There are a lot of questions about web hosting, especially what the best web hosting is. If you want to learn more, I’ve put together this detailed guide, which I hope will help you choose the best web hosting for your needs.
Web hosting is a service that helps you to have a publicly accessible website on the Internet. A subscription to a web hosting plan is a rent you pay to have a specialised company manage the services needed to keep your website up and running.
Web hosting is not just the simple renting of space on a server; on that server, software services enable the processing of PHP code, database queries, email sending and receiving, etc.
These services require setup, maintenance and updating, which is the responsibility of the web hosting provider.
By paying for web hosting, you are paying for access to resources, both hardware and software, as well as human resources. Not as in HR, but in terms of care and support.
So it’s not just a simple rent of space, but a wider set of IT services provided by professionals, and specialists in this field:
- hosting DNS zones
- file hosting
- database hosting
- hosting email addresses
- anti-malware protection
- malicious attacks protection (DDOS)
- anti-spam and anti-virus filtering for email
- server administration, maintenance and optimisation
- technical support provided to customers
Due to the massive popularity of shared hosting, most people think of web hosting as a single service, but in fact, there are at least 3 main services:
- DNS hosting
- application (site) hosting
- email hosting
What is DNS hosting?
DNS hosting is the hosting of DNS zones. When you associate a hosting provider’s nameservers with a domain, it means that that provider will host the DNS zones for your domain.
The most common DNS zones are:
- A – The record that contains the IP address of a domain.
- CNAME – Redirects a domain or subdomain to another domain, not to an IP address.
- MX – Directs mail to a mail server.
- TXT – Allows an administrator to store text notes in the record. These records are often used for email security.
What is application (site) hosting?
Application hosting is the hosting of your web application, or website (WordPress, another application or even a simple HTML file).
The website hosting is controlled by the DNS type A entry, the record that contains the IP address where a domain is pointed. The Domain Name System (DNS) translates the A record and instead of people having to remember an IP address to type in their browser to access google.com, they will type google.com directly.
What is email hosting?
Email hosting is controlled by MX DNS entries, which direct mail to an email server.
The most common case is that of shared hosting, where all 3 services (DNS, site, mail) are with the same provider, on the same server.
But all these 3 hosting services can also be separate, you can have:
- DNS hosting from Cloudflare,
- website hosting from Kiravo,
- mail hosting from Google Workspace.
What’s the best – all together or separated?
For most sites, the default situation where all hosting components are provided as a single service is sufficient and no separation is needed.
In this case, our shared hosting plans presented above include everything needed.
However, there are also cases where some sites have special needs.
1 – A small brochure-style website of a company can use an affordable shared solution for site hosting because it won’t have high traffic.
But for that company, the email is “business critical”, and the limitations of a shared hosting solution are not good enough.
Thus, they can separate site hosting from email hosting. Keep the website on shared hosting, but for email, opt for a professional email hosting solution, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Tutanota, Fastmail, ProtonMail, etc.
2 – A high-traffic blog needs website hosting focused on performance and scalability, but doesn’t have much need for email. We have customers who just use Gmail.
Thus, email can be hosted on a low-cost solution or even free (Gmail), while the website can be hosted on a managed WordPress hosting solution with a customised setup designed to handle as much traffic as possible.
These would be two example scenarios when separating website hosting from email hosting is needed.
But most of the time, all these services are put together in one easy-to-use package, which is why the most popular solution is shared hosting with cPanel.
Types of hosting
Hosting solutions span a broad spectrum, offering cost-effective shared environments for new projects and high-performance dedicated solutions for enterprise-level demands.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the most popular, because it’s cheap and because its limitations are good enough for most websites.
As can be inferred from the phrase “shared”, this type of hosting is one in which all customer sites are hosted on a physical (or virtual) server and share its resources.
It is a mass-market web hosting solution, designed to meet the needs of as many website owners as possible.
The main advantage of shared hosting is the value for money, with a relatively low price for the services and benefits.
