What factors should you consider when choosing a hosting provider?

When picking a host, weigh cost, vendor lock-in, features, contract terms, server location (latency and GDPR), and backup quality.

Considerations:

• Cost - self-hosting must provide clear advantages
• Vendor lock-in - ensure data can be exported
• Features - languages, databases, email, CMS support
• Terms - availability, storage, bandwidth, user accounts
• Location - latency, legal jurisdiction (GDPR)
• Backups - automated, tested restoration, local + remote copies

Always verify you can export your data and restore from backups.