Joomla Hosting Comparison

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Joomla Web Hosting Comparison & Requirements

Joomla is one of the most well-known Content Management Systems. Thanks to its user-friendly interface, even beginners can quickly get the hang of it. The Joomla hosting providers in our comparison offer pre-configured web hosting packages specifically tailored for running this software.

Joomla is a free Content Management System and, alongside WordPress, is one of the most widely used software solutions for building websites. The Joomla web hosting options in our comparison provide the advantage of allowing webmasters to use the pre-installed CMS immediately, without having to worry about technical details or installation. This ensures that the Joomla hosting packages meet all the technical requirements necessary for seamless operation. Comparing Joomla hosting providers helps in identifying the packages with the best conditions from the extensive range of potential providers.

Requirements for Joomla Web Hosting

Joomla is written in PHP and uses databases to organise content. Therefore, a Joomla web hosting service must definitely support the PHP scripting language and provide databases in the form of MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or even Microsoft SQL for running the latest version. To ensure that more extensive scripts can run without errors, the PHP memory_limit should be set to at least 128 MB.

For further details on the technical requirements of Joomla web hosting, refer to the following table:
 

Detailed information on the technical requirements for the latest version can be found directly from the developer at: https://www.joomla.de/ueber-joomla/anforderungen

What is Joomla and what can it be used for?

Joomla is one of the oldest and most widely used Content Management Systems (CMS) and is used by a variety of commercial giants such as Ikea, Yamaha, Porsche, or Nikon, and organisations like the Linux Foundation, Harvard University, and UN institutions. One of the advantages of the CMS is its high flexibility and user-friendly interface, providing an extendable graphical interface for different instances such as administrators, editors, or writers, allowing precise alignment of rights and user roles. Joomla, like all modern CMS, operates based on a core application and an extremely wide range of plugins through which desired or needed functions can be easily added. The open-source system has a very high number of official and unofficial developers and a very active community that assists with issues or individual customisations. Furthermore, numerous commercial companies have specialised in developing extensions and providing support, making Joomla one of the best-supported systems.

What is the background of Joomla?

In the year 2000, the open-source CMS Mambo was registered in Melbourne, Australia, quickly gaining popularity due to its functionality. Five years later, when the successful system was supposed to be transformed into a public foundation, a conflict arose between the developers and the company Miro, which aimed for commercial exploitation. As a result, a large part of the programmers forked what is now Joomla, based on Mambo's source code. A distinctive feature of Joomla to this day is the motto "Because Open Source Matters", symbolising high code transparency and free distribution. According to this philosophy, the name Joomla is derived from the Swahili word "Jumla", roughly translating to "All together" or "All together". Initially, the CMS was based on the Mambo source code with additional extensions, but in further development, the entire program was rewritten, revised, and optimised. Key milestones were version 2.X, still widely used today, and the 2013 update to version 3.X, which adapted Joomla to conditions such as mobile devices, new HTML commands, and optimised performance for modern multi-core servers.

How much does it cost to install Joomla?

According to the terms of open source, Joomla is licensed under the GNU General Public License, allowing free distribution, sharing, and unrestricted code customisation for individual purposes. Only when distributing, all changes must be made public. Therefore, the use of Joomla is essentially free. Costs primarily arise for three things: firstly - if desired - for professional, guaranteed support with 24/7/365 availability, and secondly for commercial plugins, offered in large numbers for various purposes. The third factor is the web hosting costs for Joomla, as although Joomla can be optimised in various ways, the system requires adequate resources for fast latency and diverse requests. Various hosting options are provided, ranging from simple web space to managed hosting, VPS hosting, or dedicated servers. Avoiding managed hosting should only be considered for reasons of security and reliability with very high expertise, for purely private projects, or for testing systems.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Joomla?

Advantages:

• Diverse plug-ins for customisation and any use
• Open source system and numerous free extensions
• Free templates for every industry
• Active and extensive community from around the world
• Intuitive graphical interface for different user levels
• Comprehensive documentation and support for issues
• Support from numerous commercial agencies

Disadvantages:

• Complex role and rights distribution can lead to incorrect configuration
• Automatic plug-in updates often require manual adjustments
• Possible incompatibility of extensions with new versions
• Professional support is almost always chargeable
• Specialised plug-ins can be very costly
• Tenant capability for multi-user still underdeveloped

What requirements does Joomla have?

Joomla itself has very low requirements and runs reliably with small Joomla web hosting packages. Only a functioning web server with PHP installation and a MySQL database are needed for installation. In terms of performance, Joomla is very modest up to a certain user limit, but unexpected spikes can quickly increase its resource consumption. Web hosting is a cost-effective and flexible option compared to dedicated servers, allowing for quick responses to developments. This is particularly recommended for sites that need to handle seasonal surges like Christmas or special promotions. An optimal web server configuration is crucial for performance in this context. Such configurations are optimised by Joomla web hosting providers, but they require extensive know-how, intensive support, and significant effort. This is especially true when working with complex plug-ins like the VirtueMart Online Shop, which some companies offer pre-installed in an optimised web space.

What alternatives to Joomla are available?

The CMS that can most easily replace Joomla is Drupal. This offers a similar range of plugins and customisation options and also has a very active community. It is also licensed under the GNU GPL, so it can be installed and customised for free in its basic version. Depending on the application, Wordpress is recommended for blogs and small websites, as it impresses users with its simple installation and user-friendly interface. Its advantage lies in its specific focus on blogs, which can be implemented without extensive customisations. A completely free alternative is Typo3, for which the manufacturer does not offer commercial support, but it can rely on a very active development community and free support from the community.

Also, explore Joomla VPS hosting as a powerful alternative.