Knowledge Base

How do I know if my hosting provider will work with CodeGuard?

Updated on October 22, 2026

Overview

By the end of this article you will be able to determine whether CodeGuard can back up your website, without needing to find your provider on a list. CodeGuard works with almost all hosting providers, because the requirement is not the provider's name but the type of access it gives you: CodeGuard needs to reach your files through File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), or to reach your database directly. The article gives you the compatibility test to apply to any provider, names the hosting types that are not supported and why, and lists providers customers use successfully as examples rather than as a definitive list.

The compatibility test

CodeGuard can back up your website if your hosting provider gives you either of the following:

File access over FTP or SFTP. You have credentials that let you connect to your site's files with a client such as FileZilla or Cyberduck, and you can see and download your website's files.
A database connection. You can connect to your MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server (MS-SQL) database directly, or through a Secure Shell (SSH) tunnel.

If you have file access, CodeGuard can back up your website content. If you have a database connection, CodeGuard can back up your database. Most hosting plans provide both.

How to check: look for FTP, SFTP, or SSH details in your hosting control panel, or in the welcome email your provider sent when you signed up. If you cannot find them, ask your provider directly whether your plan includes FTP or SFTP access.

Your provider does not need to appear on any list. The test above is the whole requirement.

Hosting types that are not supported

CodeGuard cannot back up websites built on hosted site builder platforms that do not give you file-level access. These platforms store your site inside their own system and provide no FTP or SFTP route to the underlying files, so there is nothing for CodeGuard to connect to.

This limitation comes from the platform, not from CodeGuard, and it cannot be worked around by changing settings or plans. Platforms in this category include:

Shopify
Sitebuilder.com
Squarespace
Weebly
Wix
Yola

Other site builder platforms work the same way. If your site is built on a platform where you have never had FTP or SFTP credentials, and your provider confirms none are available, CodeGuard cannot back it up. Most of these platforms offer their own built-in backup or version history — check their documentation for what they provide.

Providers customers use successfully

The following hosting providers are ones CodeGuard customers back up sites with. This is a sample of widely used providers, not a complete list, and a provider's absence from it means nothing — apply the compatibility test above instead.

1 & 1
A Small Orange
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Awardspace
Bluehost
DreamHost
Go Daddy
Hetzner
host1free.com
Hostable
HostGator
HostMonster
Hostwoot.com
Just Host
Linode
Liquid Web
MDD Hosting
MediaTemple
nearlyfreespeech.net
SliceHost
VPS.net
x10 Hosting
Yahoo
Zoner

What to do if you are unsure

If you cannot tell whether your provider gives file or database access, contact Sectigo support with your provider's name and your hosting plan, and we can advise whether CodeGuard will work with it.

If your provider blocks connections from CodeGuard's servers, that is a separate issue and is usually resolvable — see the related article on connection failures below.