The Hostpapa Blog

Reseller vs Shared: Which Website Hosting is Right for You?

By HostPapa

• January 22, 2013 10:51 am
• Web Hosting
• 1 Comments

At HostPapa, we often encounter customers inquiring about whether they should stick with shared web hosting or switch to a reseller account. New customers, too, frequently check in before signing up to ask which is “better”: reseller or shared hosting.

The answer? The best service depends on your specific needs. No surprise there! That answer is not a lot of help, so we’ve compiled some information you can use to make the decision.

First, let’s look at shared web hosting.

A shared hosting plan gives you everything you need to create and manage a website. In fact, many shared hosting plans, including HostPapa’s, let you host unlimited domains on one account – you can operate as many websites as you like for one low fee!

You get one control panel (cPanel) through which you can manage all of your domains and subdomains.

Advantages:

• It’s super affordable
• It’s easy: one control panel oversees all domains
• You can maintain as many websites as you want

Now, on to reseller website hosting.

Reseller hosting is designed for those who want to sell web hosting. Resellers purchase space and bandwidth and allocate or “resell” it to their own clients. While those clients manage their accounts through their own cPanel, the reseller oversees all the subaccounts through one master administrator control panel.

Even if you don’t want to sell hosting, you can use a reseller plan to create web hosting accounts (each with its own cPanel account and login) for family, friends, or clients.

Advantages

• You can make money with a well-run reseller business
• Although the monthly fee is more than a shared hosting account, it's still very reasonable
• You are in control: you set up the accounts to resell, you provide customer service – it’s your business!

What does it all mean?

If you want to host one or several personal websites, or your own small business website, shared web hosting is the cheapest, easiest, and best option.

If, however, you’re in the business of selling websites ­or web hosting services, or you want separate cPanel accounts for separate domains, reseller website hosting is the logical choice.

So... there you go! As with most things, what makes a hosting plan "better" really depends on your own needs. Whether you need shared or reseller web hosting, don’t forget to check out HostPapa for tools, tips and tricks to make the most of it.

Website Hosting, Shared Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting