and 20GB SSD storage. More products = more resources needed. **SSD storage** - Traditional hard drives are too slow. SSD or NVMe storage is essential for fast database queries. **Caching support** - WooCommerce caching is tricky because many pages are dynamic. Good hosts have full-page cache with WooCommerce-exclusions. **CDN integration** - Product images load fast via a CDN. That speeds up your shop worldwide. **SSL certificate** - Mandatory for a webshop. Without SSL nobody accepts you as trustworthy and Google penalizes you. **Database optimization** - MariaDB or MySQL with query caching and optimized settings makes a huge difference. **Expert support** - When your checkout doesn't work, you don't want generic hosting support. You want someone who knows WooCommerce. **Staging environment** - Test updates and changes first before going live. Essential to keep your shop running. **Automatic backups** - Daily or even hourly. In case of a hack or error you quickly restore your shop. ## Top 5 WooCommerce hosting providers ### 1. Kinsta - speed and stability Kinsta runs on Google Cloud Platform and is optimized for WooCommerce. Automatic caching, database optimization and edge servers ensure top speed. **Specs:** - From €30/month for 25,000 visitors - Google Cloud infrastructure - Free Cloudflare CDN - Daily backups - Staging environment - 24/7 support from WordPress experts **For whom:** Serious webshops that can't wait for slow hosting. The price is high but so is the quality. ### 2. SiteGround - affordable and reliable SiteGround offers special WooCommerce hosting with optimized servers and good support. Not as fast as Kinsta, but significantly cheaper. **Specs:** - From €4.99/month (first year, then €17.99) - SSD storage - Free SSL and CDN - Daily backups - WooCommerce pre-installed - 24/7 support **For whom:** Starting webshops and small to medium shops. Good price-quality ratio. ### 3. Cloudways - flexible and scalable Cloudways lets you choose between DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud or Vultr. You only pay for what you use and can easily scale up with growth. **Specs:** - From €11/month (DigitalOcean) - Choice of multiple cloud providers - Auto-scaling possible - Built-in caching (Breeze + Varnish) - One-click staging - 24/7 support **For whom:** Growing webshops that want flexibility. Slightly more technical than managed solutions but powerful. ### 4. Nexcess - specialized in e-commerce Nexcess (formerly Liquid Web Managed WooCommerce) is specifically built for WooCommerce. They have e-commerce optimizations and auto-scaling built in. **Specs:** - From €19/month for 500 products - Auto-scaling during traffic spikes - Image compression built in - Optimized checkout - Free migration - Expert WooCommerce support **For whom:** Webshops that are seriously growing and need auto-scaling. Good middle ground between price and features. ### 5. WP Engine - premium managed hosting WP Engine is not specifically for WooCommerce, but their managed WordPress hosting works excellently for webshops. Powerful infrastructure and top-class support. **Specs:** - From €25/month for 25,000 visitors - AWS infrastructure - Genesis Framework free - Staging and development environments - Daily backups - 24/7 expert support **For whom:** Business webshops looking for premium hosting with white-glove service. ## WooCommerce hosting comparison table | Provider | Price/month | Hosting type | Uptime | Support | CDN | Best for | |----------|-------------|--------------|--------|---------|-----|----------| | **Kinsta** | €30+ | Managed WP | 99.9% | 24/7 chat | Free | Speed & performance | | **SiteGround** | €4.99+ | Managed WP | 99.99% | 24/7 chat/phone | Free | Budget & starters | | **Cloudways** | €11+ | Cloud | 99.9% | 24/7 chat | Free | Flexibility | | **Nexcess** | €19+ | Managed WooCommerce | 99.9% | 24/7 chat/phone | Free | Auto-scaling | | **WP Engine** | €25+ | Managed WP | 99.95% | 24/7 chat/phone | Free | Premium features | ## Managed WooCommerce hosting vs VPS **Managed WooCommerce hosting** means the host takes care of everything. Updates, backups, security, optimization - you don't have to look at it. Perfect if you want to focus on sales. **VPS (Virtual Private Server)** gives you more control but requires technical knowledge. You have to configure, secure and maintain the server yourself. Cheaper if you can do it yourself, but time-consuming. For most webshop owners, managed hosting is the better choice. The time savings and stress reduction are worth the price difference. ## Tips for faster WooCommerce websites **Use a caching plugin** - WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache significantly speed up your shop. Note: exclude checkout and cart from caching. **Optimize images** - Large product photos slow down your site. Use WebP format and lazy loading. **Limit plugins** - Each plugin adds overhead. Keep it minimal and test impact on speed. **Choose a fast theme** - GeneratePress, Astra or Kadence are lightweight WooCommerce themes. Avoid heavy pagebuilder themes. **Clean database** - WooCommerce generates a lot of database bloat. Use WP-Optimize or a similar plugin. **Upgrade PHP** - Run on PHP 8.1 or higher. Older PHP versions are much slower. ## Security for WooCommerce webshops **Regular backups** - At least daily. In case of a hack or error you can recover quickly. **SSL certificate** - Mandatory for a webshop. Without SSL nobody trusts your checkout. **Firewall** - Cloudflare or Sucuri protect against DDoS attacks and brute force. **Two-factor authentication** - Protect your admin account with 2FA. Prevents unauthorized access. **Updates** - Keep WordPress, WooCommerce and plugins up-to-date. Old versions have security holes. **Security plugins** - Wordfence or iThemes Security scan for malware and suspicious activity. ## For whom is WooCommerce hosting suitable? **Starting webshops** - Start with SiteGround or similar. Affordable and you can upgrade later. **Growing e-commerce** - Cloudways or Nexcess give you the flexibility to grow. **High-volume webshops** - Kinsta or WP Engine offer the stability and speed you need. **Dropshipping** - Due to many products you need sufficient resources. Choose at least 4GB RAM. **Digital products** - Less heavy than physical products but downloads require bandwidth. ## Migrating to better WooCommerce hosting **Backup first** - Make a complete backup of your current shop. Database AND files. **Test on new host** - Many hosts offer free migration. Have them transfer your shop and test everything. **Check DNS propagation** - After DNS change it can take 24-48 hours before everyone sees the new server. **Monitor orders** - Keep an eye on orders during and after migration. Check if everything comes in. **Test payment methods** - Test each payment method after migration. Sometimes API keys or webhooks get lost. Want to know more about [WordPress hosting](/en/wordpress/hosting) in general? Or specifically which [hosting for webshops](/en/hosting-for-webshops) is suitable? Check our other guides for more details. ## Frequently asked questions **How much does good WooCommerce hosting cost?** Count on €15-€50 per month for reliable WooCommerce hosting. Cheaper shared hosting (€3-€10/month) only works for very small webshops with little traffic. For serious selling, managed WooCommerce hosting or cloud hosting is the minimum investment. **Can I run WooCommerce on shared hosting?** Technically it's possible, but not recommended for serious webshops. Shared hosting is often too slow, has too few resources and crashes during traffic spikes. For a hobby shop with minimal sales it can work, but plan an upgrade as soon as you grow. **What's the difference between WordPress hosting and WooCommerce hosting?** WooCommerce hosting is optimized for webshops: better database performance, more RAM and CPU, caching with WooCommerce-exclusions and often e-commerce specific features. Standard [WordPress hosting](/en/best-wordpress-hosting) is sufficient for blogs and small sites, but too limited for webshops.