VPS vs dedicated server: when to upgrade

A VPS is a virtual machine with its own share of a physical server; a dedicated server is the whole machine. A VPS is the better deal while your workload fits its limits and changes often. A dedicated server wins when you need physical cores under steady load, more memory or storage than a VPS offers, hardware access such as IPMI and RAID, or a 10 Gbps port.

This guide compares the two on what actually changes for you, lists the signs that you have outgrown a VPS, does the price arithmetic on our own plans, and ends with a migration plan. Our offshore VPS and dedicated servers run in the same jurisdictions and are paid from the same balance, so moving between them is a technical decision, not a paperwork one.

VPS vs dedicated server: the difference

On a VPS, a hypervisor divides one physical server into several virtual machines. Ours use KVM: each VPS runs its own kernel, gets guaranteed virtual CPUs and memory, and sees only its own NVMe storage. You have full root access and can even boot your own ISO image, but the physical CPU, memory bus, disks and network card are shared with the other virtual machines on the host.

A dedicated server, or bare-metal server, has no hypervisor between you and the hardware. Every core, every gigabyte of memory and every disk is yours, and so is the out-of-band management: IPMI gives you the screen, the keyboard, the power button and the BIOS over the network, even when the operating system is down.

Signs you have outgrown a VPS

A VPS rarely fails outright; it gets tight. These are the signs that a dedicated server would serve you better, and none of them is fixed by a larger VPS plan:

• Steady full CPU load. A vCPU is a slice of a shared processor. For work that keeps every core busy around the clock, such as encoding, compiling, simulations or a busy database, physical cores give steadier performance.
• Memory beyond 64 GB. Our largest VPS, Flagship, has 64 GB. Large databases, in-memory caches and big build jobs need the 128 GB of a Ryzen 9 7950X, a dual Xeon or an EPYC server.
• Storage in terabytes. The largest VPS has 640 GB of NVMe. Media libraries, archives and backups for other machines belong on a 40 or 60 TB storage server.
• Control over the disks. Choosing RAID 1 for safety or RAID 0 for speed, replacing a failing drive, or encrypting whole disks is a dedicated-server job. Our RAID guide compares the layouts.
• Traffic measured in terabytes a day. Streaming origins, mirrors and CDN nodes that would keep a 1 Gbps port full need the 10 Gbps unmetered server.
• Hardware access. Your own hypervisor, such as Proxmox VE, a custom kernel on bare metal, BIOS settings, or a reinstall from your own ISO through IPMI.
• Data that must stay private while in use. On any VPS, the host can technically read the memory of the running machine. A dedicated server with full-disk encryption removes that layer, as explained in what your VPS provider can see.
• Latency-sensitive work. Game servers, trading tools and real-time audio or video notice the small variations that other virtual machines on a shared host can cause.

When a VPS is still the right choice

Most projects never need a dedicated server. A VPS is the better choice when:

• your load fits in 16 vCPU and 64 GB of RAM, with room to spare;
• you want a server now: a VPS is live in about a minute, a dedicated server takes 2 to 24 hours;
• you want to try a location first, under the 72-hour money-back window;
• you want snapshots before risky changes, taken and restored on request from the client area;
• your needs change: a VPS moves to a larger plan with a short reboot, while a dedicated server keeps its hardware.

Many setups mix both: a dedicated server for the database or the heavy jobs, and small VPSes for the web front ends, a VPN or monitoring, in the same or another jurisdiction.

The price arithmetic

At the top of the VPS range and the bottom of the dedicated range, the prices meet. Here is what the same budget buys on each side, with our monthly prices:

Two conclusions follow. For parallel work that is not running flat out, the large VPS plans give more vCPUs and memory per dollar. For steady heavy load, a Ryzen 7 7700 costs less than twice a Flagship VPS and brings physical cores, twice the storage on two drives you can mirror, and IPMI. Quarterly billing takes 5% off both, and yearly billing 12%.

How to move from a VPS to a dedicated server

There is no in-place conversion: a dedicated server is a new order on different hardware. Plan the move so your users never notice:

1. Order the dedicated server in the same jurisdiction, or a new one if the move is also a chance to change law. It is paid from your balance, like the VPS.
2. Lower the DNS time-to-live of your domain to a few minutes, a day before the switch.
3. Prepare the new server: harden it with our first-hour checklist, install your stack and copy the data with rsync while the VPS keeps serving.
4. Switch: stop writes on the VPS, run a final rsync or database dump, then point DNS to the new address.
5. Keep the VPS until traffic has moved, then set it to cancel at the end of its period from its page in the client area. Unused top-up money on your balance can be withdrawn.

Dedicated and GPU customers can open tickets in the client area, including for a custom build with more memory, more disks or another jurisdiction.

Frequently asked questions

Is a dedicated server faster than a VPS?

Under steady full load, usually yes: its cores, memory bandwidth and disks are not shared with anyone. For light or bursty work the difference is small, and a large VPS can even offer more cores for the money. Speed also depends on the hardware generation, so compare the CPU models, not just the labels.

Can I upgrade my VPS to a dedicated server?

Not in place: a dedicated server is a new order on separate hardware, followed by a migration of your data. Within the VPS range, you can move to any larger plan at any time with a short reboot, requested from Server actions on your server's page.

Is a VPS or a dedicated server better for a website?

For almost every website, a VPS. A few vCPUs and 4 to 16 GB of RAM serve a busy site, and a cache or a CDN does more for speed than bare metal. A dedicated server makes sense for very large databases, heavy media, or many sites with steady traffic.

Do dedicated servers have noisy neighbors?

No. On a dedicated server, nothing else runs on the machine, so no other customer can use its CPU, memory or disks. On a KVM VPS your vCPU and RAM are guaranteed, but the physical host is shared, which can cause small variations under heavy load.

Which is cheaper, a VPS or a dedicated server?

A VPS, for small and medium workloads: ours start at $2.39 a month, against $47.49 for the smallest dedicated server. Near $50 a month the prices meet, and for steady heavy load a dedicated server gives more real performance per dollar.