Two honest answers depending on what you are running: a Windows server if something genuinely requires Windows, or Linux hosting if it does not - which is most of the time, and costs less.
This page used to suggest there was. What we sell is a Windows server with Administrator access, and Linux shared hosting - and for most people asking about Windows, the second one is the right answer. Both are below.
If one of these applies, you want the Windows server. If none of them does, keep reading.
Classic ASP.NET on the full framework needs Windows and IIS. Modern .NET Core runs happily on Linux, so check which one you actually have before assuming.
SQL Server is the usual reason people end up on Windows. There is a Linux build now, but if your application expects the Windows one, that settles it.
A desktop application, a vendor tool, a piece of accounting software with no other build. If the supplier says Windows, that is the end of the discussion.
Full Administrator access over RDP, sized in slices, from $14.00 a month. Install what you need - IIS, SQL Server, whatever the application expects.
Saying so costs us the more expensive sale, which is rather the point of saying it.
All PHP, all happier on Linux, and cheaper. Running WordPress on Windows is possible and almost nobody does it on purpose.
Both run on Linux natively. Windows adds licensing cost and administration for nothing you would notice.
If nobody has told you the words "ASP.NET" or "MSSQL", you do not need Windows. Shared hosting on Linux will be faster to set up and less to run.
Shared hosting on cPanel from $1.50 a month, with free SSL, daily offsite backups and email included. For WordPress specifically there is a plan tuned for it.
Not sure what your application needs? Tell us what it is and we will tell you straight.
We sell a Windows server - full Administrator access over RDP, sized in slices. We do not sell Windows shared hosting, and this page used to say otherwise, which was wrong.
Windows shared hosting is a small market and a licensing cost per server. Almost everyone asking for it turns out to be running something that works on Linux, and the ones who genuinely need Windows are usually better served by a server they control.
Ask whoever built the application, or tell us what it is and we will tell you. The three things that genuinely require Windows are on this page; if none of them apply, Linux is the answer.
On a VPS, yes - .NET Core is cross-platform and runs on Linux perfectly well. On shared hosting, no; that is set up for PHP. If you are on Core rather than the full framework you have more options than you may think.
From $14.00 a month, which is two slices - the minimum for Windows, because a single slice is 2 GB of RAM. The price goes up with the slice count and nothing else.
Tell us what it runs on and where it is now. If it needs Windows we will move it to a Windows server; if it does not, we will say so rather than sell you the dearer option.
Name the application and we will tell you whether it needs Windows - including when the answer saves you money.
