Umbraco hosting that's tuned for the CMS, not just switched on.
Generic hosting keeps your Umbraco site technically online. It doesn't keep it fast, secure or actually watched by anyone who understands Umbraco. That's a different job, and it's the one we do.
For IT Managers, Marketing Leads & Umbraco Site Owners
Whoever owns the website shouldn't have to own the server too.
Some of you are the IT manager fielding a downtime alert at an unsociable hour. Some are the marketing lead who inherited a site nobody properly explained, and just want it to stay up when a campaign lands. Either way, you shouldn't need a server admin's job title to trust your hosting.
We manage Umbraco hosting end to end: server setup, performance tuning, security patching, monitoring and backups, all handled by people who know the difference between a routine Umbraco cache warm-up and a genuine outage, and who tell you which one it is.
Why Teams come to us?
“We found out our host couldn't cope on launch day.”
We size hosting to your real traffic patterns before launch, not after a campaign brings the site down. Load testing happens ahead of time, not during a postmortem.
“Nobody told us hosting needed patching too.”
Security patching and updates run on a schedule as part of the package, not as an emergency fire drill once something's already gone wrong. You're never the one chasing it.
“Our backups exist, but nobody's actually tested them.”
We run automated, off-site backups and check they actually restore, on a schedule you can see. If the worst happens, recovery is a known process, not a gamble.
“We set it up once and never looked at it again.”
Hosting isn't a box you tick at launch. We monitor performance and capacity continuously and flag what needs attention before it becomes your problem to explain upward.
The Gecko Way™
Our approach to successful projects
Before we touch a server, we want to understand the one you've actually got. That means traffic patterns, content volume, media size, any integrations pulling data in or out, and what growth looks like over the next year or two, not just the next launch. For clients who inherited their site, this is often the first time anyone's properly mapped what's running and why. We also ask the questions nobody's asked yet: who currently owns backups, what happens if the site goes down at 2am, and whether the current setup has ever actually been tested under real load. That groundwork shapes every recommendation that follows, rather than us reaching for a default spec and hoping it fits.
Umbraco Cloud, Microsoft Azure and our own dedicated environment all do the job, but they suit different situations, and we'll tell you honestly which fits yours. Umbraco Cloud is the simplest route if you want HQ-managed upgrades and minimal infrastructure decisions, though it can feel restrictive if you need custom server-level control. Azure scales well and suits organisations already invested in Microsoft's ecosystem, provided someone's watching the cost dial. Our own environment is built and tuned specifically for Umbraco, with the flexibility of a dedicated setup minus the overhead of running it yourself. That's dedicated hosting without you having to rack, patch or babysit the hardware yourself. We'll walk through the trade-offs with you rather than defaulting to whichever one we sell.
Once we've agreed the right environment, we provision it properly: the correct .NET version for your Umbraco release, SQL Server configured for production rather than development, SSD storage, and HTTPS as standard, not an afterthought. If we're migrating an existing site, we plan the cutover around your DNS and SSL certificates so there's no gap where the site's unreachable, and we test the new environment thoroughly before anything client-facing changes. Security hardening happens at this stage too, not bolted on later. The aim is a server that's genuinely ready for production traffic on day one, not one that technically meets the minimum spec and hopes for the best.
You get a clear picture of what's actually running your site: the server setup, what's backed up and how often, who to contact and when, and what our monitoring is actually watching for. If you're the sole person managing digital in your organisation, this matters more than it sounds. Nobody should be the single point of failure for infrastructure they've never seen documented. We hand over what you need in plain terms, not a server admin manual that assumes you'll never need to read it, so if you ever want to check something yourself, or explain it to your board, you actually can.
Hosting isn't a one-off job, it's an ongoing one, so we stay on it. That means proactive monitoring, patching on a schedule rather than in a panic, backups that get tested rather than just taken, and an SLA-backed support team who'll tell you what's happening rather than leaving you to guess. If something does need attention, you hear about it from us before you'd have noticed it yourself. This is the phase most hosting providers quietly drop once the invoice is paid. We don't, because "an agency you'll want to stick with" has to mean something once launch day's behind you.
What's Included in Umbraco Hosting
Umbraco-Specific Server Setup
Umbraco has real technical requirements, and getting them right from the start avoids problems later. Umbraco CMS is a genuine content management system, not just a page builder bolted onto a template, so hosting needs to support real content management at a database level, whichever content management platform route you take, Umbraco Cloud, Azure or our own dedicated environment.
