--- title: "Shared vs VPS vs Cloud vs Dedicated Hosting | GlobalHostia" url: "https://globalhostia.com/compare/shared-vs-vps-vs-cloud-vs-dedicated" description: "Shared, VPS, cloud or dedicated hosting? Compare resources, root access, management and live starting prices side by side, and see when to upgrade your site." source: "GlobalHostia; prices are synced from the billing system and exclude any taxes shown at checkout" --- Comparison # Shared vs VPS vs cloud vs dedicated hosting What each type of hosting gives you, what it costs on our live catalog, and how to tell when it is time to move up. 7 minute read · Prices on this page are live from our billing system ## On this page 1. [The short answer](#short) 2. [Side by side](#table) 3. [Signs it is time to move up](#outgrown) 4. [Matching plans](#plans) 5. [Questions](#ln-faq-h) Rather ask a person? [WhatsApp our team](https://wa.me/971507341578?text=Hello%20GlobalHostia%2C%20I%20have%20a%20question%20about%20%22Shared%20vs%20VPS%20vs%20cloud%20vs%20dedicated%20hosting%22.) ## The short answer ### Shared hosting Choose it for a company website, a blog or a small shop. The server is run for you and costs the least. From **$0.25 / month** [See shared hosting](https://globalhostia.com/shared-hosting) ### VPS Choose it when you need your own software, versions or background jobs, with reserved CPU and memory. From **$8.00 / month** [See vps](https://globalhostia.com/vps-hosting) ### Managed cloud VPS Choose it when you want the power of a VPS but would rather our engineers look after the server. From **$8.00 / month** [See managed cloud vps](https://globalhostia.com/cloudvps-hosting) ### Dedicated server Choose it when one machine’s full CPU, memory, disks and network port must be yours alone. From **$45.99 / month** [See dedicated server](https://globalhostia.com/dedicated-servers) ## Side by side Shared, VPS, cloud VPS and dedicated hosting compared | What to compare | Shared | VPS | Cloud VPS | Dedicated | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | How resources work | Shared with other sites on the same server, within your plan’s limits | Reserved vCPU and memory on a shared physical host | Reserved vCPU and memory, resized as you grow | The whole physical machine | | Root or administrator access | No, you use a control panel | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Who runs the server | We do | You run your software; our engineers help with the server, network and OS | Our engineers, together with you | You, with our engineers on call for the hardware and network | | Your own software and versions | Within what the platform supports | Anything that runs on the OS | Anything that runs on the OS | Anything, including your own virtualisation | | Smallest plan today | 2 GB of Space | 4 vCPU Cores, 6GB, Storage: 100 GB NVMe | 4 vCPU Cores, 6GB, Storage: 100 GB NVMe | 8C/8T @ 2.5GHz, 16GB DDR2, 500GB SATA | | Live starting price | **$0.25 / month** [Shared Hosting](https://globalhostia.com/shared-hosting) | **$8.00 / month** [VPS Hosting](https://globalhostia.com/vps-hosting) | **$8.00 / month** [Cloud VPS](https://globalhostia.com/cloudvps-hosting) | **$45.99 / month** [Dedicated Servers](https://globalhostia.com/dedicated-servers) | | Typical use | Company sites, blogs, small stores | Apps, APIs, busy stores, bots | Growing stores and apps without a sysadmin | Large databases, heavy traffic, private clouds | Prices are the lowest live price in each family, in USD, +VAT 5% where applicable. Plans differ, so check the plan you buy. ## Signs it is time to move up Most sites start on shared hosting and never need more. These are the signals that you do: - **You keep hitting your plan’s limits.** Resource warnings in the control panel, or pages that slow down only when traffic peaks. - **You need software the platform does not offer.** A specific PHP, Node.js or database version, Docker, a queue worker or a custom port. - **Jobs must run all the time.** Bots, scheduled tasks, websockets and automation tools like n8n need a VPS. - **Your VPS is busy all day.** CPU close to 100% for long periods, or a database that no longer fits in memory, points to a larger VPS or a dedicated server. - **You need isolation.** Some contracts or audits ask that no other customer shares your hardware: that is a dedicated server. Not sure? The [plan finder](https://globalhostia.com/plan-finder) asks four questions and recommends a plan from our live catalog. ## Matching plans Shared ### [Hostia Lite](https://globalhostia.com/p/hostia-lite) Free SSL, email and backups, with the server run for you. 2 GB of Space **$0.25 / month**+VAT 5% where applicable [Order now](https://my.globalhostia.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=4&billingcycle=monthly) [All shared hosting plans](https://globalhostia.com/shared-hosting) VPS ### [H-LINUX-VPS-01](https://globalhostia.com/p/h-linux-vps-01) Reserved resources and full root or administrator access. 4 vCPU Cores, 6GB, Storage: 100 GB NVMe **$8.00 / month**+VAT 5% where applicable [Order now](https://my.globalhostia.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=33&billingcycle=monthly) [All vps hosting plans](https://globalhostia.com/vps-hosting) Dedicated ### [Hostia Prime](https://globalhostia.com/p/hostia-prime) A whole bare-metal machine with full root access. 8C/8T @ 2.5GHz, 16GB DDR2, 500GB SATA **$45.99 / month**+VAT 5% where applicable [Order now](https://my.globalhostia.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=25&billingcycle=monthly) [All dedicated servers plans](https://globalhostia.com/dedicated-servers) ## More hosting comparisons - [cPanel vs DirectAdmin](https://globalhostia.com/compare/cpanel-vs-directadmin) - [Managed vs unmanaged VPS](https://globalhostia.com/compare/managed-vs-unmanaged-vps) - [.ae vs .com for UAE businesses](https://globalhostia.com/compare/ae-vs-com) - [Local UAE data center vs overseas hosting](https://globalhostia.com/compare/uae-data-center-vs-overseas) [All hosting comparisons](https://globalhostia.com/compare) **Price-lock**your renewal price never goes up **30-day money-back on shared hosting** - [**Free website migration**](https://globalhostia.com/free-migration) **24/7 engineers by ticket & WhatsApp** ## Shared vs VPS vs cloud vs dedicated hosting: questions ### Shared hosting places many websites on one server with a fixed software stack and a control panel. A VPS is a virtual server of your own with reserved vCPU and memory, its own operating system and full root or administrator access. ### ### ### ### ## Not sure which plan you need? Answer four questions and get a recommendation from our live plans, or let our engineers move your site for free. [Open the plan finder](https://globalhostia.com/plan-finder)[Free website migration](https://globalhostia.com/free-migration)