Shared vs VPS Hosting Plans – Which Should You Choose?

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Neither shared nor VPS hosting are better than the other. However, they do offer unique benefits depending on what you’re looking for. Shared hosting, for example, is ideal for individuals and smaller businesses that don’t require a lot of power and need budget flexibility. VPS hosting, on the other hand, offers a bit more reliability and power to your site, but will definitely cost you a bit more, making it perfect for growing businesses.

Hosting your website online is a complicated process, and one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make involves the type of hosting you’re going to use. Whether you’re a large corporation with the potential for loads of traffic, or a small business simply hoping to get online, you’ll need to choose wisely in order to avoid costly outages and pointless features.

In this regard, the differences between hosting types can be staggering. Shared vs VPS hosting is a perfect example – each hosting type caters to different types of businesses, which means you need to understand the differences before making your decision. We’ll explain how shared hosting and VPS hosting differ, and what you should be looking for in terms of price, features, and reliability.

Shared vs VPS Hosting: Head-to-Head

Simply put, shared hosting plans are designed for individuals and smaller businesses that are looking to get set up online at a lower price. This type of hosting puts your website on a shared server, which can occasionally be affected by other users in terms of speeds and outages.

VPS hosting, on the other hand, is designed for medium-sized businesses looking for a more in-depth website. Your site will still be hosted on a shared server, but you’ll be given your own “section”, granting you more control over how your site is hosted.

Here are a few basic differences between the two:

Shared Hosting Costs
VPS Hosting Costs
Shared Hosting Is Better for Personal Sites
VPS Hosting Is Better for Small Business Sites
Shared Hosting Is Cheaper
VPS Hosting Is More Reliable
Both Are Cheaper Than Dedicated Hosting
Final Verdict
Frequently Asked Questions
How We Research Website Hosting Services

Shared Hosting

More affordable
Less reliable
Best for basic websites

VPS Hosting

Slightly less affordable
More reliable
Best for growing websites with more functionality

In so many words, neither hosting type is good nor bad – they’re simply better for specific businesses. When it comes to looking for a hosting plan, you need to find the pleasant middle ground between overly expensive and low functionality, and that depends on what your company needs. We’ll explain in more detail below.

Shared Hosting Costs

As we’ve mentioned more than a few times, shared hosting is the least expensive avenue to getting your website online. These plans are always the lowest tier available from any provider, and for good reason. Yes, this hosting type is a bit less reliable – but if you aren’t trying to do a lot with your website, it’s the perfect first step.

Take an in-depth look at some of the most popular web hosting providers and their pricing plans below, and check out our comprehensive cost guide here:

		Plan name	Score	Verdict	Starting Price	Type

Bluehost	InMotion	HostGator	A2 Hosting	1&1 Hosting	GoDaddy	WPEngine
Starter	Launch	Hatchling	Startup	Essential	Economy	Startup
4.5	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.5	3.0
A feature-rich, cost-effective hosting service with lots of plans	Best overall web hosting service we would recommend, with stellar customer support	A good hosting service with unbeatable uptime	Robust option with decent uptime performance	Great hosting for experts who don’t need too much support	Feature-packed, but poor overall value for the cost	Solid web hosting provider, but only for WordPress sites
$3.79 per month for 36-month term	$14.99 ($3.59/mo for first year)	$10.99 ($3.75/mo for first year)	$2.99	$6 ($4 for first year)	$5.99	$25
Shared	Shared	Shared	Shared	Shared	Shared	WordPress
check	check	check	check	close	check	check
check	check	check	check	close	check	check
check	check	close	close	check	check	check
check	check	close	close	check	check	close
close	check	check	check	check	check	check
10	25	10	1	1	1	1
25	Unlimited	Unlimited	5	10,000	25	Unlimited
5	Unlimited	Unlimited	25	25	Free for first year	None
~15,000	150,000	“Ideal” for 40K	Unattainable	Unlimited	None	25,000
50GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	100GB	100GB	10GB
99.98	99.97	99.99	99.95	99.98	99.97	99.95
See Deals	See Deals	See Deals	See Deals	See Deals	Click Here	See Deals

VPS Hosting Costs

Yes, VPS hosting prices are a little bit higher compared to shared hosting. However, the added cost contributes to a more reliable experience, sectioning off an area of a shared server specifically for your needs. You’ll be able to scale your site better, all while preventing slow speeds and outages.

