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7 Best Ecommerce Hosting Providers for Your Online Store

August 21, 2024
Written and researched by experts at AvadaLearn more about our methodology

By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

In this article, we’ll review the six best ecommerce hosting providers for 2023, each perfectly tailored for various business needs.

Key takeaways

  1. Bluehost: Best for businesses intending to build and manage their online stores using WordPress and WooCommerce, given its seamless integration and official recommendation by WordPress.
  2. InMotion: Best for businesses seeking fast, secure, and scalable managed hosting services, particularly those requiring an emphasis on speed and performance.
  3. Hostinger: Best for small to medium-sized businesses seeking affordable hosting services with a wide range of VPS plans for scalability
  4. SiteGround: Best for businesses of all sizes seeking robust hosting with top-tier customer support and advanced caching for speed optimization.
  5. DreamHost: Best for businesses that prioritize transparency and value, with no higher renewal prices and a generous 97-day money-back guarantee.
  6. GoDaddy Hosting: Best for startups and small businesses that need quick and easy setup, with a focus on convenience and bundled services.
  7. Hosted Ecommerce Platforms: Best for businesses that want an all-in-one solution for their ecommerce needs

#1. Bluehost

Overview 

Bluehost is a trusted web hosting provider that has revolutionized the website creation experience. With over 2 million websites powered by Bluehost, we cater to a global customer base, offering world-class services and products. As a top recommended WordPress hosting provider by WordPress.org, we specialize in hosting solutions that optimize WordPress websites for speed, performance, and design through our innovative products.

Pricing

Bluehost offers an array of hosting options, each equipped with an impressive set of features. As they partner with WordPress, we highly recommend their WordPress eCommerce plans, which seamlessly integrate with the WooCommerce plugin for those starting their online store journey.

You have two WooCommerce plans to choose from, priced between $9.95 and $12.95 per month. We suggest starting with the Online Store plan, priced at $9.95 per month for a 12-month commitment.

Despite the Standard plan offering 100GB of SSD storage and the upgraded WooCommerce plan providing 200GB, the former is more than sufficient to launch a new online store smoothly.

Moreover, in line with industry standards, Bluehost provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, ensuring a risk-free trial of their services.

Features

Bluehost offers an impressive uptime of 99.98%, ensuring minimal downtime and maximizing your online store’s revenue potential. For new ventures, Bluehost’s mid-tier plans offer unlimited SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and the ability to host multiple websites, making it an ideal choice.

Of special note is Bluehost’s strong affiliation with WordPress. As an officially recommended hosting provider by WordPress, Bluehost ensures a seamless WordPress site setup with one-click installations. Additionally, for those planning to customize their online stores using WordPress’ WooCommerce plugin, Bluehost’s basic WooCommerce plan offers a pre-installed Storefront Theme, 100GB SSD storage, and a two-hour setup call with a WooCommerce expert, ensuring your store looks polished and professional.

Support & Security

When it comes to customer support, Bluehost guarantees round-the-clock assistance. Whether it’s a call or chat, their support is available 24/7. Bluehost emphasizes security by equipping your site with essential defenses such as a free SSL certificate, Spam Assassin protection, hotlink protection, and Secure Shell access (SSH), ensuring a secure online environment for your ecommerce store.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • 24/7 Customer Support: Bluehost’s 24/7 customer support ensures that help is just a call or chat away whenever you face any issues.
  • Seamless Integration with WordPress: Being officially recommended by WordPress, Bluehost ensures smooth integration with WordPress, making site setup quick and efficient with one-click installations.
  • Attractive Pricing for Dedicated Hosting Plans: Bluehost offers competitively priced dedicated hosting plans, making it an appealing choice for businesses requiring dedicated server resources without stretching their budget.

Cons:

  • No Green Hosting Options: Bluehost does not offer green hosting options, which may be a drawback for businesses aiming to minimize their environmental impact.
  • Occasional Issues with Site Speed: Some users have reported sporadic issues with site speed, which can affect user experience and lead to slower loading times.
  • Limited Backup Options on Affordable Plans: Cheaper plans from Bluehost may offer limited backup options, which can pose a risk in case of data loss or site issues.
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#2. InMotion

Overview 

InMotion provides fast, secure, and scalable managed hosting services, ensuring that you can focus on your ecommerce business while your hosting needs are handled effectively. From its robust infrastructure to its ecommerce-friendly features, InMotion positions itself as a reliable choice for online store owners.

