On This Page: [hide]
Looking for Grav Managed Hosting? Read this article! It will show you the Best Managed Hosting Providers for Grav.
We will cover what exactly Grav is and why it is different than other CMS platforms, its requirements and then which host companies are best suited for running it, regardless that it could be set up with many hosting firms without much hassle.
What Is GRAV
Grav is a Content Management System, a platform such as WordPress, but it is flexible and unique in its own way.
No installation setup is required as its components are already pre-built and you have to just download it and extract its archive file. Grav is highly-focused on speed optimization.
Grav is fully free, built on PHP and more specifically on the Symfony application framework that is reusable. Grav has its system running on a flat file.
The flat file is a uniform format, with no structures for indexing or recognizing relationships between records. Said relationships can be inferred from a database, but the database format does not exactly define the relationships between files.
This means that no real database is needed and you cannot be hacked via an SQL injection, for instance.
That is the whole philosophy of Grav, which stands for the short of Gravity. Everything such as files, plug-ins, themes, etc. flows within one container and works, without necessarily being directly connected to everything else.
We at HTH.guide will show you what Managed Hosting providers are the best fit for the avant-garde CMS platform.
GRAV – Requirements for Running
GRAV does not need a database per se, as we have already mentioned above. GRAV can run on Windows and Linux, MacOS. General requirements include a Web Server and a minimum PHP version of 7.3.6. Below you will see a quick overview of other specific requirements. Many options are available and setting up GRAV is quick and easy.
Windows Requirements
Windows is straightforward and needs a few simple tweaks for getting Grav to launch:
- Laragon portable
- XAMPP provides Apache, PHP, and MySQL in one package
- EasyPHP or its developer version
- MAMP for Windows
- IIS with PHP on Windows
- AMPPS – a software stack from Softaculous enabling Apache, PHP, Perl, Python
- Linux Subsystem enables you to run a linux-like environment on Windows and subsequently Grav
MacOS Requirements
MacOS 10.14 Mojave already ships with the Apache Web server and PHP 7.1, so no work needed there.
However, some MacOS systems need a few boxes to be ticked before running Grav. Here they are:
- MAMP/MAMP Pro comes with Apache, MySQL and PHP. This way you get control over which version of PHP you are running, setting up virtual hosts, and automatically handling dynamic DNS to get Grav going in the best way.
- AMPPS is a software stack from Softaculous enabling Apache, PHP, Perl, Python. That is more than enough to run Grav.
- Brew Apache/PHP is the alternative option allowing a fully configurable installation with multiple PHP versions, sufficient for Grav.
Linux Requirements
Linux distributions usually have PHP built-in, but some do not. If they do not, they usually have a package manager ready to help with that. Research if your Linux needs the installation of PHP.
Apache Requirements
Not all servers come with the following, very much needed modules for Grav:
- mod_rewrite
- mod_ssl (if you wish to run Grav under SSL)
- mod_mpm_itk_module (if you wish to run Grav under its own user account)
Make certain that AllowOverride All is set in the Directory and/or VirtualHost blocks so that the .htaccess file processes correctly, and for rewrite rules to take effect.
IIS Requirements
IIS is regarded as a web server and should run Grav automatically, but you need to do one thing first. To get Grav running successfully on an IIS server, you need to install URL Rewrite. This can be accomplished by using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer from inside IIS. No other requirements are needed for IIS.
PHP Requirements
Most providers ship PHP with all prerequisites needed for Grav to run smoothly. Alas, some Windows and Linux installs lack the needed compiling and thus lack the needed PHP modules required for Grav, which are the following:
- curl (client for URL handling used by GPM)
- ctype (used by symfony/yaml/Inline)
- dom (used by grav/admin newsfeed)
- gd (a graphics library used to manipulate images)
- json (used by Symfony/Composer/GPM)
- mbstring (multibyte string support)
- openssl (secure sockets library used by GPM)
- session (used by toolbox)
- simplexml (used by grav/admin newsfeed)
- xml (XML support)
- zip extension support (used by GPM)
Enabling OpenSSL and (un)zip support in Linux will need finding these lines in the php.ini file:
;extension=openssl.so
;extension=zip.so
Those were the specific requirements for Grav in every Operating System and Web Server. Following those set of parameters will get Grav running on the systems you want it to run on.
Best Managed Hosting Providers for GRAV
We have chosen the Top Managed Hosting Providers which will save you additional time into running Grav. Continue reading to find out who they are and why they would be the best fit for your Grav setup.
