Prestashop is a popular e-commerce platform.
A large number of online stores use this solution, which makes it easy to create and manage their site and business.
To function, Prestashop, like all web solutions, must be hosted on a server.
The success of an online store depends mainly on two criteria: a catalog supplied at attractive prices, and good performance.
To offer a large number of products in the store, you’ll need sufficient storage space, especially for images.
As for performance, this will depend directly on the hosting you choose.
The choice of hosting provider is therefore crucial to the success of your online store.
Let’s take a look at the different solutions available, and the criteria you should use to make the right choice. 
How to choose the right hosting for Prestashop?
Prestashop Hosting is the hosting solution offered by Prestashop.
Other hosting providers also offer solutions for Prestashop-based online stores.
To choose the solution that’s right for you, you need to consider a number of criteria.
Performance
To ensure that your site will display and react quickly to visitors’ actions, you need to check the hosting performance.
This performance should also be stable.
There’s no point in your site being fast only half the time.
It needs to respond quickly 24/7.
Your web hosting provider must guarantee you good performance with real stability over time.
To check the performance of a hosting provider, you need to check the following indicators, for example:
- Average page load time: this should be as low as possible.
- Availability rate: expressed as a percentage, this should be as high as possible.
- Fast storage services and capacity.
- Hosting capacity to absorb traffic peaks.
Performance may also vary depending on the hosting mode.
With shared hosting, you share server power with other sites.
With dedicated hosting, you have a server exclusively for your site.
Of course, performance is generally better with dedicated hosting.
With cloud hosting, the solution can be adapted to your needs.
If, at a given moment, traffic is greater and requires more power, additional resources will be allocated – and invoiced, of course.
Although this solution is often a little more expensive, it nevertheless has the merit of being able to adapt to heavier traffic over a short period of time.
It’s a bit like extending the doors and floor space of your store at Christmas time, for example.
Safety
Security should be a priority for every website.
This is even truer for online stores.
The unavailability of your Prestashop site can result in a definite loss of revenue and seriously damage your brand image.
An online store will also store information on prices, orders, payments and, of course, customers.
As the owner of the Prestashop site, you have an obligation to ensure the security of the data you collect in the course of your business.
Your customers will be sending you personal data, and you need to ensure that it is not divulged.
To ensure the security of your Prestashop site, the hosting provider must offer the following services in particular:
- Setting up an SSL certificate (this service can be free or for a fee).
- Regular site and data backups.
- Intrusion protection system.
- Antivirus.
- Antispam.
Technical support
The availability of technical support is also essential.
Whether you’re just setting up a Prestashop site or you’re a seasoned veteran, you may need help from your hosting provider’s technical support at any time.
Whether you simply need to ask a question, solve a problem or restore a site backup, technical support must be easy to reach and, above all, respond within a reasonable timeframe.
Ideally, technical support should be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
It’s easy to check whether customer service is available by phone, e-mail or chat.
The price
Price is also an important factor in the choice of hosting provider for your Prestashop solution, even if it doesn’t have to dominate the others.
A low price is not necessarily synonymous with quality.
First and foremost, you need to look at the host’s price/performance ratio.
The comparison should be based primarily on the services offered.
Entry-level packages generally don’t include services that are included in more expensive packages, such as a domain name and SSL certificate for security.
Disk space, database and bandwidth allowances are sometimes limited.
Access to technical support may also be reduced or response times extended.
It’s also worth looking at the monthly and annual subscription costs.
Depending on the offer, it may be more attractive to commit to a full year with the hosting company, and pay in a lump sum rather than in monthly instalments.
The hosting provider usually rewards this commitment with a reduction in the annual subscription cost.
This can be worthwhile, since it can represent the equivalent of two monthly payments. 
Prestashop Hosted solution
Prestashop Hosted is a turnkey hosting offer.
It’s a shared hosting package that includes Prestashop installation, maintenance and updating services.
Other technical services are also included, such as management of the domain name, SSL certificate for site security, and daily backup of all data.
This solution offers a significant advantage.
It lets you offload the technical side of site management almost completely.
This means you can concentrate fully on your commercial activity, developing your catalog, managing your orders and vs. customers.
The Prestashop Hosted offer also includes support and a step-by-step guide to help you manage the back office of your online store.
