Types of Web Hosting and How to Choose the Right One?

Setting up the website with the right web hosting plan is extremely important. You surely want your website to work effectively and efficiently. Therefore, you will need proper information about all types of web hosting and how to choose the right one for your website.

Different websites have different requirements. So, you must know the requirements of your site while selecting the plan. Prefer the type of web hosting that gives you the right resources and essential features that can play a crucial role in the success of your website.

In this article, different types of web hosting are explained in detail. Moreover, you will learn about examples of each web hosting that will make it easier for you to decide on a plan for your website.

Types of Web Hosting and Their Differences:

All websites have different requirements as they belong to different industries. Therefore, there are different types of servers to meet the needs. Some websites share a single server, and others have their own in-house servers.

We have explained different types of web hosting with examples and differences in detail. Let’s get to it!

1.  Shared Web Hosting:

It is the normal hosting type, cost-effective, and highly recommended for small organizations or startups. In this hosting type, websites share the same server, using the shared resources with each other on a single server. It can work because most sites don’t need the whole resources of a server. Splitting resources is what makes it cost-effective.

However, each site will only use the number of resources that are defined in the hosting plans.

Sharing a server with many websites has drawbacks as well. If any other website on the server has increased traffic, it will cause issues for your site. In some cases, such situations can go out of control. Therefore, it is for smaller businesses.

It is the best option if you are low on budget and your business is at an early stage. Otherwise, it won’t give you a high-quality hosting experience.

Who Should Opt for Shared Hosting?

As explained earlier, if you are running small businesses or just started a startup, it is indeed a great option. It offers affordable hosting plans and doesn’t need much technical knowledge.

Shared web hosting is recommended for simple sites if you are low on budget. Any site, such as bloggers or small businesses, which doesn’t need too much interaction or resources, is the best candidate for this type of web hosting.

Pros of Shared Hosting:

• Cost-effective hosting
• Not much technical knowledge needed
• Easy setting up
• Best for startups

Cons of Shared Hosting:

• Sharing resources with others
• Often face performance issues
• The website might face slower loading
• No scalability

2.  Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting:

A virtual Private Server or VPS is a hosting service that employs virtualization technology to deliver dedicated (private) resources on a server with numerous users.

VPS hosting is one of the widely used types of web hosting and is one step ahead of shared hosting. If sites have gained enough traffic while having shared servers, businesses need to upgrade to a VPS hosting service. In this hosting, your site will share the server with other websites, but the number of sites will be much lower.

The resources you will get in VPS are higher than shared web hosting, allowing your site to perform better. You will get many benefits in VPS hosting, such as higher uptime and fast loading.

When Use VPS Hosting?

Like shared hosting, it is suitable for small and medium-sized organizations that want to avoid higher downtime and need more site resources. Therefore, it is highly recommended, especially for businesses that outgrow shared hosting resources. Moreover, it is the best option for tech-savvy website owners who want customized changes and configurations.

Pros of VPS Hosting:

• Dedicated resources
• Custom server configurations
• Fast loading and higher uptime
• Less costly than the dedicated server hosting

Cons of VPS Hosting:

• Sharing the server with other sites
• A little complex to set up compared to shared hosting
• Limitations on control

3. Dedicated Server Hosting:

It is a hosting in which the client takes an entire server that is not shared with anyone else to run your website. Dedicated web hosting has many benefits, such as fast speed and better uptime. However, you should also know that it is an expensive option. Since you don’t share resources with other sites, the performance of your website will be much more efficient.

Moreover, sites with dedicated server hosting have complete control of the settings. You can choose configurations, software, or anything your site needs in dedicated web hosting. You won’t need to worry about high traffic with dedicated web servers.

Who Should Choose Dedicated Web Hosting?

If you are running an enterprise-level site, you should prefer this service. Moreover, the sites with monthly visitors of more than 100,000 also need dedicated servers. You don’t need this type of web hosting if you are still getting traffic of a few thousand.

Websites that need the highest quality security can benefit from dedicated hosting as they can easily save important data.

Moreover, you should only opt for dedicated web hosting if you have enough budget and can afford it. Most dedicated hosting plans will be out of range, especially if you run a new business. The servers can cost you $2000 monthly. Keep that in mind as well.

