Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting: What’s the Difference?
Choosing between shared hosting and VPS hosting is one of the first big decisions you make when putting a website online. Get it right and you pay a fair price for the performance you need. Get it wrong and you are either overpaying for power you never touch, or watching your site slow down just as it starts to grow.
The short answer: shared hosting puts your site on a server alongside many others and splits the resources between you. A VPS (virtual private server) gives you a dedicated slice of a physical server, with your own guaranteed CPU, memory and storage. Both are valid choices. The right one depends on the size of your site, your traffic and how much control you want. This guide breaks down the differences so you can decide with confidence.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting is the most common and most affordable way to host a website. Your site shares a single physical server with hundreds of other websites, and all of them draw from the same pool of CPU, memory and disk space. The hosting provider handles the server, the security patches and the technical maintenance, so you can focus on building your site.
Because the cost of the server is divided between many customers, shared hosting prices start very low. UK2 shared hosting plans, for example, start at £2.39 per month and include a free domain, free SSL certificates, a website builder and 24/7 support. That makes shared hosting the natural starting point for personal sites, small business websites and most new WordPress blogs.
To understand the limits, it helps to picture how the resources are shared. Every request a visitor makes to a website consumes a small amount of CPU time and memory. On a shared server, dozens of sites draw from the same pool, so your site’s performance depends partly on how busy your neighbours are. Providers manage this by monitoring the server and moving or restricting accounts that abuse their share, which is why a well-run shared platform stays fast for the sites that stay within their plan’s fair-use limits.
The trade-off is that you do not control the server. You are limited to the software and settings the provider offers, and your performance can dip if another site on the same server experiences a traffic spike. For the vast majority of small sites, that trade-off is more than acceptable.
What is VPS Hosting?
A virtual private server uses virtualisation software to divide one physical server into several isolated virtual servers. Each one gets its own guaranteed allocation of CPU, memory and SSD storage, plus its own operating system. The isolation means other customers’ traffic cannot drain the resources your site depends on.
Most VPS plans also come with full root access, which is the biggest practical difference from shared hosting. Root access lets you install custom software, change server settings, run your own applications and configure the environment exactly how you want it. UK2 VPS plans start at £8.99 per month with between one and eight vCPUs, 2 to 16GB of RAM and 75 to 400GB of SSD storage.
The extra power and control come with extra responsibility. A VPS is not fully managed in the same way as shared hosting, so you take on more of the server administration yourself, or you need to be comfortable relying on your provider’s support team when things get technical.
Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting: The Key Differences
The table below summarises how the two hosting types compare across the criteria that matter most when you are choosing.
| Criteria | Shared hosting | VPS hosting |
| Cost | From around £2-3 per month | From around £9 per month |
| Performance | Shared resources; can fluctuate | Guaranteed dedicated resources |
| Control | Limited to provider settings | Full root access |
| Security | Provider-managed; shared risk | Isolated environment; more control |
| Scalability | Upgrade to a bigger shared plan | Scale CPU, RAM and storage easily |
| Technical skill | Minimal; provider handles it | Moderate; you manage more |
| Best for | Small sites, blogs, first projects | Growing sites, ecommerce, apps |
Performance
On shared hosting, all the websites on a server compete for the same CPU and memory. If one busy neighbour hogs resources, your site can slow down. VPS hosting removes that problem as your allocation is reserved for you, so performance stays consistent even when other virtual servers on the same physical machine are under load.
Control and Customisation
Shared hosting gives you a managed, standardised environment. You pick from the apps and settings the provider supports, which keeps things simple but limits what you can run. VPS hosting with root access lets you install any software, adjust server-level configuration and build an environment tailored to your application.
Security and Isolation
Shared hosting is protected by the provider’s server-level defences, but every site on the server shares that environment. A badly maintained site next to yours can raise the risk profile of the whole server. A VPS is isolated: your virtual server is walled off from the others, and you can apply your own security settings, firewalls and monitoring.
Scalability
Shared hosting scales by moving you to a larger plan, which is fine up to a point. VPS hosting scales more smoothly because you can add CPU, RAM and storage to your existing virtual server, often without migrating or experiencing downtime.
