How much storage do I need for my website?

One of the first questions when choosing hosting is: how much disk space do I actually need? This guide helps you make a realistic estimate.

Average sizes per website type

Small website or blog

1-5 GB usually sufficient

• About 10-50 pages
• 50-100 images (optimized)
• Some PDFs or downloads
• WordPress with 5-10 plugins

Business website

5-10 GB recommended

• 50-200 pages
• 200-500 images
• Portfolio/gallery
• Contact forms
• WordPress with 15-20 plugins
• Email storage (1-2 GB extra)

Webshop (small)

10-20 GB recommended

• 50-200 products
• 500-1000 product images
• WooCommerce or other shop software
• Database for orders
• Customer accounts and reviews
• Email storage (2-3 GB extra)

Webshop (large)

20-50 GB or more

• 200+ products
• 2000+ product images
• Multiple product videos
• Large database
• Backup storage
• Email storage (5+ GB)

Portfolio/Photography website

15-50 GB recommended

• High resolution images
• Possibly RAW previews
• Video content
• Downloads for clients

What takes up space?

Images (biggest factor)

• Optimized image: 50-200 KB
• Unoptimized photo: 2-8 MB
• RAW file: 20-50 MB

Tip: Always use WebP or optimized JPGs for web!

Videos

• Short video (30 sec, 1080p): 50-100 MB
• Long video (5 min, 1080p): 500 MB - 1 GB

Tip: Host videos on YouTube, Vimeo or Bunny.net to save storage!

Database

• Small WordPress site: 10-50 MB
• Large blog (1000+ articles): 100-500 MB
• Webshop: 500 MB - 5 GB

Plugins & Themes

• WordPress core: ~70 MB
• Average theme: 5-20 MB
• Average plugin: 1-10 MB
• Total with 20 plugins: 200-500 MB

Email storage

• Average per mailbox: 500 MB - 2 GB
• With 5 mailboxes: 2.5-10 GB

How much should you reserve?

Rule of thumb: Take at least 2-3x your current usage

So using 3 GB now? Choose at least 6-10 GB hosting. This provides room for:

• Website growth
• Backups
• Visitor uploads
• Email storage
• Caching files

Common mistakes

❌ Uploading unoptimized images

Uploading a 5 MB photo that could be 200 KB = waste

❌ Keeping backups on same hosting

Backups can quickly take up 2-5 GB

❌ Not removing expired plugin/theme versions

Old versions often remain

❌ Hosting videos directly

Host videos externally via YouTube or Vimeo

Tips for saving space

1. Compress images - Use tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel
2. Use WebP format - 25-35% smaller than JPG
3. Remove old backups - Keep max 3-5 recent backups
4. Clean up database - Remove spam comments, old drafts
5. Host videos externally - Save 80-90% space
6. Lazy load images - Loads only what's needed

Choosing a hosting package

Most hosting providers offer:

• Budget packages: 1-10 GB (€2-7/month)
• Standard packages: 10-50 GB (€5-15/month)
• Premium packages: 50-100+ GB (€10-30/month)

For 90% of websites, 10-25 GB is more than enough.

Can I upgrade later?

Yes! Almost all hosting providers let you upgrade to more space. So feel free to start with a smaller package and upgrade when needed.

View our comparison

Want to know which hosting providers offer the best price-space ratio? Check our hosting comparison.