Pros of Dedicated Hosting:

• Server Control
• Dedicated resources
• Top-level security
• Fast loading and the best performance

Cons of Dedicated Hosting:

• Expensive option
• Need technical information
• Responsibility for everything

4.  Cloud-Based Hosting:

Cloud web hosting has multiple remote servers in different places, with each server having particular responsibilities. Other servers can take over if any server is down. This is why cloud hosting is popular and considered the best alternative to conventional hosting services.

With cloud-based servers, your site will get higher uptime, and there will be no unexpected downtime. The sites with cloud servers keep performing at a higher level. The prominent thing about cloud hosting is that you can scale it. As for pricing, you don’t need to pay extra for any resources. You will pay for the resources you use. However, you cannot exceed the resources defined in your hosting plan.

When to Use Cloud Hosting?

This type of web hosting is suitable for medium and large organization sites, which are growing quickly. If your site traffic is unpredictable and you are considering scaling it up in the coming months, you should opt for cloud web hosting.

Websites that outgrow their shared hosting plan can upgrade to cloud hosting, and also, if the monthly visitors are increased by more than 50,000.

Pros of Cloud Hosting

• Best security
• Scalability of the resources
• Less downtime

Cons of Cloud Hosting

• Not fixed pricing
• Limited customization of server

5.  Colocation Web Hosting:

In colocation web hosting, you rent space from a data center and bring your server with all the hardware. You get power, security, a cooling system, and internet from the centers. It means you are only responsible for the server software, backups, and data storage. If something happens to the hardware, you need to replace it and get your server running.

If you lack technical knowledge, investing your money and time in colocation hosting is not the best choice.

Small companies can get enterprise-level services in this type of hosting because of the shared hosting environment and support.

When to Choose Colocation Web Hosting?

It is the best choice if you don’t have enough space to place your server and maintain it. Moreover, you can opt for colocation hosting if you have enough technical knowledge about the server, such as repairing, hardware optimization, and other related factors.

In small to large companies, everyone can benefit from colocation web hosting, especially if they don’t have enough trained staff.

Pros of Colocation Hosting:

• Higher bandwidth and low latency
• Unlimited power for server
• On-site monitoring
• Better Management

Cons of Colocation Hosting:

• You are responsible for server failure
• Replacement of hardware
• Cannot monitor your server by yourself

6.  WordPress Hosting

It is a type of web hosting that offers reliable tools and technologies for your WordPress website, ensuring the best security and fast speed. WordPress hosting takes care of issues such as backups, updates, security, etc.

Moreover, it also offers a virtually hands-off experience of hosting. In traditional hosting, you buy a certain storage space in your plan on the remote server, and you have to deal with the maintenance and everything on your own. You need a developer or webmaster. But this is not the case with WordPress hosting. It offers services from installation, configuration, and plugins to adding content on pages.

You will not need to worry about back-end tasks as well. Your WordPress hosting plan will cover everything.

When to Choose WordPress Hosting?

Small and large enterprises can both benefit from this hosting. You may have seen many examples of web hosting, but this has a lot to offer. Small businesses prefer WordPress hosting because they may not have enough staff or experts to manage the servers. Larger companies can opt for this because managing large amounts of data and complex servers might become difficult.

So, if you are running a WordPress site and want it to offer a smooth and fast experience for your audience, get your WordPress hosting plan.

Pros of WordPress Hosting:

• High security for the site
• Customized support
• Handling site maintenance
• Configuration of key elements

Cons of WordPress Hosting:

• Less control over changes

7.  Reseller Web Hosting:

Reseller hosting is all about selling services to clients. It certainly works only for specific groups. If you have a small website and want to buy hosting, you will look anywhere. But, if you want to sell hosting services to other sites, you should choose reseller web hosting. It is a white-label web hosting. So, it is buying hosting from a company and then reselling it to your clients.

Now, you will have the right to choose the pricing for your clients. You can make a profit here.

Who is Reseller Hosting For?

Mostly reseller web hosting is suggested for web designers, agencies, and developers. Anyone with many clients can opt for this web hosting type. As they already provide services, they can easily add selling hosting services.