Cost
Shared hosting is the clear winner on price, which is why it remains the most widely used hosting model. VPS hosting costs more, but it is still far cheaper than renting a full dedicated server, and the gap has narrowed as virtualisation has matured. W3Techs market data shows shared hosting remains the most common provider model on the web, with demand still strong for entry-level plans.
The Pros and Cons of Shared Hosting
Shared hosting works brilliantly for the right site. The advantages are straightforward: low monthly cost, no server admin, instant setup and everything managed for you. UK2 shared plans also bundle useful extras like a free domain, free SSL and one-click app installs.
The limitations matter only when your site outgrows the plan. You cannot install custom server software, your resources are shared, and if your traffic grows quickly you may need to upgrade sooner than you planned. For most personal and small business websites, that is a fair trade for the price.
The Pros and Cons of VPS Hosting
VPS hosting’s strengths are guaranteed resources, consistent performance, full root access and genuine isolation. It suits websites that have outgrown shared hosting, online stores with steady sales traffic, and businesses running custom applications.
The downsides are cost and complexity. You pay more per month, and you take on more of the server management. If you are not comfortable with command lines and server configuration, you will rely on your provider’s support team more often, which is exactly why 24/7 support matters when you compare VPS providers.
How To Choose Between Shared and VPS Hosting
Start with shared hosting if your site is new, small or has low traffic. A blog, a portfolio, a local business site or a first ecommerce store will run perfectly well on a shared plan, and the money you save can go into the site itself.
Move to a VPS when you have a reason to. The common triggers are steady or spiking traffic that your shared plan struggles to absorb, a need for custom software or root access, higher security requirements, or an application that needs guaranteed resources.
A quick way to test whether you have outgrown shared hosting is to check your site’s loading times during your busiest periods. If pages slow down noticeably every time a marketing campaign or seasonal peak drives visitors to your site, that is your shared plan hitting its resource ceiling. A VPS removes that ceiling, because your CPU and memory allocation is fixed and reserved for you regardless of what is happening elsewhere on the server.
The good news is that this is not a permanent choice. You can start on shared hosting, grow your site, and upgrade to a VPS when the time is right, without rebuilding your website. Hosting providers, including UK2, make that move straightforward.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, VPS hosting is more powerful and flexible, but it costs more and demands more technical involvement. For a small or new website, shared hosting is often the better value. Choose based on your traffic, your need for control and your budget, not on which option sounds more impressive.
Typical signals include slow loading during traffic peaks, hitting your plan’s storage or resource limits, needing to install custom software, or running an application that requires guaranteed performance. If your site is growing and shared hosting is becoming the bottleneck, a VPS is the natural next step.
More than with shared hosting, yes. You manage your own server environment, so comfort with basic server administration helps. Providers with strong 24/7 support, like UK2, can guide you through the technical parts, but you should be prepared to take on some of the work yourself.
Yes, for most small business sites. Reputable providers apply server-level security, firewalls, malware scanning and free SSL certificates as standard. The main risk is that a shared server is only as strong as its weakest neighbour, so choose a provider that monitors its servers actively. If your site handles sensitive customer data at scale, a VPS gives you more control over your own security.
In most cases, yes. Migration tools and provider support teams can move your files, databases and domains across with minimal interruption. UK2 offers free migration help for web hosting customers, and the VPS setup process is designed so you can scale up as your site grows.
Shared hosting typically costs between £2 and £12 per month depending on the plan. VPS hosting usually starts around £9 per month and rises with the resources you need. The gap is meaningful, but a VPS replaces several shared upgrades, so for a growing site it can work out cheaper in the long run.
The Verdict
Shared hosting and VPS hosting are not competing products in the same category; they serve different stages of the same journey. Shared hosting gets you online quickly and cheaply, with everything managed for you. VPS hosting gives you guaranteed resources, real control and room to grow, in exchange for a higher price and more responsibility.
If your website is new or small, shared hosting is the sensible choice. If you have outgrown it, or you know from the start that you need root access and dedicated resources, a VPS is worth the investment. Compare UK2 shared hosting plans and UK2 VPS plans side by side, and you will find a package that fits where your site is today, with a clear upgrade path for where it is going.