Features

  • Faster Page Load Speed: With dedicated resources, speedy NVMe SSD disk space, and the flexibility to choose data centers, InMotion ensures rapid page load times, offering superior server performance for your ecommerce site.
  • Secure Hosting with SSL: InMotion includes free SSL certificates, DDoS, and Firewall protection in its plans, along with automatic backups, ensuring your online store operates in a secure environment.
  • Customizable Storefront: InMotion facilitates the customization of your shopping cart and checkout process with top ecommerce apps, enabling you to personalize your storefront.
  • Open-Source Ready: Whether you prefer an open-source application or a custom PHP-based solution, InMotion’s 1-click install and automatic updates make starting your online store a breeze.
  • Reliable Uptime: With a 99.9% uptime guarantee, InMotion ensures your online store is always available to customers, backed by redundant Tier-1 network connections and 24/7 live server monitoring.

Support & Security

InMotion provides 24/7 live support from a team of technical and customer service experts, available via phone, live chat, or ticket system. Its commitment to security includes free SSL on all plans, safeguarding your store’s data and customer information.

Pricing

InMotion’s pricing plans cater to a range of needs and budgets. Their shared hosting plans range from $3.29 to $14.99 per month for a 12-month subscription, with exclusive discounts available for Web Hosting Buddy (WBE) users. Their VPS plans are priced from $14.99 to $74.99 per month for a 12-month subscription.

The Power plan, one of InMotion’s shared hosting options, is priced at $6.99 per month. Interestingly, it shares the same price point as the Launch plan but boasts the added benefit of being “E-Commerce Ready,” offering one-click shopping cart installations.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Free SSL on All Plans: With free SSL certificates on all plans, InMotion ensures secure transactions and boosts customers’ trust in your online store.
  • One-Click Install for Ecommerce Apps: The 1-click installation process for ecommerce apps simplifies the setup and customization of your online store.
  • Extended Money-Back Guarantee: With a generous 90-day money-back guarantee, InMotion provides ample time to evaluate their services without risk.

Cons:

  • Potential Site Speed and Uptime Issues: Some users have reported issues with site speed and uptime, which could affect the user experience and lead to lost sales opportunities.
  • Weak Shared Hosting Plans: InMotion’s shared hosting plans may not be as robust as those offered by some competitors, potentially limiting resources for growing online stores.
  • Higher Pricing: Compared to some competitors, InMotion’s pricing might be relatively higher, which could impact budget-conscious users.
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Four shared hosting plans 

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#3. Hostinger

Overview 

Hostinger has made a name for itself as an affordable and reliable hosting provider. Although it lacks dedicated hosting options, Hostinger feature-rich shared, VPS, and WordPress hosting plans have much to offer, particularly for small to medium-sized online stores. The absence of dedicated hosting may limit expansion opportunities for some, but the advanced features and scalability of Hostinger’s VPS plans offset this limitation.

Features

Hostinger is a formidable hosting provider, known for its affordability and strength in the hosting industry. While offering a selection of shared, VPS, and WordPress hosting plans, it’s important to note that Hostinger lacks dedicated hosting options, which might limit expansion opportunities for some users. Nevertheless, Hostinger’s VPS plans are highly advanced and feature-rich, making them a perfect fit for small to medium-sized online stores seeking seamless scalability. With its shared plans, your ecommerce website can benefit from unlimited bandwidth and databases, up to 200GB of storage, daily backups, and a complimentary domain. As you upgrade to higher-tier plans, your store gains more scalability and a broader range of powerful tools.

Support & Security

Hostinger prides itself on providing exceptional customer support. Its team of dedicated agents is available 24/7, providing assistance through live chat, ensuring you receive help when you need it. To further empower its users, Hostinger offers comprehensive video walkthroughs, guides, and an extensive knowledge base filled with in-depth tutorials.

