Difference between Web Hosting and Email Hosting

Key Difference: Web hosting refers to a service that is associated with internet hosting. The companies that offer this service, provide their server computers to store the web sites. E-mail hosting refers to a hosting service in which users are able to send and store emails over the internet. It manages email traffic and user mail boxes.

A web hosting service is a kind of service that makes a website available on the internet. It means that through a web hosting service, one gets space on a server for his/her website. This space can be owned by some other party. The facility for a leased connection may also be available for providing the space. Thus, we can also state that the space is generally owned or leased to be used by the clients. Web hosting companies own and maintain powerful web servers which house the web pages. However, a person can use his personal computer and a simple internet conection to serve the web pages. This kind of arrangement is not considered to be apt for creating a web presence. The connectivity needs to be functional 24X7 and home based internet connection may or may not be eligible enough to serve many users at a time. Therefore, services of a web hosting company are acquired. It provides a quick and reliable way to get the site online.

E-mail hosting refers to a hosting service in which users are able to send and store emails over the internet. It manages the email traffic and user mail boxes. People can create email identity as they do in sending emails from websites like Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. Generally, e-mail hosting also includes sending files of limited sizes. If one tries to build his own email host, then a lot of infrastructure and software may be required, but the services of email hosting have made it very easy. A lot of money that is spent on creating and maintaining the email host is saved by availing the email hosting services. It provides a personal email domain that can be linked with the website. Usually, web site hosting and email hosting are purchased together in a plan, and therefore are considered to be the same thing. However, both are different from each other in context to the underlying technology that is employed to carry out the activity.

Comparison between Web Hosting and Email Hosting:

	Web Hosting	Email Hosting
Definition	Web hosting refers to a service that is associated with internet hosting. The companies that offer this service provide their server computers to store the web sites.	E-mail hosting refers to a hosting service in which users are able to send and store email online. It manages the email traffic and user mail boxes.
Types	Internet Service providers – it refers to hosting the website through an ISP. Free web hosting – there are various hosts that provide a good option for smaller and personal websites. Paid Hosting – a fee is paid for the space and services of a web hosting provider’s server. Domain hosting – it provides the feasibility to host the site anywhere; to an ISP, own server, etc. Collocation- own web servers and machines are used. However, the maintenance is handled by the ISPs or by some other hosts. Direct Internet Access – one hosts the website on his own web server.	Free e-mail hosting services – it is generally used for a small business or for personal use. It provides limited options to choose from. Paid email hosting services – these services are meant for bigger businesses. People who want a more professional e-mail set up, prefer this kind of e-mail hosting. Security is regarded as a very important attribute in these kind of services. They are also attributed with anti-spam which means that no spam mails in the mail box.
It includes	It includes acquisition of space in the server to store the web pages, so that the website can be accessed through the internet.	It includes numerous accounts, customized configuration, the benefit of having own domain name and premium email. The services may also include message boards, built in search function for their clients' website, premium and scalable email services
Advantages	Cost saving Provides all the services that an ISP does Helps in establishing a web presence. Ability to set up secure server Closely monitored server security	Security Anti-virus and anti spam Address book sharing Storage space