What is hosting?
What is website hosting?
Hosting is where your website lives. It's a computer that's switched on all day, every day, and shows your website to anyone who types in your address.
| Domain | Your address |
|---|---|
| Website | Your house |
| Hosting | The plot of land and the utilities that keep the house running |
The jargon
The words you'll come across, in plain English.
- Hosting: where your website is kept so people can visit it, on computers that are always on.
- Domain: your website address. It points people to your hosting.
- SSL: the padlock security certificate that makes your site load securely.
- Uptime: how much of the time your website is working and reachable.
- Backup: a saved copy of your website, so it can be put back if something goes wrong.
- Managed hosting: hosting where someone else looks after the technical side for you.
Do I need it?
Does every website need hosting?
Yes. Every website is hosted somewhere. Website builders include it in their monthly fee, and most web designers include it in a looked after service.
Buying a domain doesn't give you a website. Without hosting, your address shows an error or an empty page.
What's included?
What should a hosting plan tell you?
Cheap hosting is often just the space for your site. A looked after plan adds checks, updates, support and help if something goes wrong. Read what you actually get, not just the word “hosting”.
Keeps the site online
Stores your website and shows it to visitors over a secure connection (the padlock in the address bar).
Helps keep it safe
Security, backups and checks lower the risk. Nobody can honestly promise nothing will ever go wrong.
Someone to ring
Support, updates and a way back if something breaks.
Hosting doesn't usually include
- Your domain or its renewal
- Business email
- Unlimited changes to your website
- A promise of a top spot on Google or a number of enquiries
- A promise that the website will never go offline
Who looks after it?
Who looks after the hosting?
Sprint Start Managed is for tradespeople who don't want another job to worry about. Looking after it yourself can suit someone who's confident with the technical side, or has someone they trust to help.
On a normal paid build, your website is yours once the build is paid for in full. On a £0 Build, it becomes yours once the first 12 months of Managed and anything else owed for the build are paid in full. We keep our own templates, parts, methods and tools. The real difference is who deals with the hosting account, the bills, the warnings, the updates and fixing things.
Changing designer
What if I change web designer?
Once your website is yours (see above), it can move to another host. Keep your domain in your own account, get the new hosting set up and tested, then point your address at it.
Don't cancel the old hosting until the new one is working. Your business email can stay where it is, as long as the domain settings are moved over properly.
What does it cost?
How much is Sprint Start Managed?
£49 a month, or £480 a year. Paying yearly works out at £40 a month. We confirm the price and terms with you before you pay anything.
It includes hosting, the padlock security certificate (SSL), checks that your site is up, agreed technical and security updates, help getting things back if they go wrong, reasonable support, and 30 minutes of updates each month. Unused time doesn't roll over. It isn't a 24 hour emergency service, and it isn't a promise that every problem is fixed by a set time.
If you look after the hosting yourself, you pay the hosting company directly and you're responsible for the account, the bills, the warnings and the technical side.
Sprint Start websites run on Vercel. Its free Hobby plan is for personal, non commercial use only, so a business needs its Pro plan: at the time of writing $20 a month plus VAT, charged in US dollars.
Compare
Managed, or look after it yourself?
| Question | Managed | Yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays the hosting company? | Included in the Managed price | You pay them directly |
| Who keeps an eye on the website? | Sprint Start, as agreed | You, or someone you choose |
| Who does the updates? | Sprint Start, as agreed | You arrange them |
| Who owns the website once it's paid for? | You | You |
Choose by how much you want to deal with yourself, not just by the lowest price.
Sources
Where this guide comes from.
Checked against these pages on 27/10/2026. Next check due 27/01/2027. Prices and features can change sooner.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Do I need hosting if I own a domain?
Yes, if you want a website at that address. The domain is the address; hosting is where the website actually sits. See how to choose the right domain name.
Does hosting include business email?
Not usually. Website and email are separate, and can be with different companies. See business email.
Can I look after the hosting myself?
Yes, once the website is yours, using the hosting company we use. You then deal with the bills, the account, the warnings and the technical side.
Will moving host affect Google?
Not if it's done properly. It can if your page addresses change, or the site is slow or offline during the move, so plan it and test it first.
Does every host include backups?
No. Ask what's backed up, how often, how long it's kept and who can actually put it back.
Can I cancel Sprint Start Managed?
Yes. After any minimum term, monthly Managed needs 30 days' notice. Yearly and spread the cost plans follow the terms we agree before you pay. Your new hosting needs to be working before ours ends.
Planning a Sprint Start website?
Your website built and looked after.
Our £0 Build waives the website build fee for suitable trade businesses, with Sprint Start Managed required.
