Social Networking Hosting: Install BuddyPress, Elgg & Etano in One Click
Build your own social network, community forum, or dating site with HostPapa. We make it simple so you can install BuddyPress, Elgg, or Etano quickly and get your community online fast.
Plans as low as $2.95 per month1
Choose the Plan That Fits Your Community
If for any reason you’re not satisfied with our services, you can cancel at any time in the first 30 days of signup to receive a full refund for the service.
Domain fees are non-refundable.
YOUR VISION YOUR PLATFORM
What Can You Build With Social Networking Hosting
Social networking apps are not just for the big platforms. Thousands of communities, brands, and creators use them to build spaces they fully own and control.
Community Hubs
Dating & Social Discovery
Forums & Discussion Boards
OPEN SOURCE & FREE
BuddyPress Hosting for WordPress Communities
BuddyPress is a free, open source WordPress plugin that adds social networking features to any WordPress site, including member profiles, activity streams, friend connections, private messaging, and group discussions.
Our WordPress hosting plans are built for BuddyPress from day one. You get Softaculous powered installs for WordPress, PHP version selection, and NVMe storage that keeps your member database responsive as your community grows.
WordPress Native
BuddyPress runs inside WordPress so you manage your community from the same dashboard as your content. There is no separate control panel or extra system to learn.
Flexible With Plugins
You can add media sharing, profile themes, and learning features through the WordPress plugin library. Popular options include rtMedia, Youzify, BuddyBoss, and bbPress.
Grows With Your Site
Start on shared Web Hosting. When your membership and traffic grow, you can move to a VPS plan with more RAM, processing power, and server level control.
DEVELOPER FRIENDLY
Elgg Hosting for Custom Social Platforms
Elgg is a free, open source social networking engine built for developers who want complete control over how their platform works and looks. It runs as its own standalone application instead of attaching to WordPress.
Elgg is a strong choice for organizations, universities, and development teams that want a custom built community platform with their own rules, design, and data structure.
Standalone Application
Elgg runs as a separate application and does not require WordPress. This is useful when you want a clean codebase and full control over features and architecture.
Modular Plugin System
Elgg uses a plugin system so you can add or remove features as you need them. You can build exactly the social experience you want without extra unused components.
Runs on HostPapa Plans
Elgg installs through Softaculous on HostPapa Web Hosting and VPS plans. It typically requires PHP 7.0 or higher plus MySQL or MariaDB, which are available on all of our servers.
DATING & COMMUNITY SITES
Etano Hosting for Dating and Social Platforms
Etano is social networking software designed for dating sites and social discovery communities. It includes member profile pages, photo albums, private messaging, member search filters, and paid membership tools right out of the box.
With Etano, you can also build classifieds style sites and other community driven directories where people create profiles, post listings, and connect with each other.
Install Etano through Softaculous in cPanel on any HostPapa plan. Our free SSL certificate keeps your members’ data protected from day one, and our 99.9% uptime guarantee means your platform stays available when your members want to log in.
BuddyPress vs Elgg vs Etano Which One Fits Your Idea
All three apps install on HostPapa, and each one is best for a different type of project. Use this comparison to decide which option matches your community.
BuddyPress works best when you want to build on WordPress or add community features to an existing site. It is easy to install, easy to extend with plugins, and familiar if you already know WordPress. It is a strong fit for hobby communities, interest groups, brand communities, membership sites, and online clubs.
Elgg fits teams that want a standalone platform and a clear separation between the social network and a public website. It is popular with universities, nonprofits, internal company communities, and developers who want a clean base to extend.
Etano is focused on dating and social discovery sites where profile browsing, search filters, and member messaging are central. It also supports classifieds and other listing style projects where people connect and interact.
If you are not sure which to choose, our PapaSquad support team can help you decide based on your idea and your technical experience.
BUILT FOR COMMUNITY SITES
The Hosting Infrastructure Behind Your Social Network
Running a social networking site is different from running a simple blog. Your platform handles user accounts, member activity, notifications, image uploads, and database queries all at once. You need hosting that can handle that workload.
HostPapa plans come ready with everything a social networking app needs to run well.
PHP and Database Versions You Need
Our servers support multiple PHP versions from 5.6 through 8.1 so you can choose the version that works best with your app. BuddyPress requires WordPress 6.4 or higher and PHP 7.0 or higher. For best performance, the BuddyPress team recommends PHP 7.4 or higher plus MySQL 5.7 or MariaDB 10.4 or higher.