That's a different job to shared hosting, where your Umbraco site would be competing for resources with sites that have nothing to do with it. That means the correct .NET version for your specific Umbraco release, a properly configured SQL Server database rather than a development-only option, and either IIS on Windows or Kestrel behind a reverse proxy if you're running cross-platform, all matched to your version of the CMS rather than a generic template.
We provision with production in mind: enough RAM and SSD storage to handle real content and media volumes, HTTPS enforced by default, and file permissions set correctly from day one rather than fixed retrospectively when something breaks. It's the unglamorous groundwork that decides whether everything built on top of it actually holds up.
Choosing the Right Hosting Environment
Umbraco Cloud, Azure and our own dedicated environment aren't interchangeable, and we won't pretend they are. Umbraco Cloud suits teams who want HQ-managed upgrades and a simple, low-maintenance setup, though it can feel limiting if you need deeper infrastructure control. That HQ-managed setup includes its own deployment tooling, Umbraco Deploy and the newer Content Flow, for content synchronization and content deployment between environments, plus automatic updates to the CMS itself, all managed through a genuinely user-friendly interface in the Cloud Portal.
Azure gives you real scale and flexibility, particularly if you're already a Microsoft shop, but the cost needs active watching rather than being left to run. As Microsoft's own cloud platform, that usually means an Umbraco site running through Azure App Service, with Azure SQL handling the database and Azure Blob Storage for media, plus a choice of datacentre regions if data residency matters to you.
Our own dedicated hosting environment is built and performance-tuned for Umbraco specifically, giving you the flexibility of self-hosting without having to maintain the servers yourself. It's backed by scalable dedicated resources rather than a fixed box sized for launch day and never revisited, so headroom for growth is built in rather than an afterthought. Part of this service is simply helping you pick the right one for your actual traffic, budget and appetite for control, not steering you toward whichever's easiest for us to sell.
Performance Monitoring & Tuning
A site that loaded fine at launch can slow down as content, media and traffic grow, often without anyone noticing until it's a problem. We monitor performance continuously, not just when something's visibly wrong, watching for the early signs that a site's approaching its resource limits.
When we spot something worth tuning, whether that's database query performance, caching configuration or server resource allocation, we act on it proactively rather than waiting for a support ticket. The goal is a site that stays fast as it grows, not one that gets a scramble of attention only after visitors start noticing.
We use standard performance tools to catch the difference between normal growth and a genuine problem, covering everything from database queries and smaller performance optimization work like image sizes and CSS files, right up to whether a content delivery network in front of the origin server would take the pressure off entirely. Slow load times hurt user experience just as much as they hurt your search rankings, and that's what managed hosting is meant to mean, not just a server with your name on the invoice.
Security & Patch Management
Hosting security isn't a one-time SSL certificate and a firewall rule, it's an ongoing job, and it's one that's easy to quietly neglect. Security upgrades and other security measures get logged as they happen, so if you ever need to show a board or an auditor what's been done and when, that record already exists.
We keep server software, the Umbraco installation itself and any dependencies patched on a regular schedule, monitor for suspicious activity, and enforce HTTPS and security headers as standard rather than optional extras. If a vulnerability's disclosed that affects your setup, you're not the one who has to spot it first.
This runs in the background as part of the hosting service, so security stays current without you having to chase it or even think about it.
Backups & Disaster Recovery
A backup that's never been tested isn't really a backup, it's a hope. Automatic backups start running from the moment your hosted Umbraco site goes live with us, on a schedule that gives you regular backups you can actually check, not just assume are happening somewhere in the background.
We run automated, off-site backups on a defined schedule and actually test that they restore properly, so if something does go wrong, whether that's human error, a bad deployment or genuine infrastructure failure, recovery is a known, practised process rather than a frantic first attempt.
You'll know what's backed up, how often, and roughly how long recovery would take, before you ever need to find out the hard way.
Hosting Migration & Onboarding
If you're moving an existing Umbraco site to us, whether from Umbraco Cloud, Azure, another agency or a server nobody quite remembers setting up, we plan the migration to avoid downtime and data loss. That means testing the new environment thoroughly before cutover, coordinating DNS and SSL changes so there's no gap where the site's unreachable, and having a rollback plan in case anything doesn't go to plan.
We also don't require that we built your site originally. If it's running on Umbraco, we can host it, and we'll tell you honestly during onboarding if we spot anything in the existing setup worth fixing along the way.
What's Included in Umbraco Hosting
Umbraco-Specific Server Setup
Umbraco has real technical requirements, and getting them right from the start avoids problems later. Umbraco CMS is a genuine content management system, not just a page builder bolted onto a template, so hosting needs to support real content management at a database level, whichever content management platform route you take, Umbraco Cloud, Azure or our own dedicated environment.
