Engineering Brief
Hosting with postgresql — Run the engine your framework was written against
Your application assumes JSONB, real check constraints and Postgres-flavoured migrations, and every shared host you have priced offers MySQL and a shrug.
The short answer
Take Business hosting on Overdrive at $19.99 a month: PostgreSQL and MySQL both available on the same account, so a Django, Rails or Laravel application gets the engine it was designed against without anyone renting and administering a VPS.
Both engines matter, not just Postgres. Any WordPress install sitting alongside — the marketing site, the docs, the blog — still expects MySQL, and running the two side by side is what removes the awkward choice between the application and everything around it.
Below: how to tell whether your project genuinely needs Postgres, how to connect and profile a query from the shell, and the point at which shared Postgres stops being the right answer and root becomes it.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
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Postgres on shared hosting is rarer than it should be, and the usual consequence is that a perfectly ordinary web application gets pushed onto an unmanaged server it does not need — along with the patching, the backups and the monitoring that come with it.
This page treats the question the way a developer would: what does the framework assume, what does the workload actually cost, and where is the honest boundary between a shared allocation and a machine of your own.
Does the project actually need it?
Sometimes the answer is no, and it is worth five minutes to find out. If the application uses a framework ORM with no raw SQL, no JSONB, no arrays, no full-text search and no partial indexes, it will probably run on either engine and the decision is about convention rather than capability.
Often the answer is yes, and for concrete reasons: JSONB with GIN indexes, real check constraints, transactional DDL that lets a failed migration roll back cleanly, or a library whose query builder emits Postgres dialect. Any one of those makes a compatibility layer a tax you pay on every deploy.
The tell is in the migrations directory. If the migration files name Postgres types or use `USING` clauses in column alterations, the project has already made this decision and you are just finding out about it.
Both engines, on one account
Overdrive carries PostgreSQL and MySQL together, which matters because almost nobody runs only one application. The Django project takes Postgres; the WordPress marketing site takes MySQL; both live in the same account with the same backups and the same panel.
Redline at $39.99 is the same arrangement at agency scale: 1 TB of disk, 5 TB of bandwidth, 500 addon domains, 500 mailboxes and 200 MySQL databases. Overdrive at $19.99 gives you 500 GB, 1 TB of bandwidth, 3.5 cores and 2.5 GB of RAM and 100 addon domains.
Both include SSH from signup, native Node.js, Python and Ruby on Rails deployment, cron, Git and Composer, WordPress Toolkit with staging, Imunify360 in front of every site, daily backups you restore yourself, and priority support around the clock.
Connecting, and finding the slow query
Connect over SSH and use psql the way you would anywhere: `psql -h localhost -U youruser yourdb`. Standard client tooling works, which means your existing scripts, dump routines and migration tooling do too.
Profile with `EXPLAIN ANALYZE` in front of the statement you suspect. Read the actual time on the top node, then look for a sequential scan over a large table — that is the missing index, and it is the cause of most 'the database is slow' reports.
Take dumps with `pg_dump` and keep them next to your release tags. The account's own daily backup is the second net, restorable from the panel, but a dump you took deliberately before a migration is faster to reason about than a whole-account restore.
Where shared Postgres stops being the answer
A shared allocation gives you a database on a managed server, not a database server. You cannot tune shared_buffers, install an arbitrary extension, or hold hundreds of persistent connections open.
Those constraints bind when the working set genuinely exceeds the memory you have been allocated, when you need an extension the platform does not carry, or when you want a replica. At that point a KVM VPS with full root — from $13.52 a month for 1 core, $20.28 for 2 cores and 2 GB, $33.81 for 4 cores and 4 GB — is the honest answer, and you take on the patching that comes with it.
Until then, Overdrive at $19.99 is considerably less work than a server you maintain yourself, and the migration path between them is a normal pg_dump and restore rather than a rebuild.
Why we tell you when to leave
Naming the point at which a VPS beats shared hosting costs us a sale occasionally and saves us a support queue full of workloads that never fitted. It also means the recommendation above is worth something.
We are recommending our own Business plan and saying so. What the page gives back is the specification in full, the commands to profile with, and the criterion for outgrowing it.
