Executive summary
For most organizations, FreeScout belongs on a VPS. Shared hosting can work for very small teams, but it introduces performance constraints, security exposure, and email deliverability risks that scale poorly. VPS hosting provides control, stability, and predictable performance — all critical for a production helpdesk.
If your support function is business‑critical, VPS is the best choice. It protects SLA commitments, ensures consistent response times, and supports reliable email operations.
Performance and responsiveness
Shared hosting distributes CPU, memory, and storage across many tenants. When other sites spike, your FreeScout performance can degrade without warning. That means slower searches, delayed replies, and frustrated agents.
A VPS allocates dedicated resources. Your team experiences consistent response times regardless of what other tenants are doing. This stability is vital for support leaders who depend on predictable workflows.
Security and compliance
Shared hosting environments are inherently multi‑tenant. While reputable providers isolate accounts, the risk surface is higher. A vulnerability in a neighboring site can raise exposure concerns, especially for sensitive support data.
VPS environments give you control over patching, access rules, and hardening. This means stronger security posture and easier compliance with internal policies.
Email deliverability and reliability
Helpdesks are only as good as their inbound and outbound email. Shared hosting often uses shared IPs, which can be blacklisted by poor behavior from other tenants. That impacts support deliverability and customer trust.
A VPS allows proper DNS configuration, SPF/DKIM/DMARC alignment, and dedicated SMTP providers. The result: higher deliverability rates, fewer missed messages, and a more reliable support channel.
Operational control
FreeScout requires cron jobs, mail routing, and server configuration. Shared hosting often restricts these features or limits their reliability. VPS gives full control, enabling you to customize PHP limits, storage paths, and background tasks to match your workload.
With VPS control, you can scale resources as ticket volume grows, rather than being constrained by shared host limits.
Cost vs total cost of ownership
Shared hosting appears cheaper, but the hidden cost is operational instability. Downtime, missing emails, and slow performance cost far more than the hosting difference. VPS fees are small compared to the value of stable customer communication.
From an executive viewpoint, the question is not “which is cheaper?” but “which protects revenue and customer trust?” VPS consistently wins that evaluation.
Recommended path
If your FreeScout instance handles core customer communication, use a VPS. It delivers security, reliability, and performance that shared hosting cannot match. For teams that expect to grow, VPS is the only sustainable long‑term option.
Consider professional installation services to configure VPS properly, including mail routing and security hardening.