The main disadvantage of shared hosting is that the performance of your site is affected by the neighbours on the server, more precisely by their resource usage. The loading time of your website is not consistent and cannot be guaranteed by the provider.
Who is it for?
- low traffic websites
- static websites
- brochure-style websites
- hobby websites
You should never run critical websites on cheap shared hosting.
Advantages of shared web hosting
- low price
- decent performance
- everything in one place (DNS, web, email)
- easy-to-use control panel
Disadvantages of shared web hosting
- resource limitations
- limited customisation possibilities
- inconsistent performance
- limited scalability
Responsibilities
The hosting provider manages the infrastructure, and the software running on the server, server security (not your website’s security) and disaster recovery (some may even include a backup of your data).
The customer gets access to an administration panel (the most popular is cPanel) and that’s where their responsibilities start. Clients can install whatever applications they want (the most popular being WordPress), applications that they manage both from a technical point of view and from a content point of view; they can create email addresses, edit DNS zones, restore backups, etc…
What is the best shared hosting?
There are so many shared hosting providers, thousands in each country.
There are many differences among providers of shared hosting, but there are also many similarities; it’s impossible to say one is the best.
But I can say that I would choose independent companies that use a modern stack:
- CloudLinux and LiteSpeed, no outdated Apache;
- enterprise-grade NVMe SSD storage;
- daily backups;
- free SSL;
- good WordPress knowledge;
- not very cheap because low prices attract the wrong kind of tenants, and you don’t want those neighbours.
VPS Hosting (managed)
VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a hosting solution where several virtual servers are created on a physical server, and you rent such a virtual server to host your websites.
Each VPS has a certain level of dedicated resources (RAM, CPU), unlike shared hosting, where cPanel accounts don’t have allocated resources; they have resource limitations.
The cPanel control panel is usually used, as with shared hosting, but the customer has a higher level of access and can create their own cPanel accounts to isolate sites or even resell hosting.
In addition to the advantage of having dedicated resources, another major advantage of a VPS compared to a shared solution is the possibility of customizing certain settings (PHP, MySQL, the number of emails that can be sent per hour, etc.), so fewer limitations than shared hosting.
The main disadvantage of a VPS is the higher costs.
The client hosted on VPS no longer shares resources with other clients, but also no longer shares costs (cPanel license, LiteSpeed webserver license, software backup license, anti-spam software license, server administration, etc.).
Advantages of VPS hosting
- better security
- better performance
- dedicated resources
- the possibility of customisations
- all-in-one (DNS, web, mail)
- better scalability
Disadvantages of VPS hosting
- higher costs
- it’s also an all-in-one solution with cPanel so still limited
- performance is not necessarily better (depends on setup, stack and resources)
Dedicated Servers (managed)
This hosting solution means the entire physical server is leased to a single client.
It is the traditional hosting solution that involves the highest costs but has the advantage of high performance.
Any setting of the services installed on the server can be customised to accommodate the needs of the site and the limitations are only given by the physical ones (the server specifications).
Advantages of dedicated server hosting
- better security
- better performance
- performance can be consistent (no neighbours)
- all-in-one (DNS, web, mail)
- the possibility of customisation
Disadvantages of dedicated server hosting
- higher costs
- limited scalability
- downtime if a physical server component breaks down
These are managed types of web hosting, usually offered with cPanel or other control panels such as ISPConfig, DirectAdmin, Plesk, etc.
Here, managed means that the hosting provider manages the server and everything running on it (operating system, web server, database server, email server, etc.), while the customer manages their cPanel account and everything in it (website, email addresses, etc.).
Unmanaged Hosting
Unmanaged hosting solutions are virtual or dedicated servers offered by providers without administration, cPanel, or other control panels, with root access, at a much lower price.
They are not for novice users, they are aimed at developers, sysadmins, and DevOps, i.e. people with technical skills needed to manage servers.
You could say that these are not actually web hosting solutions; they are IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) solutions.
In the sense that you are given access to infrastructure and resources, and you use them to build your web hosting solutions (shared or managed) that you can use for your websites or even resell to end users.
