There was a recent question in the Webweaving chat about (self-)hosting options and some clarification of the foundational concepts. I’m nowhere near an expert but I opted to share my understanding.
I’ve been encouraged to copy my answer over to the forum in case it might be helpful to others or spark input from those more qualified to answer.
I’m by no means an expert when it comes to hosting so very happy to be corrected, but allow me to share my understanding of the different hosting options given what flavours I’ve tried over the years:
Managed Hosting
I used Blogger back in the day (I’m old) and later Wordpress dot com. All the server implementation and security updates are taken care of for you which is very convenient. There’s usually templates and possibly some access to the HTML and CSS, but you’re not worrying about the hosting. You typically login to your website, add content and hit publish. I’d suggest Wix and Ghost (Pro) are in the same vein. I believe Neocities is a bit more unique in offering more control than those options though. I have an account but never used it.
Depending on the provider, you have more or less flexibility to customise it to your liking. However, you’re usually restricted on what plugins and themes you can use, for example. You can usually add on a custom domain for a fee. Pricing is usually a monthly or annual fee.
Shared Hosting
I wanted more flexibility so for a few years I self hosted Wordpress. This meant running the Wordpress application on a server I had some control over, rather than their own one like the managed option.
Shared hosting is where you basically rent space on a server. This tends to be relatively cheap and allows a bit more flexibility in that you can directly put files on the server and customise them to your liking. I used to use applications like Transmit or Cyberduck to move my files to the server as I preferred a nice visual interface, rather than the command line.
This meant I had more flexibility than the managed approach: I was able to put the Wordpress software on my server and create my own themes and customise the admin interface etc. You can also have a custom domain and there’s usually nice offers when you’re buying your hosting.
However, you don’t have access to the server configuration. You just see the public folder where you put the files (e.g. webpages) you want to be online. You’re somewhat restricted in what type of applications you can install, however, it’s a convenient option: there’s usually a 1-click installer for popular platforms like Wordpress and an interface like c-panel to see the server folders.
The biggest downside is you share the computing resources of that server with other websites, so a sudden spike in traffic on another site could impact you, for example. I don’t personally consider that a negative though as I never had an issue and wasn’t trying to grow the audience of my little personal blog. Shared hosting is typically a flat monthly or annual fee.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
This is what I’m using now. It’s still a space on a shared server, but you have more flexibility to configure the virtual server machine - the operating system, memory etc - for your portion and to add the applications you want. However, you also need to manage the setup and security, unless you’re using some managed VPS option. I liked the idea of this, in theory… In practice, I don’t know anything about server management and it was a real headache configuring it correctly.
I’ve compromised by using Laravel Forge to take care of the server stuff and it’s working well so far (my updated site is not currently online as I’m tinkering with the look and feel). This is specific to my use case though. VPS hosting can be a flat fee or a pay per usage.
Dedicated Server
This would be the next level beyond the previous, I think. You would essentially have a dedicated server machine just for your website(s). But with more flexibility comes more cost. I think this is overkill for a personal site - or at least for me - unless you need maximum control and know what you’re doing.
I think I’d summarise (and massively simplify the options as): managed hosting is great if you just want to focus on content, shared hosting is good for more flexibility without worrying about servers; VPS and dedicated servers are where you want more control and are ready to manage the technical side or pay for tools that help.