4.8 
OpenCart is a special type of online store system created by Christopher G. Mann. It was made to be free and open for anyone to use. As more and more people started using OpenCart, companies noticed that they needed special hosting services just for OpenCart.
OpenCart hosting means web hosting services specially designed and set up to work well with the OpenCart online store platform. It helps them work better and keeps them safe from hackers. It also makes it easier to change and update the store.
Top 6 OpenCart Hosting 2024
- FastComet – Best Managed OpenCart Hosting
- Hostinger – Top Beginner-Friendly OpenCart Hosting
- HostArmada – Best Overall OpenCart Hosting
- IONOS – Top Cloud OpenCart Hosting
The Best OpenCart Hosting 2024 (Bought and Tested)
FastComet offers managed OpenCart hosting services, providing a hosting environment specifically optimized for OpenCart-based websites. With managed OpenCart hosting, FastComet takes care of various technical aspects and provides additional support to ensure the smooth operation and optimal performance of your OpenCart store.
- Overall Score: 3
- Pricing: 3
- Features: 4
- Performance: 4
- Support: 3
- User-friendly: 3
Pricing – 3: FastComet OpenCart hosting plans start with Fastcloud Basic costing $2.74/month, offering a single website, 15 GB SSD space, and 45 days money back guarantee. It also has Fastcloud Extra costing $5.49/month for unlimited websites, 35 GB SSD Space, 45 days money back, and other additional features. Accepted methods of payment on FastComet are major credit cards and PayPal.
Features – 4: FastComet offers security features for OpenCart websites, including SSL certificates, DDoS protection, firewall configurations, and malware scanning. It optimizes hosting environments for OpenCart, employs server-level caching, and integrates a CDN for global static content distribution. These reduce latency and improve delivery speed for visitors.
Performance – 4: FastComet optimizes OpenCart websites using CSS, RAM, CPU, and bandwidth to reduce latency and improve response times. Utilizing SSDs, the company employs optimization techniques like gzip compression, image optimization, and browser caching to reduce file sizes and enhance rendering speed. Providing sufficient server resources helps handle traffic spikes and prevent bottlenecks.
Support – 3: FastComet’s support team provides 24/7 assistance for hosting-related inquiries, including FTP access, ticketing, and phone support, addressing any issues and ensuring customer satisfaction.
User-friendly – 3: FastComet offers a one-click installation option for OpenCart, simplifying e-commerce store setup for users with limited technical knowledge. It features an intuitive control panel, allowing users to manage hosting account aspects like domains, email accounts, databases, and file management. Additionally, FastComet includes a website builder tool, reducing coding and web design skills for beginners to create and customize their OpenCart website.
Additional Parameters – User Interface and Navigation: FastComet usually designs its hosting interfaces and user dashboards with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. The navigation is typically intuitive, allowing users to quickly access the features and settings they need.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- OpenCart optimization
- User-friendly control panel
- Free OpenCart themes
- 24/7 customer support
- Scalable options
Cons:
- Limited data centers
- Pricey plans
- Plan limitations
Hostinger is a web hosting provider known for its beginner-friendly approach and affordability. While it may not have specific OpenCart-optimized hosting plans, Hostinger can still be a suitable choice for hosting OpenCart-based websites due to its user-friendly features and reliable performance.
- Overall Score: 3
- Pricing: 3
- Features: 3
- Performance: 3
- Support: 3
- User-friendly: 3
Pricing – 3: Hostinger’s online store pricing plan starts at $2.99/month for website builder and e-commerce features. You can sell up to 500 products, free domain ($9.99 value), free email, and unmetered traffic (unlimited GB). Major credit cards, e-wallets, and cryptocurrencies are accepted payment methods on Hostinger.
Features – 3: Hostinger offers SSDs for faster data access and improved website performance, enhancing user experience. One-click installers like Softaculous and Zacky App Installer simplify setup. Hostinger supports multiple PHP versions that are compatible with OpenCart. MySQL databases are commonly used for data storage. Free SSL certificates are included in hosting plans, ensuring secure storage and protection of sensitive customer information.
Performance – 3: Hostinger’s modern server hardware, including SSD storage, CPU, and RAM, enhance website speed and data retrieval. LiteSpeed web server with caching and HTTP/2 support enhances OpenCart performance, with higher-tier plans offering more resources.
Support – 3: Hostinger provides 24/7 customer support for OpenCart-related questions and issues through multiple channels, including live chat, ticketing system, and knowledge base resources. Live chat enables real-time interaction with support agents, while the ticketing system addresses support requests.
User-friendly – 3: Hostinger offers a user-friendly control panel for OpenCart hosting, enabling easy management of resources, domains, and email settings, with a website builder tool for customization.
