What are the most popular Offshore Website Hosting locations in 2021

Where you choose to host your website is an important decision that can directly affect the potential and growth of your business. Many companies are choosing offshore hosting for a variety of reasons, so let’s take a look at some of the most popular offshore website hosting locations in 2021!

What is offshore hosting?

Offshore web hosting is the practice of hosting a website on servers located outside of one’s own country. Simply put, hosting your website in any other country other than the one that you live or operate in, is considered offshore hosting.

However, the term offshore hosting more specifically implies that you are hosting your website in another country for a specific reason.  These reasons can include anonymity, infrastructure stability or even just because it’s cheap.  

With so many different hosting services available, choosing the right offshore website hosting location may seem like an intimidating task, with a number of determining factors that need to be taken into account.

What is the best offshore hosting location?

1. Singapore

Recognized as the technology hub of Asia, Singapore has become a popular choice for offshore web hosting for a number of reasons. Singapore alone makes up over half of data centres in the whole of south-east Asia.

Natural disasters in Singapore are uncommon, meaning there is a low risk of power and internet connectivity disruptions. In case of any disasters occurring, Singapore based data centres have heavily invested in Data Recovery with infrastructure and technology in place to ensure servers are protected.

Of course, when choosing a hosting provider and location, security is also of great concern. Singapore based data centres have continued to make security their top priority. In fact, NetShop ISP’s NSSIN01 Data Center in Singapore is protected by advanced physical security systems and protocols, including a multi-layered access system and 24/7 on site security staff.

Read more about why to choose Singapore for offshore website hosting here.

2.   Cyprus

Cyprus is also quickly becoming a popular choice for offshore web hosting, mainly due to its attractive taxation system. With one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the EU (12.5%) and non-resident based companies being free from all local taxation, many companies are opting not only to host their websites in Cyprus, but also take advantage of the offshore company formation opportunities.

Internationally recognized as a business destination, Cyprus has become a financial hub for the Forex and iGaming industries due to its ideal geographic location, reliable infrastructure and access to the European Union’s various economic and trade treaties.

Like Singapore, Cyprus is not prone to natural disasters and has dependable infrastructure in place, making it the ideal offshore hosting destination.

Read more about the benefits of Cyprus hosting here.

3.   The Netherlands

When choosing the best offshore hosting location, another thing that needs to be considered is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The Netherlands is renowned for its commitment to confidentiality and freedom of speech, and as such has strong privacy laws.

If you plan on hosting any controversial content or wish to remain anonymous, choosing a hosting location like the Netherlands, where laws are favourable to privacy concerns, is essential to avoid having your site or servers forcibly taken down.

Not only does the Netherlands have high privacy standards, but with the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) being the 2nd largest Exchange Point in the world, you are also guaranteed high speed connectivity – and at a great price too!

The Netherlands is a global leader in green technologies and renewable energy, meaning their power and cooling costs are lower than other countries – so you can get more value for your money.

4.   Malta

Like Cyprus, Malta has also rapidly become a popular destination for iGaming and Financial businesses. Due to its taxation benefits and cost structure, Malta has developed into a globally recognized business hub.

Malta’s geographic location between European and North African countries, not only makes it a strategic business location, but also extremely low risk to any natural disasters, making it a safe and secure offshore hosting location.

5.   Hong Kong

If you wish to grow your online presence and access the China market, offshore hosting in Hong Kong is definitely the answer. Accessing Chinese consumers means facing a number of regulatory challenges and constrictions, but Hong Kong hosting can provide you with a reliable solution.

Hong Kong is also a well-regarded tax haven with strong corporate laws, investment prospects and one of the world’s most prestigious company formation markets for non-resident business incorporation.

Surprisingly, Hong Kong can also be highly tolerable of DMCA content making it very unlikely for your website to get issued with a DMCA notice.

Website, Email and Server Hosting with NetShop ISP

NetShop Internet Services is an Award Winning Data Center Services & Server Hosting Provider with privately-owned Infrastructure in Cyprus, Malta, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore, Los Angeles (US West) and Hong Kong.

For more information, technical advice or any other pre-sales questions please contact our 24/7 Customer Service team.