What is Drupal?
In case you are wondering – Drupal is an open-source CMS that runs on PHP. It’s free and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Drupal was created in 2000 as a way to build small websites. Today, it is on its Version 8 release and powers 2.3% of sites in the world. Drupal ranks 3rd in the list of most popular CMS globally, with WordPress and Joomla holding the top 2 spots. Its market share is 4.7%, with more than 577,000 active sites tracked. It may not be easy to learn for casual users. It requires basic knowledge of PHP and web development, so it is not as user-friendly as WordPress. However, its updated version has improved in ease of use and flexibility. Drupal’s edge is its security, which is why big companies like Verizon, Cisco, and Infusionsoft use Drupal for their websites. Government agencies like London and Los Angeles City hall also rely on Drupal’s security framework. In addition to being secure, Drupal’s framework is designed to handle more complicated content structures. It allows multiple users to share and collaborate within the platform, making the content workflow smoother.
Best Web Hosting Platform for Drupal
If you’re looking to run Drupal, it’s essential to choose the right web host that offers Drupal-specific optimization. If you are new to the framework or require assistance, it would help if your web host can help you. Let’s explore some of the best hosting platforms to host your Drupal sites.
Nexcess
Nexcess part of the Liquid Web family offers various plans starting from $29 per month. I like the most because it supports auto-scaling, which means you can start at a lower plan, and as your business grows, you scale the hosting to meet the shop traffic requirement. From their client portal, you can manage your site and server and view in-depth analytics. Nexcess offers many features like following along with Drush to manage your sites efficiently through the command line.
Dev or Staging site with database scrubbing, so you test everything without pushing to live site24/7/365 phone and email supportHelp you to comply with PCI requirements if you accept paymentAuto service restarts when things go wrong or stop Popular development tools included Git, SFTP, Mercurial, Composter, and SSH
If you are hosting Drupal somewhere else, Nexcess can help you to transfer them in FREE. Do you need enterprise infrastructure? Sure, enterprise hosting comes with dedicated servers with clustering. The typical architecture would like below. Whatever plan you chose, it comes with a 30-days moneyback guarantee.
Cloudways
Cloudways offer managed hosting for Drupal. You can choose to host your site on Google Cloud, AWS, DigitalOcean, Linode, and Vultr. Having multiple options means you can choose to host your site near to your targetted audience. Cloudflare optimizes the servers to deliver the content faster and secure from online threats. Some of the features include:
PHP 7 readyBuilt-in cacheHTTP/2 supportFree SSLBackupTwo-factor authentication
and fantastic support to answer your queries.
SiteGround
SiteGround is a leader in hosting fast websites. It offers the same quality hosting for Drupal. A web hosting plan for Drupal starts at $3.95/month. Getting SiteGround for Drupal will give you:
Premium hosting with a user-friendly setupWeb building tools that work individually for Drupal24/7 uptime and daily site backup
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting offers 20X faster Drupal hosting at three affordable packages starting at $3.92/month. Drupal comes pre-installed with A2’s hosting plan and is optimized for speed and performance. Here’s what you get with A2’s hosting plans:
inMotion Hosting
inMotion Hosting has a basic and advanced hosting plan for Drupal-based websites. Both include access to Drupal tutorials and guides. For the basic plan, inMotion hosting for Drupal costs $6.39/month and includes:
Free SSDFree domainUnlimited disk space1-Click Application InstallerFree website migration
The advanced plan, which provides Virtual Private Server hosting, starts at $29.19/month. It includes:
4GB – 8GB RAM75 – 260 GB storage4TB – 6TB bandwidth3 – 5 IP addresses
Kamatera
Kamatera lets you create and host your sites with their super-fast servers in as quickly as 60 seconds — or at least that’s what they claim. Drupal is one of the many platforms they offer. You can customize each aspect of your hosting, from the number of CPUs to your preferred data center. You can get it started from as low as $4 per month. Kamatera servers are available worldwide, so you can choose to host near to your audience. The best features of Drupal hosting by Kamatera include:
Custom pricing focused on what you needUser-friendly management consoleOption to add or lessen storage depending on your need24/7 technical support via phone, email, or help ticketDesignated account manager
Platform.sh
Platform.sh offers premium web hosting for fast and secure Drupal sites. Some of the features of a web hosting for Drupal on Platform.sh include:
Built-in ComposerDrupal Console and Drush supportManaged CDNPowered by SSDsGit API
You can test Platform.sh hosting with a free trial, after which development plans start at $10/month. There is a Professional ($50/month/project) and Enterprise ($1250/month/project) plan if you want to scale your site for bigger traffic.
Pantheon
Pantheon claims to be “best-in-class” hosting for Drupal and WordPress with the ability to scale any site with blazing fast content delivery. Among its notable features are managed HTTPS, automated system admin, and disaster-proof uptime. You can sign up for a free demo account before committing to its paid plans. Pantheon is enterprise-ready and trusted by tableau, Yale, apigee, and many more.
Rochen
Rochen can host your Drupal site and ensure its success with excellent support and customer service. Assisted site migration and onboarding are included in Rochen’s web hosting package for Drupal. Customers can choose between shared hosting (starts at $4.95/month) or a managed cloud server (starts at $200/month).
Hostinger
Hostinger offers low-cost, shared Drupal hosting with similar features as other higher-priced hosting providers. At the time of this writing, their hosting plans are on sale (up to 90% off), so you can get website hosting for as low as $0.80/month (Single Shared Hosting, originally $7.99/month). Hostinger offers Premium and Business hosting plans for both its Shared Hosting and Cloud Hosting services. Site speed is guaranteed to be 3x faster in their Cloud Hosting plan, but it is priced higher than Shared Hosting. Whether it’s shared or cloud hosting, Hostinger’s service includes:
Free domain for Premium & Business (Shared Hosting) and all Cloud hosting plansSpeed is optimized to suit the Drupal frameworkWeekly and daily backups (Premium & Business plans)30 days money-back guaranteeDrupal experts to handle your queriesCloudflare integration1-Click Drupal installation
Acquia
Acquia provides premium cloud hosting for Drupal sites. It is geared towards businesses that want to scale or grow their sites with a reliable and established web host. In addition to hosting, Acquia offers development tools and enterprise-grade security for websites and applications to perform optimally. You know you’re experiencing the best possible service with Acquia because of its dedication to site developers and business owners. Its Drupal hosting service goes beyond hosting and into further supporting developers with powerful tools. Drupal hosting with Acquia has:
Continued updates for Drupal99.95% uptimePowerful tools like Slack Metrics and Acquia Insights24/7 technical supportGlobal and industry security standards
Vultr
Get a Vultr Cloud VM and deploy Drupal in one click. Take advantage of Vultr global datacenters and host your Drupal site near to your customer. Vultr network got inbuilt DDoS mitigation, IPv6-ready, and offer public+private IP. Intel CPU and SSD power all of their servers.
Conclusion
Drupal may not be as popular as WordPress, but it’s a powerful tool to manage content-heavy websites. Its security is second to none, so if this is your primary concern, it’s best to use this framework. For this reason, you would need a hosting package to support the functionalities of Drupal. If you are on a budget, going with SiteGround or A2 Hosting will suffice.