Additional Parameters – CDN Integration: Hostinger often offers integration with content delivery networks (CDNs) such as Cloudflare. CDNs help distribute your website’s content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency and improving page load times for visitors in different geographical locations.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Multiple PHP versions
- SSD storage
- MySQL database
- DNS management
- Free SSL certificate
Cons:
- Lack of OpenCart-specific optimizations
- Limited scalability
- Absence of OpenCart-specific features
HostArmada is the overall top OpenCart hosting provider, providing solutions for hosting many online businesses, including OpenCart websites. Its hosting plans include features such as one-click installation of popular e-commerce software, compatibility with different payment gateways, and integration with popular e-commerce plugins and extensions.
- Overall Score: 5
- Pricing: 5
- Features: 5
- Performance: 5
- Support: 5
- User-friendly: 5
Pricing – 5: HostArmada OpenCart hosting plans start at $2.99/month for 1 website, 15 GB SSD storage, 2 Cores CPU, 2 GB RAM, free domain, free SSL, and 7 daily backups. Major credit cards and Paypal are accepted for payment on HostArmada.
Features – 5: HostArmada provides excellent web hosting services specifically designed for online shops. It prioritizes the security of e-commerce stores by offering free SSL certificates, protection against online attacks, regular backups, and malware detection.
Performance – 5: HostArmada utilizes fast server infrastructure with SSD storage, resulting in quicker website loading times. The company employs tools such as LiteSpeed web server to enhance website performance. These tools facilitate faster retrieval of frequently needed information, improving website functionality and speed.
Support – 5: HostArmada offers 24-hour customer support, including on weekends and holidays, to ensure customers get quick support when needed. HostArmada also offers helpful resources on its website, including articles, tutorials, and FAQs, to help customers solve common problems hosting their online stores.
User-friendly – 5: HostArmada offers a user-friendly control panel with intuitive tools for managing hosting, domains, databases, and e-commerce websites. It also offers one-click installers for popular platforms like OpenCart, WooCommerce, Magento, and PrestaShop, simplifying the setup process.
Additional Parameters – Server Uptime and Stability: HostArmada ensures servers are stable, ensuring uninterrupted online store access and preventing financial loss.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- E-commerce-friendly features
- Scalability
- Security measures
- User-friendly control panel
- 24/7 customer support
Cons:
- Pricey hosting plans
IONOS, formerly known as 1&1 IONOS, is a popular hosting provider that offers a range of hosting services, including OpenCart hosting. Its cloud hosting services provide a flexible and scalable infrastructure that support OpenCart installations effectively.
- Overall Score: 4
- Pricing: 4
- Features: 5
- Performance: 4
- Support: 4
- User-friendly: 5
Pricing – 4: IONOS OpenCart hosting price starts from $4/month with 1 vCore CPU, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB SSD to $320/month with 24 vCores CPU, 48 GB RAM, and 480 GB SSD. Methods of payment on IONOS are credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal.
Features – 5: IONOS provides cloud hosting environments for OpenCart, using SSDs and caching technologies for enhanced performance. It offers scalable plans for growth, ensuring smooth performance and security measures like SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS protection, and regular backups.
Performance – 4: IONOS uses modern server hardware and network technologies, including SSD storage for faster data retrieval and improved website loading times. It operates multiple data centers strategically, reducing latency and enhancing performance by optimizing static content delivery and server load.
Support – 4: IONOS offers multiple support channels, including phone, live chat, and email, to accommodate different communication methods. Community forums and online user communities offer additional support and insights.
User-friendly – 5: IONOS provides a user-friendly control panel for managing OpenCart hosting, offering intuitive interfaces and features for website, databases, and email accounts. It offers a one-click installation option, making setup simple.
Additional Parameters – Performance Optimization Tools: IONOS offers performance optimization tools like HTTP/2 and GZIP compression for improved OpenCart store performance.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Performance and reliability
- One-click OpenCart installation
- Performance optimization
- Scalable resources
- Security measures
- Developer-friendly environment
Cons:
- No OpenCart expertise
- Pricey renewal plans
Best OpenCart Hosting Services: Final Recommendations
We have thoroughly assessed multiple OpenCart/e-commerce hosting providers, considering critical factors such as ease of use, design and templates, technical support, help with building, and platform policies.
HostArmada is our top OpenCart/e-commerce hosting provider for all sizes of online stores and businesses with scalable infrastructure, global data centers, and system support.
