Overview
This article describes what a Shared Starter hosting plan is and how to create an account with this type of plan.
FAQs
What is a Shared Starter hosting plan?
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Shared Starter is DreamHost's most basic entry-level hosting plan. The Shared Starter plan is an excellent option to get a single website up and running quickly at a very low cost.
Are there any limitations?
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Yes. Since the Shared Starter plan is an introductory plan, there are a few limitations you should be aware of:
- Only one website can be hosted (excluding DNS Only, Mirror, Parked, or Redirect domains)
- Email not included (but you can add a Paid email plan to it)
- Announcement lists are not supported
- 6 MySQL databases
- 5 subdomains
- 50GB of storage space
- 6 webserver users
Can I add a Shared Starter hosting plan if I have a registration only account?
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If your account was previously opened as a Domain Registration only account, no hosting plans are active. You must contact support if you wish to add a Shared Starter hosting plan.
Does DreamHost offer other hosting plans?
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In addition to a Shared Starter plan, the following hosting plans are also available:
Plan Where is my site hosted? More information Shared Unlimited On a shared server See the Upgrading to Unlimited Hosting article. VPS On a virtual private server See the Adding a VPS article.
Dedicated On a dedicated private server See the Add a Dedicated server article.
DreamPress On a customized private server running a DreamHost-managed version of WordPress See the Installing DreamPress articles.
How to add a Shared Starter hosting plan
The following sections explain how to set up a Shared Started hosting plan.
Creating a Shared Starter hosting plan
Visit the Shared Starter hosting page to create a new plan.
Under Shared Starter, click the Sign Up Now button and then follow the prompts to sign up for a new DreamHost account. Once complete, you'll have access to your DreamHost panel.
Adding your site to the plan
After the plan has been added, use the following steps to log in to your panel and add your website to the new plan:
- Navigate to the SFTP Users & Files page and add a new user to a server.
- Once added, navigate to the Manage Websites page and add a website and hosting.
- After the domain is added, wait a few hours for it to propagate online. After that, you'll be able to visit it.
Changing which domain is hosted on a Shared Starter plan
You can use the following steps to change your Shared Starter plan's 'Fully Hosted' domain to another that you own.
Only one domain can be 'Fully Hosted' at a time with a Shared Starter plan. However, you do not need to contact support to change the active domain. To change the 'Fully Hosted' website on the plan:
- Navigate to the Manage Websites page and remove hosting for the currently active domain.
- After the old domain is set to 'DNS Only, add your new domain as 'Fully Hosted' on your server.
- Open a browser and visit the new domain to make sure it appears.