Hosting Node.js and Express Apps: Shared Hosting vs VPS vs Serverless

When you build a Node.js and Express application, choosing where to host it is just as important as choosing the framework itself. Unlike classic PHP apps that spin up per request, Node.js processes are long‑running services that handle many concurrent connections, WebSockets, queues and background jobs. That means your hosting environment has to be able to keep a process alive, restart it if it crashes, route traffic correctly and scale when traffic grows. In this article we will look at three main options you will encounter in real projects: shared hosting with Node support, a virtual private server (VPS) and serverless functions. Each option comes with different trade‑offs in terms of performance, cost, complexity and control. As the dchost.com team, we will walk through what actually works in production, where each model shines, where it becomes painful, and how to decide which path is right for your next Node.js and Express deployment.

How Node.js and Express Behave on a Server

Before comparing hosting models, it helps to remember how Node.js behaves at runtime. Express applications are usually started with a command like node server.js or npm start. That command launches a single‑threaded, event‑driven process that stays in memory and listens on a TCP port (for example 3000). Incoming HTTP or WebSocket requests are handled by this long‑running process rather than by launching a new process for every request.

That design gives Node.js excellent concurrency with relatively low memory usage, but it also means your hosting environment must:

• Allow long‑running processes (“daemons”) to stay alive.
• Provide a process manager (like PM2 or systemd) to restart apps after crashes or deployments.
• Expose your Node.js listening port securely to the internet, usually via a reverse proxy such as Nginx.
• Handle logs, environment variables, SSL certificates and scaling decisions.

How easily you can set up all of this depends a lot on whether you are on shared hosting, a VPS or a serverless platform. We have covered the basics of Node hosting choices in our article on where to host Node.js apps on cPanel, shared hosting or a VPS. Here we will add serverless into the mix and compare all three in more depth.

The Three Main Hosting Options for Node.js and Express

Most real‑world Node.js and Express deployments today land in one of these buckets:

• Shared hosting with Node support – Typically cPanel or similar, where Node is available as an extra feature.
• VPS (Virtual Private Server) – You get your own Linux instance with full root access and configure Node and Nginx yourself or with managed help.
• Serverless functions – Your Express handlers are transformed into functions that run on demand on a large cloud provider's infrastructure.

Let's look at what each option really feels like when running an Express app in production.

Hosting Node.js and Express on Shared Hosting

How Shared Hosting with Node.js Usually Works

Modern shared hosting platforms increasingly offer "Node.js support" alongside PHP. Behind the scenes, this can mean several different implementations:

• A graphical interface in cPanel to create a Node.js app, pick a Node version and set the document root.
• Integration with tools like Passenger or internal Node process managers to run your app under the account.
• Resource limits enforced via cgroups or similar, controlling CPU, RAM, entry processes and I/O on a per‑account basis.

You typically deploy your Express app by uploading files via Git or SFTP, installing dependencies with npm install ––production and configuring the start script from the panel. The hosting stack manages the reverse proxy automatically, mapping your domain to the internal Node app port.

This model is attractive for small projects because it removes a lot of server administration. However, it comes with constraints that matter a lot for Node apps.

Advantages of Shared Hosting for Node.js

• Lower cost of entry: Shared hosting plans are usually the cheapest way to get a Node.js app online with your own domain and SSL.
• Familiar tools: If you already use cPanel for PHP sites, adding a small Express API to the same account is convenient.
• No OS management: The provider handles kernel updates, base packages and the web server. You focus on your app.
• Integrated email and DNS: For simple projects, having email, DNS and web hosting managed from the same panel can be handy.

For example, if you are building a lightweight JSON API that powers a contact form or a simple dashboard with a few hundred daily users, shared hosting with Node support can be enough. You get HTTPS, logs and a minimal deployment process without learning full server administration.

Limitations of Shared Hosting for Node.js

The same architecture that makes shared hosting simple also imposes hard limits:

• Strict resource limits: CPU and RAM are shared with other tenants. If your Node.js process uses too much memory or CPU, it can be throttled or killed. Our article on understanding cPanel resource limits such as CPU, I/O, RAM and entry processes explains how this behaves in practice.
• Limited background processing: Long‑running workers, heavy queues or real‑time analytics can conflict with entry process and CPU limits.
• WebSockets and real‑time features: Some shared environments do not fully support WebSockets or impose aggressive timeouts, which hurts chat apps, live dashboards or multiplayer features.
• Limited control over Node versions: You are constrained to the Node versions the provider exposes in the panel.
• Operational visibility: Access to system logs, firewall rules or low‑level tuning (like TCP settings) is minimal.

