Shared hosting.
Know what your plan allows.
A low opening price and a large storage allowance tell only part of the story. Check the limits, the included services and the bill after the offer ends.
- Capacity
- How many websites, files and mailboxes the plan allows.
- Resources
- CPU, memory and other limits that can affect busy sites.
- Payments
- The full initial bill, renewals and any extras you need.
Two plans. Different limits.
Made-up examples, not provider offers.
Annual billing, VAT included, no extras.
| Illustrative plan | Websites | Storage | Mailboxes | 3-year bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Plan A£36 in year 1. £72 in each renewal year. | 1 | 10 GB | 5 | £180 |
Plan B£60 in year 1. £84 in each renewal year. | 5 | 20 GB | 10 | £228 |
Need two websites? Plan A falls short even though its entered bill is lower. Plan B's larger allowances still do not prove it will be faster or suit your software.
Compare my two plansShared does not
mean without limits.
Shared hosting places customer accounts on shared server infrastructure. The service can be a practical starting point, but each plan has its own rules and allowances.
- Websites
- Check how many separate websites you can run. Extra domains, redirects and subdomains may be counted differently from independent websites.
- Storage
- Ask what uses the quota: website files, databases, logs, backups and email may have separate or shared allowances. Leave space for growth rather than planning to fill the account.
- File count
- An inode limit concerns file and folder count rather than their total size. A site with many small files can reach that limit before using all its storage.
- Count full mailboxes, not just forwarding addresses. Check storage per mailbox, sending limits and whether included email lasts for the full hosting term.
Capacity is not
a speed test.
Extra gigabytes do not tell you how a busy website will perform.
Some shared-hosting systems enforce separate CPU, memory, disk I/O and process limits. A plan can run out of processing headroom while still having plenty of storage.
Ask for the actual limits, whether they apply to the whole account, and what happens when you reach them. The answer might involve slower processing, errors, an upgrade or a review of your site.
Visitor estimates are not a universal performance guarantee. A cached information page, a shop and a busy membership site can place very different demands on the same hosting plan.
Compare the quote
with what you need.
Enter your needs and two plans. The report separates known shortfalls, missing information and entered costs.
This tool compares capacity figures and annual payments only. It does not test speed, software compatibility or reliability, and it does not choose a host for you.
Figures stay in this page and are not sent or saved. Costs assume the entered annual renewal stays the same in years 2 and 3. No future-price guarantee; omitted charges are not counted.
Ask the questions
the headline leaves out.
What does “unlimited” allow?
Read the fair-use and acceptable-use policies. Check file count, resource use, prohibited uses and what action the provider can take. Do not treat an unlimited label as an unlimited CPU or memory allocation.
Can I restore a useful backup?
Check what is copied, how often, how long copies are kept, how you restore them and whether restoration costs extra. For a CMS, a file-only copy may not include its database. Keep a recovery copy you can access if the hosting account is unavailable.
What is included after year one?
Check email, domain renewals, SSL, backups, security options and migration charges separately. A monthly advertised equivalent may require a larger upfront commitment. Compare checkout totals and renewal terms on the same VAT basis.
What happens if I need more?
Ask how usage is monitored, how warnings work and what an upgrade involves. Check whether moving to a larger plan changes its renewal price or requires migration. A change of plan is not a substitute for understanding the site's workload.
Know when to
look beyond shared.
Start with the requirements, then choose the service that supports them.
Discuss specialist software, custom server settings, demanding background jobs or recurring resource-limit errors with the host. Managed platforms, VPS, cloud or dedicated services offer different responsibilities and controls; none is automatically better value for every website.
If your existing site is struggling, check usage evidence, application errors and support advice before assuming a larger storage allowance will solve it.
Sources and scope.
Checked 2 November 2026. These primary sources explain specific technologies or provider arrangements. They are not a ranking or endorsement; check the terms of your own quote.