Short answer: A traditional VPS is a fixed-size virtual server billed monthly; cloud hosting runs the same kind of virtual machine but bills by the hour and lets you create, resize and delete servers through an API. Today most 'cloud VPS' offers combine both.
VPS vs cloud hosting explained
Technically there is little difference: both are virtual machines on KVM or a similar hypervisor. The differences are in operations and billing. Cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Hetzner Cloud) bill per hour with a monthly cap, provide an API and CLI, offer snapshots, private networks, load balancers and object storage, and keep the VM's disk on replicated storage so it can restart on another host after a hardware failure.
Traditional VPS hosts sell fixed plans billed monthly or yearly from a billing panel, often with more traffic and lower prices, but with fewer automation tools.
Choose cloud hosting for automation, short-lived servers and scaling; choose a classic VPS for a stable, cheap server that runs for months.
At a glance
| Classic VPS | Cloud VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Monthly or yearly | Hourly with monthly cap |
| API / CLI | Rare | Standard |
| Resize | Ticket or panel | Minutes, by API |
| Extras | Few | Snapshots, private network, load balancers |
| Traffic | Often generous | Often metered |
See it in the data
Frequently asked questions
Is cloud hosting more expensive than a VPS?
Per month at the same size, often yes, especially for traffic. For servers that run only a few hours, hourly billing makes cloud cheaper.