SHARED HOSTING
Prices vary from $2 to $25 (per month).

This is the most classic and most popular hosting plan along most people on the world. The main reason why people pick this plan is that they actually don’t need more than that. It’s also usually the cheapest hosting option.

It’s very similar to living with your friends in one apartment. Like sharing your kitchen facilities for making food, using one internet provider and watching one televisor.

What it means is that you’ll share all your resources with each other, such as data, CPU time, memory and disk space. If you are lucky (99% you are), you should be fine with that. However, there are some rare cases when someone is using a lot of resources and thus your site speed will go down a bit. If that’s happens, it’s usually wise to get in touch with your web hosting support and tell them your problem. If you are lucky, you’ll be moved to another “room”.

PROS:

Shared hosting is easy, to put it simply. It’s very affordable and easy to start. There’s no complications or really complex setting up. It’s considered the entry level option for people looking for hosting, since it requires the least amount of tech knowledge and financial investment.

CONS:

The issues with shared hosting however, are based around the plain fact that you don’t have control. You don’t control the server or its performance (could be seen as a plus for those of us who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about anyway), so for those of you who know server stuff, this might be a severe restriction.

 

VIRTUAL PRIVATE SERVER (VPS) HOSTING
Prices vary from $10 to $70 (per month).

Now, VPS is very different. This one’s more like owning a condo. So you’re still sharing and playing nice with the others in your place, but you’re responsible for what happens and keeping everything patched up.

There’s a lot less sharing because there’s less people, and you have separate allowances each. The CPU time and memory are still shared by everyone, but you also have a chunk of both of those allotted just to you.

PROS:

Virtual Private Server hosting is more powerful than shared hosting, since everyone gets a nice private virtual server each. So technically, you get a nice chunk of server space etc for yourself. That’s a nice step up from the shared hosting option.

So even though technically you’re on the same physical machine as others, you have your own little space – so no sharing with others. This usually means a better performance and faster loading speeds.

CONS:

But, you’re paying for that private space. You’ll find it quite a bit more expensive than shared hosting. But if you’re looking for your own little space on the internet, VPS hosting is a good consideration.

 

DEDICATED HOSTING
Prices vary from $60 to $1700 (per month).

Now we’re talking. So you want to own your own house? No problem. That’s what dedicated hosting is all about. All the resources belong to you now. You don’t share resources like CPU time and memory with anyone else, and there’s no one else’s accounts on your hosting (unless you let them, of course, but that’s another post for another time).

About the cost, well you can probably find the cheapest dedicated hosting starting from $50, but this can go up to $500 as well.

PROS:

This is the most popular, and the one most entrepreneurs and people who are serious about websites use. It gives you full control. You control everything that goes on. So if you’re looking for maximum control over things, and great performance from your server, this is where you’d like to be.

CONS:

However, make sure you bring your wallet. It’s the most expensive option. And if things goes wrong, it’s on you. Call up that IT buddy of yours, because you just might need him at some point if things go south. Make sure you know what you’re letting yourself in for with dedicated hosting.

While the freedom is great, it comes with the issues of freedom; namely, your stuff is your responsibility, and no one else’s.

 

CLOUD HOSTING
Prices vary from $1.60 to $170 (per month).

Cloud hosting is an entirely different animal. I guess you could say it’s a little like renting. With normal hosting, you get a machine that gives you resources, like memory and CPU time. With Cloud hosting, you don’t have a machine. Your hardware is virtual, which brings a whole host of cool benefits. It’s pretty advanced and can be pretty cost efficient when compared with the other types of hosting, but it’s definitely something that is trending on 2015 and beyond.

PROS:

Of all the hosting options we’ve talked about, cloud hosting is by far the most scalable and efficient. With cloud hosting, you only pay for what you use. So for example, let’s say your blog had a fantastic month where you got double, no, triple the traffic than it usually does.

The server starts screaming because it can’t handle that much loading. With cloud computing, the server doesn’t just pack up and run. You can simply ask for more server space and bandwidth. It’s flexible, and that makes it very cost effective. Rather than paying X amount each month for an amount you may never even reach, depending on your goals, simply pay for cloud hosting and only pay for what you use.

It’s similar to pay as you go compared to a monthly phone contract. Pay for the minutes you actually use, not a big bundle that costs a lot more.

CONS:

Again, there are negatives to this option as well. It takes advanced knowledge in terms of IT, so be aware of that when considering cloud hosting. Unless you know what you’re doing, it could get pretty confusing.

The other negative, which is widely discussed, is that cloud hosting is potentially insecure. Hotly debated, there is the consideration that your servers are all hosted in the ‘cloud’, meaning in virtual space. That could leave it open to cyber-attacks, some suggest. It’s an arguable point, one to be considered when choosing hosting.

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