Root on the machine, from the first minute

Start with the honest part: not for MetaTrader

MetaTrader 4 and 5 are Windows programs. People do run them on Linux under a compatibility layer, and it usually works, but an expert advisor that must not miss a tick is a poor place to discover what that layer does not quite emulate. If terminals are what you are running, the Windows VPS is the cheaper and quieter answer.

This page is for everything else in a trading setup, which is often more than people expect: the bridge, the copier backend, the webhook receiver, the database the strategy writes to, the dashboard you look at on your phone. None of that wants a desktop, and all of it is better off on a box you have root on.

Root means root

You get the root password with the machine. No panel standing between you and the package manager, no list of approved software, and nothing to open a ticket for before you can install something at two in the morning.

The dedicated IP is yours as well, which matters more than it sounds: an API that allowlists by address, an SMTP relay, or anything that needs a reverse DNS entry all depend on the address not being shared with a stranger.

What people actually run on these

Docker and Compose — the common case. A handful of containers on Standard, a dozen on Advance. Git and CI — a self-hosted Forgejo or GitLab runner, so your builds are not queued behind somebody else’s. Databases — Postgres, MySQL or Redis next to the service that uses them rather than across the internet from it.

code-server — VS Code in a browser tab, which turns any machine you are sitting at into your development box. Automation — n8n, Node-RED or a few hundred lines of Python on a timer, always on, which is the whole reason to rent a server rather than leave a laptop open.

None of these are separate products. They are things a root VPS runs, and the only decision is how much memory they need.

Choosing a size without overthinking it

Memory is what runs out first, and it is the one thing you cannot work around. One gigabyte is enough for a bot, a cron job or a bastion host and not much else. Three is enough for a small app and its database. Six is where Docker stops feeling cramped, and it is the size most people settle on.

Cores matter far less than people assume until several things want CPU at the same moment — a CI build, a database vacuum and a web service, say. If that is your shape, start at Advance rather than growing into it, because moving a running stack is an evening you will not enjoy.

Disk is NVMe throughout, so the capacity is the only variable. Twenty gigabytes fills faster than it sounds once Docker images and logs accumulate; set up log rotation on day one whichever plan you take.

Managed, with root in your hands

The hardware, the network, the hypervisor and the monitoring are ours exactly as they are on the trading plans — see the managed page for where the line falls.

Root moves that line in one direction only: what you install and configure is yours. If a disk fails we replace it; if a container eats the memory, that is a conversation rather than a ticket we can close for you. The desk will still help, and usually does.