That's a different job to shared hosting, where your Umbraco site would be competing for resources with sites that have nothing to do with it. That means the correct .NET version for your specific Umbraco release, a properly configured SQL Server database rather than a development-only option, and either IIS on Windows or Kestrel behind a reverse proxy if you're running cross-platform, all matched to your version of the CMS rather than a generic template.
We provision with production in mind: enough RAM and SSD storage to handle real content and media volumes, HTTPS enforced by default, and file permissions set correctly from day one rather than fixed retrospectively when something breaks. It's the unglamorous groundwork that decides whether everything built on top of it actually holds up.
Choosing the Right Hosting Environment
Umbraco Cloud, Azure and our own dedicated environment aren't interchangeable, and we won't pretend they are. Umbraco Cloud suits teams who want HQ-managed upgrades and a simple, low-maintenance setup, though it can feel limiting if you need deeper infrastructure control. That HQ-managed setup includes its own deployment tooling, Umbraco Deploy and the newer Content Flow, for content synchronization and content deployment between environments, plus automatic updates to the CMS itself, all managed through a genuinely user-friendly interface in the Cloud Portal.
Azure gives you real scale and flexibility, particularly if you're already a Microsoft shop, but the cost needs active watching rather than being left to run. As Microsoft's own cloud platform, that usually means an Umbraco site running through Azure App Service, with Azure SQL handling the database and Azure Blob Storage for media, plus a choice of datacentre regions if data residency matters to you.
Our own dedicated hosting environment is built and performance-tuned for Umbraco specifically, giving you the flexibility of self-hosting without having to maintain the servers yourself. It's backed by scalable dedicated resources rather than a fixed box sized for launch day and never revisited, so headroom for growth is built in rather than an afterthought. Part of this service is simply helping you pick the right one for your actual traffic, budget and appetite for control, not steering you toward whichever's easiest for us to sell.
Performance Monitoring & Tuning
A site that loaded fine at launch can slow down as content, media and traffic grow, often without anyone noticing until it's a problem. We monitor performance continuously, not just when something's visibly wrong, watching for the early signs that a site's approaching its resource limits.
When we spot something worth tuning, whether that's database query performance, caching configuration or server resource allocation, we act on it proactively rather than waiting for a support ticket. The goal is a site that stays fast as it grows, not one that gets a scramble of attention only after visitors start noticing.
We use standard performance tools to catch the difference between normal growth and a genuine problem, covering everything from database queries and smaller performance optimization work like image sizes and CSS files, right up to whether a content delivery network in front of the origin server would take the pressure off entirely. Slow load times hurt user experience just as much as they hurt your search rankings, and that's what managed hosting is meant to mean, not just a server with your name on the invoice.
Security & Patch Management
Hosting security isn't a one-time SSL certificate and a firewall rule, it's an ongoing job, and it's one that's easy to quietly neglect. Security upgrades and other security measures get logged as they happen, so if you ever need to show a board or an auditor what's been done and when, that record already exists.
We keep server software, the Umbraco installation itself and any dependencies patched on a regular schedule, monitor for suspicious activity, and enforce HTTPS and security headers as standard rather than optional extras. If a vulnerability's disclosed that affects your setup, you're not the one who has to spot it first.
This runs in the background as part of the hosting service, so security stays current without you having to chase it or even think about it.
Backups & Disaster Recovery
A backup that's never been tested isn't really a backup, it's a hope. Automatic backups start running from the moment your hosted Umbraco site goes live with us, on a schedule that gives you regular backups you can actually check, not just assume are happening somewhere in the background.
We run automated, off-site backups on a defined schedule and actually test that they restore properly, so if something does go wrong, whether that's human error, a bad deployment or genuine infrastructure failure, recovery is a known, practised process rather than a frantic first attempt.
You'll know what's backed up, how often, and roughly how long recovery would take, before you ever need to find out the hard way.
Hosting Migration & Onboarding
If you're moving an existing Umbraco site to us, whether from Umbraco Cloud, Azure, another agency or a server nobody quite remembers setting up, we plan the migration to avoid downtime and data loss. That means testing the new environment thoroughly before cutover, coordinating DNS and SSL changes so there's no gap where the site's unreachable, and having a rollback plan in case anything doesn't go to plan.
We also don't require that we built your site originally. If it's running on Umbraco, we can host it, and we'll tell you honestly during onboarding if we spot anything in the existing setup worth fixing along the way.
"I like that when a client's site starts creeping close to its resource limits, we're already onto it before they've noticed anything slow."
