In Germany, France and the UK we sell the same VPS sizes twice: once on SATA hard disks and once on SSD storage. CPU and RAM are the same at each size. What changes is the disk, and the disk changes more than you might expect.
The short version
- SATA gives you more disk space for the money. It suits backups, file storage, VPNs and development servers.
- SSD gives you less space but answers many times faster. It suits databases, online shops, CMS sites and APIs.
Why the disk matters
A spinning SATA disk has to move a head to the right place before it can read anything, so it handles small random reads slowly. An SSD has no moving parts and serves those reads almost instantly.
Most web applications are made of exactly those small random reads: a database looking up rows, PHP loading files, a cache reading keys. That is why an SSD server feels faster even when the CPU and RAM are identical.
Large sequential work, like writing a backup archive or streaming a big file, is where SATA disks hold up well. There, the extra space per dollar is the better deal.
Price and space
| SATA VPS | SSD VPS | |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | from $8.00 a month | from $11.10 a month |
| France | from $10.12 a month | from $14.38 a month |
| UK | from $10.12 a month | from $14.38 a month |
At each size the SATA plan has more disk space than the SSD plan. Live specs for every plan are in the VPS comparison.
A simple rule
Pick SSD if any of these is true:
- the server runs a database (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL),
- it serves a WordPress, WooCommerce or other CMS site,
- page speed matters to your visitors or your search rankings.
Pick SATA if the server mostly stores or moves data: backup targets, file sync, media archives, VPN gateways, build and test machines.
Can you get both?
Yes. You can add an extra disk to a VPS as an add-on when you order, so a common setup is an SSD plan for the system and database with extra space for backups. If you already know what you need, start with Germany SSD VPS, France SSD VPS or UK SSD VPS. For the SATA plans, see Germany VPS, France VPS and UK VPS.