Hosting from your web designer is rarely free: the cost sits in the build price or a monthly fee. The real cost is control. Many owners on designer hosting have no logins, no backups they can reach and no plan if that one person stops answering. You can check your situation in an afternoon, get copies of everything and then decide calmly whether to stay or move.
Key takeaways
- Designer hosting can be fine. The problem is a setup where only the designer holds the keys.
- Find out who hosts your site, then ask for your own admin login, hosting or file access and a full backup.
- Check the domain is registered to your business, and get copyright terms in writing.
- Moving your hosting doesn’t mean dropping your designer. They can keep working on a site you control.
Why do web designers offer hosting?
It’s convenient for both sides. The designer builds on a server they know, and you get one bill and one person to call. Many designers resell space from a larger host, so your site sits inside their account rather than one in your name.
Plenty of designers run this well. The risk isn’t who hosts the site. It’s whether you could carry on without them.
What does “free” hosting often leave out?
These are the gaps that designer hosting most often hides:
| Item | What often happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Only the designer has the hosting login | You can’t fix, back up or move your own site |
| Backups | None, or kept on the same server | One failure can take the site and its copies |
| Updates | Done at launch, then rarely | Old plugins are the most common way in |
| PHP version | Left on an old version | Old versions stop getting security fixes |
| Support | One person, on their hours | Holidays and illness mean waiting |
| Terms | The host’s contract is with the designer | You have no direct say with the host |
The updates gap is the costly one. Patchstack found that heavily exploited WordPress flaws were mass-attacked within a median of 5 hours in 2025 (Patchstack). Sucuri found 39.1% of content management systems were out of date when they were infected (Sucuri).
The server matters too. WordPress.org recommends PHP 8.3 or newer and warns that older versions have reached end of life and may expose your site to security vulnerabilities (WordPress.org).
What happens if my designer disappears?
Designers retire, get sick, close their business or simply stop replying. If they hold every login, your site keeps running until something breaks or a bill goes unpaid. Then you’re stuck.
Two loose ends cause the most grief. The first is the domain. If it’s registered to the designer’s business, you don’t hold it, and our guide to who owns your domain explains how to check and fix that. The second is copyright. Business Queensland notes that the author is generally the first owner of copyright, unless an agreement says otherwise (Business Queensland). Look at your contract, and get ownership of the site confirmed in writing.
How do I find out who hosts my website?
- Look up your domain. Type it into Google’s free Dig tool and check the name server (NS) and A records. The name servers often include the host’s or the designer’s name.
- Check your invoices. See whether you pay a host directly or pay your designer a hosting or care fee.
- Log in to WordPress. Go to Users and check you have your own account with the Administrator role.
- Ask the designer. A short, friendly email asking which company hosts the site, and in whose name, usually gets a straight answer.
What should I ask my designer for?
You don’t need to take everything back today. You do need copies and access, so you’re never stranded. Ask for:
- Your own WordPress administrator login, in your name.
- Hosting or file access (SFTP) for you or a developer you trust.
- A full backup of the files and the database, sent to you.
- Confirmation that the domain is registered to your business.
- Where your email and DNS are hosted, and who can change them.
- Licence details for any paid themes and plugins.
Our article on cPanel hosting in Australia sets out the access you should keep, whichever control panel your host uses.
Should I stay with my designer or move?
Stay if your designer gives you access, keeps backups off the server, applies updates and puts it all in writing. That’s a good arrangement, and loyalty to a designer who looks after you is worth something.
Move if you can’t get access, nobody can tell you where the backups are, or the site hasn’t been updated in months. Moving to managed hosting puts the server in professional hands while you keep the account. If you’re weighing the extra cost, our guide to managed WordPress hosting shows what you get for it.
Moving the hosting doesn’t mean ending the relationship. Most designers are happy to keep building on a site that lives in your account. Some prefer it, because they’re no longer the help desk at midnight.
How do we handle it?
We move your site, test it and switch it over at no cost, and every plan includes free SSL. Hosting runs in NEXTDC data centres in Brisbane and Melbourne, with local support and a 24/7 emergency line. If you’d like your designer to stay involved, they can have their own access. Compare our hosting plans to see what fits.
If the bigger gap is updates and backups, our WordPress maintenance services cover that work every month, with off-site backups and a monthly report.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my web designer hosts my website?
Check your invoices for a hosting or care fee paid to the designer, and look up your domain’s name servers with a free DNS tool. If the name servers or the hosting account belong to the designer, they host your site. The simplest check is to ask them.
Is it bad to have my designer host my website?
Not by itself. It becomes a risk when you have no logins, no backups you can reach and no written terms. If your designer gives you access, keeps off-site backups and updates the site, the arrangement can work well.
My designer won’t give me access. What can I do?
Ask in writing and explain that you need access for business continuity, not to cut them out. Check your contract for who owns the site. If the domain is in your name, a new host can rebuild or restore the site and you can repoint the domain.
Will moving hosts break my website or email?
Not if it’s planned. The site is copied and tested on the new server before the domain is switched. Email needs separate care if it’s hosted with the designer, so find out where it lives before anything moves.
Do I own my website if I paid for it?
Not automatically. Paying for the work doesn’t always transfer copyright, and the author is generally the first owner unless an agreement says otherwise. Check your contract and ask your designer to confirm ownership in writing. For a dispute, get legal advice.
Sources
- State of WordPress Security in 2026, Patchstack
- 2023 Hacked Website and Malware Threat Report, Sucuri, June 2024
- Requirements, WordPress.org
- Copyright ownership, Business Queensland, July 2022
- Dig (DNS lookup), Google Admin Toolbox