PrestaShop hosting on Belgian servers
PrestaShop is a full e-commerce platform and needs an environment with a current PHP version and the usual PHP extensions, enough working memory, room for its cache and template compilation and a MySQL database, preferably with a second one for a test environment. On our shared hosting a small to medium-sized PrestaShop shop runs without any special work, with SSL, daily backups and DDoS protection included. With a large catalogue or many simultaneous visitors, a managed VPS is the better basis.
In terms of requirements, PrestaShop sits between an ordinary CMS and a heavy platform like Magento. It runs comfortably on shared hosting as long as the plan has enough memory and the PHP version matches your PrestaShop version. What makes a shop slow or vulnerable in practice is rarely the server and usually a module nobody maintains any more. Here are the requirements and the pitfalls.
What PrestaShop asks of its environment
A current PHP version with the right extensions
PrestaShop publishes, per version, which PHP versions are supported and which extensions it expects, among others for images, compression and secure connections. Those extensions are ready by default with us, and you choose the PHP version per site yourself, so you can move along with your PrestaShop version.
Enough working memory
A shop with many products, combinations and modules needs noticeably more memory per request than a business site, especially in the admin area and during imports. Choose a plan with 256 MB PHP memory; with a larger catalogue 512 MB.
Room for cache and template compilation
PrestaShop compiles its Smarty templates and builds caches to stay fast. That needs writable folders and some extra web space. In production you leave the cache on and compilation only when making changes; anyone who leaves everything off tests a slower shop than visitors see.
Several databases
An upgrade or a new module is better tested on a copy than on the live shop. Our plans include several MySQL databases, so a test environment alongside the production shop fits without an extra plan.
Which environment does PrestaShop belong on?
For a small or medium-sized shop, shared hosting is enough, provided you choose a plan with enough PHP memory. If your catalogue counts tens of thousands of products, you have many simultaneous visitors at peak times or you want your own server settings and SSH access, a managed VPS is the logical next step. We transfer the shop without interruption.
About shared hostingWhat most often goes wrong with PrestaShop
Modules that are no longer maintained
This is the most common cause of a hacked or broken PrestaShop shop. A payment or shipping module that has not had an update for years breaks at the next PHP or PrestaShop version, or is found by an automated scan. Replace them, or remove them if you no longer use them.
Postponing upgrades
The longer you stay on an old version, the bigger the jump and the more modules have meanwhile become incompatible. Plan the upgrade, test it first on a copy with its own database and only then take it live.
No tested backup
With a webshop, the database holds orders and customer data you cannot recreate. Our daily backup of files and database runs automatically; test once that a restore does what you expect, and make an extra copy yourself before every upgrade.