Shared, managed, cloud or a website builder? Get a recommendation, indicative monthly cost and bandwidth estimate.
How it works
Custom app → cloud/VPS; online store → hosted e-commerceNo technical skills and modest traffic → website builderOver ~25k visits/month or several sites → managed WordPressDevelopers and 150k+ visits → cloud/VPSBandwidth ≈ visits × 3 pages × 2.5 MB
Defaults are illustrative examples, not benchmarks. Replace them with your own numbers. Prices from our reviews are indicative and dated.
The four main types of hosting
- Website builders bundle hosting with an editor. Least flexible, least maintenance.
- Shared hosting puts many sites on one server. Cheap and fine for small sites, but performance can vary.
- Managed WordPress hosting tunes servers for WordPress and handles updates, backups, caching and security.
- Cloud/VPS hosting gives dedicated resources and full control, at the cost of more technical work.
What matters more than price
For a business site, speed, uptime and support quality matter more than a few dollars a month. A slow site loses visitors and search rankings; an outage during a campaign costs far more than a better plan. Check the renewal price, the backup policy and how support is reached before you buy.
Estimating your traffic
If you have an existing site, check monthly visits in your analytics. If you are launching, most small business sites start with a few hundred to a few thousand visits a month. Pick the range you expect in 12 months and remember that one campaign or press mention can multiply traffic for a few days — another reason backups, caching and a CDN matter.
Typical recommendations
- Brochure site, owner-managed, under 10k visits → website builder or budget shared hosting
- WordPress site generating leads, 10–50k visits → premium shared or managed WordPress
- WooCommerce store or several sites → managed WordPress or managed cloud
- Custom application or developer team → cloud hosting or VPS
Frequently asked questions
How much traffic can shared hosting handle?
It depends on the site and host, but shared plans are best for small sites. If pages slow down at peak times, it is time to move up.
Do I need managed hosting for WordPress?
Not to start. It becomes worthwhile when the site generates revenue or leads and downtime or slowness would cost you.
Is a website builder or hosting better?
Builders are simpler and lower-maintenance; hosting gives more control and flexibility. The finder weighs your skills and needs.
How accurate is the bandwidth estimate?
It is a rough guide based on average page weight; image-heavy sites use more.