If you are here, it indicates you intend to create a website and have purchased a domain name.
However, you are stuck at the second step - finding the right hosting solution.
Well, you are not alone. It’s because picking the right hosting service can be easier said than done.
Here’s why:
There are a plethora of hosting providers, each promising industry-grade features like unmatched scalability, security, and 100% uptime.
Hosting provider companies announce exclusive offers and discounts that turn your head, so you choose their solution over others.
Comparing prices and features you get in return can sometimes be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time.
Worry not, as we’ve got this blog that discusses the two most prominent types of hosting solutions: VPS hosting and cloud hosting.
Here, you’ll learn how they compare in key features and benefits so you can make an informed choice.
Let’s start.
What is VPS Hosting?
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server, where you have a single physical server split into multiple smaller and independent virtual servers for different users.
Each virtual server has its own operating system, hosting environment, and dedicated resources. Thus, each user has better control over how they want to customize their server.
Plus, no two accounts on a virtual server share data and files. It means your resources are exclusively accessible to you. So, if you host your website on a virtual private server, any other site won’t affect yours.
This hosting model is like a large corporate building divided into the offices of different companies running independently. While all these offices are physically in the same building, their resources are isolated and reserved for exclusive use.
Key Benefits of VPS Hosting
Virtual private server hosting provides various benefits, as follows:
1. Steady performance: You have an independent CPU, RAM, and disk storage, and only you can access it. So, you can expect stable performance as long as there are no significant traffic spikes.
2. Enhanced security: When you have your individual virtualized environment and there’s no sharing of data, the chances of security breaches go down.
3. Quick and round-the-clock access: When you don’t share your data with other users, your websites stay accessible all the time.
4. Cost-effectiveness: While a VPS hosting solution closely resembles a dedicated server in performance, it comes at a much lower cost.
5. Increased customizability: You can customize your server environments based on your individual needs and preferences.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting relies on a distributed network of servers that store websites for multiple users.
It means you have to share your resources like CPU, RAM, and disk storage with other users on the same server.
Consider it an apartment, where you need to share areas, like the pool, parking lot, and backyard.
Key Benefits of Cloud Hosting
Here are the benefits of cloud hosting services.
1. Scalability: Cloud VPS hosting doesn’t provide your website(s) with a single server for resources. Hence, it can easily add more servers to scale as new websites or applications get hosted and usage grows.
2. Flexibility: You have full control over how you want to configure and customize your hosting environment as per your specific needs.
3. Cost: This model works on a pay-as-you-go system. Your costs depend on your usage and increase or decrease them as needed.
4. Security: Security measures are robust, including firewalls, identity management, access control, and SSL to transmit data. It ensures online data protection for all websites and applications against security breaches.
5. Reliability and performance: As your websites are hosted on a distributed network of several servers across the cloud network, there’s no worry if a server fails. It’s because another server takes over and keeps the services going.
How Do VPS and Cloud Hosting Differ in Features?
VPS hosting and cloud hosting are primarily different in how they handle your website data.
Let’s understand the differences in detail:
Scalability
Scalability is how efficiently your web hosting solution can handle a sudden surge in traffic, data, and resource demands without prolonged downtime or performance degradation.
When launching a VPS server, you have a fixed size of resources. To add more, you’ll usually need manual hardware upgrades and expert assistance.
Further, your site won’t be up and running when adding resources, which means you’ll face significant downtime. All these factors make scalability limited and difficult to achieve.
In cloud hosting, you don’t need to contact your service provider to add more resources. All you need to do instead is extend your subscription plan and readjust resources as per your requirements.
Reliability & performance
Your performance depends on different factors, such as page loading speed, TTFB, and uptime. If you don’t optimize them, you can never expect to see your website ranking high in Google’s SERPs.
Here’s a stat to prove how valuable performance is.
The average critical server outage costs an enterprise somewhere between $30000 and $40000.
In VPS, only a dedicated server handles your website data. So, performance stays stable if resource allocation is proper and usage is within the limit. However, your website can slow down in case your server fails and there’s no backup. It can also happen when traffic peaks and resource usage exceeds the threshold.
In cloud hosting, there’s no dependency on a single server. Instead, data is distributed across multiple servers to handle traffic spikes despite hardware issues. So, your site’s uptime, performance, and reliability are higher.
Pricing
Pricing matters when you choose a hosting service. However, it varies widely, and service providers offer price discounts and promotions, which makes it challenging to arrive at the right choice.
VPS hosting often comes at a fixed monthly price based on allocated resources. As price is often predictable, you can easily plan your hosting budget accordingly. If you need extra storage, backups, or managed services, you need to pay extra, though.
Cloud hosting subscription plans are often based on the pay-as-you-go model. It means your costs will depend on your amount of resource usage. Hosting packages can range anywhere between $10 to $100, based on your site’s data and traffic requirements.
Security
With 422.6 million data records leaked globally in 2024’s last quarter alone, you can’t afford to undermine website security.
VPS doesn’t share website data across multiple servers and restricts it to just one. It, thus, is generally a highly secure infrastructure.
As you can manage your data centrally, it protects your site(s) against malware and security breaches. However, additional security measures such as a VPN for Windows would be a cherry on top.
On the contrary, cloud hosting shares data across multiple servers and nodes. It leaves data more exposed to security breaches. However, multiple security measures, like firewall layers and data encryption, can compensate for it.
