Shared web hosting is the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to get a website up on the internet. However, these shared shared plans aren’t always the best option for every situation. If you require the storage space and functionality offered by a dedicated server but cannot afford the steep associated costs, then consider using one of the best VPS hosting plans we’ve identified for you below.
Should You Switch to VPS Hosting?
You might not require to switch from shared to VPS if you only have a small website. However, if you are looking to speed up your site, then it might be time to switch to VPS hosting.
Virtual private servers, or VPS, are also an ideal option if your site is receiving a high amount of traffic regularly. The upgraded server resources offered by these plans are intended to help websites scale and handle increased visitors.
Switching to a VPS hosting plan enables you to have a virtual server environment. This means that you can have complete control over every aspect of your server’s settings including apps and extensions you choose to use.
Although the hosting provider will host multiple VPS clients on one server, similar to shared hosting, the number is considerably smaller. Every subscriber will be given a percentage of the servers’ most important resources, such as storage space, RAM and CPU cores.
Most VPS plans have standard management tools, such as cPanel. These tools allow you to monitor and configure your site. There are even hosts that provide website and uptime monitoring and address any issues on the spot as they arise.
Differences Between Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting
Shared hosting is ideal for smaller sites that do not demand a lot of bandwidth. Most providers offer server maintenance and management, making it easy to use for newbies.
However with this option your resources are quite limited.
VPS hosting on the other hand, is like having an entire apartment on your own. Your site is still housed on a physical server and shared by other users. However the percentage of server resources dedicated to you are not shared with others.
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In this case, there is no need to worry about sharing server resources with unknown neighbors. Plus, this setup also offers better security because your data are completely separated from other users of the same server.
The best thing about VPS hosting is that you can get similar functionality as a dedicated server, at a fraction of the cost.
Several companies offer virtual private server web hosting plans. The prices of these plans can vary widely from a few dollars a month to over a hundred.
We examined a range of VPS hosting providers, the plans they offer, features included and what differentiated them from the others. We asked questions such as: what features are included in each plan tier? How is their historical performance? Do they have excellent support and assistance?
Our 6 Best VPS Hosting Providers Are:
BlueHost offers flexible and powerful VPS options. This plan comes with multi-server management that lets you add more space to your account with just a few clicks.
Features
BlueHost uses all SSD drives for a lightning fast and more reliable environment. To ensure 100% access to resources, it uses KM hypervisor for their Linux servers. This provider does not include additional CPU and RAM out of the box. However, its enhanced cPanel lets you add more storage immediately on an individual basis.
BlueHost offers VPS instant provisioning so you can set up your site on its VPS servers in seconds. Keep in mind that setting up VPS can sometimes take hours or days to activate. With instant provisioning, you can quickly use the server space you have paid for.
With BlueHost VPS hosting you are also given root access, which allows you to get full admin privileges. You can modify and access the server, installing and uninstalling any app you might need.
Pricing
You can lock down a VPS plan from BlueHost starting at $18.99/ month. This is among the lowest priced plans you’ll find from these best VPS providers. However, you should note this starting price is a promotional offer for a set time. After the promotional period ends, you will have to pay full price of $29.99/ month.
All of BlueHosts VPS plans are supported with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you ever need assistance you can contact their helpful customer support via phone, email or live chat 24 hours a day.
Is it a good deal? BlueHost are one of the most well known names in the industry. They provide a robust offering with a great promotional price to get started packed with all standard features. If you are already on a shared hosting plan looking to upgrade, this is a great option.
Liquid Web focuses on providing high-quality VPS hosting services. They have superior configuration features including an integrated firewall, DDoS attack protection, advanced server security and Cloudflare CDN. However, all these goodies come at a higher price point.
Liquid Web is a premium web hosting provider. They have been offering high-quality managed VPS options for over 20 years. There are more than 500k sites from 32k clients around the world hosted on their servers.
That being said, these services are not cheap. Rather, focus is placed on delivering high-quality products and can deliver excellent results. In other words, you get what you pay for if you wish for high performance.
Features & Pricing
The lowest plan comes at $29/ month. It gives you 2GB RAM with generous 10TB bandwidth and 40 gigs of SSD storage.
There are an abundance of operating system options as you can utilize Ubuntu, Debian, and CentOS.
Liquid Web provides a customer support team that will monitor any failed services and restore them immediately.
Managed VPS as service is also available from other providers, but typically incurs an extra charge. With Liquid Web, server management comes as part of the package. With its robust infrastructure and management services, you can focus on what you do best: your customers and content.
If you need technical support at the wee hours, the knowledgeable pros of LiquidWeb are available 24/7. These professionals will do their best to solve your problems quickly and efficiently.
Is it a good deal? Liquid Web offers only a real deal when it comes to VPS hosting. They have high-powered hardware and a 24/7 customer support that you can count on. This, combined with the fact that every VPS plan is managed for you leads us to recommend Liquid Web as the best premium VPS option.
3. HostGator
HostGator are probably one of the most well known players in the game. They offer three tiers of VPS hosting plans in their environment build for scaling.