Check out how VPS hosting providers stack up against each other on price and features, and don’t forget to take a look at our comprehensive guide to web hosting costs:

		Plan name	Score	Verdict	Starting Price

Bluehost	InMotion	HostGator	A2 Hosting	1&1 Hosting	GoDaddy
Standard NVME 4	VPS 8 vCPU	Snappy 2000	Power	VPS S	1 vCPU
4.5	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.5
A feature-rich, cost-effective hosting service with lots of plans	Best overall web hosting service we would recommend, with stellar customer support	A good hosting service with unbeatable uptime	A robust hosting option, though uptime performance is a little below average	Great hosting for experts who don’t need too much support	Feature-packed, but poor overall value for the cost
$46.99 per month for 36-month term	$56.99 ($22.99/mo for first year)	$53.99 ($34.99/mo for first year)	$25	$5 ($4 for 3 mos)	$14.99 ($8.99 for first 36 mos)
VPS	VPS	VPS	VPS	VPS	VPS
check	check	check	check	close	check
check	check	close	check	close	close
check	check	check	check	check	check
Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	250	Unlimited
1	3	1	2	1	1
4GB	16GB	4GB	4GB	2GB	2GB
100GB NVMe	N/A	100GB	75GB	80GB	40GB
Unmetered	Unlimited	Unmetered	2TB	Unlimited	Unlimited
Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	100	Multiple
2	8	2	4	2	1
99.98	99.97	99.99	99.95	99.98	99.97
Click Here	Click Here	Click Here	Click Here	Click Here	Click Here

Shared Hosting Is Better for Personal Sites

When it comes to web hosting, it’s important to look at what you’re using your site for. If you’re an individual or very small company that’s simply trying to boost your online presence, you probably don’t have a lot of resources to dedicate to something like web hosting.

This is where a shared hosting plan comes in handy. It’s a great jumping off point for personal sites – you won’t be draining your valuable capital, but you’ll still have a functional, visible website up and running. You’ll be able to test the waters in regards to how much traffic you’ll attract, before you pull the trigger on a larger purchase.

VPS Hosting Is Better for Small Business Sites

Now, if you’re a small- to medium-sized company that is expecting a bit more traffic on a more regular basis, low-cost shared hosting plans might not work out for you. Growing businesses can’t be cut off from revenue, and an outage can mean fewer conversions.

In this case, a VPS hosting plan will fit you perfectly. While you’ll still be sharing a server with other companies and individuals, you’ll function within your own area. This makes your site less prone to outages and slow speeds, which makes it more than worth the added cost if you’re a growing business.

Shared Hosting Is Cheaper

Shared hosting costs are cheaper because you’re sharing a server with other companies and individuals. If you’re a smaller operation, you can almost certainly get by with shared hosting, and save yourself some money for other business necessities.

But remember: you get what you pay for. Shared hosting has its downfalls, particularly if you’re looking for a reliable site that can handle a lot of traffic without crashing or slowing down. If you’re a larger company with serious web hosting demands, it’s probably better to spend a little bit more.

Although, if you’re looking for cheap web hosting options, we wouldn’t blame you.

VPS Hosting Is More Reliable

If you’re looking for a web hosting plan that focuses on reliability over affordability, VPS hosting is the best option for you. A dedicated section of a shared server provides all the stability you need to keep outages and lagging speeds to an absolute minimum.

Let’s be clear – we’re not saying that shared hosting is unreliable. While down-time can happen, it’s not going to be a daily occurrence with any decent hosting provider. For a business website, though, any downtime or slower bandwidth will have an impact on your bottom line.

That may not matter for a personal blog or small website, so these sorts of sites can opt for shared hosting. But, for a decent-sized business site, VPS is the way to go.

Yes, VPS hosting does cost a little bit more than shared hosting, but if you need the added infrastructure, it’s a no-brainer. Plus, if you’re looking to scale your website with your company, VPS hosting provides a much more affordable means of adding storage and data along the way.