When it comes to security, Hostinger takes no shortcuts. It provides unlimited SSL security certificates, protecting your website’s traffic with encryption. Further, Hostinger safeguards your website from DDoS attacks using Cloudflare protected nameservers and ensures your files are secure with automatic backups. A 99.9% uptime guarantee means your website is almost always operational and accessible to visitors.

Pricing

Hostinger offers some of the most cost-effective pricing plans in the industry. The cheapest shared hosting plan starts at just $2.99 per month for a 12-month subscription. For small and medium-sized businesses, the Business Shared Hosting plan is available at $3.99 per month, providing a range of powerful features.

It’s worth noting that the cheapest plan does not include a free domain and comes with a bandwidth limitation of 100GB. Hostinger’s VPS plans, on the other hand, range from $3.99 to $117.99 per month for a 12-month subscription. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, providing you with the opportunity to test their services risk-free.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Affordable Pricing: With low introductory prices, Hostinger is an appealing choice for budget-conscious users.
  • Diverse Range of VPS Plans: The variety of VPS plans allows businesses to scale up their operations as needed.
  • 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee: Hostinger’s money-back guarantee ensures you can test their services with confidence.

Cons:

  • No Dedicated Hosting: The absence of dedicated hosting options may deter users seeking a more exclusive hosting environment.
  • Storage Space Limitations: Some plans come with storage limitations, which may not be suitable for stores with substantial data needs.
  • No Green Hosting: For the environmentally conscious, the lack of green hosting options may be a concern.
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Budget-friendly provider with Hostinger’s shared plans 

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#4. SiteGround

Overview 

Considered a strong contender for startups, SiteGround shines particularly for businesses using WordPress with WooCommerce. The platform’s extensive capabilities, aimed at improving site speed, security, and overall performance, provide an excellent hosting environment for your online store.

Features

One standout feature of SiteGround is its auto-installation capability, a time-saving tool that simplifies the setup process for your online store. SiteGround also integrates with Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) like Cloudflare, which enhances your site speed, ensuring visitors enjoy a smooth and quick browsing experience.

To further accommodate ecommerce needs, SiteGround provides free shopping cart installations, seamless eShop transfers, and an eCommerce Optimized Server. With server locations spread across three continents, SiteGround delivers excellent site speed for users worldwide. Furthermore, their unmetered data transfer allows your online store to scale without any bandwidth constraints. Impressively, SiteGround offers a 99.98% uptime guarantee, which translates to just about one hour and 45 minutes of downtime per year.

Support & Security

When it comes to customer support, SiteGround’s team is consistently ranked among the industry’s best. Their 24/7 customer care ensures prompt assistance whenever you need it, providing a smooth and pleasant user experience.

Security is also a top priority for SiteGround. The platform issues and installs a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate to secure customer transactions and build trust in your site. Furthermore, SiteGround’s managed updates for WordPress and WooCommerce ensure your site always operates on the latest application version, strengthening your site’s defense against potential threats.

Daily backups, retaining up to 30 copies, offer an easy one-click restore option, which allows you to quickly resolve site issues and avoid extended downtime. Additionally, SiteGround’s AI anti-bot system blocks millions of security threats daily, and their custom Web Application Firewall (WAF) is regularly updated, providing further protection against site attacks.

Pricing

SiteGround offers three price plans to cater to various needs and budgets, with prices starting at $3.99 per month. The StartUp WooCommerce plan is designed for small, emerging stores, while the GrowBig and GoGeek plans, priced at $6.69 and $10.69 per month respectively, offer advanced features for businesses looking to scale. All SiteGround plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, letting you test their services without any risk.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Auto-Install of Ecommerce Apps: SiteGround simplifies the installation process for ecommerce apps, making it easy to set up your online store.
  • Automatic WordPress Updates: SiteGround ensures your WordPress and WooCommerce are always up-to-date, enhancing your site’s security and performance.
  • 99.98% Uptime Guarantee: With almost guaranteed uptime, SiteGround minimizes potential downtime for your online store.

