VPS or application hosting?

Both plans run code, but they do not give you the same responsibilities. Choosing means deciding who manages the system, updates and failures. Here are the concrete criteria, without comparing prices.

Full control or a managed runtime

A NeoHeberg VPS is an isolated system container with root access, a public IPv6 address and Debian 13. You install, configure and patch whatever you want.

App hosting runs on Pterodactyl at https://game.neoheberg.fr. You provide Node.js (24, 22 LTS, 20, 18) or Python (3.12, 3.11, 3.10, 3.9), with no root access to the system. The platform handles the runtime, allocations and panel.

What you must be able to do

Ask the question before choosing. If any of these is required, take a VPS:

• install a system package with apt;
• run a systemd daemon;
• configure Nginx or Apache yourself;
• run Docker;
• host a game server or a panel;
• schedule a system cron job.

If you need a Discord bot, an API or a small web app with declared dependencies, app hosting removes system administration. Node.js starts index.js by default after npm install; Python runs main.py after pip install -r requirements.txt.

Container limits on a VPS

The container shares a common kernel: no custom kernel, no kernel modules, no LUKS root encryption, no nested virtualization. Docker can work depending on the container configuration, but may hit storage or permission errors. Test it before depending on it: these limits are structural, not a setting to fix.

App hosting has its own limits: no SSH or root, resources and databases depending on the plan, and a port provided by the platform. Those limits are the price of abstraction.

Real cost and reversibility

The free VPS (512 MB RAM, 5 GB SSD, 25% of a vCPU) is fine for learning and for a light service, not for a heavy database. App hosting moves administration time to the platform. Compare the time spent patching, backing up and monitoring, not just the advertised RAM.

Verify

Need	VPS	App hosting
root, apt, systemd	yes	no
Simple Node.js or Python	possible	yes
Docker	test first	no
Game server	yes	no
System updates	your job	handled by the platform

Ask three questions: do I need root? can I keep my dependencies inside the runtime? who fixes a system vulnerability? If you answer “yes, yes, the platform”, app hosting is enough. Otherwise, take a VPS and plan for the administration time it requires.