In practice, we see shared hosting work best for:

• Small APIs that handle burst traffic only occasionally.
• Prototype and internal tools where perfect uptime is not critical.
• Learning projects where cost and simplicity are more important than scalability.

Once you start depending on WebSockets, background workers, or consistent low latency, a VPS becomes far more comfortable.

Hosting Node.js and Express on a VPS

What You Get with a VPS

With a VPS (Virtual Private Server) you receive a dedicated slice of CPU, RAM and disk running its own Linux operating system. You (or your hosting provider's managed team) control:

• The Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, etc.).
• Exactly which Node.js versions are installed.
• The web server and reverse proxy (commonly Nginx or Apache).
• Process managers such as PM2 or systemd to keep your app running.
• Firewall rules, SSL/TLS settings and log retention.

Because Node.js is designed to run as a long‑lived service, this environment matches its runtime model extremely well. We have documented our typical production blueprint in a dedicated article on how to host Node.js in production with PM2, systemd, Nginx, SSL and zero‑downtime deploys.

A Typical Node.js/Express Architecture on a VPS

On a dchost.com VPS, a common setup for an Express app looks like this:

• Nginx as reverse proxy listening on ports 80 and 443 and handling SSL termination.
• Express app listening on an internal port (e.g. 3000, 4000).
• PM2 or systemd managing one or more Node.js processes (clusters) per app, performing restarts and log rotation.
• .env configuration for secrets and environment variables, stored securely on the server.
• Dedicated database server or a managed database service, depending on scale.

This architecture gives you full control over memory limits, timeouts, caching and background workers while keeping the public interface clean (HTTPS only, no exposed internal ports).

Advantages of VPS Hosting for Node.js and Express

• Performance and consistency: Your CPU and RAM allocation is reserved for you, so latency is much more predictable than on heavily loaded shared hosting.
• Full WebSocket support: Real‑time features like chat, notifications and live dashboards work reliably behind Nginx with sticky sessions or token‑based routing.
• Freedom to choose Node versions and modules: Install any Node LTS or current release, build native modules, and use tools like node‑gyp without panel limitations.
• Background jobs and queues: Run workers with Bull, Agenda or custom queue systems alongside your API, managed by PM2/systemd.
• Secure multi‑env setups: Create separate dev, staging and production stacks on the same or separate VPS instances, isolating risk.

When sizing a VPS for Node.js, the logic is slightly different from PHP. Node excels at concurrency, but heavy CPU work (like PDF generation or image processing) can block the event loop. Our guide to choosing VPS CPU, RAM, NVMe and bandwidth resources for Node.js shows how we plan vCPUs and memory for different workloads.

Challenges and Responsibilities on a VPS

Of course, the flexibility of a VPS comes with additional responsibilities:

• Server updates: Keeping the OS, Node.js, Nginx and security patches up to date.
• Security hardening: SSH key management, firewalls, intrusion protection and log monitoring.
• Backups and disaster recovery: Database dumps, file backups and periodic restore tests.
• Monitoring and alerts: CPU, RAM, disk, uptime and certificate expiry monitoring.

On dchost.com we design our VPS offerings so that you can start simple (one small VPS for app + database) and evolve to more complex topologies (separate database server, Redis cache, load‑balanced web nodes) as the application grows.

Many teams combine a VPS with a CI/CD pipeline, so deployments become safe and repeatable. If you are interested in that, our article on zero‑downtime deployments to a VPS with GitHub Actions for PHP and Node.js walks through a practical setup.

Hosting Node.js and Express on Serverless

What "Serverless" Means for Node.js

Serverless platforms let you deploy individual functions instead of managing long‑running processes. When a request hits an endpoint, the platform spins up a short‑lived Node.js runtime, executes your function and then tears it down (or keeps it warm briefly). You are billed per invocation and runtime duration rather than per vCPU/GB of RAM.

