Different Types of Joomla Hosting

Learn about the different types of hosting: shared, dedicated, VPS and more.

Steven Johnson
by | Posted: April 6, 2010 | Updated: June 11, 2013
Blog Post Image 734px Wide

Joomla can be hosted many ways. From free hosting plans to dedicated managed servers and everything in between.

Use our guide to learn about different types of Joomla Hosting & find the right plan.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most common type of Joomla Hosting.  In shared hosting your website is placed on a server with hundreds of other websites, lowering the cost. Plans are inexpensive and the service is generally good. 

One downside is when another account on your shared server has an unexpected increase in traffic or script that get out of control, the performance of your site can suffer.  In General shared hosting is a great fit for many people / websites.  Shared Hosting is a great place to start a new site and when the site grows you can step up your hosting plan.

  • Price Range: $5 to $10/month
  • Pros: Inexpensive, easy to set up,
  • Cons: Server performance not always the best,
  • Shared Hosing is a good for: Personal sites, hobby sites, proof of concept sites, people on a limited budget.

All Companies with Shared Joomla Hosting Plans.

Our Editor Top Picks for best Shared Hosting.

Business Class Hosting

Business Class Hosing is the step up from shared hosting.  The price is a little higher. typically $10 to $40/month.  You get a lot in return.  The servers are faster and have fewer accounts. The support is better with more options.  

Business Hosting is a good fit for those who need more reliable performance from their web site and have a few more dollars to spend.  We typically tell people if you site makes money or helps your brick and mortar business make money you should consider Joomla Business Hosting.

  • Price Range: $10 to $40/month
  • Pros: Much more reliable than basic shared hosting
  • Cons: A little more expensive, not as reliable as VPS or Dedicated Hosting
  • Business Class Hosting is good for: Online businesses that make money, offline business sites that make money, people who need a fast site, and improved technical support.

All Companies with Joomla Business Class Hosting Plans

Our Editor Top Picks for Joomla Business Hosting

VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting

Virtual Private Servers are the step above Business Class Hosting.  Using server virtualization software the hosting companies are able to run many "Virtual" server using one physical server.  You will be the only one using your virtual sever.  With a VPS server you have the ability to make changes to the operating system and web server that you are not allowed to with business class or shared hosting.

  • Price Range: $25 to $250/month
  • Pros: More control and security, Improved reliability
  • Cons: Increased cost, still sharing a physical server with other customers.
  • VPS Hosting is good for: special configuration requirements, increased security, Business Sites that need more control but do not have fund for a fully dedicated solution.

All Companies with Joomla VPS Hosting Plans

Our Editor Top Picks for Joomla VPS Hosting (coming soon)

Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated Server Hosting is pretty much the top of the line in web hosting.  The hosting company provides the server and the software to sites that have special requirements

  • Price Range: $250 to $500/month
  • Pros: Lots of control, you control all sites on the server
  • Cons: Expensive
  • Sites types that are a good fit: Specialized or high volume sites, Joomla Developers who want to host their client sites, sites with a big budget, sites that need total security,

All Companies with Joomla Dedicated Server Hosting Plans

Cloud Hosting

With Cloud hosting your site does not live on one specific server, rather it lives on several or a "cloud" of servers.  In the event that one of the servers has a problem the other servers take over and your site never goes down.  This is a more advanced setup.  There is only one company that is providing this type of service and it is CloudAccess.net.  We have not been able to give them a full review but hope to soon.

  • Price Range: $20 to $99/month
  • Pros: Site will not go down,
  • Cons: Higher price
  • Sites types that are a good fit: Business Sites, sites that need to always be up and running fast.

All Companies with Joomla Cloud Hosting Plans (coming soon)

Joomla as a Service

Joomla as a Service are companies that provide the servers, server software, install and maintain Joomla for you.  There are not to many companies that provide this service and unfortunately we have not been able to review any of them.  Two companies that do provide Joomla as a Service are Simpleweb.com and CloudAccess.net

  • Price Range: $20 to $99/month
  • Pros: Joomla is maintained for you, excellent tech support
  • Cons: Not as much control over Joomla
  • Sites types that are a good fit: Businesses who just want to run a site with out worrying about the technical details.

All Companies with Joomla as a Service Hosting Plans (coming soon)

Reseller Hosting

Reseller Hosting allows you to resell your server space to others.  This is often done by web developers or people looking to make money from their support services.

  • Price Range: $20 to $150 /month
  • Pros: Great for people looking to resell hosting
  • Cons: No cons, this service is for those looking to resell hosting
  • Sites types that are a good fit: Resellers

All Companies with Joomla Reseller Hosting Plans

Green Hosting

Green Hosting is for those looking to help the earth.  Green Hosting companies run energy saving servers, use energy from renewable sources or purchase renewable energy credits.  Sometimes green hosting is more expensive other times the price is the same as regular hosting.  A few companies such as GreenGeeks have built a brand around green hosting while other companies like HostGator or Rochen buy the credits to make all of their hosting green.

  • Price Range: $5 to $15 /month
  • Pros: Helps the Earth
  • Cons: costs a little more
  • Sites types that are a good fit: People who want to help the Earth

All Companies with Joomla Green Hosting Plans

Budget Hosting

Budget Hosting is for people who are looking for very inexpensive hosting.  Generally you get what you pay for, which is not much.  If you do go with a budget hosting I would go with a larger well known company. (HostGator, JustHost, etc).  These big companies offer budget hosting to get you in the door hoping that you will move up to a more expensive account.  The smaller unknown companies offering budget or free hosting are often times a scam or very unreliable.

  • Price Range: Free to $5/month
  • Pros: Inexpensive, Gets your site up and going
  • Cons: You get what you pay for, service can be unreliable
  • Sites types that are a good fit: People with no money, People who just want to get a site live.

All Companies with Joomla Budget Hosting Plans

Windows Hosting

Don't Do it.  If you can host Joomla on Linux you will be much happier and avoid many support issues.  Joomla was develop on Linux / Apache / Mysql / PHP and it runs best in this environment.  Others have been able to get Joomla to run on Windows so it can be done, we avoid Joomla on Windows at all costs.

Conclusion:

If you think/hope your site will grow and could benefit from an improved Joomla Hosting plan be sure to go with a company that can grow with you.  Joomla Hosting Reviews now lists all plan types offered by each company.  Most of our recommended hosting companies offer the higher end plans but a few like blue host specialize in only shared hosting.

Now you are familiar with the major types of Joomla Hosting check out our guide on:
How to Select the Best Joomla Hosting Company

Steven Johnson

Steven is a Joomla web developer and worked with Joomla since the Mambo days. He has built websites for startup businesses all the way to for Fortune 500 companies. A graduate of Georgia Tech in Chemical Engineering, he now happily spends his time building websites and reviewing all types of technology.