"Hosting" is one word for several very different products. The right one depends less on raw specs and more on two questions: how many sites are you running, and who's responsible for keeping the server healthy?
Shared hosting
One account, one (or a few) sites, on a server you share with other tenants. It's the cheapest way to put a marketing site, a small store, or a portfolio online. You get a control panel and free SSL; you don't get to tune the underlying server.
- Best for: a single site, a side project, a brochure site.
- Trade-off: limited resources and no root access — fine until you outgrow it.
Managed WordPress
Shared-style simplicity, but the stack is tuned specifically for WordPress: server-side caching (often LiteSpeed), automatic core updates, and backups designed around WordPress's file/DB split. You trade flexibility for someone else handling the boring maintenance.
- Best for: WordPress sites where uptime and speed matter but you don't want to be a sysadmin.
- Trade-off: it's WordPress-shaped — not the place to run a custom Node or Rails app.
Reseller hosting
A pool of hosting accounts under one control plane (WHM), with white-label nameservers. This is infrastructure for someone who hosts other people's sites — agencies, freelancers managing a roster of clients, or anyone reselling hosting under their own brand.
- Best for: agencies and freelancers running many client sites.
- Trade-off: more to manage — you're now the host for your clients.
A quick decision rule
- 01One site, keep it simple → shared.
- 02WordPress, want it fast and hands-off → managed WordPress.
- 03Many sites, especially clients → business or reseller.
Whichever tier fits, buying it prepaid by the year as a flat pack means you're not re-running the comparison every month — you size it once and move on.
