CentriWebIn the VPS vs shared hosting choice, shared hosting puts your website on a server it shares with many other sites, with the host looking after the server, while a virtual private server (VPS) gives your site its own slice of a server’s resources and far more control. The trade is control against upkeep: a VPS is usually faster and more predictable under load, but unless it is a managed VPS, someone on your side has to keep its operating system patched and secure.
For most small business websites the deciding question is who will look after the server. This article explains what each option is, how the neighbours on a shared server affect you, when a VPS is actually faster, and what upkeep each one needs. CentriWeb offers managed hosting, so weigh our view with that in mind. We don’t quote prices here, because they vary by host, plan and country.
What is VPS hosting?
A VPS is a virtual machine running on a physical server that the hosting company owns and manages. Amazon Web Services describes a VPS as a machine that holds all the software and data needed to run a website or application, using only part of the underlying hardware. Each VPS is isolated from the others on the same server and has its own share of resources.
Shared hosting is the older, simpler model. Many websites sit in one server environment, and AWS’s page notes they compete for the same resources. You get a control panel, email and one-click installs, and the host runs everything underneath.
There is a third option worth knowing by name: the managed VPS. AWS’s page draws the line clearly. With an unmanaged VPS, the owner takes on all the server responsibilities and maintenance. With a managed VPS, the provider does those jobs.
VPS vs shared hosting at a glance
Every host packages these differently, so treat this as typical and read the plan details for the host you are considering.
| Question | Shared hosting | Unmanaged VPS | Managed VPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Space on a server shared with many sites | Your own virtual server with set resources | Your own virtual server, looked after by the provider |
| How it charges | Monthly or yearly plan, usually the lowest cost | Monthly, priced by memory, processor and storage | Server cost plus a management fee or bundled price |
| Who maintains the server | The host | You or your developer | The provider |
| Who maintains the website | You or your developer | You or your developer | Varies by provider, so ask |
| Who it suits | Simple brochure sites with low, steady traffic | Businesses with technical staff or a developer on call | Busy sites, shops and booking sites without in-house IT |
Neighbours: how other sites on a shared server affect yours
On shared hosting, your site’s speed partly depends on what the other sites on the server are doing. AWS’s page puts it this way: on shared hosting, other sites on the same hardware can affect your performance, while a VPS gets its own resources on that hardware.
In practice, neighbour problems show up as:
- Pages that load quickly at 9am and slowly at 2pm for no reason you can find.
- Warnings from the host that your site has hit a resource limit, often during a campaign or a busy week.
- Email from your domain landing in spam because another site on the same shared server sent junk, where your email runs on that server too.
Good shared hosts limit how much any one site can use, which protects you from a noisy neighbour but also caps you. If your site is the one that gets busy, you hit the cap.
Speed: when a VPS is faster and when it isn’t
A VPS is faster when your site needs resources it can’t get on a shared plan: a shop with many products, a booking system, a member area, or pages that are built fresh for each visitor. Set resources mean it behaves the same on a busy afternoon as it does at midnight.
A VPS is not automatically faster. A poorly set up VPS with no caching can be slower than a well-run shared plan. For a brochure site of ten pages, most of the speed comes from image sizes, caching and a content delivery network (CDN), which work on either type. Our guide to website speed and Core Web Vitals covers the fixes that make the most difference before you change hosting at all.
Who looks after it: the upkeep each option needs
Upkeep matters more than the server specifications, because an unpatched server is a risk however fast it is.
Shared hosting
The host patches the operating system, the web server software and the PHP versions on offer. You or your developer still update the website itself: WordPress, plugins and themes. WordPress.org’s hosting requirements recommend PHP version 8.3 or greater, and MySQL 8.4 or greater or MariaDB 10.11 or greater. On shared hosting you choose from the versions the host provides.
Unmanaged VPS
Everything from the operating system up is yours. That includes security patches, firewall rules, the web server, PHP, the database, backups and monitoring. Operating systems also age out. Ubuntu, a common choice for servers, says on its release cycle page that its long-term support releases get five years of standard security maintenance, with longer coverage available through its paid Ubuntu Pro service. A server set up years ago and left alone can be running software that no longer gets security fixes.
Managed VPS
The provider handles the server and its patches. Ask exactly where their job ends. Some also update WordPress and plugins, some don’t touch the website at all. Either way, your logins, who has access and your content stay your responsibility. Our website security checklist lists what to check and how often.
What each option does well
Shared hosting is cheap, quick to set up and needs no server knowledge. Email, domains and a control panel usually come in one place. For a simple site with low traffic and someone keeping WordPress updated, it does the job. If the gap is WordPress upkeep rather than server power, managed WordPress hosting may be the better step up.
An unmanaged VPS gives full control: any software, any setting, and resources you can grow. It suits businesses with a developer or technical staff who want that control and have time to maintain it.
A managed VPS gives the steady performance of a VPS without someone in the business becoming a part-time server administrator. It suits sites that bring in enquiries, bookings or payments the business relies on.
VPS hosting and where the server sits
Server location affects two things. A server close to your visitors responds faster, which matters most for forms, checkouts and logged-in pages that a CDN can’t cache. And if your site collects personal or health information, you should know which country the server and its backups are in.
If most of your customers are in one country, ask for a server in a city there, for example an Australian city for customers in Australia. The same applies in the United States, Canada, New Zealand or the United Kingdom. A provider based in your country doesn’t always run servers there, so ask the provider to name the city where your server and your backups sit.
When a looked-after setup fits better, and when it doesn’t
A managed setup, where one team looks after the server, the website and the backups, fits better when:
- Your website takes enquiries, bookings or payments and an outage costs real money.
- Nobody in the business is sure who updates the server or the plugins.
- You’ve outgrown shared hosting but don’t want to hire for server skills.
It does not suit everyone. A small site with a few visitors a day, an owner or staff member who enjoys running their own server, or a budget where a standard shared plan already does the job are all good reasons to stay put. If you want someone to handle it, our managed hosting covers the server, WordPress updates, backups and support as one service.
Where to start
- Write down who updates the server, WordPress and plugins today. If nobody knows, start there before changing hosts.
- Check your host’s resource warnings and your site’s speed at busy times.
- List what the website does for the business: enquiries, bookings, payments.
- Decide who will maintain a VPS before you buy one.
- Ask any provider where the server and backups are located.
- If you move, plan email and DNS first. Our guide to moving hosts without downtime covers the order, and our website backup guide covers what to have in hand before you switch.