Responsibility
All responsibilities rest with the customer.
These responsibilities represent the installation, configuration and administration of all services running on the server:
- operating system (Debian, Ubuntu, etc.)
- webserver (Nginx or Apache)
- database server (MySQL, Percona or MariaDB)
- the mail server
- antivirus protection, antispam
- firewall, brute-force attacks protection
- backup and disaster recovery
In addition, the customer is also responsible for the web applications it installs on the server (WordPress, for example), as well as for the updates of these applications, their maintenance and the publication of content.
Advantages of unmanaged web hosting
- low costs money-wise
- better performance (if set right)
- better uptime
- you can build powerful hosting solutions (if you know how)
Disadvantages of unmanaged web hosting
- no administration
- with great power comes great responsibility
- high risks (if you don’t know what you’re doing)
- you don’t spend money, but you invest time and effort in managing servers
Cloud hosting
At one point there was a craze with the cloud, everywhere you heard only this magic word. We’ve heard from customers questions like – Will my website be stored in the cloud? Will it never be down because it’s in the cloud? Will it be hosted on multiple servers in the cloud?
The concepts of CDN, high scalability, and high availability are indeed possible on the cloud, but the cloud is not magic.
The cloud is a bucket of resources.
In a data centre, the provider can have 1000 servers, each with certain resources (CPU, RAM, storage space). The provider uses a software application that gathers all the resources of all its servers into a resource bucket.
From here on, the provider has several ways to sell hosting services.
You can create virtual machines (VPS) to sell with management (with cPanel like classic VPS) or without management (with root access like Digital Ocean, Vultr, etc.).
If you want to sell shared hosting, you can create virtual servers onto which you install cPanel and create shared hosting subscriptions.
Another business model would be to sell resources instead of pre-set subscriptions, like Amazon AWS or Google Cloud do, they bill each resource separately:
- DNS – $0.20 per zone
- SSD storage – $0.017 per GB per month
- CPU – $0.033 per vCPU per hour
- RAM – $0.004 per GB per hour
- Network traffic – $0.12 per GB
At the end of the month, the customer pays for how many resources they used that month.
That would be an explanation for cloud services and web hosting can be called “cloud hosting” if the provider uses the setup explained above.
Managed Web Hosting
The web hosting solutions presented above, especially the traditional ones with cPanel, are generic. It was only a matter of time before specialised solutions would appear.
These specialised web hosting solutions are called managed, but some are not entirely managed, just semi-managed.
Some focus on a specific platform, like WordPress or Magento, and are marketed as managed WordPress hosting or managed Magento hosting.
Despite the name of managed hosting, these solutions are also a kind of semi-managed web hosting. Not classic, with cPanel, but a modern version, based on containers or virtual machines using the public cloud infrastructure or even private clouds.
There are also managed web hosting solutions that are really managed. They are not built on top of existing open-source platforms but have built their own walled gardens, focusing on abstracting the technical part for customers (Squarespace, Shopify or Wix).
Who is managed hosting for?
Managed web hosting is for customers who are willing to invest more money to have a dedicated team behind them. These are generally people who don’t want to bother with the technical part, they just want to publish content and all the technical parts to simply work, even when they have high traffic peaks.
Responsibility
As mentioned above, there are managed hosting solutions where the customer is only responsible for adding content.
Everything that happens behind the scenes is managed by the hosting provider. The provider manages the servers and what is installed on the servers, from the operating system to the platform where you just add your content.
There are also managed WordPress solutions where the website owner can install plugins/themes and is also responsible for the code part (only the WordPress core is managed by the hosting provider, who makes the updates).
Advantages of managed web hosting
- fast loading times
- high-scalability
- great uptime
- specialised technical support
- it just works
Disadvantages of managed web hosting
- higher costs
- it’s a niche solution, it’s not all-in-one
- does not include email hosting
- does not include DNS hosting (depends on the provider)
These would be the types of web hosting currently available to website owners, especially those using WordPress.