One of the most prominent features of reseller hosting is sustainability. If you work as a designer for someone, they won’t need you forever. But, if you somehow manage to get those clients to buy your web hosting services, you will get a chance to make a steady monthly income.

However, if you are considering reseller hosting, you need to have ten different websites.

Pros of Reseller Hosting:

• Set own pricing for clients
• Sustainable income
• Current services improvement

Cons of Reseller Hosting:

• Need many clients for it
• You are responsible if something goes wrong

8.  Self-Service Web Hosting:

Rather than depending on a public cloud provider, running your website by setting up your server and networking is called Self Service Web Hosting. So, whoever chooses self-service hosting will be completely responsible for the site maintenance, configuration, backups, and hardware replacement.

Simply put, self-hosting means hosting a website yourself with total control of the server.

Whom is Self-Hosting For?

If you have enough IT staff to manage your servers and can deal with maintenance, you can choose this type of hosting. In most cases, it is suggested for large enterprises that have already established themselves and can easily manage everything independently.

Pros of Self-Service Hosting:

• Complete control over website and data
• Customization of site design
• Monetize your site for income

Cons of Self-Service Hosting:

• You are responsible for everything
• Regular maintenance and backups
• Need experienced technical staff

How to Choose the Right Type of Web Hosting?

The type of web hosting you choose is important for your site’s better security, performance, scalability, and management. Moreover, your decision depends on the regular traffic you get on your website. If we take examples of web hosting for blogger sites, they usually get 5,000 visitors monthly. These sites will have different needs and requirements for using the resources compared to 250000 monthly visitors on e-commerce sites.

It is also worth mentioning that you get different web hosting options at different pricing. So, it also depends on your budget to afford a hosting plan that suits you.

We have outlined and explained eight web hosting types to help you make better decisions in choosing the right one for your site. It will help you determine your requirements and the best hosting option.

Before you pick a hosting plan, you need to be clear about your site goals and hosting requirements. Once you know your needs, you can easily narrow down your options. So, to help you determine which category your site falls in, the following is a quick recap of different web hosting types and what they are best for.

• Shared Hosting — is the most cost-effective web hosting option, highly recommended for entry-level websites.
• VPS Hosting — Websites that outgrow their existing shared hosting capacities and, in terms of their needs, must upgrade their plan to VPS Hosting.
• WordPress Hosting — This hosting plan is highly recommended to optimize your WordPress sites.
• Dedicated Hosting — If your website is large enough, with over 200 000 visitors monthly, you can choose dedicated web hosting.
• Cloud Hosting — This option is the best for websites that are growing at a fast pace.
• Reseller Hosting is a highly recommended web hosting option, especially for agencies, web developers, and web designers to resell services and earn income.
• Colocation Web Hosting – choose this web hosting when renting out space from a data center.
• Self-Hosting – If you have enough IT staff to manage your servers, go for it.

How Can HostingMENA Help You Choose the Right Web Hosting?

HostingMENA offers fast and reliable web hosting services of all types. We never compromise on quality. We start with assessing the site, its requirements, and future goals. We then create a customized hosting plan that is the best for your website. So, with such tailored solutions for your web hosting, HostingMENA has everything for beginners and larger enterprises. Contact us, and one of our experts will guide you in choosing the right hosting plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Different Types of Web Hosting?

Following is the list of different types of web hosting.

• Shared Web Hosting
• Virtual Private Server (VPS)
• Dedicated Web Server
• Cloud-Based Hosting
• Colocation Web Hosting
• WordPress Hosting
• Reseller Web Hosting
• Self Service Web Hosting

What Type of Web Hosting Do I Need?

It depends on different factors, such as your budget, requirements, goals, and business size. In the case of a startup, shared hosting is best, while a mid-sized business would benefit from a VPS. For businesses or ecommerce stores that have enterprise-level requirements, dedicated hosting is the only option.

Which Type of Web Hosting Is Best?

Dedicated hosting is the best because it gives you complete control over the resources, and your site will be faster than other hosting options.

Which Is the Most Basic Type of Web Hosting?

Shared hosting is the most basic type, widely used by small enterprises with low budgets.

Which Type of Hosting is Best for Beginners?

Shared web hosting is the best option for beginners in an early stage with insufficient revenue to spend on expensive hosting and needs limited resources for their sites.