With a VPS you'll run into two variants: managed and unmanaged. The price difference is noticeable, but the difference in what you're responsible for is even bigger. The wrong choice means either needlessly spent money, or dozens of hours in the terminal on something you don't enjoy at all.
What an unmanaged VPS means
With an unmanaged VPS you get a bare server and root access — and that's where it ends. Installing the web server, database, PHP, certificates, the firewall, security updates and backups is entirely on you. It's the cheapest option and gives full control, but it assumes you know your way around Linux or want to learn.
What management involves
The list is longer than it first seems: the initial setup of the server and web stack, regular security updates of the system and applications, watching performance and free space, setting up and above all testing backups, configuring the firewall, responding to outages and dealing with attacks. None of it is rocket science, but together it's work that never ends.
If you neglect the server, sooner or later either performance or security pays the price. An unmaintained server is also a tempting target — attackers automatically scan for vulnerable services and quickly find an unpatched system. The security minimum you should handle is summarised in SSL, backups and 2FA.
What a managed VPS adds
With a managed VPS the provider takes over basic server management — the operating system, updates, often monitoring and backups too. You mainly look after the application itself. Sometimes a control panel like cPanel or Plesk is included, handling routine tasks by clicking instead of the command line. If you don't know what a panel involves, we explain it in What is cPanel and do you need it.
Where managed ends
Beware, though, that "managed" means something slightly different at every provider. Some manage only the operating system, others the web stack and the application too. So always check in the terms where exactly the provider's responsibility ends and yours begins — so you don't discover at the first problem that "that falls under the customer".
Who paying extra pays off for
A managed VPS makes sense if you're not a server administrator and your time has value — the surcharge tends to be cheaper than the hours you'd otherwise spend learning and maintaining. It typically suits companies, freelancers and anyone who wants VPS performance but not the worries of server administration.
Choose an unmanaged VPS only if you know Linux, enjoy it, or need absolute control over the configuration. Developers and technical enthusiasts often save on it and get exactly the environment they want.
How big the price difference is
The price difference between an unmanaged and a managed VPS tends to be in the order of a few euros a month. Before you decide by the price list alone, ask yourself a simple question: do I actually want to do this management myself? If the answer is no, the euros saved on an unmanaged VPS will eat hours of your own time every month, plus the risk of neglecting something. If you're not sure you even need a VPS, start with Shared hosting vs VPS.