NVMe Storage and CloudLinux OS
NVMe storage delivers very fast read and write speeds for the constant database activity that social networks create. CloudLinux OS isolates each account on shared servers so traffic spikes on other sites do not slow down your community.
Global CDN and Security Stack
Our built in Content Delivery Network CDN serves your content from locations close to your members so pages load faster worldwide. We also include Imunify360 for automated malware scanning, a Web Application Firewall, and related security tools.
INCLUDED WITH EVERY PLAN
Everything You Need To Launch Your Community
Every HostPapa hosting plan includes the core tools your social network needs from day one. You do not have to buy separate services just to get the basics in place.
Free SSL Certificate
Free Domain Name
cPanel and 400+ Apps
Backups and Staging
READY IN MINUTES
Get Your Social Network Online in Simple Steps
You do not need to be a developer to launch a social networking site on HostPapa. Here is how simple the process is from sign up to first member.
1. Choose Your Hosting Plan
Pick a Web Hosting or VPS plan based on the size of your community. New projects usually start on Web Hosting. If you are expecting heavy traffic from day one, a VPS plan provides more dedicated resources and configuration options.
2. Install WordPress or Your App
Log into cPanel and open Softaculous. Install WordPress in one click if you plan to use BuddyPress. For Elgg and Etano, install the app directly from the Social Networking category in Softaculous. The installer creates databases and config files for you.
3. Configure and Test on Staging
Configure your site name, theme, and member settings from the admin dashboard. Use the staging environment to test new plugins, themes, and features before you push changes live for your members.
Explore the Stack
Social Networking Hosting
These powerful platforms enable you to build community-focused websites with features like user profiles, activity feeds, friend connections, messaging systems, and content sharing capabilities.
Create a social network with BuddyPress. Easily add user profiles, activity streams, messaging, and more.
Build your own social network or community hub with Elgg. Flexible, open-source, and packed with social features.
Packed with community features like profiles, messages, and search filters, build your own social network or dating site with Etano.
Shared Hosting or VPS Which Does Your Social Network Need
Many people building community sites ask if shared hosting is enough or if they should start on a VPS. The right answer depends on how large and active you expect your community to be.
Start with Shared Web Hosting if you are launching a new community, a niche interest group, or a pilot project. Our Web Hosting plans run on NVMe storage, support multiple PHP versions including 8.1, and include everything BuddyPress, Elgg, and Etano need to run well.
Shared hosting can handle hundreds of concurrent users for a typical community site. You can upgrade later with help from our team if your traffic grows.
Move to VPS Hosting when your community reaches thousands of daily active members or when you need guaranteed RAM, more CPU, and server level tuning.
A VPS Virtual Private Server gives you isolated resources that are not shared with other accounts in the same way. It is a better choice for heavy traffic platforms, commercial projects, and advanced caching setups.
REAL PEOPLE REAL HELP
Support That Understands Community Sites
When your social network is live and members count on it, hosting support matters. Our PapaSquad support team is available 24/7 by phone, live chat, and email, and they are trained specifically on WordPress, BuddyPress, Elgg, and similar apps.
We hold a 97 percent support satisfaction rate and a 4.85 rating on Trustpilot from over 1,000 reviews because we answer questions quickly and clearly.
Phone Chat and Email
Choose the support channel that works best for you. Our team is available around the clock, including evenings and weekends, and you speak with real people every time.
Support Across 37 Countries
Our team spans 37 countries and offers help in English, French, Spanish, and German. You receive guidance in your language and time zone.
Free Website Migration
If you already have a social network hosted elsewhere, our migration team moves your site, files, databases, and DNS settings to HostPapa for Free. We test everything before going live.
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Your staff were so responsive and sympathetic, thank you so much – couldn't have had a better experience.
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One Global Team
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Consistently Awesome
We're not trying to brag (okay, maybe just a little), but with a 97% support satisfaction rate, we're basically the MVP of web hosting.
Compare Our Web Hosting Plans
Want to dive into the numbers? At HostPapa, we're proud of our powerful, secure, and reliable Web Hosting servers.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Number of supported websites
Email addresses
Inbox storage
Website staging
Softaculous script installer
CMS scripts 1-click setup (WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal etc.)
