Shared hosting is a highly cost-effective way to get your website online, making it one of the most popular hosting options available.
Its affordability stems from the fact that multiple users share the costs of maintenance, resulting in lower individual plan prices.
What is an IP Address?
Before diving into what shared hosting with a dedicated IP entails, let's first understand what an IP address is.
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique sequence of numbers separated by periods or colons that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol for network communication.
It basically allows devices to find and communicate with each other online.
IP addresses are produced by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a division of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
These addresses are not random; they are mathematically generated and allocated by IANA.
What’s a Shared IP Address?
A shared IP address is an IP address used by multiple websites or users on the same server.
A shared IP address can host multiple sites on a web server.
Actions by one site owner can impact the IP reputation of all sites sharing that address.
That said, many site owners successfully host their websites on a shared IP without affecting others.
What’s a Dedicated IP Address?
A dedicated IP address is an IP address assigned exclusively to a single website or hosting account.
In other words, having a dedicated IP means your domain has an IP address that you don’t share with any other domains.
Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP Hosting
Now that you know what dedicated and shared IP addresses are, let's see how the two are different from one another.
Hosting Type | Server Usage | IP Address | Performance | Cost | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shared IP Hosting | Several websites using the same server | Shared with other users | Lower performance due to shared resources | Lower cost | Managed by hosting provider |
Dedicated IP Hosting | Only one server for your website | Unique to your server | Higher performance with dedicated resources | Higher cost | Managed by user or provider |