Degree of customization (Customizability)
Customizability is how easily a web hosting solution or infrastructure can adapt to changing requirements, configurations, and environments without major disruptions.
VPS offers customization to quite an extent. However, you need to do everything manually, which takes more time and effort. Moreover, the hardware on which your data resides can limit customization at times.
Cloud hosting is flexible when it comes to managing resources. You can easily scale up or down your resources as per your needs and pay for only what you need.
Support
No matter how great your hosting service is, you may need expert assistance at times to manage your server requirements.
VPS hosting solutions need manual maintenance and upgrades, which are often difficult to manage yourself. This is why you need customer support more frequently.
Cloud hosting platforms need a high degree of maintenance, but hosting providers handle it mostly by themselves. It means you don’t have to seek technical support every now and then.
Pros and Cons of a Virtual Private Server Hosting
Pros:
- More cost-effective, as you need only one server.
- Easy customization and configuration, as you have full root access, enabling complete control over the server environment
- High degree of security, as you have a virtual dedicated server that prevents data sharing
Cons:
- Often needs technical assistance for upgrades and routine maintenance
- High risk of downtime and performance degradation in traffic peaks or server issues
Pros and Cons of Cloud Hosting
Pros:
- Highly scalable based on your resource demand
- Minimal to no downtime or performance degradation
- No frequent need for technical assistance from the hosting provider
Cons:
- Learning curve may be slightly higher, as you need to learn about identity and access management (IAM)
- Data security isn’t guaranteed, despite security layers and firewalls
- Complete dependency on the internet for optimal functioning
When to Use Which Hosting Service?
Before we discuss which hosting service you pick and when, let’s look at some stats.
The virtual private server market size was valued at $2.6 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $8.3 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 16.2% from 2019 to 2026.
The Cloud Services Market is forecasted to grow from $1 trillion in 2025 to a whopping 2.9 trillion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 23.73%.
It shows that they are almost equally popular when it comes to businesses considering them for adoption.
However, what you choose depends on what you need. So, the exact choice is quite subjective.
However, here are a few common scenarios and use cases to help you understand when you can use VPS or cloud hosting.
When to consider VPS hosting?
If your priority is stability and affordability, you may go for a VPS.
It is generally more suitable for:
- Small to medium-sized businesses where traffic patterns are usually predictable
- Businesses that need root access for customization and software installation
- Companies looking for a budget-friendly hosting service
A few potential use cases are:
- Small to medium-traffic websites
- Landing pages
- Personal blogs
- Static websites
- Online forums
Cloud hosting
If you want flexibility and scalability to manage changing workloads, cloud hosting can be a better fit.
It is suitable for:
- Startups where you can’t predict traffic patterns and can afford to scale up and down resources without downtime
- eCommerce websites that face traffic spikes during seasonal sales or promotional campaigns
- Businesses that aim to reach international audiences while reducing latency
A few potential use cases are:
- Enterprise or high-traffic sites with unpredictable traffic patterns, such as e-commerce and fintech
- Gamer servers
- Big data
Key Takeaways: VPS Hosting vs Cloud Hosting
Whether you pick a VPS provider or a cloud hosting service, each has its advantages and disadvantages.
As a thumb rule, if you have a small site with predictable traffic partners, VPS hosting can suit you more. It helps maintain steady performance at affordable prices. Beware that you will have to face significant downtime in case of unforeseen traffic peaks or server failure.
If you have a large website where traffic often keeps fluctuating, you may consider going for a cloud hosting service. However, you may have to reconsider your choice if you have highly sensitive data.
However, your final decision still depends on:
- How fast, secure, and reliable you want your site to be
- The budget you have
- The degree of customization and scalability you seek
Good luck finding your ideal hosting service provider!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is VPS hosting the same as cloud hosting?
While both cloud VPS and cloud-based dedicated virtual server provide virtualized environments, they differ in how they host your website. VPS relies on a single physical server, while cloud hosting services use multiple virtual servers to store your data.
Is VPS hosting good for SEO?
SEO relies heavily on speed and uptime. As long as traffic remains consistent and there’s no failure of a physical server, cloud dedicated virtual server hosting fares well. However, cloud VPS services fit better if you have unpredictable traffic fluctuations, as they provide higher speed and uptime.
Can I use both VPS and cloud hosting?
While it’s not quite common, you can use both together. It is when you need a cloud-based dedicated virtual server for basic needs, but cloud hosting services for critical and high-traffic sites and apps, where you can’t afford downtime.
Which is more secure: VPS hosting or cloud hosting services?
Cloud-based dedicated virtual server hosting stores your entire data on a single physical server, and there’s no sharing of data across multiple users. So, it is slightly more secure, especially when handling highly sensitive data.
Cloud-based VPS hosting services involve sharing data across multiple servers and hence, there may be slightly security concerns. However, advanced firewalls and encryption make up for that.
Which type of hosting service is more cost-effective in the long run?
It depends on your website and purpose. If you don’t have any plans to expand your business and are sure to have consistent traffic patterns, VPS has a slight edge here. It’s because you have to pay a fixed price every month based on how many resources you want to allocate to your server.
On the contrary, cloud hosting is more budget-friendly if you are quickly expanding, as you don’t have to worry about manual upgrades every time.
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