Cons:

  • No VPS or Dedicated Plans: SiteGround does not offer VPS or dedicated hosting plans, which might limit options for users needing exclusive resources.
  • More Specialized WordPress Alternatives Available: While SiteGround is excellent for WordPress hosting, there are other providers with a more dedicated focus on WordPress.
  • Limited Storage on Cheaper Plans: The more affordable plans might have storage limitations, which could prove insufficient for stores with extensive data needs.
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SiteGround’s WooCommerce hosting plans 

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#5. DreamHost

Overview 

DreamHost excels in providing robust and straightforward web hosting solutions. Known for its performance and durability, DreamHost is a reliable choice for both novices and experienced users in the realm of ecommerce

Features

DreamHost offers a range of valuable features to enhance your ecommerce experience. Every plan includes free daily backups, providing peace of mind for newcomers to ecommerce who may fear losing their progress due to unforeseen issues. DreamHost also provides free domain names for the first year with registrations for .com, .org, .club, .net, or .info domains. Unlimited email services are also included with every plan.

However, it’s worth noting that DreamHost’s plans do not include a dedicated IP address, which may necessitate an additional expense.

For ecommerce stores built on WooCommerce, DreamHost offers the DreamPress plan, designed specifically to support ecommerce operations. It comes with WooCommerce pre-installed, unlimited email, 30GB of storage, and on-demand backups in addition to the daily ones. It’s worth noting that while DreamHost recommends the DreamPress plan for no more than 100k monthly visitors, exceeding this limit won’t result in your store being shut down but may slightly affect performance.

Support & Security

In terms of customer support, DreamHost offers 24/7 expert assistance. However, direct phone support isn’t available, which can make contacting support slightly more complicated. You can request a callback in response to a query, and live chat is accessible from 3:00 am to 9:30 pm PST, seven days a week.

On the security front, DreamHost takes substantial measures to protect your online store. Every plan includes a free SSL certificate, an industry standard for secure data transfer. Moreover, DreamHost provides an internally built malware remover to further enhance website security.

Pricing

DreamHost’s WooCommerce-focused plans can be a bit on the pricier side, starting at $16.95 per month. For larger storage and traffic capacity, the cost can go up to $71.95 per month with the DreamPress Pro plan.

For smaller online stores, DreamHost’s shared plans offer more affordable alternatives. Both the Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited plans start at $2.95 per month for a 12-month contract. Importantly, DreamHost offers a 97-day money-back guarantee for shared hosting plans paid via credit or debit cards.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Free Daily Backups: DreamHost offers daily backups, ensuring your data remains secure.
  • Free WordPress Migrations: DreamHost facilitates effortless WordPress migrations, simplifying the transition process.
  • Unlimited Storage and Bandwidth: DreamHost’s “unlimited traffic” feature and generous storage capacity cater to growing ecommerce ventures.

Cons:

  • Limited Range of Features: Some users may find DreamHost’s feature offerings relatively limited compared to other providers.
  • No 24/7 or Direct Phone Support: While support is available round-the-clock, the lack of direct phone support could be a drawback for some users.
  • Support for Only One Store Across All Plans: DreamHost’s plans may not be ideal for users looking to manage multiple stores within a single hosting account.
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#6. GoDaddy Hosting

Overview 

GoDaddy is a popular name in the web hosting industry, boasting a myriad of services ranging from domain registration to shared hosting and more. Known for its impressive support services, GoDaddy ensures that help is always within reach for its customers.

Features

GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans are feature-rich, with offerings such as unmetered bandwidth, daily backups, a free domain, and free SSL certificates. The features you enjoy will depend on the chosen plan, with the benefits increasing as you move up the paid ladder.

The basic Economy shared hosting plan provides 25GB of storage and supports one website. On the other hand, the Maximum plan offers 100GB of storage, support for 50 websites, and 100 databases.

However, despite its impressive offerings, our testing revealed GoDaddy’s site speed leaves much to be desired. On a brighter note, the provider excelled in server response time testing, surpassing other providers on our list.

Support & Security

GoDaddy places a high premium on support and security. It offers 24/7 live chat and phone support, ensuring that assistance is available whenever needed.

Additionally, GoDaddy provides daily backups, keeping your data secure and retrievable. A free SSL certificate monitoring unit monitors for suspicious activity, helping to prevent potential cyber attacks and fortifying the security of your website.

