Best Web Hosting NZ

7 Top Web Hosting Reviews for New Zealand 2021

Web Hosting in New Zealand: The Nitty Gritty

Creating and launching a website from scratch for your business or blog is a big step for most people (and there a LOT of people building websites these days, check our internet statistics page for more info on the exact numbers), there are plenty of details and choices to consider before determining what will work best. However, details and innumerable choices don’t end with creating the website – you still must choose a web host for your site (no matter the CMS you’re using, though there are specialised WordPress hosts out there if you need one), which is equally important to the design of the website itself.

There are a plethora of NZ web hosting companies and types of services out there, and choosing one that doesn’t fit your purposes could essentially nullify all the awesome features and plans you have for your website.

So, to help you navigate the realm of web hosting New Zealand, we have a brief breakdown of the different types of web hosting as well as what to look for when looking for the right host for you. Armed with this information, you should be ready to select the web host that will best serve your needs.

Types of web hosting in NZ

There are a wide variety of host types, each with their pros, cons, and specialties. The size and complexity of your website, the amount of traffic you foresee it producing, and whether you are tech savvy or tech intolerant will all help determine which option will work best for you.

Shared Hosting:

Shared hosting is where one server is used to host many websites (possibly up to 100 other websites, depending on the provider). When your website is launched through shared hosting, you are sharing the server with other websites. There are, of course, both perks and downsides to this type of hosting.

Based on these pros and cons, shared hosting usually is a great fit for small businesses or bloggers. It has easy to use functionality, does not demand a ton of attention to get it running or maintain it, and is very affordable.

VPS Hosting:

VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting provides a combination of the shared and dedicated server types. This is because a VPS Hosting utilises only one server, but separates it into isolated sections, each of which is completely dedicated to a separate website / operating system. Each isolated section of the server thus functions as a mini-dedicated server.

There are two types of VPS hosting: Self-managed and Managed. Self-managed leaves you with all the control of the server, which means the technical end of it as well. Managed means the hosting company takes care of the technical end so that you can concentrate on the New Zealand based business end of your website.

Dedicated Server Hosting:

With a dedicated server, you have the web server completely to yourself. This means all of its resources are reserved for your website and yours alone. Let’s look at the pros and cons:

Because of the price and power of these types of servers, they are most appropriate for large companies in New Zealand that need high-performance and maximum security and reliability for complex, busy websites and web apps.

Reseller Hosting:

Reseller hosts are typically web agencies and/or designers who want to provide hosting services for their clients as well. The resellers purchase hosting in bulk and resell it to their clients, which allows them to have more control over the websites that they design. For the client, this results in more expensive and limited hosting option, though it requires less hands-on attention.

Cloud Hosting:

With cloud hosting, a network of machines is used to operate as a single system, whereas shared and dedicated hosting relies on one server alone. Because of this, cloud hosting can offer the same resources and power as dedicated hosting, while still functioning like shared hosting. It also provides the added stability of knowing that if one of the machines goes down, the others fill in and pick up the slack. In a shared or dedicated hosting situation, however, if the server goes down, there is an enormous risk for lost data.

Managed WordPress Hosting:

Managed WordPress hosting is essentially shared hosting, but specifically designed for WordPress websites. When using this host type, you will not have to manage any of the tech elements behind running or maintaining the website. However, this also means that you have less control as the user and that you are paying more (quite a bit more) to have someone else control it for you. It is, consequently, a good option for medium to large businesses lacking the techy knowledge to maintain and manage a larger website.

Web hosting NZ: what to look for!

As you hone in on the type of hosting service you want to use, remember to ask about / consider the below features, we use the same categories to do our own hosting research (this includes our other top web hosting lists like best web hosting Australia, web hosting Singapore, Ireland hosting, UK web hosting, website hosting India & Canadian web hosting):

Server location

It does in fact matter where the server host is located. Web hosting services located in, or close to New Zealand will run your website more smoothly, while choosing a web host from the US, for example, will increase lag times and various delays. If you want decent performance, choosing a host that has servers in or close to NZ is recommended (like SiteGround or A2 Hosting, they have fast servers in Singapore -> see our A2 Hosting vs SiteGround page for a more detailed comparison of the 2).

Storage

You will want to find out how much storage your web host provider can offer you. Storage determines the size (gigabytes) and number of files that you can upload to the server. Be sure to choose a web host that offers you sufficient storage space on the server for the content you want to have on your website.

Uptime

Uptime refers to the time that the server (and therefore website) is operational. Most web hosts will promise near 100% uptime. However, it would be wise to check customer reviews and testimonials to find out whether the host’s promise is accurate or not. We started tracking both overall uptime, and response times for the major hosting companies on our web host tracking page.

Support

Quality customer support is vital, though many tend to overlook its importance. Many web hosts provide 24/7 availability, phone support and live chat options. Make sure you choose a host that offers fast and quality support. Again, it may be wise to explore customer reviews to help determine how the web host really operates.

Backups

This is another feature that many tend to overlook. It is vital that you regularly back up your website, and you will want to make sure that the web host you select also performs regular backups. It would also be advisable to find out if they offer restoration services, should something be lost.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the amount of information that can be processed in a certain period of time via the internet. The larger the bandwidth, the more data can be processed/transferred over the network at a faster rate. Therefore, the amount of bandwidth that your web host offers you will seriously impact your website’s quality of performance.

Number of allowed domains/sites

If you are hoping to create more than one website with the same host, you need to make sure that your web host provider allows multiple websites/domains. Many of the shared hosting plans are limited to only one website.

If you’re having issues with logging all these qualifiers to find the best web hosting providers for New Zealand, just use our research & check out our top 5.