What’s more, this solution is optimized for Prestashop.
This means that the entire configuration is designed for high performance.
Compatibility with most modules and themes is also assured.
Prestashop is regularly updated, so you’re sure to benefit from the latest features.
You also benefit from security updates.
Prestashop Hosted does have one drawback, however: its price.
Prestashop Hosted is indeed more expensive than other hosting providers.
However, you can take advantage of a free 14-day trial period, during which you can familiarize yourself with the tools on offer and decide whether to continue.
Prestashop Hosted’s rates are indexed to the company’s monthly turnover:
- 24 euros ex VAT per month for sales of less than 1,000 euros ex VAT per month.
- 65 euros excl. tax per month for sales between 1001 and 10,000 euros excl. tax per month.
- 150 euros (excl. VAT) per month for sales in excess of 10,001 euros (excl. VAT) per month.
If your company generates sales in excess of 60,000 euros (excluding VAT) per month, Prestashop Hosted will provide you with a quote for the hosting solution.
Prestashop Hosting solution
Prestashop Hosting also offers a turnkey solution for setting up a Prestashop e-commerce site, as well as personalized support.
The offer is aimed at both SMEs and large corporations.
This solution is optimized to cope with high volumes of requests, making it ideal for high-traffic sites.
Several packages are available, depending on your budget and requirements.
But as your needs may evolve, as your business grows for example, you can change your plan at any time without penalty.
One of the main drawbacks of Prestashop Hosting is that you don’t have total control over your site.
Indeed, the security rules imposed are strict, and you can’t install just any theme or module.
Only themes and modules compatible with Prestashop Hosting will be accessible (there are over 600).
Advanced features such as multi-boutique and multilingual capabilities require additional payment.
Finally, you won’t be able to access source code or server files.
This means, for example, that you won’t be able to develop or have developed a particular theme or module for your business.
Prestashop Hosting is available in three variants, depending on performance requirements:
- S size: €250 ex VAT per month (16-core CPU, 16 GB Ram, 450 GB disk, up to 50 simultaneous users).
- Size M: €450 ex-VAT per month (CPU 24 cores, Ram 24 GB, Disk 450 GB, up to 100 simultaneous users).
- Size L: €650 ex VAT per month (36-core CPU, 36 GB Ram, 450 GB disk, up to 200 simultaneous users).
Other hosting for Prestashop
There are many hosting providers offering solutions tailored to Prestashop online stores.
Here are a few examples of well-known hosting providers with proven quality of service.
OVHcloud
OVHcloud is Europe’s leading hosting provider.
The company has several data centers located throughout France.
The company offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to dedicated hosting.
Cloud and VPS solutions are also available.
OVHcloud also offers tools for easy installation and configuration of a Prestashop site, including an e-commerce pack.
OVH’s rates are around ten euros per month, excluding tax, for shared hosting.
For dedicated hosting, rates range from €50 to over €500 plus VAT, depending on the power you need.
O2Switch
O2Switch is a French hosting company that offers a unique, unlimited package.
The price is 7 euros ex VAT per month.
At this price, of course, we’re talking about shared hosting.
Nevertheless, this offer is very competitive and imposes no limits in terms of number of sites or databases, and includes a domain name.
O2Switch has a datacenter in France, near Clermont-Ferrand.
Hostinger
Hostinger is a European hosting provider with a datacenter near Paris.
Solutions range from around 5 euros ex-VAT per month for shared hosting to around 30 euros ex-VAT per month for Cloud Professional hosting.
Data can be hosted in Europe (France, Netherlands, Lithuania, UK), Asia (Singapore, India), North America (USA) or South America (Brazil).
To conclude on hosting for Prestashop
Building and setting up a Prestashop online store isn’t a very complex operation, although it can be time-consuming and requires a certain amount of skill.
The choice of hosting provider, on the other hand, is crucial.
The price of hosting shouldn’t be the most important criterion, although it is of course worth taking into account.
Above all, you need to evaluate the service provided in terms of performance, security and support.
The fact that site data is stored on European soil is also important.
So compare the different offers and choose the most suitable solution.
If you’d like to put your Prestashop site online, don’t hesitate to contact me.
With many years’ experience in the e-commerce field, I’ll be able to help you choose the right hosting provider to meet the specific needs of your Prestashop site.
