VPS vs Cloud: the difference is the network, not the marketing

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They are close relatives: in both cases you get a virtual machine of your own, with root access and administration on your side. There are two real differences: the ceiling and the private network.

Side by side


VPS
Cloud
Resources Reserved for you alone on KVM virtualisation: from 1 vCPU and 2 GB up to 8 vCPU and 32 GB, on SSD. Reserved, with a higher ceiling: up to 16 vCPU and 60 GB of RAM. Public network plus a private network between your machines.
Administration Yours. We hand it over with the operating system installed and root access; from there it is on you. Yours, same as a VPS: delivered with the OS and root access.
Control panel Not included. Can be bought separately, at order time or later by ticket. Not included, bought separately.
Growing Move up a plan, with a machine restart. Scales higher, and links several machines over the private network.
Backups Not included. Bought separately, at their own cost. Not included, bought separately.
Built for Custom applications, several heavy sites, anyone who needs to install what they like. Projects that grow in layers — application on one machine, database on another.

The short answer

For a single machine doing its job, a VPS is enough and costs less. Choose Cloud if you will have more than one machine working together, or if you need to go above the 8 vCPU and 32 GB the largest VPS offers.

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Signs it is time to move

1 You want two or more machines talking over a private network, without exposing ports to the internet.
2 You need more memory or more cores than the largest VPS offers.
3 You are designing the system in layers, with growth in mind.
Moving up a tier changes who administers it. Above shared hosting, the system becomes your responsibility: updates, firewall and backups. Read what changes between a managed and an unmanaged service before deciding — that is the part that catches people out.
What does not change with the plan. The domain stays registered in your name and e-mail can come along. Migrating does not force an address change or lose messages — it is planned and done without the site going offline.

If you are not sure, tell us what the site does and how much traffic it gets. Asking costs less than moving twice.

We will tell you the right option for your case, with no push towards the dearest plan.

Talk to our team

SEE ALSO

All four tiers at once: Shared hosting, VPS, Cloud or dedicated: the full comparison.

VPS AND CLOUD SERVERS

For when shared hosting is no longer enough.

Dedicated resources, root access and freedom to install whatever you need. With the same support team behind it.

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Linux or Windows · scale when you need to

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Cloud server

Grows with your project without making you move house. from $5.30/mo

See plans
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