Frequently asked questions

Most hosts calling themselves green joined recently. We have been carbon-neutral since 2006, which over time attracted a genuinely international group of organizations doing careful, decent work — including non-profits whose hosting is discounted or free, paid for by the fees of everyone else.

The office where most hosting operations happen has run on certified renewable energy since 2007. And the staff is small on purpose: we get to know customers and their systems quickly, and customers seem to like supporting a small organization trying to do this properly.

No. We run Linux, Apache, MariaDB and PostgreSQL, and PHP, Perl and Ruby. We do not think the Windows model of software development is an open or a sustainable one, and each release has historically added more decoration while older versions are allowed to rot. Those extra processing cycles add up to real wasted energy across millions of machines.

If you believe your project needs Windows hosting, talk to us about moving toward open software instead — often it is easier than expected.

Highly personal. If you call from the same number a few times, do not be surprised to be greeted by name and asked about the thing you were working on last time. Everyone answering English-speaking customers is a native English speaker, reachable by ticket or, in an emergency, by telephone. We do ask everyone to submit a ticket before calling, but we’re always available if needed.

Debian Linux on our servers, with Apache, MariaDB and PostgreSQL, and PHP, Perl and Ruby. Virtualization is Proxmox, hosting management is ISPConfig, and the network edge runs pfSense. Hardware is a mixture of our own and dedicated machines at our upstream provider.

Software updates and security patching go out on a regular rolling schedule rather than being left to chance.

Major credit cards and PayPal, on any plan and any billing period. We also accept check or bank payment for accounts on annual billing, with a minimum of about €50 for that method.

We have often accepted part payment through barter or work-trade, and our payment terms are deliberately friendly. If you are doing good work and need an unusual arrangement to make it viable, say so.

Monthly or annual on every plan except Press ON!, which is annual only. Annual costs ten times the monthly price, so two months are free. You can switch between plans, or between monthly and annual, at any time in the billing panel — it works out the pro-rating and confirms it with you first.

If a payment fails we do not panic, and neither should you. There is normally a couple of weeks of leeway for us to reach each other.

Yes, up to and including free for some organizations. Write to sales@sustainablehosting.com and tell us what you do.

Always, and we prefer to design each arrangement around the situation rather than run a fixed scheme. Get in touch to start the conversation.

Registering a domain establishes your name on the internet, rather as registering a business name does with the authorities. Hosting is the place your site actually lives and is served from. They are separate jobs and you need both. The registered name points, through our nameservers, at the server holding the site.

Yes, for the common extensions — .com, .org, .eu, .be, .info and a growing list of others. Most cost around €15 a year. If the extension you want is not offered, ask us: either we have added it, or you can register it elsewhere and simply point it here.

Yes, and there is a step for it during sign-up. Before you start, unlock the domain at your current registrar and get the EPP transfer code — you will be asked for it, and leaving it blank is the usual reason a transfer stalls.

Run one domain, using any of the software and features available. You are not limited to WordPress. Depending on how much data or how large a catalog you have, it is also fine for other content management systems, or even a small shop.

We do, however we prefer to negotiate them personally. Depending on purpose and features, the price could be anywhere from 9/month to 30/month. Contact us for more information by scheduling a call or sending an email.

Yes, at any time, with costs pro-rated. Let us know what you need, and we’ll organize it for you.

Yes, and we are direct about it: no pornography, no hate speech, no distribution of software you have no right to distribute, no fraudulent or phishing sites, no attacking systems you do not control, nothing virus-related, and no spammers. We also do not allow software known for runaway resource consumption, which currently includes crypto miners and unattended large language model workloads.

Those are the main categories, but read the agreement in Terms and Conditions if you have any doubt. If we find any of it coming from your account, expect the account to be closed immediately and without a refund. If you are unsure whether your project is acceptable, ask first — we would much rather have that conversation up front.

Blanket software updates and security patching go out on a regular rolling schedule. Every server has a RAID array and daily backups, so in the unusual event of a hardware failure the replacement starts immediately and should not cost you any data. In such situations, hardware will be replaced quickly, and the issue is resolved soon afterward. We also maintain offline and off-site backups… but saying any more would be insecure in itself! We have to do our best, because our data lives next to yours…

All client data is backed up daily, and we keep several days of snapshots. We can also design a specific backup strategy for you.

One important caveat, stated plainly: we do not guarantee our backups. They exist for our own operational use. You remain responsible for your own data, and you are strongly encouraged to keep your own copies.

Up to the storage limit of your plan, or about 2 GB per mailbox, whichever is smaller. New addresses start with a smaller default quota which you can raise yourself in the control panel under email management.

Yes, using SpamAssassin, with rules and sender lists updated daily, plus virus scanning on mail. No filter is perfect, so you can also train it to your own preferences and keep your own allow and block lists. We are currently adding to, and updating, our filtering systems in 2026-27.

FTP and SFTP are generally available on every plan, as is a file manager in the control panel. Our recent favorite is SSHFS that adds your hosting files to your own file system. Regular SSH access is available on the Professional and Developer plans and on dedicated servers, under some conditions — ask sales before you sign up, or support afterward.

Yes. The control panel and your site are reachable from anywhere with an internet connection.

Yes, though it is a distinct service rather than something bundled with hosting. Our technical team will take on small content edits and simple form setup as part of your included admin time. For a full design or rebuild, see the web design pages.

We get the site working on our servers first, at a temporary address, and only move the DNS once it is verified. Done that way, downtime is minimal or nil. Larger or more delicate migrations are scheduled for quiet hours by arrangement. We have developed ways to ensure your email and site have zero downtime. If you’re ready to talk about this, scheduling a call now is your best move.

Yes — normally the whole history, every folder, provided your current host supports IMAP for retrieval. We can help you check, and build a plan regardless. We have a perk in progress that will save huge mailboxes and make the mail and attachments searchable.

Then we help you leave. Ask, and you will get your data. A host that makes leaving difficult is telling you something about itself. It’s not our style! We do hope you inform us instead of just not making payments, mostly because we might be able to help you complete whatever your plan is. Many customers that left silently didn’t complete some portion of the suggested processes, leading to site and email problems. We are happy to help you avoid all of that and even migrate you to a new host.