I am planning to build a small forum with xenforo, what type of web hosting should I start with? a shared would be good for this forum software or a VPS?
Decent shared hosting will set you back with amount which is almost equal to what you can get a cheap VPS for. If you have the passion to learn, you can start with a VPS, manage your VPS for your forum and have fun. If you just want things to work at the beginning, go with shared hosting.