# Static site or dedicated server: which do you actually need? > One question decides most of your hosting bill: does your site need a server? This guide gives you a checklist to answer it. Source: https://customhosted.com/guides/static-site-vs-dedicated-server/ № 01 Field manual Choosing · Updated 11 July 2026 · 7 min read Contents 1. The real question 2. What static handles 3. What forces dedicated 4. The grey area 5. Decision checklist 6. The cost angle The short version 1. 01 — Almost every hosting decision collapses into one question: does the app need a server standing by, or does it just need to be handed out? 2. 02 — A static site fits anything where the content is the same for every visitor — no server to patch, near-instant loads from a global edge network. 3. 03 — Dedicated compute is required the moment an app runs its own server-side logic, owns a database, or holds a persistent connection. 4. 04 — Both are priced as one flat monthly rate — no per-request billing to model in advance. ## The question underneath the question Almost every hosting decision people agonize over collapses into one real question: does this site need a server standing by, or does it just need to be handed out? Get that one right and the rest — price, speed, how much upkeep it needs — mostly follows on its own. ## What a static site handles well A static site is pre-built pages and assets, pushed out to a global edge network and handed to visitors with no server computing the response on the fly. That's a good fit for anything where the content is the same for everyone, or only changes when someone deliberately redeploys it: - Marketing sites, landing pages, documentation, and blogs - Portfolios, brochure sites, and product pages - Front ends that call out to a third-party API rather than running their own backend - Anything currently over-provisioned on a full server just to serve HTML and images The upside is real: no server to patch, near-instant page loads from a global edge network, and it scales to a traffic spike without anyone getting paged. ## What forces dedicated compute Dedicated compute is a persistent instance that keeps running and keeps state between requests. You need it — not "might benefit from it," need it — the moment your app does any of the following: - Runs its own server-side logic per request, not just templated pages - Talks to a database it owns, rather than a third party's API - Holds a persistent connection: websockets, queues, or a long-running job - Needs scheduled or background work independent of any single visitor's request None of that is exotic — it's most real applications. The tell is whether the app needs to _remember_ or _compute_ something between one request and the next. ## The grey area Most sites aren't purely one or the other. A marketing site with a contact form is still static — the form just posts to a small relay. A content site with a comments section, a login, or a checkout usually isn't static anymore, even if 95% of its pages are. APIs, databases, and queues are exactly this grey area, and it's where a flat-quoted conversation beats a self-service calculator: describe what the app actually does and we'll design the instance size and any managed database around it, then quote one number for the whole thing. ## A decision checklist - **Content is the same for every visitor**: Static. No per-request logic to run. - **The app has its own login, database, or checkout**: Dedicated. Something has to hold state and run logic. - **You're not sure, or it's a bit of both**: Describe the workload — we'll size and quote it, flat, either way. - **You want to change your mind later**: Fine either direction — moving from static to dedicated (or back) doesn't lock you in. Not sure which side you're on? The [selector](https://customhosted.com/selector) walks this same question in three short questions and points straight at the right page. ## The cost angle Static hosting and dedicated compute are both priced as one flat monthly rate on the [rate card](https://customhosted.com/pricing) — no per-request billing to model in advance, and no surprise invoice for a traffic spike. If you'd rather see a number before talking to anyone, the [self-serve estimator](https://customhosted.com/#estimate) gives a live monthly total for either path. Read the full breakdown of each on the [static hosting](https://customhosted.com/static) and [dedicated compute](https://customhosted.com/dedicated) pages, or just describe the workload through the [quote form](https://customhosted.com/contact) and get a flat number back within a business day. Next in the manual ## Keep reading - [What “managed” actually means — and the hours it gives back See the work managed hosting takes off your week: patching, backups, monitoring and a human who answers. Each task comes with the hours it saves.](https://customhosted.com/guides/what-managed-hosting-includes) - [Should you host it yourself? The hidden cost of rolling your own Self-hosting looks almost free until you price the hours. See the build-versus-buy math, when doing it yourself wins, and when to hand it over.](https://customhosted.com/guides/should-you-self-host) - [How to keep shipping changes to a live site — without hiring a dev team Sites decay after launch. Learn how the Build, Iterate, Run loop keeps a live site changing when you have no developer on staff.](https://customhosted.com/guides/keep-shipping-without-a-dev-team) ## Ready to start? Tell us what you're running — one fixed monthly rate, within a business day. [Get a quote →](https://customhosted.com/contact)