What Are the 4 Types of Hosting and Which One Is Right for You?
If you own a small business, you have probably asked this question: What are the 4 types of hosting?
Hosting can feel confusing.
It sounds technical.
It sounds expensive.
But it does not have to be.
At the most basic level, hosting is just the place where your website lives. When someone types in your domain name, your hosting server sends them your site.
There are four main types of hosting. Each one has a different price, different setup, and different level of control.
Let’s break them down in plain English.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the cheapest option.
Most shared hosting plans cost about $3 to $15 per month.
With shared hosting, your website shares one server with many other websites. Sometimes hundreds. All of you are using the same space and the same resources.
That is why it is cheap.
It can work for very small websites. Hobby blogs. Starter sites. Pages that do not get much traffic.
But there are risks.
If another site on that server gets hacked, it can affect you.
If another site gets a lot of traffic, your site can slow down.
If one site misuses resources, everyone can feel it.
Many large hosting companies, including some common plans from GoDaddy, use shared hosting setups. The low price is attractive. But the risk and performance issues can be high.
Shared hosting usually requires very little skill to start. That is the good part. But when problems happen, you often end up on hold with support.
It is cheap up front.
It can cost you later in stress and downtime.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server.
Most VPS hosting plans cost about $25 to $100 or more per month, depending on the power of the server.
With VPS hosting, you are still on a larger physical server. But your portion is separated and protected. You have your own slice of resources. Other websites cannot easily slow you down.
It is like having your own unit in a building. You are in the same structure, but you are not sharing a single open room.
VPS hosting gives you:
- Better speed
- Better security
- More control
- More predictable performance
It does require more technical knowledge if you manage it yourself. You may need to understand servers, updates, security patches, and backups.
This is where many business owners get stuck.
At Full Scope Creative, we use VPS hosting for all of our hosting plans. Our Security Essentials Hosting plan starts at $575 per year.
We handle the technical side.
We manage updates.
We monitor security.
We watch performance.
You get the power of VPS without needing to know how to run a server.
For most small businesses, VPS is the sweet spot. It gives you strong performance without the huge price tag of a dedicated server.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is exactly what it sounds like.
You get an entire physical server to yourself.
No sharing. No neighbors.
Dedicated hosting usually costs $100 to $300 or more per month.
This is powerful. It is often used by very large businesses, big eCommerce sites, or companies with heavy traffic.
You get full control.
You get maximum resources.
You also get full responsibility.
Dedicated hosting requires technical skill. Someone needs to manage the server. That means updates, security, performance tuning, and backups.
If you do not have an in-house IT team, this can become expensive quickly.
For most small businesses, dedicated hosting is more than they need. It is strong, but often too strong for a normal service-based business website.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting uses multiple servers working together.
Instead of your site living on one single machine, it lives across a network of servers. If one server has trouble, another picks up the work.
Big companies like AWS use cloud infrastructure. It is powerful and flexible.
Cloud hosting pricing varies a lot. It can start around $50 per month and climb much higher depending on traffic and usage. Many cloud platforms charge based on how much you use.
Cloud hosting is great for large applications, fast-growing startups, and websites with big spikes in traffic.
But it can also be complex.
You may need technical experience to set it up properly.
Billing can be harder to predict.
And costs can rise quickly if traffic jumps.
For a typical small business website, cloud hosting is often more than necessary.
What Are the 4 Types of Hosting and Which One Makes Sense for Small Businesses?
So now that you know what are the 4 types of hosting, the real question is this:
Which one is right for you?
Shared hosting is cheap, but risky.
Dedicated hosting is powerful, but expensive.
Cloud hosting is flexible, but complex.
VPS hosting gives balance.
It offers speed.
It offers security.
It offers control.
And when managed properly, it offers peace of mind.
That is why we use VPS hosting at Full Scope Creative.
You Do Not Have to Manage Hosting Alone
Hosting is not just about space on a server.
It is about updates.
It is about security.
It is about backups.
It is about knowing someone is watching your site.
With our VPS-based Security Essentials Hosting, you do not have to worry about your site crashing. You do not have to worry about random surprise bills. You do not have to log into a confusing dashboard and hope you clicked the right thing.
We manage it.
We monitor it.
We remove the headaches so you can focus on running your business.
If you are trying to make sense of hosting and are not sure where to start, let’s talk. We can walk through your options and help you choose the setup that fits your business, your budget, and your goals.
