What is a VPS?
Short answer
A virtual private server is a virtual machine rented from a hosting company: your own operating system, root password and IP address, with a guaranteed amount of RAM and disk carved out of a larger physical server.
Checked October 14, 2026. How we rank
In more detail
Think of a physical server as an apartment building and each VPS as a flat: you control everything inside your walls, but you share the building's power, network and (on most plans) CPU time with neighbours. That is why a VPS costs a fraction of a dedicated server while still letting you install anything. The two things that are not fully yours are CPU time on shared-vCPU plans and the network uplink.