Insights · 5 min read
Shared, managed or VPS: how to choose website hosting
By Austin Hunter ·
Hosting is the computer your website runs on. The cheapest plan is fine for some sites and a real risk for others. What matters is how much traffic you get, what the site does, and who will look after it.
The main options
| Type | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | Small brochure sites with modest traffic | Your site shares a server with many others; slowdowns and security issues next door can affect you |
| Managed WordPress | WordPress sites where you want updates, backups and caching handled | Plugin and visit limits on lower tiers; check what "managed" actually covers |
| VPS (virtual private server) | Busier sites, custom apps, or anything that needs its own isolated server | Someone has to patch, monitor and back it up; that's ongoing work, not a one-time setup |
| Cloud platforms (Vercel, Netlify, Firebase and similar) | Modern web apps and fast static sites | Usage-based bills can grow with traffic; set budget alerts |
What actually matters more than the plan
- Backups you've tested: a backup you've never restored from is a hope, not a plan.
- Updates: an out-of-date site on great hosting is still the easiest target.
- A content delivery network (CDN) in front of the site, which speeds it up and absorbs traffic spikes.
- Uptime monitoring, so someone knows the site is down before your customers tell you.
- Owning the account yourself, so the site doesn't leave with your developer.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Roughly how many visitors do we get a month, and do we have busy seasons?
- Does the site take payments, logins or forms with personal information?
- Who installs updates and checks backups, and how often?
- What happens, and what does it cost, if traffic doubles?
- How do we get our site and data out if we leave this host?
What we use
For client WordPress sites we typically use Hostinger, choosing between its managed plans and a VPS depending on traffic and requirements, with a CDN in front. Modern web apps often run on Vercel or Firebase. Hosting can be included in a care plan, or run in your own account with any upgrades billed at cost, and our care plans cover the updates, backups and monitoring that keep it healthy.