- Postgres and MySQL on the same account
- psql and pg_dump over SSH, not through a web form
- Specs printed: cores, memory, disk, bandwidth
- The exit point named, not hidden
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
The engine your ORM expects
PostgreSQL available on Business hosting, so a Django, Rails or Laravel project runs on its native dialect.
MySQL in the same account
The WordPress site next to your application keeps the engine it needs, under one panel and one backup schedule.
psql over SSH
Standard client tooling, so your existing dump scripts, migration runners and profiling habits carry over unchanged.
Native runtimes included
Node.js, Python and Ruby on Rails deploy natively on Overdrive and Redline, alongside PHP and Composer.
Imunify360 in front
Server-level firewall, malware scanning and proactive defence on Business plans, running below the application.
A clean route to root
When the working set outgrows a shared allocation, a KVM VPS from $13.52 takes a pg_dump and restore, not a rewrite.
Prices Side by Side
Our numbers next to the big names
Typical intro and renewal pricing across the market, lined up against ours — including the renewal figure most comparison charts skip.
| Feature | HostingFastMost popular | Typical household-name host | Typical bargain host | Typical loss-leader deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price / mo* | $2.42/mo | $4–$6 | $2–$4 | $1–$3 |
| Renewal price / mo | $2.42/mo | $10–$15 | $8–$12 | $4–$6 |
| Cheapest plan renews at its sign-up price | ||||
| SSL as standard | ||||
| Migration done for you | ||||
| NVMe drives on the cheapest tier | ||||
| Daily backups from the first tier | ||||
| Real humans on support, 24/7 |
*Our number is the lowest-priced plan we sell on an annual term, pulled live from the same catalogue that powers our pricing page — it physically cannot fall out of date. The other three columns show the ranges shared hosts in each bracket typically advertise: introductory offers that mostly demand a one-to-four-year commitment, then jump once it expires. We no longer name rivals or print their prices, because a figure we cannot verify on the day you read it has no business on this page. Line us up against whichever host you are really weighing — and give the renewal row the hardest look.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Read your own migrations first
Postgres types, USING clauses and JSONB columns mean the decision is already made. If none appear, either engine may do.
- 2
Size the working set, not the disk
The number that matters is how much of the hot data has to sit in memory, and that is what decides shared versus root.
- 3
Profile before you upgrade anything
EXPLAIN ANALYZE on the suspect query. A sequential scan over a big table is a missing index, not a hardware shortage.
- 4
Keep a dump beside every release
pg_dump before a migration is faster to reason about than a whole-account restore, and the daily backup still stands behind it.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- PostgreSQL and MySQL both available on Business plans
- SSH enabled from signup, with psql and pg_dump on the path
- Native Node.js, Python and Ruby on Rails deployment
- Round-the-clock cover from humans rather than an autoresponder
- Per-site PHP selection, with extensions toggled per version
- Year one of the domain free when you order annually
- NVMe drives on the entry tier as well as the expensive ones
- Zero setup charges — there is no joining fee
- LiteSpeed caching built into the web server
- Staging copies for testing a migration before it ships
- Daily backups with self-service restores from the panel
Frequently Asked
What people ask us most often
How do I tell whether my project genuinely needs Postgres?
Open the migrations directory. Postgres-specific types, JSONB columns, array columns or `USING` clauses in column alterations mean the project already assumes it. If the schema is plain columns and the code never writes raw SQL, either engine will probably serve and the choice is convention rather than capability.
How do I find a slow query on a shared Postgres database?
Connect with psql over SSH and put `EXPLAIN ANALYZE` in front of the statement. Read the actual time on the top node and look for a sequential scan across a large table — that is a missing index, and it accounts for most reports that the database has become slow.
Can a WordPress site and a Django app live on the same account?
Yes, and that is the usual arrangement. Business hosting runs both engines, so WordPress keeps MySQL while your application uses Postgres, both under one panel, one backup schedule and one invoice. Overdrive at $19.99 a month carries 100 addon domains for exactly this kind of estate.
When should I stop using shared Postgres and take a server?
When the hot working set no longer fits the memory you have, when you need an extension the platform does not carry, or when you want a replica. At that point a KVM VPS with full root starts at $13.52 a month, and the move is a pg_dump and restore rather than a rebuild.
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