Guides / Small server ideas

What can you run on a small VPS?

A small server does more than you might expect, as long as you pick light software.

Good fits for 512 MB

• Bots: Discord and Telegram bots, which usually need no open ports.
• A personal VPN: WireGuard uses very little memory.
• Scheduled jobs: scripts run by cron or systemd timers, such as scrapers, reports and backups.
• A small website: a static site with nginx is very light.
• A small API: one Python, Node.js or Go app with little traffic.

Better with 1 GB or more

• Monitoring: Uptime Kuma runs more comfortably with extra memory.
• Several websites: more sites on one server, or sites with a database.
• A browser code editor: code-server needs room for your projects and tools.
• A database: PostgreSQL and MariaDB work best with memory for caching. Consider Box Plus for anything busy.
• Minecraft: a Java server needs at least 2 GB, so choose Box Plus.

What does not fit

• Docker: nested containers are not supported, so install software directly on the server.
• Sending email directly: ports 25, 465 and 587 are blocked. Use an email API or relay.
• Anything needing its own IPv4 address or ports outside your block.
• Heavy public services: open VPNs and proxies, public Tor exit nodes and crypto mining are not allowed. See the Acceptable Use Policy.

Keeping memory use low

• Check what is using memory with free -h and ps aux --sort=-%mem | head.
• Your plan has a hard memory limit and no swap, so an app that uses too much will be stopped. Run apps under systemd so they restart.
• Turn off services you do not need with systemctl disable --now NAME.

Not sure which plan fits? Compare the plans, or try a server free for a month.