Storefronts & Subdomains
OpenCart vs WooCommerce — One installation, several names — and the names are the fiddly part
You are comparing a lean purpose-built cart with the WordPress commerce heavyweight, and the feature that usually settles it — several storefronts from one installation — is a feature you configure in DNS as much as in an admin panel.
The short answer
Take WooCommerce where content marketing is central to the plan and OpenCart where the job is straight catalogue selling across one or more storefronts, with both first-class citizens here — and if multi-store is the reason, plan the names first, because each storefront is a hostname that has to resolve, be certificated and be renewed.
Below: how storefronts map onto names, the subdomain-or-registration decision, and when one wildcard record saves you twenty individual ones.
By the Hosting & Domains team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
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Most writing on this subject is a league table funded by referral fees. This brief looks at the one structural difference that actually changes your setup: several storefronts from a single installation, and what that asks of your zone.
One OpenCart installation serves several storefronts natively, sharing a catalogue and an admin. Getting to the same place in WooCommerce means either a multisite network or duplicate installs, and both multiply the maintenance — including the maintenance of records.
How a storefront becomes a hostname
Multi-store works by matching the hostname a visitor arrived on against a storefront configured in the admin. Nothing clever happens: the request has to reach the server first, which means the hostname has to resolve.
So every storefront needs a record. That is either a subdomain of a name you already hold, or a separate registration with its own delegation, its own certificate and its own expiry date.
Get the mapping written down in two columns — hostname on the left, storefront on the right. It is the document you will want the first time a storefront serves the wrong catalogue.
Subdomain or separate registration
A subdomain is nearly free, resolves the moment you add the record, and inherits the parent name's reputation and certificate coverage. It also announces that the storefronts belong together, which is either the point or the problem.
A separate registration gives each storefront its own identity, its own mail if it needs any, and its own future — it can be sold, handed over or pointed elsewhere without touching the others. It costs a registration and a renewal date per storefront.
The deciding question is not technical. It is whether these are faces of one brand or genuinely separate businesses, and only you can answer that.
One wildcard record or twenty individual ones
If the storefronts are subdomains, a single wildcard record in the zone means every new hostname resolves without an edit — convenient, and slightly dangerous, because typos resolve too and go straight to the default storefront.
Individual records are more work and more honest: only what you have configured exists, and a mistyped hostname fails visibly rather than silently serving the wrong shop.
Our preference is individual records while the list is short and a wildcard once it stops being short — with a catch-all storefront that says something sensible rather than showing a stranger the wrong prices.
What we would recommend, working shown
WooCommerce where content marketing is central to the plan, and OpenCart where the job is straight catalogue selling across one or more storefronts, with both first-class citizens here.
In concrete terms that is our Turbo OpenCart option: one flat rate carrying the essentials (SSL, migration, copies, mail) this market prefers to bill separately, with in-place upgrades ready when the work picks up.
Mailboxes at your own name are part of the plan — mail is included, not sold back to you at the checkout.
Take no claim on trust, ours included. Ask whether wildcard records are permitted, whether certificates cover every storefront hostname, and what the renewal figure is in writing. Three answers, and the second matters more the more storefronts you run.
The company here is Azaanex Inc., federally incorporated in Canada, on the public register.
Then let real use decide. Two working weeks inside the money-back window beats every review roundup ever written, and trying us costs the minute it takes to file a migration request.
Our interest, declared up front
Both carts install in one click here, so we gain nothing from steering you. We gain from you registering the names and hosting the storefronts, which is the whole of our position.
A free SSL certificate comes with every plan and reissues itself before the old one lapses — the padlock is never yours to diarise.
- Subdomains or separate registrations, your call
- Wildcard records supported where they help
- Certificates covering every storefront hostname
- Renewal figures published, not footnoted
Why Hosting & Domains
Standard on every plan
The essentials inside, not added on
SSL, the migration, backups and mail come with every plan rather than appearing as checkout extras.
A refund without an argument
If we are not the fit, leaving is one request rather than a negotiation — which is why we invite the test.
A company you can look up
Azaanex Inc., federally incorporated in Canada — a host whose filing you can read before committing to anything.
