What are the Different Types of Web Hosting? (Explained)

Do you want to host your own website but aren’t sure which type of web hosting to choose? You’ve come to the right place.

If you’re starting a website, you need reliable web hosting to store your files and make your site accessible online. Different hosting types offer different levels of resources, performance, control, and scalability.

In this guide, we’ll explain the different types of web hosting, how they work, and who each option is best suited for. By the end, you’ll have a clearer idea of which hosting type fits your website.

Now, let’s get started!

What is Web Hosting?

Before choosing a type of web hosting, it helps to understand what web hosting is and how it works.

Web hosting is a service that stores your website’s files on a server and makes them accessible over the internet. These files include your website’s code, images, videos, databases, and other content.

Hosting servers are typically housed in data centres, where hosting providers manage the hardware, network connections, security, and other infrastructure needed to keep websites online.

In simple terms, your website’s files are stored on a server, and web hosting allows visitors to access those files through the internet.

Don’t confuse hosting with domain. Check out the differences between web hosting vs domain name.

Now, let’s look at the different types of web hosting and how each one works.

What are the Different Types of Web Hosting?

Although every type of server is mechanically the same, it can be modified to work differently in different networks. Similarly, hosting types change on the type of server modification.

There are mainly 7 types of Web Hosting:

1. Shared Web Hosting
2. Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
3. Self Service Hosting
4. Dedicated Hosting
5. Cloud Hosting
6. Reseller Hosting
7. WordPress Hosting

Here, Reseller Hosting and WordPress Hosting can be categorized into one of the five major types of hosting. We will talk about all of them in detail below.

1. Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting, as the name implies is a types of web hosting where you along with a number of other people share the same resources. It is the most basic type of web hosting.

Shared web hosting is like living in a huge mansion with a lot of other people. You have your own personal space, which is your room but, everyone in the mansion uses the same kitchen, the same balcony, and the same garden.

Similarly, everyone subscribed to any web hosting service that provides shared web hosting, will use the same server and the same bandwidth for their websites.

This type of hosting is ideal for small websites as they don’t generate a lot of traffic. This causes every website on the server to run smoothly.

Advantages of Shared Web Hosting

• Beginner-Friendly: Ideal for small websites that are looking to gain traffic. All your necessities will be met under the shared web hosting plan so you can focus on building your website and your audience.
• Easy Set Up: Easiest web hosting to set up. Just add your website on a server that is already hosting other sites. And that is also done by the web hosting provider.
• No Technical Knowledge Required: Since everything related to hosting is done by your hosting provider, you don’t need to have any form of web hosting knowledge.
• Cost-Effective: Very cost-effective as the same resources are being used by a lot of other sites on the same server. So, you need to pay significantly less on shared hosting.

Disadvantages of Shared Web Hosting

• Inflexibility: You can’t make changes to your website environment, which is your website’s way of sending and receiving data, as that would affect every other website on the server.
• Slower Load Time and Inconsistent Uptime: Puts multiple websites on the same server with shared resources. This can slow down sites during busy periods. If one site uses excessive resources, it may affect the performance or availability of other sites on the server.
• Customer Service: Least dedicated customer service out of all hosting services. Thousands of website owners waiting on the customer service line. It’ll take a while for you to get tech support on shared web hosting.

Examples of Shared Web Hosting Platforms

Depending on which web hosting provider you choose, shared web hosting can cost from around $1.44 per month to $4.44 per month which is very cheap.

• Hostinger: Starts at $2.99/mo for shared web hosting.
• DreamHost: Starts at $2.89/mo for web hosting with shared resources.
• Bluehost: Starts at $3.99/mo for web hosting in a shared hosting scenario.

If you’re looking for a cheap web hosting provider, then here’s a list of the best ones.

2. Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

Virtual Private Server or VPS hosting as it’s commonly called is a type of web hosting done on a virtual server. A virtual server is a server inside a server. 

VPS hosting is an upgraded version of shared web hosting. Think of it like sharing a huge mansion, but with a significantly smaller number of people.

In VPS hosting, the main server is partitioned into a number of virtual servers. Those virtual servers are then given as an extension to users using shared web hosting.

VPS hosting is ideal for people looking to expand their website outside of shared web hosting.

