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9 min

Shared vs VPS vs Dedicated vs Cloud

Comparison table with 12 criteria.

BeoHosting Team

10+ years of experience — Web hosting and infrastructure specialists

Last updated:

Choosing the right hosting type is one of the most important decisions when launching a website. There are 4 basic types: Shared, VPS (Virtual Private Server), Dedicated and Cloud. Each type has its own pros, cons and ideal use case — there is no universal "best" type, only "best for your needs".

Shared vs VPS vs Dedicated vs Cloud

1

Understand Shared hosting

Shared hosting puts many sites on a single server, sharing CPU, RAM and disk. Cheapest option (from €4.30/month), comes with cPanel, free SSL and one-click installs. Best for: small sites, blogs, portfolios, up to ~10,000 monthly visits.

2

Understand VPS hosting

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtual server with guaranteed resources (e.g. 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM) isolated from other users. Mid-range price (from €18.80/month). Best for: medium e-commerce stores, growing sites, sites needing root access, 10,000-100,000 monthly visits.

3

Understand Dedicated hosting

Dedicated server gives you the entire physical machine. Highest price (from €141.03/month). Maximum performance and control. Best for: large e-commerce (1,000+ products), high-traffic sites (100,000+/month), strict compliance (PCI DSS).

4

Understand Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting uses a network of servers and can scale resources up/down dynamically. Pay-as-you-go pricing (from €28.21/month). Best for: sites with variable traffic, viral campaigns, seasonal businesses, applications needing high availability.

5

Compare across 12 criteria

Compare: price, performance, scalability, control (root access), security, maintenance burden, technical skill required, uptime SLA, included resources (RAM, storage), support level, ease of setup and migration. Match these to your project needs and budget.

6

Make the decision

For most new sites, start with Shared. Upgrade to VPS when traffic exceeds 10,000/month or you need root access. Move to Dedicated only when VPS resources are exhausted. Choose Cloud when you have unpredictable traffic spikes that need elastic scaling.

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FAQ

Answers to the most common questions about our services.

Shared hosting is the best choice for beginners. No technical knowledge required, comes with cPanel which is intuitive, and the price is lowest (from €4.30/month on BeoHosting). Shared hosting is enough for most small sites, blogs, portfolios and WordPress sites with up to 10,000 monthly visits. When your site outgrows shared, you can easily move to VPS without downtime.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtual server with fixed resources (e.g. 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM) on one physical server. Cloud hosting uses a network of multiple servers and can automatically scale resources up/down as needed. Key difference: VPS has fixed pricing and fixed resources, Cloud can grow or shrink resources dynamically (pay-as-you-go). Cloud is better for sites with variable traffic, VPS for sites with stable, predictable traffic.

For most e-commerce sites, VPS hosting is more than enough. A dedicated server is needed only for large online stores with 1,000+ products, over 100,000 monthly visits and strict security requirements (PCI DSS). For small and medium e-commerce projects (WooCommerce or PrestaShop with up to 500 products), the BeoHosting VPS plan with 4 GB RAM and NVMe SSD delivers great performance at a reasonable price.

Move to VPS when you see these signs: site loads slower than 3 seconds, you consistently have over 10,000 monthly visits, you need root access for specific software, the site frequently shows 503 errors (server overload), or you are launching e-commerce. BeoHosting offers free transition from shared to VPS with complete zero-downtime migration.

Depends on usage. Cloud usually has a higher starting price (from €28.21/month vs €18.80 for VPS), but offers scalability — you pay only for resources you actually use. For sites with stable traffic, VPS is usually cheaper. For sites with variable traffic (seasonal businesses, campaigns, viral content), Cloud can be more cost-effective because you do not pay for resources you do not use off-peak.

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