do I need a VPS?

A VPS is always better to sign up with and I'd advise you to use them from time-tested companies like QHoster.com and Virtono.com. Servers are stable and prices are rock-bottom.

I personally hate share hosting. Hosting company put many user in the same server and then customer will suffer. For profession use, it always recommended to go for VPS hosting. If you can manage your server then I would suggest you to look for self managed servers because those are cheap.