Both Are Cheaper Than Dedicated Hosting

Shared and VPS hosting are not the only types of hosting you can find. Dedicated hosting plans will put your website on a server all of its own, giving you a lot of control over how stable your site is and how it’s hosted.

However, dedicated hosting plans are expensive. Like, seriously expensive. Dedicated hosting plans from popular providers will often cost several hundreds of dollars per month, providing huge storage caches and massive data allotments. In short, unless you’re a massive company with huge site traffic demands, you can probably play it safe with one of the less expensive hosting types.

How We Research Website Hosting Services

We take our impartial research and analysis seriously, so you can have complete confidence that we’re giving you the clearest, most useful recommendations.

After conducting an initial exploration to identify the most relevant, popular, and established tools in the market, we put them through their paces with hands-on testing to see their real strengths and weaknesses. In this case, we put 27 hosting providers to the test across a huge 282 areas of investigation.

Based on years of market and user needs research, we’ve established a web hosting provider testing methodology that scores each product in five main categories of investigation and 30 additional subcategories; this covers everything from the providers’ server speed, reliability and performance to the value for money you can expect, as well as much more.

Our main testing categories for hosting providers are:

Price: the cost associated with the hosting services provided by a hosting provider, such as subscription plans, pricing tiers, and any additional fees or charges.
Performance: the speed, reliability, and overall performance of a hosting provider’s servers. It encompasses factors such as server uptime and response time.
Features: the specific functionalities and capabilities provided by a hosting provider, including storage space, bandwidth allocation, and server location.
Help and Support: the assistance and resources available to users when they encounter issues or need guidance, e.g. tutorials and email or chat support.
Market Analysis / Customer Score: the assessment of the hosting provider’s position and reputation in the market.

When it comes to calculating a product’s final score, not all testing areas are weighted evenly, as we know some aspects matter more to our readers than others, which are merely “nice to have.” After hundreds of hours, our process is complete, and the results should ensure you can find the best solution for your needs.

At Tech.co, we have a number of full time in-house researchers, who re-run this testing process regularly, to ensure our results remain reflective of the present day.

Learn more about our research.

Final Verdict

It’s a tie! Depending on what you need a web hosting plan for, you could easily go with shared hosting or VPS hosting.

Individuals and very small companies can get away with the less reliable, more affordable shared hosting, as their web hosting needs are minimal. However, small- to medium-sized businesses looking to scale will need VPS hosting, which provides a more stable environment for their website to cut back on outages and slow speeds – albeit at a somewhat higher price.

Frequently Asked Questions

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No, VPS isn’t better than shared hosting. However, depending on your particular needs, VPS hosting could be a better fit for your business. VPS offers more reliability when it comes to web hosting, but it is more expensive, so smaller businesses and individuals probably don’t need all that extra.

Shared hosting means that your website will be hosted on a server that you’ll share with a number of other users. This is why it’s a bit less reliable than VPS hosting, which gives you a bit more control.

Yes, shared hosting is good, but only if your site doesn’t expect a whole lot of traffic. Shared hosting plans are more for smaller businesses and individuals, as the hosting capabilities are slightly less than VPS and certainly less than dedicated hosting. Still, it can save you a lot of money, which is why it’s a viable option.

The average shared hosting plan can handle between 1,500 and 2,000 visitors per hour. Honestly, it’s more than enough for most small business’ and individual’s websites, but if you’re a larger business expecting a lot of traffic, bumping up to VPS or Dedicated hosting could be a good idea.

VPS hosting can cost anywhere from $2 per month to $45 per month depending on what provider you sign up with and what kind of features you want. 1&1 Hosting offers one of the cheapest plans, while InMotion Hosting offers one of the most expensive.

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Written By

Conor Cawley

Conor is the Lead Writer for Tech.co. For the last eight years, he’s covered everything from tech news and product reviews to digital marketing trends and business tech innovations. He’s a feature, reviews, and news contributor for Android Police, and he has hosted tech-focused events for SXSW, Tech in Motion, and General Assembly, to name a few. He also cannot pronounce the word “colloquially” correctly.

You can email Conor at conor@tech.co.

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