Web hosting is the service that stores a website's files on a server and makes them accessible over the internet. The main types are shared, VPS, dedicated, cloud, managed and colocation hosting, each with different trade-offs on cost, control, performance and technical overhead.
What is web hosting?
A website consists of files (HTML, CSS, images and so on) that must live on a server connected to the internet. Hosting providers supply that server space, the network infrastructure and the supporting services that keep a site reachable. Choosing the wrong type is one of the more common reasons a web app or application underperforms under real traffic.
Shared hosting
One physical server houses multiple websites, all drawing from the same pool of CPU, RAM and storage.
Pros - Lowest cost of any hosting option, making it accessible for small or early-stage sites. - Providers handle server maintenance, patching and management. - Typically includes a user-friendly control panel, so no server knowledge is required.
Cons - A resource-heavy neighbour can slow your site without warning. - A security breach on one site can affect others on the same server. - Limited ability to customise server configuration.
Best for: personal sites, low-traffic projects and early prototypes.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting
One physical server is partitioned into several virtual servers, each with its own dedicated allocation of resources.
Pros - Dedicated resource allocation means more consistent performance than shared hosting. - Full control over server settings and software configuration. - Resources can be scaled up or down as traffic grows.
Cons - More expensive than shared hosting. - Requires some technical knowledge to configure and maintain the virtual environment.
Best for: growing products that have outgrown shared hosting but do not yet justify a dedicated server.
Dedicated hosting
You rent an entire physical server used exclusively by your site or application.
Pros - Maximum performance: all server resources are yours alone. - Complete control over hardware configuration and software stack. - Strong isolation means no shared-neighbour security risk.
Cons - The most expensive option by a significant margin. - Requires advanced technical skills for setup and ongoing maintenance. - Unless a managed service is added, all server administration falls to your team.
Best for: large, high-traffic applications with strict performance or compliance requirements.
Cloud hosting
Instead of a single physical server, your site runs across a network of virtual servers. Resources are allocated dynamically.
Pros - Scales almost instantly to handle traffic spikes. - High redundancy: if one server fails, another takes over automatically, giving strong uptime guarantees. - Pay-as-you-go pricing means you only pay for what you actually consume. - Backup and recovery are straightforward because data is distributed across the network.
Cons - Usage-based billing can make monthly costs unpredictable under variable traffic. - Depends on a reliable internet connection; loss of connectivity affects access. - The distributed architecture requires careful attention to security configuration.
Best for: products with variable or rapidly growing traffic, and teams that want operational flexibility. Cloud infrastructure also underpins most backend-as-a-service platforms such as Firebase and Supabase.
Managed hosting
The hosting provider takes responsibility for setup, maintenance, updates and security, regardless of the underlying server type.
Pros - Removes the operational burden from your team; no dedicated server administrator needed. - Access to provider support for technical issues. - Security patching and monitoring are handled by the provider.
Cons - Costs more than equivalent unmanaged hosting. - You have less direct control over server configuration and depend on the provider's response times for changes.
Best for: product teams that want to focus on the application layer and keep operational overhead low.
Colocation hosting
You own the physical server hardware but rent space inside a commercial data centre, which supplies power, cooling, physical security and network connectivity.
Pros - Data centre infrastructure provides enterprise-grade security, redundancy and network performance. - You retain full ownership and control of the hardware. - Scalable by adding more hardware as needed.
Cons - High upfront capital cost for purchasing server hardware, plus ongoing rental fees. - Your team is responsible for all hardware maintenance, upgrades and replacements. - Requires strong in-house technical expertise.
Best for: large enterprises with existing hardware investments and the engineering capacity to manage infrastructure.
Choosing the right type
The right choice depends on budget, expected traffic, required control and available technical resource. A rough guide:
| Situation | Suggested type |
|---|---|
| Early-stage or personal site | Shared or managed |
| Growing product with variable traffic | VPS or cloud |
| High-traffic, performance-critical app | Dedicated or cloud |
| Enterprise with own hardware | Colocation |
For teams building on modern stacks, cloud hosting is now the default starting point, partly because it integrates naturally with managed databases, AI gateways and serverless functions. Teams evaluating no-code front ends alongside custom backends may also find the comparison between Webflow and custom code relevant when deciding where hosting complexity actually sits.
In an AI-native team
Coding agents can generate infrastructure-as-code, Docker configurations and cloud deployment scripts quickly, but the hosting trade-offs themselves still require engineering judgement. A senior engineer working with agents needs to verify that generated configuration files match the actual hosting environment, security constraints and cost model, not just accept output that looks plausible. Understanding hosting fundamentals remains essential for catching errors in agent-generated infrastructure code.
What we test for
Hosting and infrastructure choices come up in both sessions described in how we vet. In the fundamentals session, candidates reason through hosting trade-offs without AI tools. In the AI-native session, we look at how they verify agent-generated deployment configuration and whether they can read and critique infrastructure code they did not write themselves, skills covered in more depth in testing software you didn't design.
Short answers
What is the cheapest type of web hosting?
Shared hosting is the most affordable option because server costs are split across many websites. It suits low-traffic sites and early-stage projects but offers limited performance and customisation compared with VPS, cloud or dedicated alternatives.
What is the difference between cloud hosting and VPS hosting?
VPS hosting gives you a fixed slice of one physical server. Cloud hosting spreads your site across multiple virtual servers, enabling automatic scaling and higher redundancy. Cloud costs vary with usage; VPS costs are generally predictable and fixed.
What type of web hosting is best for a growing product?
Cloud or VPS hosting suits most growing products. Cloud hosting scales automatically with traffic and is cost-efficient under variable load. VPS is a good middle ground if traffic is steady and your team wants predictable billing with more server control.
