What is the difference? Which one is better?
Today, many professionals and businesses have started creating websites and blogs to build a solid online presence with the vast online opportunities. As the number of sites grows, hosting has also become a necessary aspect that requires proper attention. Hosting your website is the next thing on the agenda. But how to choose the best hosting option for your next site? Shared hosting or VPS hosting is your way to go for a personal website? That’s the million-dollar question we will try to answer in this blog post.
We will start with the definitions and see the key details that can make you lean towards one or the other.
What is shared hosting?
“Sharing is caring,” people say. And it’s fairly accurate. Shared hosting lets multiple websites be run from the same server. They are the cheapest web hosting solutions available to users and are very beginner-friendly since shared hostings come with pre-installed packages. The shared hosting is very affordable, and you can easily get web hosting of that kind within $10.
Pros of using shared hosting
- Cheap – by far, the biggest advantage of shared web hosting is the price tag. There are a ton of affordable options on the market, and choosing one wouldn’t hurt your budget.
- Straightforward – setting up a server hosting isn’t the easiest of tasks, especially for website beginners. If you can’t describe yourself as a tech-savvy user, getting your website going without hassle will be very easy.
- Maintenance – maintaining a server is a very tedious task. However, using shared hosting plans means the heavy burden will be done by your hosting company.
- Upgrade options – any hosting provider will be interested in upgrading your plan, so if you feel like you need more resources, you can always ask and get your plan upgraded.
But “cheap” rarely means “top,” right? If that’s what you were thinking, you guessed it correctly.
Cons of using shared hosting
- Limited resources – having limited resources means you will sometimes experience slower speeds because other users are draining bandwidth capacity.
- Security threats – if other users do risky activities, you might find yourself in trouble without being at fault.
- Lack of customization – being the easiest option available, the shared web hosting will come at the expense of customization options.
What is VPS hosting?
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a type of hosting that gives you your own private, virtual space on a shared server. The VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting in that you still don’t have a dedicated server. However, you have your own virtual space. It’s like having a dedicated server without the associated high cost.
Let’s see the main differences between shared hostings and VPS hostings.
Differences between Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting
Before choosing between shared hosting or VPS, you should check out their main differences.
Speeds
One of the most notable factors to consider for your website is concerning speed. VPS offers dedicated resources which are not shared. As a result, you can match traffic spikes much better and enjoy high speeds overall. Shared hostings share all resources, and the potential speeds are lower than what you’ll get on a VPS.
Winner: VPS Hosting.
Ease of use
Shared hostings are one of the best options on the market if you are looking for an easy setup. They come up with ready-made packages, and you don’t have to be technically proficient to operate successfully. While VPS hostings are also fairly easy to use, they certainly require some background knowledge.
Winner: Shared hosting.
Security
There might be more than one VPS located on the same server, but every single VPS hosting is a different environment. As a result, you don’t share resources and any data with other users that are on the same server. Shared hosting users may become victims of other users not paying enough attention to security.
Winner: VPS hosting.
Flexibility
If you want complete control over your server environment, a VPS is the way to go. While it may be slightly more difficult to manage than shared hosting, you can customize every aspect of your VPS to suit your needs. With shared hosting, you are limited in what you can change.
Winner: VPS hosting.
Scalability
It’s hard to define which one is more scalable. At first sight, it’s much easier to scale a VPS, but you can also upgrade your shared hosting plan. A good hosting provider can offer scaling for both web hosting types.
Winner: Tie.
Price
Shared hostings are usually much cheaper than VPS plans, making them a desirable option for many website owners. Having a VPS can be ten times more expensive, so it’s important to weigh your options before deciding which route to take.
Winner: Shared hosting.
Reliability
There are a few key reasons why shared hosting is more prone to collapse than VPS hosting. To begin with, shared hosting typically has a lower quality infrastructure than VPS hosting. Often, the server hardware is not as robust and is more likely to fail. Additionally, shared hosts often oversell their resources, leading to overcrowding and resource contention.
Winner: VPS hosting.
Support
Both shared hostings and VPS hostings should offer good support, but problems may be resolved faster for VPS customers since tech support has to resolve problems for a single user rather than spend time extra time identifying the root cause. Still, a good hosting provider like Hostek should not prioritize clients based on revenue.
Winner: Tie.
Why choose shared hostings?
- Low price – if you are cautious about your budget, then picking inexpensive web hosting is a priority. Shared hostings give you an option to run a personal website without emptying your pockets.
- You have small traffic – if you don’t have more than 50-100K monthly visitors, there is no need to use VPS, as you won’t get much value from it.
- Doesn’t require technical knowledge – technical background comes into place when managing your web hosting. Shared hostings are easy to use and don’t require special skills.
If you fall into the category of a small website, then one of the shared hosting plans from Hostek might perfectly fit the bill. With a 99.999% uptime, decent speeds, and 24/7 US-based customer support, you will get great value for your money.
Why go for VPS hostings?
- Customizable – some users prioritize customizations and specific settings. If you need to optimize your website, then picking a VPS hosting makes more sense.
- High speeds – VPS hostings have dedicated server resources that cannot be accessed by other server users, so you can maximize your bandwidth. For large databases and multi-page websites, high speed is crucial.
- Mid-sized traffic – if you have more than 10,000 daily visitors, a VPS can handle your needs. If it is well optimized, a reliable VPS can cope with around 30-40K users per day.
- Good for CMS platforms – VPS hostings give you more control over your server environment, making it easier to optimize for content management platforms.
Looking for a reliable and fast VPS hosting provider? Look no further than Hostek. We can offer you the standard VPS hosting that you need to keep your website up and running smoothly.
Final words
The decision of which hosting plan to choose for your website should be carefully weighed not just because of the technical factors but also the economic factor as well. It is crucial to know first what you are trying to achieve with your website, also knowing if you will run multiple websites, and how much effort you want to put into maintaining and managing your website (or many sites).
About Hostek
Hostek has been in the web hosting market since 1998 and has built a large portfolio of clients of all kinds. We have been tailoring hosting solutions for well over 20 years, and our experienced engineers can help you find the right fit for your personal website. Why don’t you schedule a call with a member of our team, so we can let you know how Hostek can take care of your web hosting?
Tags: VPS HostingCategories: Hosting, Shared Hosting