Pricing

While GoDaddy is a feature-packed hosting provider, its pricing leans toward the higher end, especially for shared and dedicated hosting plans. Shared plans start at $5.99 for a 12-month contract.

GoDaddy’s pricing can be scattered across hosting plans and types, making the choice of the most suitable plan initially a bit of a challenge. Committing to a longer-term can lead to more affordable prices, however.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Free Daily Backups: GoDaddy’s daily backups ensure your data remains secure and retrievable.
  • Reliable Security: With 24/7 monitoring and a free SSL certificate, GoDaddy prioritizes the security of your website.
  • Unmetered Bandwidth: The hosting plans provide unmetered bandwidth, allowing your website to handle traffic without restrictions.

Cons: 

  • Expensive Pricing Plans: GoDaddy’s hosting plans can be relatively costly compared to other providers, which might not be ideal for budget-conscious users
  • Poor Uptime of 99%: While GoDaddy’s server response time is impressive, it falls short in terms of uptime, which is crucial for maintaining a consistent online presence.
  • Poor Site Speed: Users may encounter slower loading times on their websites, potentially affecting user experience and search engine rankings.
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Hosted Ecommerce Platforms

Shopify

Overview 

Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce website builder, known for its user-friendly interface and extensive customization options. It enables users to create online stores without needing advanced technical skills or a substantial budget, thus democratizing the eCommerce space.

Features

  • Shipping Options: Shopify provides comprehensive control over shipping options, offering various rates based on weight, order value, or location. The Advanced Shopify plan even supports third-party calculated shipping rates, providing customers with transparent courier costs at checkout.
  • Abandoned Cart Recovery: An essential tool included in all core Shopify plans, abandoned cart recovery sends automatic emails to customers who leave products in their carts, thereby increasing chances of sales conversions.
  • Product Management: Shopify provides powerful product management tools like inventory tracking, order monitoring, and easy product listing updates. It supports multiple product variations, enabling sellers to set different prices and weights for each variation.
  • Multi-channel Integration: Shopify supports multi-channel selling, allowing users to sell on platforms like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Instagram, extending their reach beyond their website.
  • Digital Goods and Services: Shopify accommodates the sale of digital goods and services. Apps like Shopify Digital Downloads aid in the effective management of digital product sales.
  • Point of Sale (POS): The Shopify POS app facilitates in-person sales at physical stores, pop-up shops, markets, and events, and syncs with the online store to keep inventory and orders up to date.

Support & Security

Shopify excels in the areas of security and customer support. It handles protection against cyber threats, updates, and compliance requirements, providing peace of mind for users. It offers 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat, social media, community forums, and email. The Shopify Plus plan provides advanced specialist support for larger businesses.

Pricing

Shopify offers a variety of pricing plans to cater to different business needs:

  • Shopify Starter: $5/month
  • Shopify Basic: $39/month
  • Shopify Advanced: $399/month
  • Shopify Plus: $2000/month

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Versatility: Ideal for businesses of all sizes, with powerful backend editing and robust inventory management.
  • Multi-platform Selling: Allows selling on various channels like Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and eBay.
  • Design Functionality: Offers impressive design options with a wide selection of free and paid templates or the option to build from scratch.
  • Extensive App Library: Shopify boasts over 8,000 apps and third-party extensions to enhance store functionality.
  • Payment Options: Supports over 100 payment options, including Shopify Payments, its own gateway.
  • 24/7 Customer Support: Provides round-the-clock customer support to assist users anytime.

Cons:

  • App Reliance: Some essential features are not built-in, necessitating the installation of apps, which may add costs.
  • Transaction Fees: Unless using Shopify Payments, additional transaction fees apply, increasing the overall cost of running a store.
  • Additional Costs: Be mindful of potential costs from transaction fees and third-party apps, which can impact monthly expenses.

Wix eCommerce

Overview 

Wix eCommerce is renowned for its intuitive drag-and-drop editor that enables users to build an online store without the complexities of coding or hosting. Backed by rigorous testing, Wix has proven to be a formidable player in the eCommerce platform arena.