Storefront hostnames added in seconds
A record from the panel and the storefront resolves — no ticket, no waiting for somebody else's working hours.
Wildcard coverage across subdomains
One certificate for every storefront under the name, instead of a separate renewal date for each one.
Support you can test before paying
Put a hard question to us before you pay — how a host behaves pre-sale is the best it will ever treat you.
Prices Side by Side
How our prices sit against the majors
What the market typically charges to join and to renew, set beside ours, including the renewal figure most comparison charts leave out.
| Feature | Hosting & DomainsMost popular | Typical household-name host | Typical bargain host | Typical loss-leader deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price / mo* | $2.42/mo | $4–$6 | $2–$4 | $1–$3 |
| Renewal price / mo | $2.42/mo | $10–$15 | $8–$12 | $4–$6 |
| Entry-level plan renews at the price you signed up at | ||||
| SSL as standard | ||||
| Migration done for you | ||||
| NVMe drives on the entry-level tier | ||||
| Backups run every day from the first tier up | ||||
| Real humans on support, 24/7 |
*Our own column shows the lowest-priced annual plan on our books, pulled live from the same catalogue that feeds the pricing page, which is why it cannot go stale. Beside it sit three columns holding the ranges that hosts in each bracket tend to advertise: introductory rates that normally ask for one to four years up front, then climb once the term runs out. Naming rivals and printing their figures is something we gave up, since a price nobody can verify on the day you happen to read this has no business on the page. Measure us against the host you are actually weighing up, and give the renewal row the hardest look of the lot.
Quick Start
Order placed to site online
- 1
Write the hostname-to-storefront table
Two columns, one row per shop. This is the document you will want the first time a storefront serves the wrong catalogue at the wrong prices.
- 2
Decide brand or business for each shop
Faces of one brand belong on subdomains. Genuinely separate businesses deserve their own registrations, because one day one of them may be sold.
- 3
Add a sensible catch-all before the wildcard
Wildcards make typos resolve. Point the default at something that explains itself rather than at a stranger's shop with the wrong prices.
Built In
Fitted to every plan
- Storefront hostnames added from the panel in seconds
- Wildcard records where a growing list justifies one
- Free SSL covering every storefront hostname
- PHP versions set per site from the control panel
- LiteSpeed caching in the server itself rather than bolted on by plugin
- Upgrades applied in place, with no migration when you change plan
- The name's first year included when you order annually
- WordPress and 400+ further applications installed in one click
- Staging copies for trying a change before it goes live
- People on the support desk every hour of every day
Frequently Asked
Questions we field again and again
How does OpenCart know which storefront to serve?
By the hostname the visitor arrived on, matched against the storefronts configured in the admin. Nothing clever happens before that, which is why each storefront needs a record that resolves to the server in the first place.
Subdomain or its own registration for a second shop?
A subdomain is nearly free, resolves as soon as you add the record, and inherits the parent's certificate coverage. A separate registration gives the shop its own identity and its own future, at the cost of another renewal date. The question is brand, not technology.
Is a wildcard DNS record a good idea for storefronts?
It is convenient once the list stops being short, and slightly dangerous, because typos resolve too. Use one with a catch-all storefront that explains itself, rather than letting a mistyped hostname show somebody the wrong prices.
Will one certificate cover every storefront?
A wildcard covers every hostname at one level under the name, which handles subdomain storefronts in a single renewal. Separate registrations each need their own certificate, validated against their own zone, which is why automated reissue matters here.
Keep reading
OpenCart Hosting
OpenCart in one click on storefront-tuned PHP, with certificates covering every hostname.
WordPress Hosting
WordPress looked after for you, with the certificate and the zone handled alongside it.
Changing provider? Work through this checklist beforehand.
A straightforward running order for a migration your visitors never spot: which files travel first, how to bring the mail across without dropping a single message, the right moment to repoint DNS, and the two errors that sit behind almost every outage we get called in to fix.
Name the storefronts, then open them.
Hostnames added from the panel, wildcard coverage where it helps, and one flat renewal figure per name.
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