What a shared hosting package should include: a buyer's checklist
A shared hosting package is a share of a server that your host runs, with the tools to put a website and email on it. A good package states its limits in cores, memory and disk, and includes a control panel, free certificates, email and an off-site backup. It also says plainly which jobs the host does and which stay with you. Use the checklist in this article to compare packages from any host; the tier-by-tier list for Noiz is on our shared hosting page.
What you are buying
On shared hosting, many websites live on one server. The host installs and patches the operating system, the web server, PHP, the database server and the mail server. Each customer gets a slice of that server's resources and a control panel to manage their own sites, mailboxes and databases.
That arrangement is why shared hosting costs far less than a server of your own. It also means the most important questions are about the slice: how big it is, and how well it is kept apart from everyone else's.
Resources: cores, memory and disk
Ask for the numbers. A package should publish the processor cores, the memory and the disk you get. Cores and memory decide how much work your site can do at the same moment. Disk decides how much you can store.
Ask what counts against the disk. Website files, databases and mailboxes usually share one allowance. A team that keeps years of email can fill a plan that looked generous for the website alone.
Ask what happens at the limit. Some hosts take a site offline when it fills its disk. On Noiz shared hosting, disk above the plan's figure is billed per gigabyte on the excess, so a full mailbox does not stop your website. Memory is a hard limit on every plan, because that is what keeps every site on the server safe.
PHP: a shared pool or a pool of your own
Most dynamic websites, WordPress included, run on PHP. The server keeps a set of PHP worker processes ready to build pages. Those workers are either shared between many customers or reserved for one.
- A shared PHP pool suits brochure sites, static sites and low-traffic WordPress. It is what keeps entry-level hosting affordable.
- A dedicated PHP pool keeps workers for your sites alone, so another customer's traffic spike cannot take them. It matters for shops, booking and membership sites, and anything that does real work on each visit.
Also ask whether you can choose the PHP version. Older plugins and custom code sometimes need a specific version, and newer versions bring security fixes.
At Noiz, Legacy runs on a shared pool. Every Premium tier has its own dedicated PHP-FPM pool and your choice of PHP version.
The control panel
The control panel is where you add domains, create mailboxes, manage databases and files, edit DNS records, and install applications. Ask which panel the host uses and whether it has one-click installers for the software you need.
Noiz uses Plesk on every shared plan, with one-click installers for WordPress and other applications. Our help centre has a guide to getting started with Plesk.
Certificates
Every site should load over HTTPS. Free certificates from Let's Encrypt are now standard, and a good host issues and renews them for you. If a package charges for a basic certificate, ask why.
Check four things:
- how many mailboxes the plan allows
- whether you get webmail as well as IMAP and SMTP for mail apps such as Thunderbird
- whether incoming mail is filtered for spam and viruses
- how much space mailboxes can use, and whether that comes out of the website's disk
Every Noiz shared plan includes email with webmail, IMAP and SMTP, and spam and virus filtering. Mailbox storage comes out of the plan's disk.
Backups
Backups are where packages differ most, and where the small print matters. Ask:
- How often a backup is taken.
- Where it is kept. A backup on the same server as your site will not help if that server fails.
- What it covers: website files, databases and mail are not always treated the same way.
- How you get a restore, and whether you can take your own backups as well.
Every Noiz shared plan includes a weekly backup taken by the panel and kept off site. It is a safety net for your website files and databases, not a substitute for your own copies, so keep a copy of your mail and of anything you cannot afford to lose. Our Plesk backup overview explains the backup options in the panel.
Developer tools
SSH, Git, Node.js and a choice of PHP version matter if you or your developer build and deploy code. They add nothing to a brochure site. Pay for them only if you will use them.
On Noiz hosting, Premium includes SSH access, limited to your own hosting account, and your choice of PHP version. Legacy leaves them out and gives more disk instead.
Domains and sites
Ask how many websites a plan can hold and whether a domain is included. Check whether a free domain stays free at renewal.
Legacy and Premium host your own domains, including sites for your own businesses and projects. Each Legacy tier prints a count of sites; Premium puts no count on domains within the plan's caps. A new Legacy or Premium order on monthly or annual billing includes a free .co.za registration.
Security on the server
Ask who patches the server and the panel, and how often. Ask whether there is a web application firewall in front of the sites, and how the host deals with bots and crawlers.
Noiz patches and updates the servers and the Plesk panel. Known attack patterns are refused by a web application firewall, and our AI, Bot and Crawler Policy sets out how automated traffic is handled on shared hosting.
Billing and support
- Is there a fixed contract, or can you pay monthly?
- Is VAT added at checkout?
- When something breaks, is there a clear route to the people who run the server?
Noiz shared hosting is billed monthly or annually with no fixed term. Noiz is not VAT registered, so the price shown is the price you pay. Noiz runs its own servers, and you reach support by ticket from the client area.
What stays with you
Even the best shared hosting leaves some jobs with you. You run your sites: their code, themes and plugins, and the updates to them. You decide who has a mailbox. You look after your DNS records and your domain renewals. If you would rather Noiz kept WordPress updated, with a restore point before every change, WordPress Care is a separate add-on.
The checklist on one page
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Are cores, memory and disk published? | They are what you are paying for |
| What counts against the disk? | Mail and databases can fill it before the website does |
| What happens at a limit? | A full disk should not take the site offline |
| Shared or dedicated PHP pool? | A pool of your own protects busy sites from neighbours |
| Can you choose the PHP version? | Code runs on the version it was written for |
| Which control panel, with which installers? | It is where you will do your daily work |
| Are certificates free and renewed for you? | Every page should load over HTTPS |
| What email is included? | Mailboxes, webmail, IMAP and filtering vary |
| How often are backups taken, where are they kept, and what do they cover? | A backup only helps if it survives and holds what you lost |
| Do you need SSH, Git and Node.js? | Pay for developer tools only if you use them |
| Is the domain included, and at what renewal? | Free in year one is not free for ever |
| Who patches the server, and is there a firewall? | Patches close known flaws before they can be used |
| Monthly or contract, and is VAT added? | The real cost is the cost over a year |
| How do you reach support? | You want a clear route to the people who run the servers |
Compare the Noiz plans
Each Noiz tier prints its cores, memory, disk, sites, mailboxes and what is included, beside its price. See them on the shared hosting page, or tell us what you host and we will say which tier fits.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026.
Noiz
- Shared hosting: Legacy, Premium and Reseller
- Security add-ons, including Email Security
- AI, Bot and Crawler Policy
- Billing and Overage Charges
- WordPress Care
- Getting Started with Plesk on Noiz Hosting (Noiz help centre)
- Plesk Backup Overview (Noiz help centre)
Other
Note: while some of this content was produced with the help of AI, the final editing has been done by a real human being.
