So you’ve decided to launch a website, but you need to find a hosting company that can provide you with server space. There are so many different types of hosting services outlined to serve various types of websites that it can be daunting. But while selecting a web hosting type and provider cost is not the only thing to consider.
Pricing isn’t the only factor to consider when choosing a hosting plan. In reality, making a purchase solely based on price can be disastrous. When comparing shared hosting vs. VPS vs. dedicated vs. cloud hosting, it can seem to be a no-brainer to go with the cheapest option, right?
If you run a web agency, you’re not alone in thinking that shared web hosting, which can cost as little as $5 per month per domain, is the most cost-effective option.
Take a closer look, and you’ll see how a more general plan from a managed hosting provider offers even more “bang for your buck” by giving you the efficiency, protection, configuration and scalability you need to develop your company.
Talking about the most used web hosting types, shared and VPS are the two widely used web hosting types, discussed in the blog.
Shared Hosting
The most basic and least expensive hosting type is shared hosting. These plans allow you to rent space on a shared hosting server, which also hosts a number of other websites in addition to yours. These plans are the most affordable options because they offer the least amount of performance, protection, and flexibility.
Consider Linux shared hosting to be similar to living in a residence where you must share amenities like the pool, backyard, and parking lot. In shared hosting type, your site shares the same resources as other users on the same shared hosting server, such as bandwidth, CPU, disc space, and memory.
The most affordable alternative is shared hosting. Unfortunately, if there is a lot of traffic on the same server as you, your site will have limited bandwidth and may become sluggish.
You can enjoy the server resources when it is not busy, but you must plan for when everyone enters and things become crowded — shared hosting is similar.
Advantages of shared hosting:
- Least expensive of all hosting options
- More beginner-friendly hosting solution
- Provides a standardized setup
- Requires less technical expertise
Disadvantages of shared hosting:
- If there is a lot of traffic on your shared server, your site is prone to work slow.
- Shared hosting plans are also more susceptible to errors.
- You do have limited access to the back end of the website.
- It does not give you root privileges.
To overcome the issues of shared hosting the best option one can opt for is VPS hosting.
VPS Hosting
You’ll only be sharing one physical server with VPS hosting, but each user will have their own set of resources, so other websites on the same server won’t impact you. VPS hosting gives each user their own virtual partition, ensuring that resources are still accessible to them. VPS hosting is, of course, more expensive than shared hosting.
You may provide more than one slice of a server with Linux VPS hosting. This is comparable to renting an apartment in a building block, with more spaces, more space, more versatility, and a slightly higher price tag. While you have more power, you are still running on a shared server with others.
In general, shared hosting is for static websites – that is, websites with pre-determined content that does not alter regardless of who visits them. Shared hosting is ideal for simple personal websites, such as blogs, as well as for startups. You don’t get a lot of features, unbeatable protection, or lightning-fast loading speeds, but you don’t need them all.
VPS hosting is a step up, and it’s best for small companies, online retailers, and personal websites with a lot of traffic. You’ll notice an improvement in functionality, protection, and efficiency for a small price increase.
Advantages of VPS hosting:
- VPS hosting gives you total control over your server.
- More memory and bandwidth, and it’s easy to scale
- It is unaffected by traffic from other websites.
- Dedicated hosting is much more secure and faster than shared hosting.
- A virtual private server (VPS) is less costly than a complete dedicated hosting plan on a physical server.
- Many VPS plans can be personalized to suit your specific requirements, allowing you to pay only for the features you need while avoiding the costs of features you would never use.
- VPS hosting plans can be scaled quickly. You can start with the bare minimum of resources in your virtual environment and progressively increase your hosting plan to meet your needs as your business grows.
- In VPS hosting you are not obligated to pay for services that you have not yet created.
- In comparison to shared hosting, you have a lot of power over your virtual server.
Disadvantages of VPS hosting:
- It’s a little more expensive than shared hosting.
- To manage effectively, technical expertise is needed in case of self-managed VPS hosting plans.
Quick Comparison between Shared and VPS hosting
- VPS hosting is highly secure than shared hosting as VPS provides dedicated IP
- Shared hosting companies will set up the shared server, install and update the appropriate applications, such as cPanel and control the servers to prevent downtime and efficiently manage the back end. VPS hosting, on the other hand, allows you to customize and configure applications and software to improve the efficiency of your website, provides root access, and allows you to tailor the back end to your needs.
- VPS hosting provides scalability of resources facility, which is not provided in shared hosting. VPS hosting enables you to scale quickly and easily, and if you can forecast your site’s growth, it could be a wise investment.
To conclude:
Finally, the decision is based on whether you are just getting started and don’t need any of the extra functionality that other hosting types have. In that case, shared hosting is good to go choice but if you are planning to switch or upgrade to another hosting type virtual server hosting type is certainly the best option.
Also, it is important to note that the cost of a web hosting plan is not the only thing to consider while buying a plan. One should also consider security, reliability, scalability before purchasing the website plan.