Hosting Database Limits: Size, Imports and Connections Explained
Guides / Hosting limits
Documentation checked: October 5, 2026. This guide combines official provider documentation with HRL buying and troubleshooting checks. We have not benchmarked these plans or tested their enforcement.
Free disk space does not prove that your database has room to grow. A plan can set separate limits on database size, the number of databases, import tools and connections. Establish which limit applies before deleting data or paying for an upgrade.
Separate the limits on the comparison sheet
| Limit | What to establish | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Database size | Allowed size of each database and any account total | Growing content, orders, users and stored logs |
| Database count | Number permitted and whether staging uses another | Several sites or separate application environments |
| Import size | Maximum for the chosen transfer tool | A migration dump may need another supported route |
| Connections | Per-user and other applicable connection limits | Concurrent application activity |
| Query or execution time | Which operation is timed and what happens at the limit | Reports, searches and long-running maintenance |
Hostinger’s resource table lists these separately. On the checked date, its Web Single, Web Premium and Unlimited columns each list a 3 GB database size and a 200 MB MySQL import limit, while database counts are 2, 10 and 150 respectively. The per-user connection figures are also different: 25, 50 and 75. Verify the exact plan and account; existing product versions can have different limits.
Those figures illustrate why a higher tier does not necessarily raise every constraint. They are documented limits, not measured speed scores or a promise of a particular number of shoppers. See CPU limits and WooCommerce hosting requirements for the wider workload checks.
An import failure is not automatically a capacity failure
SiteGround’s large-import guidance describes an approximately 128 MB phpMyAdmin import limit and alternative Site Tools or SSH routes. That tool limit does not establish the plan’s maximum live database size.
Ask the destination host which import method supports your dump, whether the destination database has enough capacity and how the operation affects existing data. Confirm whether a displayed limit concerns the uploaded file, its uncompressed contents or another measure. Back up the destination before importing into an existing database, and keep dumps outside publicly accessible web folders.
Find the cause of a size warning
Record the affected database, measured size, quota, timestamp and application. Identify its largest tables without changing them. Check whether recent growth comes from ordinary business activity or an unexpected logging, caching or plugin issue.
Hostinger’s database-limit guidance says exceeding the limit suspends write permissions until the database is reduced below it. It recommends a backup before cleanup and reviewing large tables. That is provider-specific behavior; ask your host how its own warning and enforcement process works.
HRL recommends checking application workflows as well as the homepage. If writes are affected, investigate saved submissions, account changes and orders. Keep the incident evidence and avoid repeatedly retrying transactions without understanding their recorded state.
Clean up with a recovery plan
SiteGround’s database maintenance guidance recommends identifying the largest tables and backing up before changes. Use the responsible application’s supported retention or cleanup controls. A table’s name or size alone is not enough evidence that it can be deleted.
Agree which logs or historical records can be removed, who approves that decision and how to recover from an error. Test material changes in an appropriate staging environment. For an active store, follow the order-recovery guide before treating a database rollback as harmless.
If the database is within its size quota but dynamic requests still struggle, check PHP request concurrency and effective memory limits with the host. These are separate from stored database size.
Upgrade the constraint you actually need
Obtain written confirmation of the destination’s applicable size, count, connection and import limits. Include any shared account limits and backup coverage. If required business data remains large after supported maintenance, compare a suitable higher tier or another service using the stay-or-switch framework.
A larger database allowance does not by itself demonstrate faster queries. Likewise, more advertised disk space may leave the database cap unchanged. Check file-count limits and storage versus transfer separately.
The hosting limits guide index connects database checks to the other resource, scheduled-task and recovery requirements.
Read an import limit as a tool constraint
A hypothetical 250 MB SQL export can exceed a tool’s 200 MB import cap even when the destination permits a much larger database. Confirm the supported import route and live database allowance separately. Do not delete records to fit the upload screen before identifying the actual constraint. After a supported transfer, verify representative records and application behavior rather than relying only on the import-complete message.
Keep a dated capacity record
Record current usage, the applicable source, the next review date and the person responsible. Compare growth across normal business periods and known imports or campaigns. HRL does not prescribe a universal warning percentage or maximum site size; the useful decision is whether the actual workload has a supported route to grow, migrate and recover.