Advantages of VPS Hosting

• Reliable: VPS hosting offers more dedicated resources and isolation than shared hosting, which generally provides more consistent performance. Since resources are allocated to individual virtual servers, one website’s traffic or resource usage is less likely to affect others.
• Flexibility: It’s very flexible as any changes made on your website will not affect other websites on the same server because they are all using specific allocated spaces. This offers a wide range of website customizations.
• Scalability: Scalability is the act of increasing your allocated resources. Since VPS hosting allocates resources evenly for all servers, it is easy to scale your resources as per your needs. It’s easier for hosting providers to scale your website as well.

Disadvantages of VPS Hosting

• Sharing Resources: However, you look at it, you’re still sharing resources with other websites. This means that your website doesn’t have a lot of freedom in terms of resources.
• Cost: VPS hosting has a comparatively higher cost than shared web hosting. This is not ideal if you’re a business that’s just starting out.

Examples of VPS Hosting Services

The cost of VPS hosting starts from around $5 per month and can go up to $200 per month depending on how much you choose to scale your website. But these you can find lower price for few years/months.

• Hostinger Magento VPS: Starts at $6.49/mo, but renews at $11.99/mo.
• DreamHost VPS: Starts at $10/mo for the first 3 years.
• Bluehost VPS: Begins at $4.99/mo for 2 years and renews at $5.69/mo.

3. Self Service Hosting

Self-service hosting, as the name suggests, is a types of hosting in which you are your web host provider. This is very rarely used because there are just a lot of efficient solutions than self-hosting.

But, if you feel the need to host your website by yourself, you will need to take care of a couple of things. And it requires a higher level of technical skills.

Firstly, you will need to manage a server. Then you’d need a stable internet connection. You’d also need to take care of power, security, bandwidth, backup, and cooling along with the space required to operate the server.

Large companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. use this type of hosting. However, this type of hosting has a lot of advantages.

Advantages of Self-Service Hosting

• Cost: The main advantage of Self-service hosting is its cost. Since it’s hosted by you, you can buy hardware that suits your personal needs and your budget. It’ll be a bit expensive at the beginning but it’ll prove to be much cheaper in the long term.
• Flexibility: Highly flexible as you can customize the hosting service as per your needs. You can upgrade the resources your website requires as you see fit. So, a lot of freedom in terms of customizations.
• Security: It becomes highly secure as you don’t want your own goods to be stolen. The responsibility of having your personal hardware will oblige you to add more security to it.
• Scalability: It’s infinitely scalable. Since you’re your own hosting provider, you can scale your website as much as you want or as much as the server provides. So, no need to keep switching from host to host when your site traffic goes up.

Disadvantages of Self-Service Hosting

• Malfunction: Malfunction is a major disadvantage. Your hardware might malfunction causing you to halt your service. You might experience internet failure or power failure. You might run into cooler problems. All of this will negatively affect your service.
• Technical Knowledge Required: Professional technical knowledge of networking is required to run this type of hosting. If you’re not a knowledgeable person in terms of technical skill, self-service hosting is a very difficult task.
• Security Breach: When you host your own website, you’re responsible for security breaches, including physical theft and cyberattacks. Managing both types of security can be difficult with self-service hosting.

4. Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is exactly as it sounds like. It’s a type of hosting where you are occupying an entire server.

This is especially useful for large companies that already have large site traffic. You get a server dedicated to your website, so it has some big advantages over other types of hosting.

Advantages of Dedicated Hosting

• Usage of an Entire Server: Using an entire server by yourself means that you don’t have any neighboring websites. No resource inconsistency. Unless you run into a physical server malfunction, you have 100% website uptime.
• Flexibility: It allows a large flexibility gap over some types of hosting. Since the entire server is yours, you get to choose what to do with it. You can expand the bandwidth, change your website environment, scale your website even more without any consequences.
• Customer Service: You’ll receive all the customer service you want since you have the server to yourself. Even if you’re not a tech-savvy person, you’ll have professional help to guide you. Having a server to yourself doesn’t mean you can’t get a fully managed service.

