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VPS vs VDS: shared or dedicated CPU?

VPS or VDS

A VPS shares its processor cores with other customers on the same host; a VDS has cores reserved for it. Both are virtual machines with their own memory, storage and root access. The difference only shows when the processor is busy.

Updated

VPS and VDS side by side

Comparison of VPS and VDS
AspectVPSVDS
ProcessorShared vCPUs, scheduled fairly between customers on the hostDedicated cores, reserved for your server alone
Performance under loadCan vary with what other customers are doingConsistent, whatever other customers are doing
Best forSites, APIs, development, small game servers and bursty workloadsDatabases, builds, busy game servers and steady load
Memory and storageAllocated to youAllocated to you
AccessFull root accessFull root access
Relative priceLower for the same memory and storageHigher, for the reserved cores

How a shared vCPU behaves

On a VPS, the hypervisor gives each virtual machine a number of vCPUs and schedules them onto the host’s physical cores, taking turns with every other customer on that host. Most of the time the host has spare capacity and your server runs as fast as the hardware allows.

When several virtual machines want the processor at the same moment, some of them wait. Linux calls that waiting steal time: time your server was ready to run but the hypervisor was serving someone else. You can see it in the st figure at the top of top, or the st column of vmstat 1.

A few percent in short spikes is normal on shared CPU and rarely noticeable. Steal time that stays high while your server is busy means your workload is competing for the processor, and it will run more predictably on dedicated cores.

What a dedicated core changes

On a VDS, cores are reserved for your virtual machine and not scheduled for anyone else. Your server has the same processor capacity whether the rest of the host is idle or busy, so a benchmark you run today gives the same answer next week.

A VDS is still a virtual machine. It shares the host’s memory bandwidth, processor cache, storage and network with other customers; only the cores are yours. If you need the whole machine, that is a dedicated server.

Hosts also differ on what one “core” is, so it is worth checking before you compare prices. On our VDS plans each one is a dedicated CPU thread: one hardware thread of a physical core, reserved for you.

Which one do you need?

If you are not sure, start from how busy the processor will be, not from the size of the server.

Choose a VPS when

  • The server is idle much of the time and busy in bursts: a website, an API, a VPN or a Git server
  • Development, staging and test environments
  • A small game server for a group of friends
  • Price matters more than identical performance every minute

Choose a VDS when

  • The processor stays busy for long stretches: builds, encoding, batch jobs
  • Databases and applications under steady load
  • Game servers that need a consistent tick rate with many players
  • You measured high steal time on a shared plan
Compare the plansAsk which fits

Related questions

The rest are in the FAQ.

What is a vCPU?

A vCPU is a share of a physical processor’s time that the hypervisor schedules for your virtual machine. On a VPS, several customers’ vCPUs take turns on the same physical cores, so a vCPU is not the same as a core you own.

Is a VDS the same as a dedicated-CPU VPS?

Yes. Hosts use both names for a virtual server with reserved cores. We call it a VDS to keep it clearly separate from our shared-CPU VPS plans.

Is a VDS the same as a dedicated server?

No. A VDS is still a virtual machine: it shares the physical host’s memory bandwidth, storage and network with other customers, but its processor cores are yours. A dedicated server is the whole machine, with no hypervisor and no other tenants.