Hostinger
Hostinger has been developing and growing its business since 2004 and has reached nearly thirty million users worldwide. As a cutting-edge web hosting provider it has everything you need to setup Grav.
Grav makes the list of the 15 Best CMS Platforms to Start a Website – compiled by Hostinger themselves.
They reveal that Grav requires very little server space, so the cheapest Hostinger plans with minimal server space should be enough for having Grav on.
With 30 GB of SSD storage space, 24/7/365 Support and 99% Uptime, at a truly cheap price, we can heartily recommend Hostinger for your Grav-based website.
Beneficial features available for every plan of Hostinger:
- Free SSL Certificate
- Cloudflare Nameservers for DDoS Protection
- Additional Protection (from other types of attacks)
- DNS Management
- Free Email
- Free Domain
- Light Speed Server Conection
- 24/7/365 Support
Hostinger has a 30-Day Money-back Guarantee policy that is being applied when being asked for, regardless of circumstance.
Siteground
SiteGround uses PHP 8 across all its servers for faster deployment of code internationally, so it fully covers one of the general requirements for Grav automatically.
SiteGround will help you with a 24/7 Live Support, NGINX Direct Delivery technology, Real-time Server Health Checks and other features that can benefit your Grav setup.
Grav recommends that you check the highest tier of SiteGround Shared hosting plans, to allow for better hardware and less over-population on their servers. You can check further documentation on getting Grav running with SiteGround on the official corresponding page on the Grav site.
Affordable pricing makes SiteGround a genuinely good service and allows you to use:
- A DevToolkit
- Free SSL Certificates
- Staging Tool
- Collaboration Tools
30-Days Money-Back Guarantee also gets you enough time to test and check out all that is provided by SiteGround.
Dreamhost
While Grav will run on the Shared plans of Dreamhost, we recommend the VPS plans as they offer a managed solution.
For the VPS plans however, note that OPCache is supported but not enabled by default. A simple and short, but complete guide on running Grav on Dreamhost is available on the website of Grav.
Regardless of what plan you choose, DreamHost offers these benefits:
- 100% Uptime Guarantee
- Commitment to Security
- Services for Businesses of All Sizes
- Fast Speed and Reliability
- 24/7 Support
DreamHost is a true veteran among the oldest hosting providers still running in the industry, with experience spanning over 25 years.
They have a great administrator panel, a great custom panel to configure SSH and PHP, so they are one of the ideal hosting companies to have Grav on.
GreenGeeks
2008 is the year in which GreenGeeks started and is now generating less power consumption with the aid of renewable energy.
GreenGeeks is a modern green company running SSD drives, configured in data redundant arrays. GreenGeeks allows you to choose your PHP version of up to 8.0, which enables you to run Grav with no hindrances.
Prices are affordable and give good value for all features included across plans.
GreenGeeks is a company that offers a wide range of features, such as:
- Unlimited SSD Web Space
- Unlimited Data Transfer
- 300% Green Hosting
- Real-time Security Scanning
- Free SSL Certificate
- Free Nightly Backup
- Free CDN
- Unlimited E-mail Accounts
GreenGeeks offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, no hidden fees and a true 24/7 Support. Support technicians can answer any day and time of the week via Live Chat, Telephone, or Email tickets.
Cloudways
Cloudways is runs one of the best Cloud services, reaching amazing speeds, while maintaining good reliability, low latency and quick connectivity.
Cloudways is Grav-ready as it runs Apache and NGINX servers, as well as the latest versions of PHP 7.x for easy compatibility testing.
CloudwaysCDN is the content delivery network developed by Cloudways, which protects you, while SSD disks ensure the fastest speeds available on the market.
Managed Cloud Solutions from Cloudways include:
- 24/7/365 Support
- SSD Disks and built-in cache
- Apache and NGINX servers
- Free SSL Certificate
- Team Management
- Dedicated Firewalls
- 24/7 Real-time Monitoring
- Automated Backups and Regular Security Patching
For the best Grav experience we recommend Cloudways because Amazon AWS and Google Cloud Platform always get the latest technologies and test them. DigitalOcean, Linode and Vultr are also compatible sub-plans from Cloudways and have instructions included on the official Grav website.
Conclusion
Grav is a well-developed CMS solution with a simple design, allowing for flexible setups across all known Web Servers and Operating Systems (depending on versions).
We hope that you are now ready to get Grav and easily configure it to start using this modern and one-of-a-kind system. The hosting providers in this article are chosen based upon research, but many others can equally run Grav.
Read more articles about GRAV below:
GRAV Guide: How to Make a Website in 2022 – Step by Step
GRAV Review – CMS Test + Features