Domain vs Hosting: What’s the difference?

If you’re launching a website, you’ll likely hear the terms domain and hosting thrown around a lot. While they work together, they serve different purposes. We’ll break it down for you and explain how we handle both for you at WebEaze. 

Think of your website like a house:

• the domain is your street address (where you arrive)
• the hosting is the land and structure where your house is built (where your content and files live)

You need both to make your website live and accessible.

• example.com
• webeaze.io
• yourbusiness.org

Domains are purchased through a registrar like Namecheap, GoDaddy or even Google Domains. You’ll likely pay yearly to maintain ownership. With our Growth plan, you also get access to a $50 domain and hosting credit to help alleviate the cost of these services. 

Web hosting is the service that stores your website’s content— images, text, code, etc. and it also serves it when someone visits your website. Without hosting, your domain would go nowhere. Web hosting providers include platforms like:

• Bluehost
• SiteGround 
• GitHub Pages
• Hostinger
• Cloudflare Pages

We set this up for you when you start a project with WebEaze. 

Here’s how they work:

1. You buy the domain (or we help with a credit)
2. You choose a hosting provider (we default to GitHub Pages)
3. We connect the domain to the host so your site shows up at your custom address

A domain without hosting equals to: having an address without a house. This means that visitors will see a blank or placeholder page. 

Hosting without a domain equals to: building your site but people won’t be able to find it easily unless they type a long, temporary URL. These are typically known as local servers. 

We take care of your domain and hosting connections if you’re on our Growth or Elite plans. We’re here to help with: 

• Buying and managing your domain (or connecting yours if you already have one)
• Setting up secure, reliable hosting
• Linking the two so your site is fast, live, and searchable

If you already own a domain or hosting plan, we’ll migrate everything for you with no extra hassle.  

Any questions? Get in touch with us. We’ll confirm your plan eligibility regarding assistance with your domain, and we'll set you up with the proper hosting and domain needed for your business.