Shared vs VPS vs Dedicated: Which Hosting Should You Pick?

If you've ever stared at a hosting comparison page and felt your brain melt, you're not alone. Here's a no-nonsense guide.

Shared hosting

One physical server, many customers. Cheap (£2–10/mo), easy, and perfect for blogs, portfolios, and small business sites doing under 50,000 visits a month. Performance is "good enough" until a noisy neighbour ruins your day.

VPS

A virtual slice of a server with guaranteed RAM, CPU, and storage. You get root access and can run pretty much anything. Great for SaaS MVPs, custom apps, and growing sites. Expect £15–80/mo for solid specs.

Dedicated

An entire physical machine, all yours. The right choice for high-traffic stores, game server networks, or anything where consistency and security matter most. £150+/mo, but you get raw, predictable horsepower.

Quick decision rules

• Brochure site or blog? Shared.
• SaaS, custom backend, or staging environments? VPS.
• High traffic, compliance, or you're hitting noisy-neighbour issues? Dedicated.