Two founders, same Laravel stack. One pays €12/month VPS and spends two evenings per month on nginx and fail2ban. The other pays €89/month PaaS and pushes to git — then discovers egress billing after a massive CSV export. Neither "won": they placed complexity in different places.
PaaS or server is not a modernity question. It is: which part of the problem do you want to own — and which can you afford to delegate? The right choice is where your bottleneck — skill, time, money — hurts least.
What you move with PaaS
| Responsibility | VPS / dedicated | Common PaaS |
|---|---|---|
| OS, kernel, SSH hardening | You | Provider |
| Deployment (git push, build) | You script | Integrated |
| Horizontal scaling | You (or orchestrator) | Often integrated |
| Postgres PITR backups | You or add-on | Often managed add-on |
| Exact PHP version | Full control | Sometimes limited |
| Low-level network debug | Full | Restricted |
PaaS buys cognitive time against flexibility and sometimes metered overcost — CPU seconds, egress, workers.
When server (VPS) stays the right choice
VPS remains relevant when you need full root access: kernel modules, site-to-site VPN, exotic software stacks. It also fits if you target minimal infrastructure cost and have internal sysadmin skill, or if compliance requires fine control PaaS cannot offer. Stable load — without paying for unused autoscale — favors dedicated or VPS hosting.
A team comfortable with Docker, CI/CD, and monitoring will benefit from that freedom. Hetzner, OVH VPS, Infomaniak VPS: compare in the directory across region, backups, and support.
When PaaS defends itself
PaaS makes sense when infrastructure operations are low or absent — developer founders without a sysadmin. Frequent deployment, several times per week, with preview environments, often justifies the managed platform. Moderate unpredictable scaling and multiple environments — native staging and production, as described in staging environment — speed the path from prototype to production without writing Ansible.
Clever Cloud, Platform.sh, Render, Railway: read egress pricing and sleep policies carefully before committing.
Hybrid setups and common mistakes
Many mature teams combine PaaS for stateless apps, object storage plus managed database, and VPS for batch workers or internal tools. Common mistakes deserve naming: picking VPS "to save money" without skill — no fail2ban, fake backups; picking PaaS "to go fast" without reading egress billing; migrating to Kubernetes when PaaS or VPS sufficed; ignoring reversibility — never tested database export.
The climax: delegating infra does not delegate responsibility
Compare via the comparator and by use case.
Decide and move forward without blind spots
Quantify infrastructure operations hours per month today and acceptable target tomorrow. List non-negotiable constraints — root access, EU region, mandated stack. Estimate twelve-month PaaS total cost including egress and workers. If doubt remains, test both models one month with the same app. Finally document a tested database export procedure — reversibility is proven on change day, not on the architecture slide.
Frequently asked questions
Does PaaS mean zero operations?
No. You still run the application, migrations, secrets, and often performance debugging. PaaS mostly removes the OS, kernel patches, and sometimes Git deployment. User-facing responsibility remains yours.
Is a VPS always cheaper?
On the infra invoice, often yes. Add admin time, monitoring, backups, and security: a solo founder may pay more in hours than mid-tier PaaS. Calculate over twelve to thirty-six months.
PaaS lock-in — how to limit it?
Open standards (containers, standard Postgres), regular data export, avoid irreplaceable proprietary services without abstraction. Test an exit before committing critical data.
Sensitive EU data — PaaS or EU server?
Both can work. Require DPA, documented region, listed subprocessors — Clever Cloud, Scaleway, or VPS at a European host. The GDPR and hosting guide lists questions to ask before signing.
PaaS or server: the right answer shows where you accept thinking on weekends — not which logo goes on the architecture slide.