Understanding the basics of what web hosting is won’t help when you land on a web hosting provider’s website and see lots of different terms thrown around. Every provider offers different types and tiers of web hosting plans for different prices. For someone new to the whole thing, it’s confusing.

In most cases, there are a few main types of web hosting plans available. Here’s what you need to know about each and how to figure out if it’s the right plan for you.

Shared Hosting

Shared web hosting is when a provider hosts the websites of a number of different customers on the same server. Because the server is split between a bunch of different websites, the cost is split as well. That makes this the most affordable web hosting option. And for most personal websites, small businesses, and new websites, this will be the type of plan that makes the most sense.

That said, sharing a server means that the resources available on that server are split between all the websites on it as well. There’s a limited amount of space available for files, and only so much bandwidth to go around for visitors to all the sites. Your performance could drop if your website gets too big or popular, or if another website on the server sees a spike in traffic. 

Cloud Hosting 

If you start to outgrow shared hosting, or if your website is inconsistent in the amount of traffic you receive, cloud hosting is an upgrade worth considering. Cloud hosting allows more flexibility and faster speeds, even for larger websites that receive more traffic. If your website gets a lot of visitors certain times of the year and not others, cloud hosting makes it possible to just pay for what you need as you need it. 

If you want more room to grow and the ability to adapt to changing traffic levels, cloud hosting is the best option. 

VPS Hosting

VPS stands for virtual private server. With a VPS plan, you technically still share a server with other websites. But fewer websites share the server, and each one is partitioned off from the others so you never have to worry about your website performance being affected by what’s happening with another website.

VPS plans cost more than shared hosting plans, but less than dedicated hosting. They’re a good option for mid-level businesses or those that want a little more security and stability.

eCommerce Hosting

If you’re building an eCommerce website—one that you’ll be selling products on and accepting payment through—then you’ll need a web hosting plan that can support eCommerce features.

Usually web hosting plans don’t provide the eCommerce features you need directly, you need separate eCommerce software for that. But an eCommerce website needs a web hosting plan that promises compatibility with the eCommerce software you’ll be using, and a level of security – like an SSL certificate – befitting a website that will be collecting sensitive financial information from visitors. 

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting plans allow you to lay claim to a whole web server. You don’t share it with any other websites, it’s devoted entirely to yours. That means you have a lot of space and bandwidth to work with, and a lot of power over how to use that space. Dedicated hosting is good for big businesses that get a lot of visitors, or anyone with more complicated needs for your website. 

As such, dedicated plans cost more than your other options. They offer a distinct value that’s worth it when you need it. But for many new websites, they offer more than you need on day one.