VDS or VPS: which do you actually need?
A question of level, not power: who holds the hypervisor, you or us?
Starting at from €13.99/mo
Introduction
The difference between a VPS and a Proxmox VDS is not about power, whatever the marketing vocabulary suggests. It is a question of level: with a VPS you receive a ready virtual machine and the hypervisor is ours. With a Proxmox VDS, the hypervisor is yours, and you build your own machines.
The deciding test fits in one question: do you need to create virtual machines? If the answer is no — a site, an application, a database — the VPS is simpler and cheaper. If the answer is yes, the VDS is the only one of the two that allows it.
A price marker, because it counts: our VPS start at €1/month and our Proxmox VDS at €13.99. The gap comes from what goes in — 16 GB of memory in the very first VDS plan, against far less on an entry-level VPS. You are not paying for the same object.
What the server brings, across the whole range
Proxmox VE already installed
The server arrives with <strong>Proxmox VE</strong> in place and its web interface reachable. You create your virtual machines and LXC containers from the browser, without a support ticket or a wait. <strong>Reinstalls are unlimited</strong>: an experiment that goes wrong is redone in minutes.
RAM, because that is what runs out first
On a hypervisor it is almost never the processor that caps out first: it is <strong>memory</strong>, because every virtual machine reserves its own. The range starts at <strong>16 GB</strong> and goes up to <strong>96 GB</strong>, which leaves room to stack several VMs without starving them.
Unlimited snapshots and backups
A snapshot before an update, another before a configuration change: that is what separates a test from a gamble. Neither the count nor the frequency is billed, so nothing discourages taking one more.
Up to 16 additional IPv4 addresses
Each VM can hold its own public address, which avoids routing everything through port forwards on the host. Useful as soon as a virtual firewall, a web server and a third-party service have to coexist cleanly.
How to decide
One service to host → VPS
A site, a bot, an API, a database. Nothing justifies managing a hypervisor for that, and the VPS costs a fraction of the price.
Several services to isolate → VDS
As soon as you want production and staging apart, or Windows and Linux side by side, you need to create VMs — hence a VDS.
Learning virtualization → VDS
You do not learn Proxmox on a VPS: there is nothing to administer at hypervisor level. The VDS exists for that.
Reselling hosting → VDS
Carving machines for clients means holding the hypervisor. A VPS does not allow it.
A tight budget → VPS
At €1/month a VPS already does real work. Taking a VDS to run a single virtual machine means paying for a layer you do not use.
Frequently asked questions
Not by nature. Our VDS have more memory and cores than our entry VPS, so yes in practice at those prices — but it is the size of the plan that makes the difference, not the nature of the product.
They are two distinct products, not two sizes of one. You do not 'upgrade' from a VPS to a VDS: you order the VDS and migrate your data, which is a chance to start cleanly.
It asks that you know what a virtual machine and a network bridge are. That is not insurmountable, but if you would rather not think about it, the VPS is the right call — and there is no shame in that.
No, or very badly. A VPS is already a virtual machine: installing a hypervisor inside means nested virtualization, which is neither guaranteed nor fast. The VDS exists precisely for this need.