Saplo vs shared hosting: when a VPS makes sense

Shared hosting, VPS, or Saplo? Anyone setting up a new website or application asks themselves this question. Each option has its place, but few people explain it without the marketing fluff. Below, you will find the real differences, concrete figures, and guidance on when each option actually makes sense.

Shared hosting: cheap, but you share everything with your neighbors

Shared hosting is a single physical server that hosts several hundred or several thousand accounts at once. Everyone shares the same CPU, RAM, and disk through account limits rather than real system isolation, so the provider decides how many resources your account gets at any given moment.

Advantages:

• the lowest price on the market, often just a dozen dollars a year during a promotion,
• zero configuration, with a panel such as cPanel or DirectAdmin ready to use as soon as you create an account,
• enough for a simple WordPress landing page or a small blog with no plans to grow.

Disadvantages:

• no SSH access on most plans, so no Node.js, Python, or custom background processes,
• a "noisy neighbor" - if someone else on the same server gets a rush of traffic from Facebook or falls victim to an attack, your site slows down or goes down with theirs,
• almost always just one stack, most commonly PHP with MySQL for WordPress, and nothing else,
• resource limits (number of processes, transfer, and database size) are hidden, and you discover them only when the site stops working at the worst possible moment, for example during a promotion.

VPS: full control, full responsibility

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtual server with its own dedicated set of resources (RAM, CPU, disk) and full root access. No one else shares these resources with you, but no one else will configure your server for free either.

Advantages:

• full control over the system, any stack, any version of PHP, Node, Python, or database, without asking anyone for permission,
• genuine resource isolation, a site on another VPS cannot slow yours down,
• scales as far as your budget allows: more RAM, more CPU, more disks, any architecture.

Disadvantages:

• you handle the entire setup yourself: web server, database, SSL, firewall, backup, monitoring, operating system security updates,
• one application per VPS is only half the battle, but two different applications for two clients on one VPS without isolation carries the risk that a failure or breach affecting one will affect the other,
• every new project means either another VPS to administer from scratch or manually managing multiple applications on one server, which over time turns into a full-time job.

Where does Saplo fit?

Saplo is neither shared hosting nor a classic VPS, but something in between, built for developers and agencies. Each Box is a separate, isolated container (LXC) on our hardware, configured and ready to work as soon as you order it.

The difference in practice:

• isolation like with a VPS: Your Box has its own file system, its own RAM and its own CPU, and no other client shares it,
• zero manual setup: the web server, SSL and database are ready from minute one, and you install applications from a catalog of ready-made recipes (WordPress, Next.js, Django, n8n, Docker) instead of configuring everything from scratch,
• SSH access without sacrificing simplicity: you get full technical access with Box L and higher plans, but you do not have to start with an empty system,
• multiple applications, one account: each Box can run any number of applications on different domains, without setting up a separate server for each one.

Comparison in numbers

The real cost of administration, not just the list price

The listed price of a VPS is only part of the bill. You also have to factor in the time: the initial server setup (webserver, SSL, firewall, database) usually takes several hours, even for someone who has done it before, followed by regular operating system security updates, renewing certificates, keeping an eye on backups, and responding in the middle of the night when the server goes down. With a single project, you can still accept that time, but an agency managing a dozen or so projects across a dozen or so VPS instances pays that cost a dozen times over, and it usually comes out of the most expensive person's time on the team, whether that is a developer or the business owner. Saplo shifts this cost to us: the webserver, SSL, infrastructure backups, and operating system security updates are on us, while you manage only the application itself.

When a VPS still makes sense

A VPS is not obsolete, and in some situations it is still a better choice than an off-the-shelf platform, including Saplo:

• you need access to the system kernel, your own kernel modules, or a custom network configuration, for example your own VPN server with transit traffic or routing between multiple subnets,
• your application requires more resources than the largest available container hosting plan, for example hundreds of GB of RAM or a dedicated GPU for machine learning,
• you need full control over kernel-level tuning for a very specific workload, for example your own database engine with a custom I/O configuration,
• you have a DevOps team that would prefer to manage the infrastructure themselves, and the cost of their time is not a problem for you.

When shared hosting is enough

If you're creating a one-off business card site with no traffic, no need for SSH, and no plans to grow, the cheapest shared hosting may be enough. As soon as you add a second application, traffic increases, or need anything beyond WordPress, the limits will start causing problems sooner than you might expect, and migrating from shared hosting to something else usually costs more than choosing the right option from the start.

When it makes sense to switch to Saplo

Saplo makes sense when you want the isolation and flexibility of a VPS, but without spending time on administration from scratch:

• you run an agency or work as a freelancer and manage multiple projects using different stacks at the same time,
• you want SSH access and full control over your application, but do not want to spend your first day configuring a web server and SSL,
• you are growing from a single WordPress site to several applications (Next.js, Django, n8n) and do not want to set up a separate server for each one,
• you need support in Polish that understands what you do, rather than filing a generic ticket with a technical department in another country.

Frequently asked questions

Is Saplo the same as a VPS? Not quite. You get the same resource isolation as on a VPS, but without having to manually configure the server from scratch. You install applications from ready-made recipes, while the web server and SSL are ready right away.

Will I lose SSH access when moving from a VPS to Saplo? No, if you choose Box L or higher, you have full SSH access with a key, and starting with Box XXL, you also get sudo permissions.

Can I run multiple different applications on one Box? Yes, there is no limit to the number of applications or domains on any plan. The only limits are the RAM and disk capacity allocated to your Box.

What if my application grows and needs more resources? You can add RAM, CPU and disk capacity on demand, without moving your data or restarting the entire Box.

How does Saplo differ from regular shared hosting in terms of security? On shared hosting, all accounts share the same operating system, so a vulnerability on one site could theoretically affect neighboring sites. With Saplo, each Box is a separate LXC container with its own file system, so one customer's issue does not affect others.

Is migration from a VPS to Saplo difficult? Migration is included in the price of every plan. We move your application, database and domain, while you continue working normally on the old server until the new Box is ready and you can switch over.

If you're not sure which option is right for your situation, get in touch. We'll tell you straight whether it's worth migrating or whether you should stay where you are.