Hostinger VPS vs managed hosting: which one fits your project?

What is being compared

Hostinger sells its KVM VPS plans as self-managed servers, and its Web and Cloud hosting plans as managed hosting. Only published prices are compared, and the products are different: the VPS plans are measured in vCPUs, memory and disk of a server you control, while the managed plans are measured in websites and resource limits. The terms differ too, 24 months for the VPS plans shown and 48 months for the managed ones, so the table shows the renewal price and the cash due at the start as well as the monthly equivalent.

What managed hosting covers

Hostinger states that with managed hosting, server configuration, server security and maintenance are part of the service. It also says that in both cases you remain in charge of everything related to your plan and your website, including its management and security. That fits someone who wants to run a WordPress site, a store or a web application without administering an operating system. Cloud and Web plans publish limits for CPU cores, memory, disk, files and PHP workers, and Node.js websites are not available on Web Premium.

What a VPS gives you

A KVM VPS comes with root access, so you install and configure the software you want and manage the security settings and updates yourself. That suits services that a managed plan does not run: Docker stacks, automation tools, databases of your own, game servers or anything that needs system-level packages. The routine work becomes yours, from patching to testing a restore.

Questions to answer first

Is what you want to run a website that a managed plan supports, or a service that needs its own server? How many hours a month would you spend on updates, security and backups, and what is an hour worth to you? Are you comfortable committing to the term, and have you looked at what the plan costs when it renews? The price gap below is only worth paying if the answers are real.

Managed and self-managed, side by side

Cloud Startup and KVM 1 both have 4 GB of memory. The monthly equivalent of Cloud Startup is $1.50 higher, and its renewal price is $14 a month higher. Cloud Startup has 4 CPU cores against 1 vCPU, but it is a managed hosting plan with its own limits, so the gap is a published bill difference and not a claim of equal service.

Prices exclude tax. The monthly figures are promotional equivalents of a prepaid term and the renewal price applies when the term ends. Other terms exist at higher monthly prices and are not recorded. For the renewal maths, see hosting renewal costs, and to put your own hours and hourly value on the gap, use the managed versus unmanaged calculator.

Continue with the interactive tools or the plan catalog.