Express, which assumes a single process handling many requests, does not map perfectly to this model. To make it work, you typically:

• Use an adapter library that turns your Express app into a "handler" function for the serverless provider.
• Deploy many endpoint‑specific functions instead of one monolithic Express app, or accept some overhead of wrapping Express inside each invocation.
• Rely on external services for stateful needs such as sessions, queues or scheduled jobs.

We examined this trade‑off in our article on how serverless functions compare to classic VPS hosting for small apps. When you extend the same comparison to full Express applications, the picture becomes even more nuanced.

Advantages of Serverless for Node.js

• Zero server administration: You do not manage OS patches, Nginx, PM2 or firewalls; the provider handles underlying infrastructure.
• Automatic scaling: Concurrency is handled by spinning up more function instances. You do not need to pre‑size a server for peak load.
• Event‑driven design: Great fit for tasks like image processing on upload, sending emails on specific events or handling webhooks.
• Fine‑grained billing: For endpoints with spiky or very low traffic, paying per invocation can be cheaper than running an always‑on VPS.

Serverless can be a great fit for specific slices of a Node.js system such as:

• Webhook receivers.
• Payment or notification callbacks.
• Infrequent batch jobs or scheduled tasks.

Limitations of Serverless for Full Express Apps

For a full Express API or web application, serverless introduces several constraints:

• Cold starts: Functions that are not invoked often may experience extra latency when the provider spins up a new runtime.
• Execution time limits: Many platforms cap function execution to a few seconds or minutes, which conflicts with long‑running requests or streaming.
• Limited local disk and memory: Temporary file storage is constrained, and heavy in‑memory caching is less stable across invocations.
• WebSockets and long‑lived connections: Native support may be missing or limited, making real‑time use cases difficult.
• Vendor lock‑in: The more you lean on platform‑specific services (proprietary queues, auth, storage), the harder it becomes to move away.

Because of these trade‑offs, many teams keep the "core" Express API on a VPS or dedicated server, and offload very bursty, stateless tasks to serverless functions for cost optimisation.

Shared Hosting vs VPS vs Serverless: Side‑by‑Side for Node.js

Control and Flexibility

• Shared hosting: Limited to what the panel exposes. Good enough for simple apps, but you cannot deeply tune networking, Node flags or advanced reverse proxy rules.
• VPS: Full control over the OS, Node version, process manager, reverse proxy and security stack. Best option when you need custom architecture.
• Serverless: Minimal control over underlying infrastructure. Excellent for event‑driven functions, but less flexible for full Express apps.

Performance and Latency

• Shared hosting: Performance depends heavily on neighbour accounts and global server load. Suitable for small to medium workloads without strict latency SLOs.
• VPS: Predictable performance if you size CPU and RAM correctly and use NVMe storage. Good fit for steady APIs and real‑time features.
• Serverless: Per‑invocation performance can be excellent, but cold starts and provider‑side throttling must be taken into account.

Scaling Behaviour

• Shared hosting: Vertical scaling only (upgrade plan), still with shared resources. Horizontal scaling across multiple nodes is uncommon.
• VPS: You can scale vertically (bigger VPS) or horizontally (more VPS instances behind a load balancer). Requires some operational work but remains straightforward.
• Serverless: Horizontal scaling is automatic at the function level. However, you must ensure downstream services (databases, queues) can handle the burst.

WebSockets and Real‑Time Features

• Shared hosting: Sometimes supported, but often constrained by timeouts, connection limits or lack of fine‑grained control.
• VPS: First‑class support. You control Nginx timeouts, keep‑alive settings and scaling, which is ideal for chat apps, live dashboards and multiplayer games.
• Serverless: Limited or indirect support depending on provider. Often you need a separate managed WebSocket service or a different architecture.

Costs and Pricing Model

• Shared hosting: Fixed, low monthly fee. Best when you host several small sites/APIs under one plan and do not need high resource guarantees.
• VPS: Fixed monthly fee proportional to vCPUs, RAM, disk and bandwidth. Ideal cost/performance balance once your app has consistent usage.
• Serverless: Pay per invocation and runtime. Can be very economical for low or spiky traffic, but becomes expensive if your app is busy all day.

Operational Complexity

• Shared hosting: Lowest operational burden. You still need to deploy code and monitor basics, but you rarely touch OS‑level configuration.
• VPS: Medium complexity. You gain power but must handle security, backups and monitoring. With good automation, this becomes manageable even for small teams.
• Serverless: You skip server maintenance, but your application architecture becomes distributed and more complex to reason about (functions, queues, gateways, identities).

