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✳ 06 / HOSTING

Find hosting that fits your project

Choosing hosting depends on what your application needs in order to run: the operating system, the runtime version and the database engine. This page organises that decision around technical requirements rather than around providers, and says what to check before you pay.

Some links are affiliate links. XDataCore may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Links without an affiliate programme are marked as such. The recommendation follows your project’s requirements, not the commission.

What are you hosting?

Pick the case closest to your project. The answer explains the technical reason and what to verify before paying.

Select a project type to see which platform fits it and what to check.

The selector is optional: the full comparison and both provider profiles can be read without it.

The two providers this page covers

Each profile says who it can work for, what to check before buying and what its limitations are. There are no scores: we have not run our own performance tests and we do not publish figures we cannot support.

  • SmarterASP.NET

    Shared hosting on Windows, with IIS and SQL Server.

    Details reviewed on September 18, 2026

    Who it can work for

    • ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core applications that need IIS.
    • Projects whose database is already in SQL Server.
    • Teams deploying over FTP, FTPS, Web Deploy or from a GitHub repository.
    • Legacy applications on older ASP.NET versions that must stay online.

    What to check before buying

    • The plan’s .NET or ASP.NET Core version, against the one your application builds on.
    • The SQL Server version, the number of databases and the maximum size of each.
    • Whether SQL Server is included in the plan or charged as an add-on.
    • The renewal price, the term you are buying and the taxes that apply to the total.
    • Which backups the provider takes, and how easily they can be restored.

    Limitations that matter

    • It is shared hosting: no administrator access, no containers and no pinning system versions.
    • Database size is usually the first limit a growing application runs into.
    • The platform is Windows: an application built for Linux is not what these plans are for.

    Next step: open the plans page, find the SQL Server and .NET versions, and compare them with your application’s requirements before buying.

    See plans at SmarterASP.NETAffiliate link

  • Hostinger

    Shared hosting on Linux, with PHP and a managed WordPress product.

    Details reviewed on September 18, 2026

    Who it can work for

    • WordPress sites, new or migrated from another provider.
    • Informational business websites with a contact form and your own email.
    • Shops built on WordPress and WooCommerce.
    • Teams without dedicated technical staff who would rather the provider handled updates.

    What to check before buying

    • That the product you buy is the WordPress one if you are using WordPress, not the generic plan.
    • The monthly visit and storage limits of the specific plan.
    • The PHP version available, and whether it can be changed from the control panel.
    • Whether professional email is included or charged separately.
    • The renewal price, the term you are buying and the taxes that apply to the total.

    Limitations that matter

    • No Windows, IIS or SQL Server: an ASP.NET application with SQL Server does not fit these plans.
    • Shared plans are aimed at PHP; other runtimes require a different product.
    • It is shared hosting: resources are shared and the provider controls the system versions.

    Next step: open the product page, confirm the plan limits and the renewal price, and check whether migrating your current site costs anything.

    See plans at HostingerOfficial link, not affiliated

Comparison by criteria

Compatibility and administration criteria, which are what decide whether an application can run at all. The table does not compare prices: those belong on each provider’s own site, where they are current.

CriterionSmarterASP.NETHostinger
PlatformWindows, with IISLinux
Application technologiesASP.NET and ASP.NET Core. Also publishes pages for Express, Flask, FastAPI and DjangoPHP, with a dedicated WordPress product
DatabaseSQL Server and MySQL. Verify the version and the plan’s maximum sizeMySQL. Verify how many databases and their size
Product compared hereWindows shared hostingLinux shared hosting and managed WordPress
DeploymentOwn control panel, FTP, FTPS, Web Deploy and GitHub deploymentOwn control panel, with assisted WordPress installation
Who administers the serverThe provider. No administrator accessThe provider. No administrator access
Growing without switching providerSells cloud and dedicated servers, not assessed on this pageSells VPS and cloud, not assessed on this page
Trying before payingPublishes a free trial on its siteVerify the current refund window before buying
Our linkAffiliate: we may earn a commissionOfficial, not affiliated: we earn nothing

On prices: always check them on the provider’s page. Before paying, confirm the currency, the term you are buying, the total of the first payment, the renewal price and the taxes that apply. An equivalent monthly rate that comes from paying several years up front is not a monthly payment.

Guides for deciding on the evidence

Two guides covering the requirements worth settling before you compare plans, written for the specific case rather than for the provider.

Frequently asked questions

The questions that come up before buying, answered plainly.

Why are there only two providers?

Because they are the two we can describe using information verified on their own pages. This page is not a ranking of the hosting market and does not try to be. If we add a provider, it will be because we can verify what we say about it.

Is the price I see monthly?

Check it on the provider’s page. Headline rates commonly assume paying several years up front, and renewal often costs more than the first term. Before paying, confirm the currency, the term you are buying, the total of the first payment, the renewal price and the taxes that apply.

What is the difference between shared, managed and VPS hosting?

On shared hosting the server is divided between several customers and the provider controls the system versions: it is the cheapest and the least flexible. Managed hosting is shared or optimised hosting where the provider also takes on the application’s updates and backups, usually for WordPress. On a VPS you have administrator access and choose the versions, and in exchange you take on the administration: updates, backups, certificates and monitoring. These are not three sizes of the same product, they are three different divisions of the work.

What if neither of them fits my case?

The selector says so when that happens, rather than recommending whichever is closest. If your project needs control of the server, the right answer is a VPS or a cloud platform, and this page does not assess those. If you would like to review the requirements with us before buying anything, you can write to us from the contact form.

Does XDataCore install or migrate the hosting for me?

No. This page helps you choose; installation, migration and hosting support belong to the provider you buy from, and their documentation and support team are the right channel for that. Our work is software development, which is contracted separately.