Overview
Bandwidth (also called data transfer) is the total amount of data that moves in and out of your hosting account — both to your visitors (outgoing) and from your users to your site (incoming). On shared hosting, your bandwidth usage counts against the limit included in your plan.
This guide explains how bandwidth is measured and how to estimate your monthly usage so you can choose the right plan.
What Counts Toward Bandwidth?
On a typical shared hosting account, bandwidth is consumed by:
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Page views – Every HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image file loaded by a visitor.
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File downloads – PDFs, software, videos, music, etc.
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Email – Sending and receiving messages through your hosted mailboxes (attachments included).
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FTP/SFTP uploads and downloads – Transferring files to and from your account.
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Database traffic – Data exchanged between your scripts and MySQL databases (in most setups).
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Backups and cPanel operations – Large backup downloads or restores can add up quickly.
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Streaming media – Audio/video streamed directly from your hosting account.
Note: Traffic from bots, crawlers, and spam referrers can also consume bandwidth even if it doesn't bring real visitors.
