In short. With shared hosting your site lives on a shared server, and the provider looks after that server. It is enough for most company sites, blogs and small online stores. When you compare providers, look at guaranteed resources, backups and how fast support replies.
Every provider sells shared hosting for small sites, and at first glance the plans look the same: “from €1 a month”, “unlimited disk”, “support included”. The differences show up later, when the site slows down in the evening, the latest backup is a week old and a ticket gets answered the next day.
Below we explain what shared hosting is, who it is enough for and when to go straight to a VPS. At the end there are 10 questions to ask a provider before you pay.
Contents
- What shared hosting is
- Shared hosting vs VPS vs dedicated server
- Who shared hosting is for
- How to choose shared hosting: 7 things to check
- What EP, IOPS and LVE mean in a plan
- Checklist: 10 questions for your provider
What shared hosting is
Shared hosting means dozens or hundreds of accounts run on one server. Each account has its own files, databases, mailboxes and its own share of CPU and memory.
It is a bit like a flat in an apartment block. The flat is yours, while the management company deals with the roof, the lifts and the heating. Hosting works the same way: you upload the site, and the provider handles system updates, server security, backups and monitoring.
A plan usually includes:
- a control panel (for example, Plesk or cPanel) where you add domains, mailboxes and databases;
- one-click installs of WordPress, Joomla or OpenCart;
- an SSL certificate for HTTPS, often a free Let’s Encrypt one (see what an SSL certificate is);
- email on your own domain;
- scheduled backups;
- technical support for when something breaks.
You do not need a system administrator. In exchange, you do not fully control the server and cannot install whatever software you like.
Shared hosting vs VPS vs dedicated server
| Shared hosting | VPS | Dedicated server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who manages the server | the provider | you (or paid management) | you (or paid management) |
| Resources | a share of a server, with limits | guaranteed vCPU, RAM, disk | the whole physical server |
| Root access | no | yes | yes |
| Custom software (Docker, Node.js services, Windows) | limited | yes | yes |
| Skills needed | minimal | basic Linux/Windows administration | administration experience |
| Best for | company sites, blogs, small stores | high load, CRM, custom software | large projects, databases, virtualisation |
When a site keeps hitting the limits or needs its own software, people move to a VPS. We describe how it works in our guide to VPS hosting. For large projects and databases there are dedicated servers.
Who shared hosting is for
Shared hosting is enough if you have:
- a company site, a landing page, a portfolio or a blog;
- a WordPress + WooCommerce or OpenCart store with a few hundred products and moderate traffic;
- several small sites you would like to keep under one account.
It also suits you if you would rather not deal with server updates, security and backups yourself.
Look at a VPS straight away if:
- your store has thousands of products, complex filters and ads that make traffic jump;
- you need background workers, queues, Docker or non-standard PHP modules;
- you are running a CRM, ERP or accounting software for an office;
- your site regularly hits CPU or process limits.
We do not recommend free hosting for a business. We explain why in 18 reasons not to use free hosting.
How to choose shared hosting: 7 things to check
1. Guaranteed resources
“Unlimited disk” says nothing about how fast your site will be. Ask how much CPU and memory is guaranteed to your account and whether it is isolated from its neighbours. Providers usually do this with CloudLinux LVE: if a neighbouring site is attacked or runs a rogue script, your site keeps its own resources.
2. Web server and caching
For WordPress and OpenCart, LiteSpeed with LSCache server-side caching is noticeably faster than plain Apache, especially on a phone. Also check the disks (NVMe or SSD in RAID) and whether HTTP/3 is supported.
3. Backups
“Do you have backups?” tells you little. Ask how often they are made, how many days they are kept and whether the provider will restore the site for you. A copy on the same server will not help if that server fails. Ideally, copies are stored separately and you can restore a file or a database from the panel.
4. Support
When your store goes down in the middle of a sale, “tickets are handled within 24 hours” and “we reply within 15 minutes” cost you very different amounts. Find out whether support works on weekends, whether there is 24/7 monitoring and emergency support, and who answers you: an engineer or a bot.
5. Free migration
A decent provider will move your site for you: files, databases, mail and DNS. Our article on migrating a website without data loss shows how it works.
6. Billing and paperwork
A business needs a contract, invoices and statements. While you are at it, ask about a discount for paying yearly and whether you can move to a bigger plan without migrating.
7. Room to grow
Check whether the provider also offers VPS and dedicated servers. Then, when your site grows, you can move to a bigger server in the same client area, with the same support team and no new contract.
What EP, IOPS and LVE mean in a plan
Hosting plans are full of abbreviations. Here is what they mean:
- RAM (PMEM): memory your site’s processes can use at the same time. A small WordPress site needs about 1 GB, a store is better off with 1.5 to 3 GB.
- CPU (cores): how many CPU cores the account can use. More cores let the site serve more visitors at once without slowing down.
- I/O (MB/s): disk read and write speed.
- IOPS: disk operations per second, which matters for databases.
- EP (Entry Processes): how many PHP requests the site can handle at once. Too few, and visitors see a 508 error.
- NPROC: all processes of the account together, including cron, mail and SSH.
- LVE: the CloudLinux technology that separates your account’s resources from everyone else’s.
For example, on our shared hosting plans START gives 1 GB RAM, 1 core and 35 EP for one site. BASE gives 1.5 GB, 2 cores and 50 EP for up to five sites, and PRO gives 3 GB, 4 cores and 80 EP for up to twenty sites.
Checklist: 10 questions for your provider
- ☐ How much RAM and CPU is guaranteed to my account, and is it isolated from others?
- ☐ Which web server do you use, and is there server-side caching for my CMS?
- ☐ How often are backups made, how long are they kept, and where?
- ☐ Can I restore a file or a database myself from the panel?
- ☐ Is there a free SSL certificate, and does it renew automatically?
- ☐ Who answers support requests and how fast? Do you work on weekends?
- ☐ Is there 24/7 monitoring and emergency support?
- ☐ Will you migrate my site for free?
- ☐ Can I pay under a contract and get invoices and statements?
- ☐ What happens when my site grows: can I move to a bigger plan or a VPS without downtime?
If a provider answers most of these specifically and with numbers, that is a good sign.
FAQ
How is shared hosting different from a VPS?
On shared hosting the server is shared and the provider looks after it. A VPS gives you guaranteed resources and root access, but you manage it yourself or our engineers do it for an extra fee.
How much does shared hosting cost?
It depends on resources and the number of sites. Current prices for our plans are on the shared hosting page.
Will you migrate my site for free?
Yes. We move the whole project: files, databases, mail and DNS.
Hosting from Hosting in Ukraine
Every plan includes Plesk, LiteSpeed Enterprise, CloudLinux isolation and weekly backups. We migrate your project for free. Monitoring and emergency support run 24/7, and we answer requests 7 days a week, usually within 15 minutes in business hours.
Choose a plan
Not sure which plan fits? Write to us and we will pick one for your site and migrate it for free.
Questions? Contact support or leave a comment.