Shared Vs Cloud Vs Dedicated Hosting: Top 6 Differences
Since you have stumbled upon this article, there are chances you want to get your websites/apps up and running on the internet. Or you are facing issues with the current hosting service. Since there are a lot of options available in the market, you need to dig deeper into Shared vs Cloud vs Dedicated hosting to decide which best suits your needs.When I started with my personal website, I was confused too. The pool of options was overwhelming and I saw my friends falling for shared hosting (obviously, because of the price). A few of them made the right call because their websites were simply blogs. But later, I realized if you want more than just a space on the internet, there are other blocks helping you make the big decision.
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Before taking a final call, I asked myself these questions:
What’s my monthly budget?
Daily and monthly traffic on I expect on my website
Any expected traffic spikes? If yes, how much?
Security requirements.
Do I need a dedicated IP for my website?
Is private SSL required?
Do I need server root access?
Shared Vs Cloud Vs Dedicated Hosting
Here is a comparison on the basis of different features:
1. Pricing
In shared hosting, the prices are cheapest. This is because all the resources are shared and therefore, cuts the cost. The payment is on a monthly or yearly basis. The longer time you opt for, the cheaper it gets.
With cloud hosting, costs depend on how your infrastructure is built. If rightly configured, cloud and dedicated hosting prove cost-effective. If you want private space, go for these.
Winner: Shared hosting is better if you are tight on budget and don’t have many apps.
shared vs cloud hosting
2. Uptime
If you are looking for higher uptime, shared hosting might disappoint you. Although shared hosting providers guarantee to provide 99.99% uptime, there are some obvious limitations. One of the major reasons is its shared nature of the service. If you have an expected traffic spike, there will be downtime issues.
Whereas, with cloud and dedicated hosting, the uptime is top-notch as the entire server is yours and the quality is way better.
Winner: Cloud and dedicated hosting
3. Security
No matter which hosting it is, security majorly depends on configuration and tuning. However, there are a few ifs and buts. In shared hosting, there are higher chances your website is vulnerable to hackers. This is because once a hacker has access to the shared hosting server, it is easier to access other websites.
Whereas, cloud and dedicated hosting providers offer access to control to the user so that they can protect their data and privacy. Other than that, if there’s any hardware problem, the hosting provider migrates your website to a stable server.
Winner: In the battle shared vs cloud and dedicated hosting, the latter is a clear winner since it provides full control to the user.
cloud vs dedicated hosting
4. Scalability
Scalability is easier in a cloud or dedicated hosting as there are extra resources available at your disposal. Whereas, shared hosting limits you on resources. Therefore, you can’t scale if you see a traffic hike. The result might be a slow site or suspension.
Winner: Cloud server hosting and dedicated server hosting are a suitable option if you are looking to scale.
5. Support
Cloud and dedicated hosting users enjoy more benefits compared to shared users. From bandwidth to storage, they have an upper hand.
Whereas, since the shared hosting is used by a lot of people, the support is limited. Although your plan might promise unlimited resources, but if the resource utilization is beyond a set level, your provider might suspend your account.
Winner: Cloud and dedicated hosting
6. Speed
Shared hosting often lacks speed. This is because if one website gets a sudden spike in traffic, all the other websites tend to slow down. You will have to wait until the issue is resolved.
With Cloud and Dedicated Hosting, the resources are all yours. Therefore, your website speed tends to be even under 3 seconds.
Winner: In Shared vs Cloud vs Dedicated hosting, cloud and dedicated are clear winners.
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Shared Vs Cloud Vs Dedicated: Final Take
Choosing the right web hosting entirely depends on your needs.
When to choose cloud & dedicated hosting
If you are a small-medium business receiving high traffic.
There could be unexpected spikes in traffic
Possibility to scale up
Uptime is crucial
If the business dependent on emails and websites.
Security is a concern.
When to choose Shared Hosting
Individual or small business simply looking to run a blog and have a little space on the internet.
If your needs are minimal and you don’t care about extra features.
If you are on a low budget.
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