Disadvantages of Dedicated Hosting

• Cost: The cost of dedicated hosting is quite large. Extra charges may apply if you choose to opt-in for a fully managed service.
• Unmanaged Service: Without a managed service, you wouldn’t get technical personnel to manage everything related to your site on the server. In this case, you’ll need professional technical knowledge or get someone who is a professional at operating a server.
• Security: When you own an entire server, it’s difficult to manage physical and cybersecurity. If your server crashes, you need a technician to fix it unless you have a fully managed service. This will cause your website to go down which will negatively affect your business.

Examples of Dedicated Hosting Services

Depending on where you choose to host, the cost of getting a dedicated hosting service can go from $30 per month to $350 per month. Some examples are:

• Kinsta Dedicated: Add-on to your web hosting for $300/mo with dedicated managed hosting.
• DreamHost DreamHost: Starts at $165/mo billed yearly.
• Bluehost Dedicated: Begins at $144.19/mo for dedicated managed hosting.

5. Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is pretty much the cloud itself. The cloud was developed as an innovative idea to save space and resources. This is done by hosting your website from a number of different computers.

Cloud hosting has some major advantages over other types of hosting.

Advantages of Cloud Hosting

• Cost: We can’t stress enough how cost-efficient cloud hosting is. In every other type of hosting, you would need to pay for resources used by the server. You will be charged for the resources even if you may not use them. Cloud hosting only charged for the resources you consume, making it an efficient web hosting.
• Security: Cloud service one of the most secure hosting. It’s almost immune to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks which is a nightmare for servers. Cloud hosting is very protective against DDoS attacks as it is hosted on multiple computers. This means that they can distribute packets across the network to prevent any harm.
• Scalability: Scalability is a huge advantage of cloud hosting as it is a virtual environment. This is different from VPS in that your website is scalable only up to the server’s limit. In cloud hosting, the server has a higher upper limit or no limit at all since you can keep on adding new computers to the network to maximize its limit.
• Easy Set Up: Since cloud hosting doesn’t need you to run your own server, it is managed by the service provider. No technical knowledge is required to operate a cloud hosting service.

Disadvantages of Cloud Hosting

• Fluctuating Prices: Cloud hosting has only some disadvantages and one is fluctuating prices. The prices of cloud hosting can differ largely depending on where you host the site. So, it is difficult to estimate the cost of cloud hosting.
• Traffic Leads to Cost: In a cloud hosting service, you are charged for resources you use so if you have high traffic on your website, your website is using resources. This is a minor disadvantage since increased traffic equals increased revenue and the cost is evened out.

Examples of Cloud Hosting Providers

The following are some cloud hosting providers with different prices:

• Cloudways: Starts at $14/mo for Standard pricing at DigitalOcean cloud provider.
• Thamara Cloud: Starts at $2.49/mo billed for 3 years.
• Kinsta: Begins at $30/mo for managed cloud hosting services.

6. Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is a specific type of hosting in which a user subscribed to a hosting service sells that service to another user for a profit. Think of it like a sub-host platform; a hosting service inside a hosting service.

If shared web hosting was like sharing a mansion with a lot of people, reseller hosting is like sharing a room with a lot of people. While it has some major disadvantages, it has its own fair share of advantages as well.

Advantages of Reseller Hosting

• Profit: The main reason to even provide a reseller hosting service is for profit. You’re providing premium service at a lower cost. But, when you provide that low-cost service to a large number of people, you get a lot of profit from it.
• Access to Premium Services: If you’re looking to have a small website, say a blog for yourself with premium services and make a profit, reseller hosting is the best option. You can provide users with premium services that you can use on your own site as well.

Disadvantages of Reseller Hosting

• Slow Server Response Rate: Since you’re sharing a limited space to a large number of people, everyone will experience a slow server response rate and sometimes even downtime due to a large number of resources being used.
• Inflexible: The hosted server is someone’s subscription, so you’re limited to the things they are subscribed to. You can’t customize your space according to your needs.
• Security: When you have a lot of websites sharing little space, security problems are bound to happen. If one website gets attacked, every other site’s security is compromised. Simply put, hackers can get access to every website if they get access to one website.

