Reading a plan spec: what the numbers on a hosting page really mean
The number printed largest on a hosting page is almost never the one that stops you. Disk and transfer are cheap to advertise and slow to exhaust. What actually ends a good afternoon is concurrency (how many requests your account may run at the same time) or file count. Read a spec sheet from the small print upward, and judge every line by one question: what happens the moment I cross it?
What each line really constrains
Two limits behave very differently. Some are soft ceilings that slow you down, and some are hard walls that break writes or return errors to visitors. Sort the sheet that way before comparing plans.
| Spec line | What it actually limits | When it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Disk space | Total bytes stored, including databases, mail, logs and backups kept on the same account | Rarely from page content. Usually from retained backups, uncompressed media, or a log that nobody rotates |
| Bandwidth / transfer | Monthly egress volume | Almost never for text sites. Only if you serve video, large downloads, or get scraped hard |
| Memory limit | RAM available to your processes, sometimes per process and sometimes account wide | On imports, backup runs, and heavy plugins. The account wide figure is the one that matters |
| Entry processes | Concurrent requests entering PHP at one instant | The most common real ceiling. Traffic spikes, a crawler, or one slow query queueing everything behind it |
| CPU allowance | Processing time, usually as a percentage of a core | Under sustained uncached traffic, or a scheduled job that overlaps itself |
| I/O and IOPS | Disk read and write speed and operation rate | During backups, large database work, or noisy neighbours on oversold hardware |
| Inodes | Number of files and folders, regardless of their size | Silently, on estates of many small sites. Crossing it can block writes and break mail |
| Addon domains / accounts | How many separate sites the panel will let you define | Immediately and obviously, which is why it is the least dangerous limit on the list |
Which ceiling you hit depends on your shape
A dozen brochure sites and one busy store are not the same workload, and they run out of different things.
- Estate of many small sites. Inodes bind first. A stock content management install carries tens of thousands of files before you add a single page, so ten of them can approach a typical shared allowance while disk usage sits under a fifth of what you paid for. Mail makes it worse, since every retained message is another file.
- One busy site. Entry processes and memory bind first, together. If your account allows 1 GB and each worker is permitted 128 MB, you get about eight simultaneous workers, so an advertised limit of 20 entry processes is decoration. The lower effective number wins, and neither line tells you that on its own.
Reading the word unlimited
Unlimited disk or transfer means the line has been moved somewhere else, not removed. The real limits are then inodes, concurrency, CPU, and whatever the acceptable use terms say about primary purpose. A plan advertising unlimited storage with a 250,000 inode cap is a plan with a file count limit. Look for the number that was left in.
Turn the sheet into numbers before you buy
- Count your current files, not your gigabytes. Compare that to the inode line and leave room for growth in mail and media.
- Divide the account memory allowance by the per process limit. That quotient is your true concurrency, and compare it to the entry process figure.
- Estimate PHP time per uncached page. At 400 ms, eight workers give roughly 20 dynamic requests per second. Decide whether your peak fits.
- Ask what happens at the ceiling: queued, throttled, a 508 shown to visitors, or writes refused. Get it in writing before ordering.
Once you know which limit binds first, the plan choice follows. If it is site count and isolation, work through sizing and selection and stay on multi-IP shared hosting. If it is concurrency or memory on a single property, a VPS buys the thing you are short of. Upgrading against the wrong number is how people pay more and hit the same wall.
Still not sure which way to go?
Tell us what you are building. If it needs less than you think, we will say so.