Free domain registration or transfer1
1
25GB
2
1GB
5
100GB
10
1GB
Unlimited
200GB
40
2GB
Unlimited
Unmetered
Unlimited
2GB
Number of pages
No-code, easy wizard-driven setup
Site backups
Multilingual sites
Build from any device
Responsive, mobile-ready sites
SEO optimization tools
2
2 Latest versions
2 Languages
2
2 Latest versions
2 Languages
2
2 Latest versions
2 Languages
Email addresses
Email forwarding accounts
Email autoresponders
IMAP/IMAP-SSL connections
POP3/POP3-SSL connections
SMTP/SMTP-SSL connections
Email aliases
Email virus scanning
SpamAssassin spam protection
Outgoing filtering
Webmail
Business-grade email available
Individual mailbox storage
Overall mailbox storage
Email sends per hour
Email attachment size
2
2
Unlimited
25
1GB
2GB
200
20MB
10
10
Unlimited
25
1GB
5GB
200
20MB
40
40
Unlimited
25
2GB
10GB
300
20MB
Unlimited
Unlimited
Unlimited
25
2GB
20GB
600
20MB
Daily malware scan
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Protected pages
Manual vulnerability scan
Secure website trust seal
Automated malware detection
Real-time notifications and alerts
Malware removal assistance
Website performance acceleration
Improved page load speed
Dynamic website acceleration
Asset preloading
Anycast DNS
Speed 10/40/100GBPS
Layer 7 DDoS protection
Layer 3, 4, 5, 6 DDoS protection
Instant purge
One-time
One-time
One-time
Server firewall, monitoring, and intrusion detection
DDoS attack prevention and responses
Multi-factor biometric access data centre
Redundant network carriers
Network monitoring
Brute force detection
CloudLinux O/S protection
Imunify360
ModSecurity
Standard SSL
Domain privacy protection
Premium SSL
Automated website backup
5GB
5GB
10GB
Server resources
Entry points
CPU cores
MySQL usage
PHP 5.6, 7.0, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1 (choose your version)
Memory
I/O Usage
Inodes
Minimum cron job interval
Database size
Table size
Hosted domains
Subdomains
Unlimited add-on domains
Unlimited parked domains
Server resources
- Entry points: 10
- CPU cores: 1 core
- MySQL usage: 1 core MySQL
- Memory per process: 1024MB
- Inodes: 150,000
- Minimum Cron Job Interval: 30 minutes
- Database size: 500MB
- Table size: 250MB
10
1 Core
1 Core MySQL
1,024MB
2,048 KB/s
150,000
30 Minutes
500MB
250MB
1
20
Server resources
- Entry points: 20
- CPU cores: 2 core
- MySQL usage: 2 core MySQL
- Memory per process: 1024MB
- Inodes: 300,000
- Minimum Cron Job Interval: 30 minutes
- Database size: 1000MB
- Table size: 500MB
20
2 Core
2 Core MySQL
1,024MB
3,072 KB/s
300,000
30 Minutes
1GB
500MB
5
100
Server resources
- Entry points: 40
- CPU cores: 4 core
- MySQL usage: 4 core MySQL
- Memory per process: 1024MB
- Inodes: 450,000
- Minimum Cron Job Interval: 20 minutes
- Database size: 2000MB
- Table size: 1000MB
40
4 Core
4 Core MySQL
1,024MB
4,096 KB/s
450,000
20 Minutes
2GB
1GB
Unlimited
Unlimited
Server resources
- Entry points: 40
- CPU cores: 4 core
- MySQL usage: 4 core MySQL
- Memory per process: 1024MB
- Inodes: 450,000
- Minimum Cron Job Interval: 20 minutes
- Database size: 2000MB
- Table size: 1000MB
80
8 Core
8 Core MySQL
2,048MB
8,192 KB/s
600,000
10 Minutes
4GB
2GB
Unlimited
Unlimited
Frequently Asked Questions
All your questions in one place! Whether it’s helping you choose a domain name, walking you through our website builder, or configuring your cloud email system for your business, we’re here to help!
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Click below and directly reach one of our awesome support people.
BuddyPress is a free, open source WordPress plugin that adds social networking features to any WordPress site. It provides member profiles, activity streams, friend connections, private messaging, and group discussions, so you can build a community without leaving WordPress.
BuddyPress requires WordPress 6.4 or higher and PHP 7.0 or higher. The BuddyPress team recommends PHP 7.4 or higher and MySQL 5.7 or MariaDB 10.4 or higher for best performance. Elgg typically requires PHP 7.0 or higher plus a MySQL or MariaDB database. All of these versions are available on HostPapa servers.
