Managed or self-managed VPS: which is right for you?

A virtual private server (VPS) gives your website or application its own slice of a server, with dedicated memory, processing power and storage. That makes it faster and more predictable than shared hosting. The big decision is who looks after it: you, or us.

What you get with a self-managed VPS

A self-managed VPS comes with full root access. You choose the operating system packages, the web server, the database and everything else, and you can configure the server exactly how you like.

The trade-off is that you are responsible for it. That means installing security updates, configuring the firewall, taking backups, keeping an eye on disk space and fixing things when they break.

Self-managed is a great fit if you are a developer, you already run Linux servers, or you need software that a managed platform wouldn't allow.

What you get with a fully managed VPS

With a fully managed VPS our team sets the server up, secures it, monitors it and keeps it up to date for you. If something goes wrong, you open a support ticket and we deal with it.

You still get the dedicated resources of a VPS, without needing to know your way around a Linux command line.

Fully managed is the right choice if you run a business website or online shop and would rather spend your time on your business than on server maintenance.

A quick way to decide

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Am I comfortable running commands on a Linux server over SSH?
2. Do I have time to install updates and check the server regularly?
3. If the server went down at 2am, would I know how to fix it?

If you answered yes to all three, a self-managed VPS gives you the most control for the lowest price. If not, a fully managed VPS will save you a lot of time and stress.

You can see both options on our Self Managed VPS and Fully Managed VPS pages, and if you're still not sure, open a ticket and we'll help you choose.