Practical Architectures and Migration Paths

For Solo Developers and Small MVPs

If you are building an MVP or a side project with Node.js and Express, your priorities are usually speed of launch and low cost. Two realistic starting points are:

• Small VPS: A 1–2 vCPU VPS with 2–4 GB RAM is enough for many early‑stage apps. You get full control and learn production practices from day one.
• Shared hosting with Node support: If you only need a single small Express API with limited traffic, this can be the simplest option, especially if your domain and email are already on shared hosting.

As your user base grows, upgrading to a larger VPS is straightforward. When that happens, you will find our detailed Node.js production hosting playbook with PM2, systemd and Nginx very helpful for tightening your setup.

For Agencies and Teams Managing Multiple Apps

Agencies often manage several Node.js APIs, backends for SPAs and integration services. In that case, we typically suggest:

• One or more mid‑sized VPS instances at dchost.com, each running multiple apps behind Nginx virtual hosts.
• Separate staging and production environments, possibly on different VPS nodes, to avoid client‑visible downtime during testing.
• Scripted deployments via Git or CI/CD so that rollbacks are quick and predictable.

This model gives you a good balance of isolation, cost and operational simplicity, without the lock‑in and complexity of going all‑in on serverless for every project.

Hybrid Architectures: VPS Core + Serverless Edges

One pattern we see working particularly well is a hybrid architecture:

• Your main Express API and WebSocket server run on a VPS or dedicated server.
• Static frontends (React, Vue, Next.js static export) are served via a CDN.
• Serverless functions handle highly bursty, stateless tasks such as image resizing, one‑off reports or webhook processing.

We discussed similar hybrid patterns in our guide to hosting headless CMS and Jamstack sites with static builds, object storage and serverless functions. The same ideas apply nicely to modern Node.js apps where you want to keep your core API predictable, and push elastic tasks to a pay‑per‑use execution environment.

How We Recommend Choosing at dchost.com

At dchost.com we host everything from tiny Express webhooks to high‑traffic Node.js APIs and real‑time applications. Over time, some patterns have emerged that we use to advise customers:

• Tiny, low‑traffic APIs or webhooks: If you already have shared hosting with Node support, using that can be perfectly fine. Alternatively, a very small VPS gives you more control with only a small cost increase.
• Primary backend for a SPA or mobile app: Start with a modest VPS so you can tune Node versions, Nginx and PM2, then scale vertically or horizontally as usage grows.
• Real‑time apps (chat, trading, dashboards, gaming): Go straight to a VPS (or multiple VPS nodes) with NVMe storage and carefully planned CPU/RAM. Our VPS sizing guide for Node.js is a good starting point for that planning.
• Complex SaaS with many moving parts: Combine multiple VPS instances (API, database, cache, queue) and optionally layer in serverless for specific bursty workloads.

From there, you can improve your deployment and operations story. For example, combining a dchost.com VPS with a CI/CD pipeline like the one described in our guide to zero‑downtime GitHub Actions deployments for Node.js helps you ship changes safely and often.

Conclusion: Picking the Right Home for Your Node.js and Express Apps

There is no single "best" hosting model for Node.js and Express; the right choice depends on how critical your app is, how stable your traffic patterns are, and how much operational control you want. Shared hosting with Node support can be a simple and cost‑effective starting point for small utilities and prototypes. A VPS gives you the control, performance and flexibility required for serious APIs, real‑time services and SaaS products, while still being approachable for small teams when combined with good practices and automation. Serverless shines when you need to run small, stateless functions on demand and want to avoid paying for idle capacity, but it is rarely the best place to run a full Express application end‑to‑end.

As the dchost.com team, we typically recommend anchoring your main Express app on a well‑sized VPS, and then strategically using shared hosting or serverless where it truly makes sense. If you are unsure where your current or planned Node.js project fits on this spectrum, our existing guides — from choosing between cPanel, shared hosting and VPS for Node.js to comparing serverless functions and classic VPS hosting — can help you detail the next steps. And of course, you can always reach out to our team to discuss whether shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers or colocation at dchost.com is the right foundation for your Node.js and Express roadmap.