## 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](/content/pricing/index.html). | 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

- Nobody on the team wants to patch, secure and monitor a server.
- An agent should deploy, add a database and read failures without SSH.
- You want each app isolated and a hard spending cap.

### Choose a VPS when

- You want root access and full control of the machine.
- You run many services on one box to keep costs down and are happy to operate it.
- You need software Ample does not run, such as a custom kernel module or GPU.

## 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.

2. 2

### Plan and deploy

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

```bash
ample deploy . --name <app-name> --public --start "<start command>" --env-file .env.production
```

3. 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.

4. 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.

```bash
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

- [Ample pricing and plan limits](/content/pricing/index.html)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Ample agent instructions (AGENTS.md)](/content/AGENTS.md)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Droplet pricing](https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Droplet product page](https://www.digitalocean.com/products/droplets)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Droplet shared responsibility model](https://www.digitalocean.com/security/shared-responsibility-model-droplets)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Hetzner price adjustment](https://docs.hetzner.com/general/infrastructure-and-availability/price-adjustment/)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [Hetzner IPv4 pricing](https://docs.hetzner.com/general/others/ipv4-pricing/)(checked October 14, 2026)
- [DigitalOcean MCP servers](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/mcp/configure-mcp/)(checked October 14, 2026)