One of the biggest perceived barriers to using Plone is the fact that it doesn't run nicely in the most common kind of commodity webhosting space, namely shared LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl) accounts. 

Why not?  Well, in a word, Zope.

Plone is an application that runs inside the Zope web application server.  This means that to use Plone, you've got to be able to run Zope.  Unfortunately, most low-end web hosting providers don't support Zope or Plone, choosing instead to optimize their webservers for hosting lots and lots of MySQL/PHP sites.

This isn't that big a deal for large Plone projects, who typically run on one or more dedicated servers, and have IT staff on staff (or outsourced) with the appropriate skills.  But it seems like a challenge for small Plone projects, doesn't it?

How to tell if your current web hosting provider supports Plone

Ask them!  Say "Hey, [friendly tech support person], does [your web hosting provider] support Plone?"

If your web hosting provider does not explicitly mention that they support Plone, then they almost certainly don't.

If your web server does not allow you to do any of the following things, then you probably can't run Plone:

• Become a root user
• Install any software you want
• Configure arbitrary incoming ports
• Use Python
• Run long-running system processes that use 80 MB or more of RAM

Why not use my current $5/month hosting provider?

It's an old adage: "you get what you pay for."  More accurately, though, you don't get what you don't pay for.

In the case of "el cheapo"¹ web hosting providers, what you're not paying for is any kind of helpful support.  That's labor, and labor is expensive.  The entire business model of commodity hosting providers is to gamble that you won't have any tech support questions, and to provide the least amount of help possible if you do.  This might be fine if all you're trying to do is host a few static web pages, or run a simple PHP script.  But in the long run, ultra-low-cost commodity hosting providers are rarely a good value.

¹ Which we define as $5-20/month hosting providers selling shared LAMP instances.

OK, then which web hosting providers do support Plone?

The situation sounds pretty bleak, right?  Don't worry: finding good reliable hosting for Plone isn't so hard.

There are several solid approaches to hosting a small Plone site.  In increasing order of difficulty they are:

1. Get Plone hosting from a Plone consulting shop that you're working with on your project.
2. Get Plone hosting from one of the many companies that specialize in Plone hosting.
3. Get a low-cost "virtual server" account from a web hosting provider and set up your own copy of Plone.
   

Hosting from your Plone consultant

Virtually every professional Plone consulting shop out there has dedicated servers on which they can host their clients' projects. So, if you're working with an established Plone consulting shop, you probably don't have to worry about setting up your own hosting.  Ask you consultant what they can do for you.

Of course, if you're self-implementing Plone, then you may need to consider other options.

Plone hosting companies

Plone's popularity has led a number of web hosting companies to specialize in hosting Plone (and applications that have similar slightly-out-of-the-mainstream server requirements like Django, Turbogears and Ruby on Rails).   

Typically, these companies offer a variety of service plans in the $30 and upwards/month range.  More money gets you: more RAM (which supports a larger, more complex site), more bandwidth, more disk space, support options, backup solutions etc.

Virtual private servers

If you're more technically inclined, and would rather accept a greater amount of responsibility in exchange for greater control over the fine details of your hosting environment, you might want to consider a virtual private server (aka a "managed virtual server") for hosting your Plone site.

A virtual private server hosting arrangement uses "virtualization" software to split a single physical machine into several completely independent systems that share only processor cycles, disk space and RAM.  A virtual private server environment thus fills a very important niche in between inexpensive shared server webhosting accounts (your typical $5-20/month special) and more expensive dedicated servers.

You can expect to spend $50-$200/month for a virtual private server environment that is suitable for hosting one or more small-to-medium Plone sites.

Virtual private servers are a fast-growing segment of the web hosting provider market, thanks in large part to the fast-growing popularity of non-LAMP environments such as Plone, Django, Turbogears, Ruby on Rails, Pylons and more.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is the same concept as the virtual private server, except instead of buying a part of a server, you are renting an entire server in a remote location. Dedicated hosting is often price competitive with virtual private servers and in some cases might actually offer more memory/processor speed/transfer at the same price level.

Inexpensive, commodity dedicated hosting providers can provide machines for as little as $100 a month.  More expensive and hands-on offerings can run into as much you want to pay.