Which is the best web and app hosting choice for a startup?
Should we use a web and app-hosting option? Would this be better than using traditional or cloud computing software like AWS? We're trying to take the price, space, traffic and scalability into account.
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Nov 21, 2019
I am maintaining two websites. Previously, I have used Hostgator and Bluehost. In my opinion, I prefer Hostgator as the best solution.
Nov 20, 2019
You better use traditional shared hosting first. Why? Because you are new, if you use cloud computing like Azure and AWS, you might be a little bit confused with their interface and FYI, they are costly. If this is just a startup, you need to keep your costs down, right? Once your business is growing, then it is your choice to migrate to cloud-like AWS or Azure. This is my opinion.
I personally use Asphostportal to host my .NET website and my client's sites. They are offering low-cost hosting but very powerful. For Linux hosting, maybe you can go with a provider like HostPapa.
Nov 14, 2019
Whether you run an established small business or are just starting out, web hosting services will be needed at some stage, unless you plan on hosting your website on a (large and expensive) server yourself.
Web hosting platforms will normally offer a few different packages including shared hosting and dedicated servers. For startups and small businesses, shared hosting is the most fitting option as cost remains low while maintaining decent reliability and customer service.
Shared hosting means you will share a server with a variety of sites and while some argue that this can slow down site speed, for small businesses with relatively simple and clean websites, this shouldn't be a major concern.
Dedicated hosting refers to renting your own physical server and should really be reserved for larger enterprises with high traffic levels. So while this may be suitable for your business one day, there's no need to opt for an expensive dedicated server until you're ready.
Here are the five highest recommended shared hosting providers:
01. InterServer.net
02. Hostinger.com
03. Bluehost.com
04. iPage.com
05. A2Hosting.com
Below are the best cloud/VPS hosting providers:
01. InMotionHosting.com
02. HostGator.com
03. Hostwinds.com
04. InterServer.net
Jul 9, 2019
Regardless of whether you maintain a set up private company or are simply beginning, web hosting administrations will be required at some stage, except if you plan on hosting your website on an (enormous and costly) server yourself.
Web hosting stages will ordinarily offer a couple of various bundles including shared hosting and devoted servers. For new companies and independent ventures, shared hosting is the most fitting alternative as the cost stays low while keeping up better than average dependability and client administration.
Common hosting implies you will impart a server to an assortment of destinations and keeping in mind that some contend this can hinder webpage speed, for private companies with moderately basic and clean websites, this shouldn't be a noteworthy concern.
Devoted hosting alludes to leasing your very own physical server and should be saved for bigger endeavors with high traffic levels. So while this might be reasonable for your business one day, there's no compelling reason to choose a costly committed server until you're prepared.
We investigate the absolute best common web hosting administrations out there for new businesses, business visionaries and private ventures.
Aug 6, 2014
Try iPage if you want something quick, convenient and DIY kind of hosting. If you want space, you can try Rackspace.
Aug 5, 2014
I agree with Patrick. Certainly need additional information. Also you'll want to determine who is managing the service. If you're looking to handle ongoing protection, prevention, patching, monitoring and other maintenance on your own it will cost less than if you were to select a solution that is fully managed. However if you don't have the time or skill set, fully managed could be worth it. More information would help the group to provide better insight.
Aug 5, 2014
Without your requirement details is hard to answer your question, but choosing google's cloud platform might address all your future challenges:
1. if you need infrastructure as a service, take a look at this: https://cloud.google.com/
2. if you need a platform as a service (it is part of the cloud platform as well), take a look at this: https://cloud.google.com/products/app-engine/
- more details here: https://developers.google.com/appengine/docs/whatisgoogleappengine?_ga=1.66421742.1782492644.1407234125
However in my opinion choosing a good platform is not enough and not the most important step in an early stage. Having the right skilled tech and product dev team is much more important. They can than decide based on your special requirements the right platform to choose....
Aug 4, 2014
Is hard to give a good answer, as there is too little information about your requirements.
Are you asking a question about an application that you currently have and need some hosting for or are you asking as a start up with all needs from email, docs, schedule, CMS - in that case I would recommend Google Apps! + Wordpress.org for your CMS.
Aug 4, 2014
Without any further details about both the Website and Application it is hard to answer your question.
Ofcourse there are the primary aspects for Webhosting, like the expected number of requests, the deserved response times, specific (web)application features/requirements.
Next to that, a feature that is often not considered, is the security requirement. If you work with any sensitive information you might wanna think about double or triple tier hosting solutions.
Then there is the business aspect, do you want just hosting or a partner in hosting that can think with you and guide you as a startup with the weh/application hosting.
Aug 4, 2014
Greetings;
My answer is no, cloud computing take the load off your IT department, backups, upgrades, updates and security. In the same hand accessibility if not cloud will be limited and valuable. You n
Aug 4, 2014
An app can be powerful and easy to manage in gathering data. Security and flexibility are possible with right platform. What type of functions are you looking for?