Dave Nicklen, Support Manager at Gecko
Umbraco Hosting Case Study
[PLACEHOLDER — no confirmed hosting-specific case study currently exists. Do not publish until a real client project with real metrics is available. Suggested framing once one exists: describe a migration or performance-tuning project, pull out one hard metric such as uptime, page load improvement or incident response time, and link through to the full case study.]
The exact requirements depend on which version of Umbraco you're running, since Umbraco's supported .NET version moves in step with Microsoft's own release cycle. In general, you'll need a compatible .NET runtime, a SQL Server database configured for production (SQLite is fine for development and testing, but not for a live site), either IIS on Windows or Kestrel with a reverse proxy if you're hosting cross-platform, HTTPS enforced by default, and enough RAM and SSD storage to handle your content and media volumes comfortably rather than just scraping by. Umbraco's also been cross-platform since version 10, so alongside Windows Server and IIS, it runs perfectly well on Ubuntu Linux behind Kestrel and a reverse proxy. Whichever OS you're on, your SQL Server database (sometimes labelled an MS SQL Database, particularly on Azure) needs the right application pool configuration and file permissions set up correctly from the start, and a valid SSL/TLS certificate applied as standard, not bolted on afterwards. If any of that sounds like guesswork on your current setup, that's usually the first sign it's worth a proper hosting review. Talk to us about your Umbraco hosting and we'll tell you plainly where you stand.
Umbraco Cloud is HQ-managed and simple, with automatic upgrades and patches handled for you, but it can feel restrictive if you need custom infrastructure control. Microsoft Azure is highly scalable and suits organisations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, though costs need active monitoring rather than being left alone. Our own dedicated hosting environment is performance-tuned specifically for Umbraco, giving you the flexibility of self-hosting without having to maintain the servers yourself, backed by a support team who actually know the CMS. None of the three is automatically "best." Which one suits you depends on your traffic, your appetite for infrastructure control and your budget, and we'll talk you through the trade-offs honestly rather than pushing our own option by default.
Yes, with proper planning. We build and test the new environment fully before any cutover happens, then coordinate DNS and SSL changes so there's no window where the site's unreachable. We also keep a rollback plan ready in case anything doesn't go as expected. Migrations do need a bit of lead time to do properly, and we'll always be upfront if your specific setup needs longer than usual, but a well-planned migration shouldn't mean a broken site or an anxious weekend for you.
Yes. We host Umbraco sites regardless of who built them. As part of onboarding, we'll review the existing setup properly rather than just plugging it in, and we'll flag honestly if we spot anything worth fixing, whether that's an outdated .NET version, missing backups or a security gap nobody's mentioned. That includes sites built with Umbraco Forms, bespoke packages or integrations we didn't originally develop ourselves. You're never locked into needing us for development work just to get proper hosting.
Our monitoring is designed to catch problems before you do, and our support team responds under an SLA rather than a best-effort promise. That's customer support that actually understands Umbraco hosting, not a generic ticket queue reading from a script. If something does go wrong, you'll hear from us with a clear explanation of what happened and what we're doing about it, not silence followed by an apology after the fact. Recovery draws on tested, working backups, so getting back online is a known process rather than an improvised one.
Server-level patching, security updates and dependency management run on a regular schedule as part of the hosting service, so you're not the one who has to notice a vulnerability's been disclosed. CMS-level upgrades, moving between major Umbraco versions, are a separate piece of work with their own planning and testing, and we'll talk you through timing that properly rather than bundling it in as an afterthought.
Yes. HTTPS is standard on every site we host, not an optional extra or something you have to remember to ask for. Every site gets a valid SSL certificate as standard, and SSL/TLS certificates are kept renewed so you're never caught out by one quietly expiring.
Automated, off-site backups running on a defined schedule, with regular restore testing so we know they'd actually work if you needed them. You'll know what's covered and how often, rather than being told backups exist and hoping that's true.
Shared hosting puts your site on a server with hundreds of others competing for the same resources, which is fine for a brochure site and a real liability for anything Umbraco-based with genuine traffic. VPS hosting is a step up, giving you a slice of a server that's yours alone, but you're still usually managing the server side yourself. Ours sits above both: managed hosting on a dedicated hosting environment tuned specifically for Umbraco, with monitoring, patching and support built in rather than left to you. It's not generic web hosting with Umbraco installed afterwards, it's scalable hosting built around how Umbraco actually behaves under real, growing traffic, not just on paper.
It depends on your traffic, media volume, the environment that's right for you (Umbraco Cloud, Azure or our own dedicated setup) and the level of support you need. Rather than quote a number that means nothing without context, we'd rather understand your actual setup first. Get in touch and we'll give you a straight answer, not a starting-from figure designed to look good in a search result.
