How much RAM and CPU a VPS needs depends on what runs on it. A WordPress site with 50,000 monthly visitors needs about 1 to 2 vCPUs and 2 to 3 GB of RAM, a Minecraft server for 20 players about 6 GB, and a self-hosted GitLab for 100 users about 5 to 6 GB. Add about 30% headroom, then choose the smallest plan that covers it. This calculator does that for your workload and recommends an AstroPod plan.
How much RAM and CPU does each workload need?
These are typical starting points before headroom. Your exact numbers depend on your software, plugins and traffic pattern.
| Workload | Typical starting point | What drives the need |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress blog or business site | 1 to 2 vCPU, 2 to 4 GB RAM | Visitors, plugins and whether page caching is on. |
| WooCommerce store | 2 to 4 vCPU, 4 to 8 GB RAM | Checkout traffic, product count and uncached requests. |
| Web app or API (Node, Laravel, Django) | 2 vCPU and 2 GB RAM per 50 requests per second | Peak requests per second and response time. |
| Docker containers | 1 vCPU and 1 GB RAM plus about 0.3 GB per small container | Number of containers and their memory limits. |
| MySQL or PostgreSQL database | RAM close to half of the working data set | Data size, indexes and query load. |
| Minecraft server | 2 vCPU and 3 GB RAM plus about 0.12 GB per player | Players, plugins, mods and world size. |
| Self-hosted GitLab | 2 to 4 vCPU and 4 to 8 GB RAM | Users, repositories and CI activity. |
| Mail server with antispam | 2 GB RAM plus about 1 GB per 60 mailboxes | Mailboxes, spam filtering and antivirus scanning. |
What is headroom and why add it?
Headroom is spare capacity above your expected usage. Traffic spikes, backups, updates and growth all need room, and a server running at 90% of its RAM starts swapping and slows down. Sizing for about 30% more than your estimate keeps the server responsive and gives you months before you need to upgrade.
VPS or shared hosting: which fits?
Choose shared hosting for a simple website with modest traffic. Choose a VPS when you need guaranteed CPU and RAM, root access, custom software such as Docker, a database server, a game server or a mail server, or when a growing site is hitting shared-hosting limits.