With the exception of the more costly dedicated server hosting, Few types of web hosting are as perfectly suited for expanding eCommerce websites quite like Virtual Private Servers (VPS). Boasting all the bandwidth, storage and RAM power any decent store could need, a good VPS hosting plan is ideal for those who need an increasing amount of back-end resources to cope with the ever-growing popularity of their online store, without paying a fortune for a dedicated server which, at this stage in the game, may yet be too much for them.

Yet there’s more to it than simply a little extra disk space for those large product photos. The best Virtual Private Server plans out there will also offer tighter security and back-end support, ensuring peace of mind for your customers and an overall better service for you as a business owner.

Whether you’re launching your first eCommerce site or looking to move your existing online store to a bigger and more reliable home, here’s our guide to the top cheap VPS plans for eCommerce sites.

iPage

Earning rave reviews from many leading Virtual Private Server comparison sites, iPage offer as much value for money with their VPS plans as they do with their much-lauded iPage Essentials shared hosting package.

With first-term prices starting from as low as $19.99 per month ($24.99 ongoing) for a 1 core VPS with 1GB RAM, 40GB of storage and 1TB of monthly data transfer allowance, they certainly offer some of the best value for money on the market.

There’s an additional plans on offer if you need added storage and other resources, going up to the optimum plan, which contains a 4 core CPU, 8GB RAM,  120GB disk space and 4TB bandwidth at a first-term cost of $79.99 or $99.99 recurring, again making it one of the cheapest VPS providers we’ve come across.

From an eCommerce standpoint, everything you could need to manage a safe, secure and reliable web store is present and accounted for, including multiple dedicated IP addresses and a private SSL.

Bluehost

Another company frequently praised by both web experts and average users alike, Bluehost may have earned a name for themselves thanks to their close friendship with WordPress, but it turns out they can more than hold their own in the Virtual Private Server realm too.

Giving iPage a serious run for their money, plans start at a first-term rate of $14.9 for 2 CPU cores, 30GB of disk space, 2GB RAM and a terabyte of bandwidth. After the first term, this ‘Standard’ package will set you back $29.99.

At the top end of the spectrum, a first term monthly fee of $59.99 ($119.99 recurring) will get you a 4 core CPU VPS with 240GB storage, 8GB RAM and a nice 4TB of monthly bandwidth allowance.

Again, dedicated IP addresses and support for major eCommerce platforms are all accounted for, as is a free domain name, which may be a deal breaker if you’re buying a VPS to start a store for the first time.

HostGator

Though HostGator only do Linux-based VPS plans, they again represent great value for money. A basic ‘Snappy 500’ plan does exist for a first term rate of just $11.97, which would be ideal for many sites, but perhaps not for coping with the demands of a busy online store.

For that, we recommend at least the ‘Snappy 1000’ plan, which for a first-term rate of $33.97 ($49.95 ongoing) includes 1GB RAM, 60GB storage, 1TB monthly bandwidth, 2 IPS and 1 core.

If you really need a lot of resources for your eCommerce site, 4 cores, 8GB RAM, 240GB storage and 3TB of bandwidth are available for a first-term fee of $99.97 and $159.95 thereafter.

InMotion

Admittedly, inMotion web hosting’s VPS are some of the most expensive on the market, but we felt we should still include them here if for no other reason than the fact that they’ve proven to be one of the most reliable hosts around.

For a first term of $49.99 or $89.99 ongoing, you’ll get a nice 6GB RAM, 130GB of storage and 3TB of bandwidth, along with two IP addresses, private SSL and support for many leading shopping carts and payment gateways.