We recommend HostArmada because it offers OpenCart hosting services with support for various e-commerce platforms, one-click installation of popular e-commerce software, compatibility with payment gateways, and integration with popular e-commerce plugins and extensions. HostArmada OpenCart hosting is available for all brands of online stores, with distinct features, pricing options, and 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Types of OpenCart Hosting: Which is right for you?
1. Shared Hosting: Shared hosting is a cost-effective option for small online stores with limited visitors, easy for beginners, and requires minimal technical skills. Ideal for new businesses with limited resources.
2. VPS Hosting: VPS hosting offers more control and resources than shared hosting, making it ideal for e-commerce websites with moderate to high traffic and resource demands. It offers better performance and scalability.
3. Dedicated Server Hosting: Dedicated server hosting is the best option for big online stores with lots of visitors and special needs as it gives better control, speed, and options.
4. Cloud Hosting: Cloud hosting offers scalability, high availability, and flexibility for e-commerce websites with fluctuating traffic and resource demands. It enables resource scaling based on demand, ensuring peak traffic handling.
5. Managed Hosting: Managed hosting handles server management tasks, allowing e-commerce businesses to focus on setup, security, updates, and backups available in shared, VPS, or dedicated server environments.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an OpenCart Hosting
1. Performance and Reliability: Look for a hosting provider that offers reliable performance and high uptime guarantees. Your e-commerce website should load quickly and be accessible to visitors at all times. Consider factors like server infrastructure, SSD storage, data center locations, and the provider’s track record for uptime.
2. Scalability and Resources: Determine whether the hosting provider can accommodate the scalability needs of your e-commerce store. As your business grows, you may require additional server resources such as CPU, RAM, bandwidth, and storage. Ensure the hosting plans can be easily upgraded to meet your evolving needs.
3. Security Features: E-commerce websites handle sensitive customer data, so security is crucial. Look for hosting providers that offer robust security measures such as SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS protection, malware scanning, and regular backups. Ensure that the hosting environment is PCI-compliant if you plan to process online payments.
4. Customer Support: Reliable and responsive customer support is essential for resolving any technical issues or concerns promptly. Go for hosting providers that offer 24/7 customer support through various channels like live chat, phone, and ticketing systems. Evaluate the quality of their support by checking reviews and testimonials from existing customers.
5. Pricing and Value: Compare the pricing structures of different hosting providers and determine if they align with your budget. Consider the features, resources, and level of support offered in each plan. Be cautious of low introductory prices that may significantly increase upon renewal.
6. User-Friendly Control Panel: A user-friendly control panel, such as cPanel or a custom hosting dashboard, simplifies the management of your hosting account, domains, email accounts, databases, and other settings. Be sure the hosting provider offers an intuitive control panel that suits your needs.
7. Backup and Disaster Recovery: Regular backups protect your e-commerce store’s data. Check if the hosting provider offers automatic backups, how frequently they are performed, and if you have easy access to restore points. Consider additional backup options and disaster recovery plans for added protection.
8. Reviews and Reputation: Research and read reviews about the hosting provider to gauge the experiences of other users. Pay attention to feedback regarding performance, support, uptime, and overall customer satisfaction. Look for a reputable hosting provider with positive reviews and a good reputation in the industry.
How We Rank OpenCart Hosting and How You Should Choose
- Ease-of-Use25%
- Help with Building15%
- Design and Templates30%
- Technical Support20%
- Platform Policies10%
Our experts at Hostadvice regularly test OpenCart builders to rank them and determine the best options. They continuously improve review methodologies and provide accurate results by testing products from leading web hosting providers.
Our experts at Hostadvice buy the plans just like a regular customer would do just to test them out. This is the best thing about our testing and ranking process. To decide how important certain factors are for OpenCart/e-commerce service, we assign them specific percentages.
Ease-of-Use (25%): Overall ease of the setup process, ease of navigation through the dashboard, ease of using and navigating through the Control Panel, and the slope of the learning curve.
Help with Building (15%): How the provider’s team helps users during the building process, whether there is a designated agent for each user.
Design and Templates (30%): Amount of pre-built templates provided, quality of the templates provided, customizability of the templates, and ability to change the template when the site is already live.
Technical Support (20%): Technical knowledge and skill of the staff, what kind of help they provide (24/7 support via email, live chat, phone), response time, and issue-resolving abilities.
Platform Policies (10%): Overall transparency, whether the provider discloses its policies or has hidden fees that are not mentioned from the start.
What is OpenCart hosting, and who is it for?
OpenCart hosting means hosting services that are made especially for the OpenCart online store platform to work better. OpenCart is a free tool to make and take care of your online store. OpenCart hosting is made just for websites that use OpenCart.
OpenCart hosting caters to individuals, businesses, and organizations creating and managing online stores, suitable for startups and enterprises.
