I, like you, wanted the option of using mod_perl on a hosting site. But, of course, most providers don't offer it.

There are a small select number of dedicated mod_perl hosting providers, however I decided to go with an entire virtual private server (VPS) hosted at Linode in Los Angeles, USA, and then subsequently rented another VPS at ByteMark in London, UK. On the VPSs I can select exactly which Apache version I want to use and add on mod_perl at will.

When I was with IPowerWeb I actually found my CGI Perl pages executed quite quickly, I presume this is because their servers are reasonably powerful even though each one is hosting hundreds of sites.

But of course going with mod_perl gives significant advantages. But there are issues and risks as well:

• threading with mod_perl is a potential issue (and Apache can be run in a per-process mode, or a worker model which initiates lots of threads in each process)
• virtual hosts can cause issues - I've tried running different versions of TWiki on different virtual hosts all using mod_perl on the same Apache server and it has ended in tears

I guess what I'm saying is that if you really want to do mod_perl, then the rewards require that you take some risks, and most standard cheap hosting companies don't want to take those kinds of risks!