Features

  • Embracing Product Diversity: Regardless of the type of goods or services you’re offering, Wix can handle them all. It supports the selling of both physical and digital products, making it a great platform for artists, musicians, writers, and craft enthusiasts. It also offers the Wix Bookings app for businesses that operate on a booking model, although these services can’t be sold as traditional products. 
  • Impressive Product Presentation: In the world of online shopping, presentation is key. Wix ensures that your products look their best with its user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing templates. The product zoom feature gives customers a detailed view of what they’re buying, improving the overall user experience. You can upload up to 15 product images and even product videos using the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, making sure your customers know exactly what they’re getting.
  • Convenient Payment Options: Wix supports most traditional payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe, and Square, offering more than 50 different payment options. While it doesn’t support Amazon or Apple Pay, it compensates with its in-house payment gateway, Wix Payments. All Wix sites come with an SSL certificate that secures your site and encrypts visitor information, ensuring the safe processing of payments.
  • Simplified Inventory Management: While Wix’s inventory system might not be the most powerful on the market, it allows the sale of unlimited products and the mass import of products and their variants via a CSV file. With the Wix Stores app, you can easily manage your inventory, track product numbers, and mark items as out of stock automatically.
  • Comprehensive Shipping Options: Wix makes shipping hassle-free with its integration with the ShipStation app. It also allows for a connection with dropshipping companies, eliminating the need for you to worry about packaging or shipping. Further, you can create personalized shipping labels, track orders, and set shipping and tax rules for your products.
  • Abandoned Cart Recovery: Did you know that about 69% of online carts are abandoned by users? With Wix’s abandoned cart recovery feature, you can send automatic emails to customers who have left items in their cart, potentially converting these lost sales.
  • Multichannel Selling: Wix offers the capacity to sell on Instagram, thereby exposing your brand to over a billion active monthly users. To sell on Facebook and Pinterest, you can integrate with third-party apps like Ecwid
  • Wix Ascend: Wix Ascend is a marketing solution that enables you to connect with customers, promote your brand, and automate your workflow. It is available as a separate subscription and offers additional tools and features based on the plan chosen.
  • Access to the App Market: The Wix Stores app, the cornerstone of Wix eCommerce, comes built-in with all Wix eCommerce templates. It offers an array of features from selling unlimited products to creating newsletters. If that’s not enough, the Wix App Market provides a vast collection of both free and paid apps that can add advanced functionality to your online store.
  • SEO-Ready: Lastly, all Wix sites are SEO-ready. The built-in SEO tools are designed to make your website as discoverable as possible by Google and other search engines. Wix sites are also mobile optimized, further enhancing the visibility of your site.

Support & Security

Just like boarding an airplane without any safety measures is unthinkable, a website builder without customer support could spell disaster for your online store. Wix, scoring 3.8/5 for help and support, won’t leave you hanging if things go south.

Wix provides a plethora of support options, including phone support, social media support, community forums, email support, video tutorials, 24/7 on-page editor support, and a comprehensive knowledge base. With the most expensive eCommerce plan, Business VIP, you even get priority response to tickets and priority phone support.

Pricing

Wix offers a range of pricing plans to cater to diverse business needs:

  • Free Plan: Website Builder only, no eCommerce functionality.
  • Light: $16/month (Website Builder only, no eCommerce functionality)
  • Core: $27/month
  • Business: $32/month
  • Business Elite: $159/month

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • User-Friendly Editor: Wix’s drag-and-drop editor allows easy customization of storefront designs.
  • Wide App Market: Access to a diverse range of free and paid apps for added functionality.
  • Multichannel Selling: Sell on various social channels, increasing brand exposure.
  • Beginner-Friendly: Intuitive interface and responsive templates suitable for beginners.
  • Advanced Ecommerce Tools: Features like abandoned cart recovery enhance customer engagement.
  • Multilingual Sites: Easily create sites for different countries to expand globally.

Cons:

  • Stock Management Alerts: Lack of notifications for low inventory levels may impact scaling efforts.
  • Overwhelming Creative Freedom: Excessive creative freedom might lead to design challenges for eCommerce best practices.

