Shared vs VPS Hosting

What shared hosting is

Shared hosting means your website sits on a server alongside dozens or hundreds of other websites. Everyone shares the same CPU, memory, and storage. The host manages the server, installs security updates, and handles the infrastructure — you just upload your site and manage your content.

This is the cheapest and simplest type of hosting, and it is perfectly fine for most websites. A small business site, a personal blog, a portfolio, or a brochure site with a few pages does not need more than shared hosting. Plans from African providers typically start between R84-R99/month in South Africa and ₦1,850-₦2,500/month in Nigeria.

The main downside of shared hosting is that you are affected by your neighbours. If another site on the same server uses excessive resources, your site might slow down temporarily. In practice, reputable hosts manage this well and most small sites never notice.

What VPS hosting is

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. Instead of sharing resources with everyone on the server, you get a guaranteed allocation of CPU, memory, and storage. Your portion of the server behaves like a dedicated machine, even though it physically shares hardware with other VPS instances.

VPS hosting gives you more power, more control, and more predictability. You can install custom software, configure the server environment to your needs, and handle more traffic without performance dipping. Some VPS plans are "managed" (the host handles server administration) and some are "unmanaged" (you manage everything yourself).

The trade-off is cost and complexity. VPS plans cost significantly more than shared hosting, and unmanaged VPS requires technical knowledge to set up and maintain. If you do not know what SSH, firewall rules, or server logs are, unmanaged VPS is not for you.

Signs you have outgrown shared hosting

Most websites never need to leave shared hosting. But there are clear signals that it is time to consider an upgrade.

• Consistent slow loading times that are not caused by unoptimised images or bloated plugins
• Traffic spikes that cause your site to go down or return errors
• Resource limit warnings from your hosting provider
• Custom software needs — you need to install something that shared hosting does not support (a specific PHP version, Node.js, Python, Redis)
• Multiple high-traffic sites on the same account competing for resources

If none of these apply to you, shared hosting is almost certainly sufficient. Do not upgrade to VPS because you think you should — upgrade when you have a real reason.

Price comparison: shared vs VPS in Africa

The price gap between shared and VPS hosting is significant. Here is what you can expect from the major African providers.

South Africa

Shared hosting plans from the main providers start at R84-R99/month. A basic VPS from HostAfrica starts at R130/month for 1 vCore, 1GB RAM, and 20GB NVMe storage. Mid-range VPS plans with more resources (2-4GB RAM, multiple cores) typically run R300-R600/month. Dedicated servers start above R1,000/month.

Nigeria

Shared hosting starts at around ₦1,850-₦2,500/month from providers like QServers and HostAfrica. VPS hosting from HostAfrica starts at ₦11,050/month for 1 vCPU with 1GB RAM and 20GB NVMe. A mid-range VPS with 4GB RAM runs around ₦36,550/month.

The jump from shared to VPS is roughly 2-5x the cost for entry-level plans, and it grows from there. For a small site that does not need dedicated resources, the extra expense is hard to justify.

The middle ground: managed VPS and cloud hosting

If you have outgrown shared hosting but do not want to manage a server yourself, managed VPS is the middle ground. With a managed VPS, the hosting company handles server updates, security, and basic administration while you get guaranteed resources and better performance.

Cloud hosting is another option that sits between traditional shared and VPS hosting. Cloud plans typically let you scale resources up or down based on demand, so you only pay for what you use. This can be cost-effective for sites with unpredictable traffic — busy during a sale or event, quiet the rest of the time.

Both managed VPS and cloud hosting cost more than shared hosting but less than running your own unmanaged VPS (once you factor in the time and knowledge required). For most sites that have genuinely outgrown shared hosting, managed VPS is the practical next step.

Which should you choose?

For the vast majority of readers on this site — small businesses, side projects, first-time site owners — shared hosting is the right answer. Start there, and only move to VPS when you have a concrete reason to do so.

If you are ready to pick a provider, see our recommendations for the best hosting in South Africa or the best hosting in Nigeria. For a broader overview of what to look for, read our guide to choosing web hosting.

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