Hosting for the Moodle™ software
Moodle runs on any of our five hosting lines. They differ in what they cost, who administers the server, and who restores a file when something breaks. Here is how we would choose, including when the cheap answer is the right one.
Choosing a line
Given a free choice, our engineers will not deploy a production Moodle belowSD-1. That is the honest default. Everything else here is what would make us recommend something different.
Student → Business
Trying the software, one class, a pilot site
Below the 4 GB Moodle recommends. Fine to learn on; not where we would put a term’s worth of coursework.
Our default for production
SD-1 and up
A school or college running real courses, with real enrolments
Launch → Enterprise
A private machine in a region you name, still run by engineers
Specced with an engineer before it is built, so the sizing matches the institution rather than a dropdown.
L-1 → L-5
Your own sysadmin or IT team wants the box
Cheaper than the managed lines at the same RAM, because the work comes with it.
Stock builds or specced to fit
Multi-campus, heavy media libraries, or residency you must evidence
Also specced with an engineer, because nobody should buy a machine this size from a form.
Prices live on each line’s own page, where they are kept current. We do not restate them here: a second copy of a price is a price that will eventually be wrong.
Before you buy the cheapest one
Moodle’s own documentation supports shared hosting, and we are not going to pretend otherwise in order to sell you a bigger plan. These are the four specific places a shared stack tends to fall short. Check them against any host you are considering, this one included.
RAM
Moodle recommends 4 GB or more
Shared plans here give 1–3 GB. Enough to install and demo; not enough once a cohort logs in at once.
Cron
Moodle wants cron every minute
Notifications, queued email, scheduled backups and course reports all ride on it. Many shared hosts cap cron at every 5, 15 or 30 minutes.
PHP memory
memory_limit above the common 128 M default
Course backup and restore is where this bites first, and it bites at the worst time, while you are moving a course.
Stack version
PHP 8.3+ with MySQL 8.4 or MariaDB 10.11
Current Moodle expects a current stack. Ask any host what versions they are running, not what they support.
None of these makes Moodle impossible on shared hosting. They make itfragile at the moment it matters: enrolment week, an assignment deadline, the night before an exam.
What you actually get
Whichever line you land on, we install the software, wire TLS, set cron to the cadence Moodle wants, and size PHP so course backups complete instead of dying halfway. On the managed lines we keep the stack under it current (PHP, the database, the web server, certificates) and watch it.
Moodle core and plugin updates stay on your schedule. An update mid-term can change how a course behaves, so we plan those with you and run them when your teaching calendar allows.
Questions
SD-1 or better, if the Moodle is going to carry real courses. That is our engineers’ own default, and we would rather say it plainly than let you discover it after a term has started. Below that we are still happy to host you; we would just be setting you up to outgrow it.
Yes, and we will not block you. Moodle’s own documentation supports shared hosting, so it would be dishonest to claim otherwise. Read the four requirements above and decide with your eyes open: for a course you are still building, a pilot, or a class of thirty, budget hosting is a reasonable place to start.
It depends on the line, which is why the table above answers it per row. Web Hosting and Semi-Dedicated have no root, because we administer them. Standard KVM VPS and Dedicated Servers give you full root. Managed Cloud VPS is administered by our engineers, who hold root themselves.
On Semi-Dedicated you pick the US, EU or India at checkout. Managed Cloud VPS and Dedicated Servers are specced with an engineer first, and the region is agreed in that conversation rather than chosen from a dropdown, which is also when we can confirm the exact facility in writing if residency is a compliance requirement rather than a preference.
Per line, and worth reading carefully, because "backups included" means different things. The managed lines back the server up on our side. On a self-managed VPS a disk-level backup runs, but restoring one file or one course database is your job. Whatever you take, keep your own copy of anything you cannot afford to lose, which is true of every host, ours included.
Yes, and we rehearse it on a copy first: everything is stood up alongside the original and tested on a preview URL, and you sign off before a single DNS record changes. Course files, the database, users and grades all come across.
We stand the platform up and keep the stack under it current: PHP, the database, the web server, certificates. Moodle core and plugin updates stay a conversation rather than something we do silently to a live teaching system mid-term: a plugin update can change how a course behaves, and that is your call. Tell us the cadence you want and we will fit it.
Roughly how many learners, whether you are moving an existing Moodle, and any data-residency requirement. We will tell you which line fits, and if a cheaper one would do, we will say that too.
Moodle™ is a registered trademark of Moodle Pty Ltd. IndicHosts.net is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a partner of Moodle Pty Ltd. We provide hosting for the Moodle™ software, which is published under the GPLv3.