1. No
2. Any decent PHP host - I currently host with eukhost on a dedicated server, but I am hosting a lot of sites - I've found their support OK, but I haven't needed it much

You don't have to have VPS but you need to consider whether the host supports the version of Laravel you want to use like the PHP version and other extensions. Look up the server requirements then check if the host you want to use supports them.

Another thing you might want is SSH access as this will allow you to run artisan commands and also to install and run composer.

I use GoDaddy and use Laravel (tested versions 4.2 as well as 5.1)

Its not Mandatory to use VPS for Laravel. I recommend Dedicated Hosting for Laravel with Cloudways Platform. Cloudways is an intuitive cloud hosting platform, that enables novices, bloggers, designers, developers and agencies to easily manage and deploy applications on DigitalOcean, Amazon EC2 servers and Google Compute Engine.

What Cloudways does is optimize and setup all the necessary software on the DigitalOcean, Google Compute Engine and Amazon EC2 servers. You don't have to worry about installing Linux, MySQL, PHP, Varnish, Memcache, Apache, Nginx and other scripts on the servers.

Prices start at $15/month.

Features of Cloudways Platform:

Installation 1- Selection from DigitalOcean (6 data centers) and Amazon EC2 servers (9 data centers) and Google Compute Engine (3 regions) 2- One Click Application Installs (WordPress, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, Prestashop, support for all php based applications) 3- Server scaling, based on bandwidth, hard disk space, processor and RAM. 4- Billing on hourly basis. 5- Free New Relic Addon 6- Rackspace Email Addon 7- Ability to change PHP Versions (5.4, 5.5, 5.6), install Redis, change MySQL versions to MariaDB.

Server Features 1- 15 real time monitoring features. 2- Vertical Server Scaling 3- Service Management (Nginx, Varnish, MySQL, Apache, Memcache...) 4- Advance Server settings (Upload size, execution limit, memory limit etc.) 5- SSL Certificate Configuration 6- Automatic Backups, with frequency as low as 1 per hour 7- Server Addons (Email settings) 8- Dedicated IP 9- Unlimited Domains 10- Unlimited Application Installations

Application Management 1- SFTP connection 2- Dedicated MySQL/MariaDB Database 3- Application Restore 4- Application and Server Cloning 5- Git Integration and Deployment Via Git 6- SSH Access

All servers are automatically updated and patched as soon as new updates are available. Also support team is available 24/7 to help and assist whenever needed.

i have recently signed up with digital ocean. I will of course be using it for laravel but was wondering if I should just upload homestead on it or is that purely for local use?

shez1983 said:

i have recently signed up with digital ocean. I will of course be using it for laravel but was wondering if I should just upload homestead on it or is that purely for local use?

Shez, While I am not an expert (yet) on Laravel, the whole point of using homestead is to replicate the "production" environment in your local development environment. This means that on Digital Ocean (DO) you will want to install the same version and packages that you have in Homestead. There is NO NEED to install Homestead on DO.

If you need a good and reliable hosting, look for the one from http://www.bodhost.com/windows-vps-hosting.php I;ve been using their plans for Windows, and they are really great, I guess. Maybe it will be a good choice for you as well

it's not mandatory but when you have to deploy fast it's so much easier to use a vps because you dont want to copy the composer packages one by one over ftp.

About 60% of our clients use laravel and we have decent experience with the framework as well. Shameless plug: http://www.fortrabbit.com/laravel-hosting