Squarespace

Overview 

With approximately 100,000 websites employing its commerce tools, Squarespace Ecommerce, also known as Squarespace Commerce, is the go-to platform for online store building within the Squarespace website builder. Seamlessly combining robust ecommerce functions with attractive design templates, Squarespace Commerce crafts visually stunning and operationally impressive online stores.

Features

  • Unlimited Products: Squarespace allows you to sell an unlimited number of products through its ecommerce platform, providing the flexibility to expand your inventory as needed.
  • Content Manager Interface: With a centralized content manager interface, managing your inventory becomes effortless. You can easily organize products based on price, name, or available stock.
  • Product Variants: Squarespace enables you to offer different product variants, such as sizes and colors, providing an enhanced shopping experience for your customers. Adding product variants is simple and user-friendly.
  • Automated Order Confirmation Emails: Squarespace automatically sends order confirmation emails to customers, keeping them informed about their purchase and streamlining the buying experience.
  • Social Media Integration: You can connect your Squarespace ecommerce site with your social media profiles, allowing for easy cross-posting and driving engagement across platforms. This feature enhances your brand visibility and can positively impact sales.
  • Tax Rules: Squarespace allows you to create tax rules based on the regions where you ship products, helping you comply with local tax requirements and manage tax rates efficiently.

Support & Security

Beyond customer experience, the worth of a website builder is often judged by the quality of user support and security features it offers.

Squarespace offers 24/7 customer support via email and Twitter, with live chat available from 4am to 8pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Even without phone support, Squarespace ensures that users have a “real, friendly human” to answer their questions.

In addition, the platform offers webinars, video tutorials, and even an option to hire a Squarespace Expert for hands-on help with designing or developing your site.

In terms of security, the platform comes with free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates for all domains, ensuring a secure connection and building trust with visitors. For payment processing, Squarespace uses PCI-DSS compliant services like Stripe and PayPal, enhancing your site’s legitimacy and ensuring the secure processing of customer’s payment card data.

Pricing

Squarespace’s pricing model caters to a wide range of needs, offering the following plans:

  • Personal: $23/month (Website Builder only, no ecommerce functionality)
  • Business: $33/month
  • Commerce BASIC: $36/month
  • Commerce ADVANCED: $65/month

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Exceptional Design Options: Squarespace offers the best design options among ecommerce website builders, ensuring that your online store looks professional and visually appealing.
  • High-Quality Features: Squarespace provides high-quality features for building and managing an ecommerce store, offering a robust inventory system and analytical tools.

Cons:

  • Limited App Store: The app store in Squarespace provides fewer choices compared to some competitor platforms, which may limit additional functionality and customization options.
  • Learning Curve: For some users, it may take some time to become familiar with navigating and utilizing all the features of Squarespace Ecommerce.

Best Ecommerce Hosting Providers: FAQs

The best hosting for e-commerce depends on your specific needs and priorities. Some top hosting providers for e-commerce websites include Bluehost, SiteGround, DreamHost, GoDaddy Hosting, Shopify, and Squarespace Ecommerce. These platforms offer a range of features, performance levels, and pricing options to cater to different types and sizes of online stores.
Ecommerce hosting refers to specialized web hosting services designed to support online stores and facilitate the selling of products or services on the internet. These hosting providers typically offer features like secure payment gateways, shopping cart functionality, SSL certificates for secure transactions, inventory management tools, and support for various product types.
Yes, cloud hosting can be an excellent option for e-commerce businesses. Cloud hosting offers scalability, flexibility, and high performance, which are crucial for handling the varying demands of an online store. With cloud hosting, your website can easily handle traffic spikes during busy shopping periods and ensures a seamless shopping experience for customers.
When it comes to dropshipping, factors like ease of use, scalability, and reliable performance are essential. Shopify is widely regarded as one of the best hosting platforms for dropshipping. It offers user-friendly tools, extensive app integrations, and multichannel selling capabilities, making it easier for dropshippers to manage their stores and products efficiently.

Best Ecommerce Hosting Providers: Summary

After our review of best ecommerce hosting providers, we hope that you’ll be able to pick the most suitable one for your business. 


Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.