Examples of Reseller Hosting Platforms

The following are some reseller hosting prices of hosting providers:

• HostGator Reseller Hosting: Starts at $49.99/mo for NVMe servers.
• Namecheap Reseller Hosting: Starts at $19.88/mo without a different renewal price.
• InMotion Reseller Hosting: Begins at $19.99/mo that renews at $35.99/mo.

7. WordPress Hosting

WordPress hosting is a very specific type of hosting service which is only available for websites using WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS). It is a type of web hosting specifically made for WordPress.

There are two types of WordPress hosting:

1. Shared WordPress Hosting
2. Managed WordPress Hosting

In shared WordPress hosting, you have WordPress pre-installed and you use resources with other WordPress hosted websites.

Managed WordPress hosting is the same as shared WordPress hosting except you have access to additional security, faster loading, and such.

While it is only for WordPress users, it has its fair share of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of WordPress Hosting

• WordPress Ready: As the name implies, it is made specifically for WordPress, so WordPress users are at a major advantage here. This also means that it is actively maintained.
• Enhanced Security for WordPress Sites: Since WordPress hosting was made specifically for WordPress sites, it provides more security to them. You can further secure your WordPress website with managed WordPress hosting.
• Reliable Support: The WordPress community is huge. So, you’ll get support from the community members, blogs, and dedicated WordPress teams. In fact, a managed WordPress hosting even looks after backups, security, speed, performance, and uptime service.

Disadvantages of WordPress Hosting

• Less Flexibility: Since you get only what WordPress offers, you have relatively less flexibility. You can’t customize your site as you would want it. Plus, it works similar to shared hosting so making changes to your web environment would also affect others.
• Cost: Even though this might sound a good deal for WordPress users, the cost of hosting a WordPress site can be at a minimum of $30/mo. This is a big no for beginners and small sites. There are a lot of other options that work the same but are cost-efficient.

Examples of WordPress Hosting Platforms

The price of WordPress hosting differs based on its managed or unmanaged hosting solution. Here are some prices:

• Kinsta WordPress Hosting: Free for a month and then $30/mo for managed hosting.
• Bluehost WordPress Hosting: Starts at $3.79/mo for WordPress hosting.
• Hostinger WordPress Hosting: Begins at $2.99/mo that renews at $10.99/mo for managed hosting.

Check out the best WordPress hosting platforms. If you plan to own a WooCommerce store, then check out the best WooCommerce hosting providers.

Which Type of Hosting is Best for You?

Now that we’ve explained in detail about the different types of web hosting, let us go into what caters to your needs the best.

• If you’re just starting out by building a website, shared web hosting is the best option for you since it doesn’t have a high cost and has enough resources for small websites.
• Do you have a website that has started getting high traffic? Then VPS hosting is the best choice for you.
• If you want to stand out of the crowd and have your website hosted at your own comfort, self-service hosting is your go-to. Since you’ll be hosting on your own, we wish you the best of luck.
• If you’re a large company and want to host a website, dedicated hosting is for you. This is because you are expected to amass a large amount of traffic and will need an entire server.
• Do you think your website is growing more rapidly than expected? Then cloud hosting is just for you. You will need to expand your website a lot and will also need a lot of security since you’re growing very quickly.
• If you’re a small blogger who wants some premium features at a low cost, reseller hosting is for you.
• If you’re a user who has a website made with WordPress; WordPress hosting is for you. WordPress hosting is made specifically for WordPress users giving them major advantages that you don’t want to miss out on.

Now that you know which type of hosting to go for, you might be wondering which hosting provider to go for as well. For that, we highly recommend BlueHost, a widely popular hosting platform that has all the above hosting plans available.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you still have any further questions, you can always ask us in the comments below.

Final Thoughts

From what we’ve discussed up until now, choosing the correct types of web hosting is the best decision you can make to get your business online. However, the answer to the best types of web hosting depends totally on you and your needs. Here’s our guide on picking the right hosting.

In this article, we have explained every type of hosting for you so you can decide easily. With this knowledge, you can choose the one that fits best for you and take your business to greater heights with the power of the internet.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this article so feel free to comment on any queries or suggestions below.

Meanwhile, check out our other articles on free vs paid hosting and the best web hosting companies.

And if you liked this article, do share it with your friends and colleagues. If you’d like to, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (X) for more articles like these.