We have developed this article as a guide to choosing the right hosting environment for your Django based application.
Best Shared Web Hosting for Django Applications
I have seen lots of people ask questions in Quora and other Q&A websites like - is it possible to host a Django application on a shared web host. The answer is - YES. You can host your Django application on a shared hosting account, provided the host supports Django and your chosen Database. In this section of the article, we review the best hosting companies that support a shared hosting plan for your Django application.
When to choose Shared Hosting:-
The right hosting account (like Shared, VPS, Dedicated or Cloud) has to be chosen based on your requirements. If your application is supposed to be heavy (with lots of concurrent server requests, or if you anticipate high web traffic from the day of deployment etc), then a Dedicated or Cloud server is the right choice. Otherwise, if your Django application is a light or medium type, with low or moderate web traffic - a Shared hosting platform or a VPS will be more than enough.
You can go for a Shared hosting when you match the following criteria:-
If your Django application is light/medium type - with minimal or moderate server requests and peak loads
If your anticipated web traffic is low to medium range (say 1ooo to 5000 unique visits/day )
If your budget allotted for server is not very high (Shared hosts are available from as low as 3.9USD per month)
Overall Shared Hosting is the right choice when you launch a new project (especially when you bootstrap with minimal money to spend). You can always upgrade to a VPS or a Dedicated server later as required by the demand.
Let's take a look at the best-shared hosting available for Django applications.
A2Hosting - the fastest hosting servers
A2Hosting - is a popular hosting company, very famous for their fast servers. We personally use A2Hosting for 3 of our websites (all of them run on WordPress) and we are 100% happy & satisfied with the outstanding performance of A2Hosting servers. We currently use A2Hosting, DreamHost, WiredTree, BlueHost and Hostgator for hosting many of our different websites. Out of these hosting companies, we adore 2 companies more than all others - WiredTree and A2Hosting. We are having a Managed Dedicated server with WiredTree, whereas we have a shared account with A2Hosting.
A2Hosting for Django Applications
If you are opting a shared server for your Django application, then A2Hosting is the ideal choice for you. A2Hosting has shared servers fine tuned for a Django application (the shared server comes with pre-installed software necessary for proper functioning and performance of a Django application) . They support Python versions v2.6, v2.7, v3.2 and the latest version. Python comes installed and configured with the shared server. They also support PostgreSQL and MySql - up to their latest versions. This gives developers a good choice to select between 2 databases based on their application requirements.
For a Developer - be informed that A2Hosting supports Apache (Apache 2.2 as on 4th September 2016), PERL (PERL 5.10 as on 4th September) and Node.Js. They also allow SSH access and FTP/SFTP access to a shared account.
High Performance of A2Hosting
A2Hosting is known and famous for its fast servers. Websites and Web Applications hosted with A2Hosting enjoys high-speed loading (the loading time is 5x or 10x lower compared to other shared hosts). They achieve this by offering SSD hard disks for all shared hosting accounts. All their shared servers are powered by SSD hardware. In addition, they fine tune their shared servers (hardware and software ) for high performance. They also offer a 'Turbo' shared hosting plan which is for customers who require very high performance. The 'Turbo' plan is a special shared server with lesser number of users, more resources per user and a fine tuned apache server for speed & performance.
Note:- You may read more about 'Turbo Shared Hosting' plan here.
DreamHost - the best customer support ever!
DreamHost is the next best option when it comes to choosing a shared host for your Django application. A2Hosting is famous for its fast, high-performance servers whereas DreamHost is famous for its outstanding customer support. We have started with DreamHost from the year 2008. We now own 3 different hosting accounts with DreamHost (Shared and VPS servers). Servers offered by DreamHost are good and worth every dollar spent. Though DreamHost may not be as good as A2Hosting -when it comes to fast/high-speed servers, they are excellent at what they offer. The unique value in choosing DreamHost is their outstanding customer support. They always go the extra mile when it comes to helping their customers.
Highlight Hosting Features offered by DreamHost
Full SSD hardware - which offers excellent loading speed
100% Uptime Guaranteed
In House Customer Support - 24 Hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a Year
Shell access (SSH) and FTP/SFTP - for all hosting accounts
Python/Perl/Rails - support
100 USD - Google Adwords credit - when you signup
97 Days - Money back guarantee
Unlimited number of domains, Unlimted Bandwidth & Storage, Unlimited E-mail accounts & storage, Unlimited MySql databases
Hosting Django Applications in DreamHost
DreamHost offers excellent platform support for hosting a Django application. Installing Django on DreamHost - is well explained using a guide by DreamHost support staff. You can also seek help from customer support to install Django or Python or even PostgreSQL in DreamHost. They also offer easy installation of Django application via Passenger platform (works best when your application is running on a sole domain or sub domain). The application deployment can also be handled via FastCGI. An extensive documentation on Django is provided by DreamHost support.
