Ample vs a VPS: should an AI-built app run on its own server? | Ample

The short version

A VPS is the better choice when you want root on a cheap Linux server and are happy to run it: a DigitalOcean Droplet starts at $4 a month. Ample is the better choice when nobody should have to patch, secure or wire up that server: your coding agent deploys, Ample runs the app, its database, TLS and logs.

Before you choose

On a VPS everything above the operating system is yours: the web server, TLS certificates, process supervision, databases, backups, firewall and monitoring. That is cheap in dollars and expensive in attention.

Ample and a VPS side by side

Ample VPS (Droplet, Hetzner)
Free plan $0 with no card. 2 apps running at once, 2 vCPU, 2 GB memory, 3 GB volumes, 1 GB bucket storage, 2 buckets. No free plan.
Paid plans Custom plans priced on volume (number of apps, limits, spending caps). No public list price; see pricing. DigitalOcean Droplet from $4 a month (1 vCPU, 512 MiB); Hetzner CX23 from about EUR 5.49 a month plus IPv4.
Spending limit Free has a hard budget ($5 a month, $2 a day). At the cap, apps stop serving until the account is back under budget; nothing is deleted and nothing is billed. A fixed monthly price per server; DigitalOcean spend alerts are not a cap.
How apps run Each app runs as a normal long-running process in its own microVM with its own kernel. A whole virtual machine you administer.
Long-running servers and workers Yes. Web services and background workers (--kind worker) run as ordinary processes. Anything you can run on Linux, supervised by you.
Languages Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP, Java, .NET, Elixir, Rust and static sites, detected from the repository. Anything you install.
Docker images No. Ample builds from source; Dockerfile build steps are not run. Yes, if you install Docker.
Databases Managed Postgres, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB, each in its own microVM, created automatically when the code needs one. Install and back up your own, or buy a managed database separately.
Object storage S3-compatible buckets, optionally published through Ample's CDN. Separate product (Spaces, or Hetzner Object Storage).
Persistent disk Persistent volumes attached to the app. The server's disk, plus attachable block volumes.
Custom domains and TLS Custom domains with automatic TLS. You configure DNS, a reverse proxy and certificates.
Regions No region choice. Pick a data center.
Scheduled jobs Scheduled jobs: a command or HTTP request on a cron schedule (any time zone) or interval, with retries and run history (ample job create). System cron.
Agent access CLI, remote MCP server (OAuth), A2A endpoint and agent skills. Deploys are synchronous and return JSON with an exit code: 0 live, 1 failed, 2 needs input. SSH; DigitalOcean also has a Droplets MCP server.
Agent signup without a person Yes. ample auth signup creates an account with no browser, card or CAPTCHA; a person claims it by email within 48 hours. No. Payment details are required.

Which one fits

Choose Ample when

Choose a VPS when

Move an app from a VPS to Ample

  1. 1

Recover what the server does

Find the start command (systemd unit or process manager), environment variables, cron entries (they become Ample jobs) and reverse proxy settings.

  1. 2

Plan and deploy

Ample detects the runtime from the repository; pass the start command if it is not obvious.

ample deploy . --name <app-name> --public --start "<start command>" --env-file .env.production
  1. 3

Move data

Dump databases installed on the box (pg_dump, mysqldump) and restore them; copy uploaded files to a volume or an Ample bucket.

  1. 4

Point your domain

Add the domain to the app, update DNS to the target Ample prints, and keep the old app running until the new one answers on the domain.

ample domain add <app-name> www.example.com

Frequently asked questions

Is a VPS cheaper than Ample?

In list price, often yes: a $4 Droplet costs less than most platforms. The difference is time: on a VPS you install and update the OS, web server, certificates, database and backups yourself. Ample's Free plan costs nothing for two running apps.

Can my coding agent manage a VPS?

Over SSH it can, but every fix runs with root on a machine that also holds your data. On Ample the agent works through deploys, logs and managed resources, inside a spending cap.

Where these facts come from