Hot Hosting advice is usually written by hosting companies. Here is the version without a sales page.
Shared hosting is fine when…
- You are launching and have fewer than a few thousand visits a day.
- The script lists "PHP and MySQL" as its only requirements.
- You are comfortable letting the host handle security updates for the server.
Most directories, small classifieds sites and brochure CMS installs live happily on shared plans for years.
A VPS starts to make sense when…
- Pages slow down at busy hours even after caching.
- You need background jobs such as scheduled emails, feeds or image processing.
- You want a different PHP version, extra extensions or your own firewall rules.
The hidden cost of a VPS
A virtual server gives you control and also responsibility. Someone has to apply updates, watch disk space and restore backups. If that someone is not you or a person you pay, stay on managed shared hosting a little longer.
Three checks before you buy any plan
- Does it offer the PHP version the script's author recommends?
- Can you take automatic daily backups and restore one yourself?
- What is the limit on inodes (files) and CPU seconds? Image-heavy scripts hit these first.
The upgrade path
Whichever you start with, keep your files, database dump and a short setup note in one place. Moving a PHP script between servers takes an afternoon when those three things are tidy, and a week when they are not.