Managed application or VPS: the question is not the price

It is who runs the machine when a security update lands on a Tuesday morning.

Starting at €2.99/month

See the managed applications See the Linux VPS plans

By · Président de By-Hoster, directeur de publication

Last updated:

On the surface the two overlap: in both cases you end up with software reachable over the internet, hosted in France. The price gap — €2.99/month for a managed application, €4.99/month for a Linux VPS — is too small to settle anything on its own.

The real difference lies elsewhere: it is about what you administer. With a VPS you get a bare machine and root access; everything running on it is yours to look after, security updates and backups included. With a managed application you get software that works, and the upkeep is ours.

This page says plainly where each is the right call, including the cases where a managed application is not the answer. A cancellation within 48 hours serves nobody.

82
Applications in the catalogue
2.99€/month
Managed application, incl. VAT
4.99€/month
Linux KVM VPS, incl. VAT
100%
Hosted in France

Take a managed application if…

You want one specific title from the catalogue

WordPress, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Dolibarr, n8n: if the software is among the 82 titles, the managed application hands it to you in working order.

Nobody on your side will keep the server

A server with nobody to maintain it is not a saving, it is a debt. The question is not whether you can do it, but whether you will still be doing it in eight months.

Security updates worry you

That is the most common point of failure in self-hosting. Delegating it is often the only reason you need.

You only want one application

For a single piece of software, the managed offer costs less in time than a VPS, even when it costs a few euros more per month.

The calculation people forget

Comparing monthly prices is misleading because it ignores the only genuinely scarce resource: your time. A properly kept VPS costs a few hours over a year — updates, checking that backups ran, renewing a certificate that failed, the occasional incident.

That is not a lot. But those are hours that rarely fall at a convenient moment, and that do not happen at all once the person who was meant to handle them has changed role.

Conversely, as soon as the number of services grows, the VPS regains the advantage: one machine at €4.99/month runs several, where four managed applications are billed four times.

Can you start with one and move to the other

Yes, and it is a common path. Many people start with a managed application to check that the software suits them, then move to a VPS once the requirements become clearer.

Migration is possible because this is free software: you export your data from the application and import it into the instance you install. No proprietary format holds you back.

The reverse also happens: a VPS taken on with enthusiasm, left without updates for six months, then replaced by a managed application. That is a reasonable decision, not an admission of failure.

What each one covers

Managed application Linux KVM VPS
Entry price incl. VAT €2.99/month €4.99/month
Choice of software 82 applications in the catalogue Anything that runs on Linux
Root / SSH access No Yes
Installation Done by us Yours to do
Security updates Applied and checked by us Yours to do
Backups Automatic, one-click restore Yours to configure
HTTPS certificate Issued and renewed automatically Yours to install and renew
Database Created and isolated automatically Yours to install and secure
Docker, docker-compose Not exposed Yes, without restriction
Skills required No system administration Real Linux administration
Time to live A few minutes A few minutes for the machine, the rest is up to you

Take a VPS if…

You want your own docker-compose

Bespoke composition, in-house images, side services: none of that is possible on a managed application, and all of it is possible on a VPS.

The software is not in the catalogue

The catalogue covers 82 applications, not the whole of free software. Outside that list, the answer is a VPS.

You want several services on one machine

A VPS hosts as many services as its resources allow. Each managed application is billed separately — past three or four, the arithmetic tips towards a VPS.

You are building your own application

An in-house application in Node.js, Python, Go or PHP implies a deployment you control. That is VPS territory, with root access.

You want to learn

Administering a server is learned by administering a server. If that is the goal, managed hosting removes precisely what you came for.

Frequently asked questions

No, at equal resources. Each application runs in its own container with guaranteed resources and a disk quota. The difference is in what you can change, not in what the machine delivers.

No: one plan corresponds to one application. If you want four or five, compare with a VPS, where they would share the same machine — provided you administer them.

You export your data from the application, order the VPS and reinstall. We keep your data for 15 days after the managed service ends, which leaves time to switch without rushing.

In money, from three or four services onwards, yes. In total cost it depends entirely on the time you will spend maintaining it — and on how honest your estimate of that is.

A Proxmox VDS, from €13.99/month, gives you your own hypervisor and therefore several isolated virtual machines. That is the tier above a VPS, not below: it implies more administration, not less.

Neither: for a WordPress or PrestaShop site, shared Plesk hosting from €1/month is simpler and cheaper than both.

Further reading