Best VPS Hosting for Django Applications
VPS (Virtual Private Servers) hosting is recommended when your application is beyond the limits of a Shared Hosting platform. You should opt for a VPS if your Django application is a heavy type - with lots of server requests, concurrent requests, high loads etc. If the anticipated web traffic to your application is high (like for an estimate - above 5000 unique visits per day), going for VPS or Dedicated servers is the best option.
Let's take a look at the best VPS hosting providers for Django Application
A2Hosting - with managed and unmanged VPS
A2Hosting wins the race here as well. A2Hosting provides two choices - Managed VPS and Unmanaged VPS. Managed VPS (Starting at around 32USD per month) is for people who need management of their servers handled by A2Hosting tech support staff. When you choose a Managed hosting solution - you can expect the customer support to manage almost everything in your server side (for example:- you can ask customer support to install Django for you in specific domain or sub domain). Unmanaged VPS is for experienced developersv who knows how to manage servers themselves. When you choose Unmanaged VPS (starting at 5 USD per month), you have to manage your servers on your own (like setting up, configuring, installing, troubleshooting etc). You can expect the basic customer support in the case of Unmanaged VPS as well but the scope of support is limited.
Best Cloud Hosting Solutions for Django
Cloud hosting is the best option when you are uncertain about server resource requirements. We recommend to go for cloud hosting solutions - if you are unsure of the expected load, number of requests, number of concurrent requests, amount of web traffic etc. Most of the cloud hosting solutions allows scalability of resources based on demand. When you opt for demand based resource scaling - you pay for what you use!
Note:- If you are a professional developer, then cloud hosting is always the right choice for you.
Let's take a look at the best cloud hosting solutions for Django applications
WebFaction - affordable high-performance cloud hosting (fully managed)
WebFaction is an affordably priced cloud hosting solution - where you get fully managed cloud servers with high performance (SSD hardwares). Webfaction offers fully managed cloud servers from 20USD per month (2GB RAM, 15GB SSD, 1 Core CPU, 1.5TB Bandwidth). They also offer a fully managed shared server solution from 10USD per month.
Highlights of WebFaction
Fully managed high-performance cloud servers - with fast CPU's and SSD Storage
Affordable pricing - for a Fully Managed solution with SSD offering
Ideal choice for people who need pre installed softwares and one click install's
Package is available for Python and One click install available for Django and Node.js
Digital Ocean - high-performance servers at affordable price
Digital Ocean is the next best choice when it comes to cloud servers. If you are a professional developer (who is good at server side), then Digital Ocean is the best choice (compared to WebFaction) as they offer better server configuration at lower price. A budget of 20USD per month can fetch 2GB RAM, 2 Core CPU, 40GB SSD Disk and 3 TB Bandwidth with Digital Ocean; whereas the same budget will fetch only 2GB RAM, 1 Core CPU, 15GB SSD and 1.5TB bandwidth with WebFaction. The difference between WebFaction and DigitalOcean - is that WebFaction offers fully managed servers (where the customer support of WebFaction will manage servers for you) and DigitalOcean offers unmanaged servers (you have to manage server yourself)
Highlights of Digital Ocean
High-performance servers at very affordable price - starts at 5USD per month
Multiple datacenters across the globe (currently they have 8 datacenters globally)
They offer monthly and hourly billing options
Additional SSD storage can be bought and configured
Linode - High-Performance Cloud Linux servers
Linode - is the third best option in cloud hosting solutions for Django applications. The pricing of Linode is almost similar to Digital Ocean. Linode also offer unmanaged servers like Digital Ocean. 'Server management' can be purchased as a separate service from Linode, if you prefer managed servers.
Highlights of Linode
High-performance servers starting at 10USD per month
'Managed Servers' can be purchased as an additional option
They offer lots of Add On services like Nodebalanacers, Professional services, DNS Manager, Longview, Backups and other offerings
Multiple datacenters across the globe(currently 8 datacenters like DigitalOcean)
Heroku - Cloud Application Platform
Choose Heroku if you are a professional developer with in-depth knowledge of server management. Heroku offers a free plan for 1 project (with limited resources - 512MB RAM and 1 User access). The free plan offered by Heroku is suitable only for early stage projects - where a developer do not wish to shed money for server resources. They also offer a hobby plan at 7 USD per dyno/month. The pricing of Heroku is structured around dynos, which is a lightweight linux container that runs a single user specified command.
A dyno is a lightweight Linux container that runs a single user-specified command. A dyno can run any command available in its default environment (what we supply in the Cedar stack) or in your app’s slug (a compressed and pre-packaged copy of your application and its dependencies).
Read more about Dynos and Heroku Pricing
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