Aug 4, 2014
Get,
you can use the old-fashioned method of documenting your requirements then submitting to multiple hosting vendors to configure and price.
Your software platform may be a consideration as you want a hosting company familiar with the technology. For example, I was with a Magento shop and we typically requested bids from Nexcess, Peeer1, and Rackpace who specialized in this.
Another consideration is the stage of company development. If prototyping / early adopter stage then you could start off with a simple commodity service like GoDaddy to concentrate on functionality and leave hosting complexity, e.g. AWS, until volume warrants it.
Good luck!
Aug 4, 2014
It depends on your needs.
Like Patrick mentioned, you must determine these needs and choose a provider or partner. Prepare a short list about technologies involved and business goals as following.
1. Vendors, infrastructure, languages, frameworks etc
2. Ask yourself / team about the solution model and what are the paths to grow and shrink your solution to determine a cloud model
3. Choose a partner that have internet links in the region you plan to act
4. If you are in US try to check http://cloud.cio.gov/
... and design at least a simple business model before deploy your solution.
Good luck!
Aug 4, 2014
I completely agree with Patrick since the scope is unclear.
You have to also define the budget, what kind of technology to build your apps and the kind of redundancy you are looking for.
We have used Amazon EC2 extensively for our clients for hosting and supporting OpenERP (Odoo) systems and some custom solutions in the insurance domain. We also use their S3 storage and AMIs for multiple redundancy distributed in different locations working on fail overs.
FYI - Amazon has free tire cloud instances for EC2 running some Linux distros if you want to give it a try. But these are less powerful instances and will not give good performance. If your app is a simple PHP based app this will be a good staging server.
Aug 4, 2014
There's no easy answer to that -- there are lots of reasons to choose one or the other, but for a start-up it will most likely depend on the skills and ideologies of your development team.
At its core, AWS provides virtually every piece that you need to build your own platform (load balancers, DNS, server instances, highly available databases, networking, etc.) but unless you plan on using a non-standard stack, there are several ways to adopt some best practices without architecting your own systems. Heroku, Google App Engine, Stackdock, and Amazon's own Elastic Beanstalk, etc. provide simpler methods for building and deploying web apps.
For an early stage start-up that doesn't have unusual requirements, you can save a lot of time by using the platform services (Heroku, GAE, Elastic Beanstalk, etc.) and focusing your energy on development. But remember, not all of the platform services are created equal.
On the other hand, some platform services have limitations on what's supported by their systems. Be prepared to work around deficiencies.
The best advice would be to have your development team try them out and determine which suits their style the best. Always design for failure, make testing a core part of your development process, and aim to make deployments as automated and painless as possible.
-Tim
Aug 4, 2014
Get Pall- great question that you are asking and not running blindly in the arms of AWS. The first consideration is how involved you want to be in daily running and change control of your web presence and applications? If the answer is " not much" then I would suggest you speak to hosting provider- either dedicated or managed. They will provide you management up to the OS and above if you require, storage management, portal and analytics as well as solid level 1-2 support. I would suggest speaking with Rackspace, Fireshost, Iland, GoDaddy and even SMB plans from your local cable provider like TWC( Navisite), Xfinity of Optimum Online. They good news about these providers is that you don't need to be a developer or highly technical to run the environment- they do it for you.
If you do have developer or devops talent on staff and you want to be intimately involved in the day to day scaling, provisioning, management and support of your environment, then infrastructure as a service or platform as a service are the best option. Think of it a provider who gives you self-service access to tools to run your environment including server templates, support for programming languages and a huge amount of dials and options to customized your environment. The provdiers who I would consider are Linode, AWS, MSFT Azure, Google App engine, Servint, GoGrid, Joyent and Mediatemple. Beware- If you are not technical, you will experience some heartburn in trying to get the most out the self-service nature of these providers.
The good news is that both these tiers of hosting/cloud services are highly commoditized so you should be able to keep your hosting bill in the $10s-$100s monthly unless you need large amounts of compute or scale frequently.
***Once caveat about AWS as it has the highest penetration in cloud. If you do use EC2 or S3 or any other their consumption based compute and storage offerings, monitor is closely because it you just turn it on and then tune it down during slow times, you will be paying for the service the entire month which can turn into $1000s of dollars.
Good luck,
Ted
Aug 4, 2014
If you have Comcast Business as your internet provider, you already have webhosting free. It can also be upgraded for a low rate. It's a service they provide with all their accounts. If you need help, private message me.
Aug 4, 2014
We use 3ix.com and have for many years, for 1, 3, 5 or 8 dollars a month - and easy installation of Wordpress, Joomla or any/many other applications. It's worth a look.
Aug 4, 2014
If your application is a static site, then just use weebly to host it. If your application is dynamic with a full application behind it, then use AWS.