A website is a lot like a plant. For it to grow, you need to give it care and attention. You also need to provide an environment that supports its needs to ensure ongoing healthy growth.

A website grows in terms of structure, content, and functionality. This growth has implications for your web hosting. For this reason, it’s important to consider the hosting options for your growing website.

In this article, we’ll help you figure out which hosting type is best for your site by comparing the different options. We’ll look at Shared Hosting vs. VPS vs. Dedicated Hosting, and Managed vs. Unmanaged Hosting.

Shared Hosting vs. VPS vs. Dedicated Hosting

Shared Hosting is exactly what it sounds like. You share a server with other websites. Each site shares the space and resources of a single server, including CPU time, memory, and disk space. This type of hosting is very user-friendly. Regardless of whether you choose to create your own site or have it professionally designed, Shared Hosting provides easy and efficient tools for setting up, configuring, and customizing your site.

VPS is similar to Shared Hosting in that you share a server with other sites; however, fewer sites are sharing the resources and space. Additionally, the server is separated into different virtualized server environments. This means that you have more resources than with Shared Hosting, giving your site faster speed. Furthermore, you have root server access and the option to scale, meaning you can grow your website as your server needs increase.

Dedicated hosting gives you your own server. The server isn’t shared with anyone else, so you have complete access to all the server’s resources and space. Additionally, you can configure the hosting environment to meet your exact specifications. With Dedicated Hosting, you have the flexibility to customize the server for your CPU, RAM, disk space, and software needs.

In terms of growth, Shared Hosting is the least scalable option, and Dedicated Hosting is the best. However, Dedicated Hosting is the most expensive option. You really only need a dedicated server if you’re an enterprise-sized business, or your site has a very high amount of traffic and volume. Therefore, for sites that are experiencing gradual growth, the best option is VPS. VPS is an affordable option that lets you add more resources as the needs of your site expand.

Managed vs. Unmanaged

Managed or unmanaged, that is the question. Once you’ve decided on the type of hosting your website requires, you need to determine if you want a managed hosting plan or an unmanaged hosting plan.

Selecting a management level only applies if you choose a VPS or Dedicated Hosting option. This is because Shared Hosting doesn’t give you enough customization options to require management.

Unmanaged hosting gives you more control over your site and server. Managed hosting, by contrast, gives you less management responsibility and a higher level of support. Mostly, your provider takes care of most of the hosting tasks for you. The specific services provided depend on the company. However, they mainly involve performing regular updates, automated backups, and security scanning.

Since managed hosting offers you a hands-off approach to the management of your site’s hosting, these plans tend to be pretty expensive. Furthermore, you don’t get full root access. This means that you can’t make your own customizations.

Unmanaged hosting is the less expensive option and gives you a higher level of control over your site. Your hosting provider will still be available to provide support; however, the general maintenance tasks will fall to you.

So which management level is best? Both plans have their merits, so it really depends on your technical expertise and the needs of your site. Managed hosting is ideal for smaller businesses and first-time owners. They save you time, allowing you to concentrate on creating content, building customer relationships, etc. Unmanaged hosting is better for large businesses that need more control over their sites. Especially if you already have someone on your team that can manage a server and keep your site optimized.