Shared hosting is the most common type of hosting. It’s called “shared” hosting because many different websites live on the same server, sharing the same space and resources. If one site hogs them all up, your site will run slower.

Since so many different clients are using the same server, shared hosting companies must actively manage the server to ensure that it keeps running correctly. This takes away some power from the user, but it also makes it much easier for users because they don’t need to worry about managing the server themselves (and trust me, that’s a headache!)

Thanks to cost sharing, prices are dramatically lower compared to dedicated or cloud hosting – but so are the available resources.

Side note: There are many “unlimited” hosts that promise unlimited bandwidth, memory and so on. There is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. This is a marketing term that means that the host will not give you a specific limit, but the resources are actually quite limited.

Who is Shared Hosting ideal for?

Shared hosting is perfect for new users with small websites (less than 20,000 page views per month on a resource-intensive website) that don’t want to manage their own server thanks to its low costs. It’s not the most powerful solution, but for most people, it does a reliable job.

If you are just starting out with a website/blog that gets less than 400 unique visitors a day, then shared hosting should be fine for you. However, if your website has a lot of large media files or scripts, you may want to consider a stronger type of hosting.

How Does Shared Hosting Work?

As stated above, many websites are placed on a single server with shared hosting. Each website is given its own partition. This means that a small segment is made available in the server’s hard drive to house a user’s account.

The number of partitions per server depends on the strength of the server, the user’s account limits (some hosts give you more or less resources based on your account type) and the host’s policies.

Each partition is like a very small server with its own digital address. When someone types in your URL or clicks a link that leads to your website, they will access your section of the server through the DNS so that your website loads.

Except in rare cases, the host’s employees maintain control of the server and will update and modify the hardware and software without user participation – highly convenient for non-technical types.

However, this also reduces the amount of control you have over hardware management. If you need control (and most won’t), then shared hosting is not for you.

Quick Overview

Pros:

• By far the most affordable type of hosting
• All shared hosting comes with an easy-to-use control panel. This makes things like adding extra domains, setting up email accounts and installing a CMS a simple process.
• You’re not required to maintain the server. The host takes care of all maintenance.

Cons:

• You’re given limited resources.
• Your site’s performance is going to largely depend on your hosting neighbors and how much of the resources they use. This is why it’s important to find a hosting that doesn’t oversell the hosting space.
• You can only use the software that’s given to you within your cPanel.

Price Range

The pricing is normally around $3-15 per month for shared hosting.  You’ll almost always get a discount on your first invoice if you pay for the first year upfront.