For most of the 2000s and early 2010s, a dedicated IP address was a prerequisite for SSL. The reason was technical: SSL certificates used to require a unique IP address per domain because the web server needed to know which certificate to use before the TLS handshake completed.
SNI (Server Name Indication) solved this in 2003 and became universally supported by 2014. Since then, a dedicated IP is not required for SSL. But hosts still sell them, and customers still buy them, often without a clear understanding of what they actually change.
What a Dedicated IP Is
In shared hosting, multiple customer sites share one IP address. When a request comes in for that IP on port 443, nginx uses the SNI hostname from the TLS handshake to identify which site is being requested and which certificate to use.
A dedicated IP means your domain has its own IP address, used only by you.
What It Still Changes
Email reputation: If you're sending transactional email (order confirmations, account emails) from your server's IP address, the reputation of that IP matters. On a shared IP, a neighbour who sends spam can affect your email delivery. On a dedicated IP, your reputation is entirely your own.
This matters if you're sending significant email volume from your server. If you're using an external email service (Mailchimp, Postmark, SendGrid), it's irrelevant — those services have their own IPs.
Some legacy security scanners: Certain third-party PCI compliance scanners still report a finding for "shared IP hosting" even though SNI makes it a non-issue for modern systems. If you need to pass such a scan, a dedicated IP resolves the finding.
IP-based access restrictions: If you're configuring external systems to whitelist your server's IP (for API access, webhook verification, etc.), a shared IP means that IP could also belong to your neighbours. A dedicated IP is uniquely yours.
What It Doesn't Change
SSL certificate issuance: You can get a free Let's Encrypt certificate on a shared IP. No issue.
HTTPS performance: TLS handshake performance is the same on shared and dedicated IPs.
Search engine ranking: Google has explicitly stated that shared IP hosting is not a ranking factor. The dedicated IP = better SEO claim is a myth that has persisted for years without evidence.
Site speed: No effect on PHP execution, database performance, or time to first byte.
Our Current Setup
All our plans run on shared IPs. If you need a dedicated IP for email reputation management or compliance scanning, contact us — we can arrange it. For most customers, the shared IP configuration works well and the cost savings are better spent elsewhere.