Features & Pricing
HostGator VPS hosting plans include the standard custom OS installs and configurations, as well as up to 240 GB storage. You get to enjoy a minimum of 2 dedicated IP addresses and up to 4 CPU cores. The minimum bandwidth is 1.5TB while the max is 3TB. The plans can start at $29.95/month for the lowest tier, $39.99 for the middle tier and $49.99 for the most expensive option.
HostGator will migrate your site to their VPS hosting offerings for free. With their managed VPS option a custom cPanel comes standard, giving a plethora of administrative tools. An unmanaged option, on the other hand, will require in-depth technical skills as the custom cPanel is not included.
Is it a good deal? HostGator includes state-of-the-art hardware and attentive support team. Plus, it performs off-site data backups weekly. If you need to migrate your site, the provider offers free migration assistance. HostGator provide top quality services and features at a competitive price.
With an emphasis on performance, A2 hosting is another great VPS hosting provider. If you prioritize performance and speed, as well as security, then A2 Hoisting could be a great contender.
When launched in 2003, A2 Hosting were one of the first providers to offer web hosting services with an emphasis on speed. They have a complete stack of optimizations that can boost page load speeds by up to 300%. Its Turbo option can handle connections more efficiently, at higher speeds and with more stability and uptime.
Features & Pricing
For its managed VPS plans, you get 75GB storage and 2 TB transfer bandwidth and 4GB RAM. The unmanaged version offers 20GB storage and 2 TB transfer. It includes 512 MB ram and SSD option as an upgrade.
You can get started with the unmanaged plan for only $5/ month. If you would prefer to be hands off and opt for a managed VPS hosting plan, expect to pay a steep price of $32.99/ month.
A2 Hosting promises 99.9% uptime with its excellent support team available 24/7. They offer the standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is it a good deal? A2 Hosting provides optimal performance and incredible innovations that allow the company to offer a balance of speed and reliability. With the multiple VPS options available ranging from unmanaged to managed and managed with root access, these A2 Hosting plans are some of the best on the market.
Inmotion is a strong provider with well-specified plans packed with features. They do not offer the most attractive price as the cheapest plan starts at $27.99 per month. However this rate is reasonable considering its features included.
Compared to other providers, InMotion offers 4GB RAM, 4TB bandwidth with 75GB storage and 3 dedicated IPs. cPanel and automated backups are also included at no additional charge. Plus, they offer a money-back guarantee for 90 days; most providers offer a 30 day guarantee.
The plan also comes with a unique feature called unlocked CPU cores. This allows you to distribute your processing load to different cores on the server. It can be a significant performance boost if you need simultaneous processing. Finally, plan comes with a program called Launch Assist, giving you two hours of free time with the provider’s server admins to help get you setup for success.
Is it a good deal? InMotion hosting is a mid-level VPS provider with better hardware specs. It features automated free server backups and lets you choose your Data Center. With these hosting provider’s features, you can’t go wrong with InMotion VPS hosting.
Linode is a Cloud Hosting provider. Linode accelerates innovation by making cloud computing simple, accessible, and affordable to all. Founded in 2003, Linode helped pioneer the cloud computing industry and today is the largest Independent Open Cloud provider in the world.
Headquartered in Philadelphia’s Old City, the company empowers more than a million developers, startups, and businesses across its global network of 11 data centers, in locations like the US, Europe (both inside and out of the EU), Asia Pacific (including Australia), and India.
Linode’s shared Compute plans are a perfect match for everything from WordPress blogs to web apps and start at just $5. Linode also offers Dedicated CPU plans and High Memory plans for high traffic websites. And for those looking to do serious machine learning, data analysis, and graphics rendering, Linode offers GPU-enabled VPS, too. All plans are billed hourly and include a generous pool of network transfer to pull from, so there are no surprises should your site go viral.
Here is a list of the other products and features Linode offers:
- S3-compatible Object Storage is great for sharing static content like movies, music, PDF files, and web assets like HTML, JavaScript, and image files.
- Block Storage: Need an extra few gigs of storage on your plan? Block Storage costs just $.10/GB.
- Backups
- Monitoring
- Managed Kubernetes
- A fully-featured domain manager if you’d like to use Linode’s name servers.
- Linode also offers a growing assortment of One-Click apps you can install on your server. Be up and running in no time with a new WordPress, Drupal, or Minecraft server, to name a few.
Shared CPU VPS Pricing:
CPU Cores | RAM | Storage | Transfer | Price/Month |
1 | 1GB | 25GB | 1TB | $5 |
2 | 1GB | 50GB | 2TB | $10 |
4 | 2GB | 80GB | 4TB | $20 |
8 | 4GB | 160GB | 5TB | $40 |
16 | 6GB | 320GB | 8TB | $80 |
32 | 8GB | 640GB | 16TB | $160 |
For a complete listing of plans and details, check out Linode’s pricing page.
⚖️ Conclusion - Top 6 Best VPS Hosting Providers
VPS hosting plans are an upgrade from entry level shared hosting plans for website owners who are ready to get serious.
These plans offer much of the same functionality as dedicated servers, without quite as much maintenance or technical knowledge needed.
With the plethora of options out there, these are how the best VPS hosting providers line up:
With so many options out there, we’re confident you’ll find the best VPS hosting plan for your specific needs.