Which web hosting should I choose?
Well, the best hosting for others might not be the best for you.
Every website owner has needs, expectations, a level of technical knowledge, a strategy to grow their website, and ultimately, a budget. For different people, the best web hosting plan can mean something completely different.
- For a hobby site, the best is an affordable shared web hosting plan.
- For a business owner, the best will be a premium hosting plan or a managed WordPress solution.
- For a publisher, the best will be a managed WordPress plan in the cloud.
- For a shop, the best solution will be a performant WooCommerce hosting.
Evaluate your needs; don’t follow reviews blindly (most are fake or paid for).
What are your needs when it comes to web hosting?
People are different, and websites are different. Nobody else knows what’s important to you. Your answers to the following questions will help you understand exactly what you need when comparing web hosting options.
- what are your needs?
- what are your website’s needs?
- what are your tech support needs?
- what’s your budget?
Your needs
These questions may get different responses from different people. Your answers will help you understand exactly what you need when comparing web hosting options.
- Do you need to host one site or several?
- How important are your websites to you?
- Do you need email hosting?
- How important is email?
- Do you manage the technical aspects yourself?
Your website’s needs
If your site is a low-traffic blog, it won’t need the same things as a high-traffic online store. Identifying what your site needs helps you evaluate your options.
- What is the site’s traffic?
- Will the site have spikes of high traffic?
- Does the site require dedicated resources?
- Does the site need constant monitoring?
- Does the site need performance optimisation?
Your support needs
Many people underestimate the complexity of owning a website because technology has made it so easy, fast and cheap to launch.
- Are you able & willing to handle the technical aspects?
- Or do you have an employee or collaborator who can take care of the technical part?
- Or do you need technical assistance & support from WordPress experts?
Your budget
The budget is an important criterion, but it shouldn’t be the only or the main filter through which we look at our web hosting options.
- How much money do your websites make?
- What percentage are you comfortable spending on hosting?
- Do you have a 5€ budget for each site you own?
- Or do you have a total budget of 5€ for all sites?
Final conclusions
In general, shared hosting is sufficient for most sites.
It includes everything you need: DNS, email, web application hosting, backup, support, and security.
It’s a best-effort solution (provided as-is), but shared web hosting has evolved to deliver surprising performance at a low price; if you have a regular site without special needs, this is the best web hosting solution in terms of quality-price ratio.
By special needs, I mean customizing PHP or MySQL settings, installing additional services (python, ruby, node.js), sending a large number of emails, performing heavier queries on the database (product imports, stock updates, prices) or other needs specific to your website.
For sites with special needs, there are two solutions:
- upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server
- separate services on specialised providers
I recommend the separation of services:
- For web hosting – a specialised web hosting solution for your application with specialised support: managed WordPress hosting, for example.
- for email hosting – a specialised solution for email such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Exchange, etc.
- for DNS hosting – a solution like Cloudflare, Amazon Route53, DNSMadeEasy, etc
- for sending transactional emails from the website (order notifications, invoices, etc.) – a specialized solution such as Postmark, Sendgrid, Mailgun, etc.
- for sending marketing emails (newsletters, promotions, etc.) – a specialized solution such as Mailchimp, Drip, ConvertKit, etc.
- for SEO, online advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.), marketing, content creation, etc. – a dedicated person on your team or a subscription to a specialised company.
- for web application security, web application maintenance and administration – a specialized security solution such as Sucuri, a technical person in the team or a subscription to maintenance service.
It’s in our nature to want to work with just one provider (or as few as possible) to make it easier for us, but there’s no single provider that can be the best at twenty things.
You can start low-cost on shared hosting with cPanel, but beyond a certain point, traditional all-in-one solutions can’t take you further in growing your online business.
The question you need to ask first is not “What’s the best web hosting?” but “What problem am I trying to solve?”
What I want to emphasise in conclusion is that web hosting is not a silver bullet; it is not a magic pill that solves all your website problems, nor should it be viewed as such.
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