Your own kernel. That is the whole point.
KVM is full hardware virtualization: your server boots its own kernel instead of sharing the host's. Almost everything people want from a VPS and cannot get from a cheap container — Docker, custom kernels, nested virtualization, real swap, any operating system — follows from that one difference.
- Own kernel, not shared
- Docker works normally
- Full root access
- Any OS, including Windows
16 of 16
All 4 ranges · no container-based tier
- Load kernel modules
- Nested virtualization
- Real swap and sysctl tuning
- Does not mean dedicated cores
KVM VPS Hosting, in One Paragraph
KVM — Kernel-based Virtual Machine — is full hardware virtualization built into Linux. Your VPS gets emulated hardware and boots its own kernel, so it behaves like a separate machine rather than a slice of the host. The alternative, container virtualization such as OpenVZ or LXC, shares the host's kernel between all guests — which is cheaper to run and is why restricted VPS plans often cannot run Docker, cannot load kernel modules, cannot use real swap and cannot run Windows at all. All 16 of our plans, across all 4 ranges, run on KVM. What KVM does not mean is dedicated CPU cores: that is a separate question, and it is what the VDS range answers.
- Full virtualization: your own kernel, emulated hardware.
- All 16 plans across all 4 ranges — there is no container-based tier here.
- Enables: Docker, nested virtualization, custom kernels, swap, any OS.
- Isolation: another guest's kernel panic is not your outage.
- Does not mean dedicated CPU cores — VDS is the range for that.
- Does not mean managed — every plan is unmanaged.
Related: What is a KVM VPS? · All VPS types · VPS vs VDS · Full root access · VPS for Docker
What Full Virtualization Actually Lets You Do
Six things, in roughly the order people run into them. Every one of them traces back to owning your own kernel.
- Your own kernel The defining difference. Under KVM the guest boots its own kernel, so you can change it, load modules, and run a distribution whose kernel differs from the host's. Container virtualization shares the host kernel, which is where most of its limitations come from. Yours
- Docker and containers, properly Containers need kernel features such as cgroups, namespaces and overlayfs. On a KVM guest they are simply available because the kernel is yours. On shared-kernel virtualization they are frequently restricted or unavailable. Docker on a VPS → Yours
- Nested virtualization Running a hypervisor inside your VPS — for lab work, CI runners or emulation — needs full virtualization underneath. It is not possible on a container-based VPS. Yours
- Real swap, and real kernel tuning You can configure swap and change sysctl values because you own the kernel that reads them. On shared-kernel systems these are set by the host and quietly ignored in the guest. Yours
- Any operating system Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Rocky, Windows — full virtualization does not care what you install, because it emulates hardware rather than sharing an OS. Operating system options → Yours
- Isolation from your neighbours A kernel panic in another customer's guest is their problem, not yours. Sharing a kernel means sharing its failures. Yours
What KVM Does Not Promise
“KVM” gets used as a general quality signal in hosting adverts. It is a specific technical thing, and these three are not part of it.
It does not mean dedicated CPU cores
KVM describes how the machine is virtualized, not how physical hardware is divided up. On the VPS ranges, CPU and memory are allocated to your instance rather than drawn from a shared pool as you use them — but the cores are not exclusively yours. The VDS range is the one that specifies dedicated RAM, and that is a genuine product difference we would rather not blur.
It does not make the server fast
Speed comes from the CPU, the memory and the storage. A KVM guest on a slow disk is a slow server. What KVM gives you is freedom and isolation, not performance — if it is throughput you want, look at the storage type instead.
It does not mean anyone is managing it
Virtualization type and management are unrelated questions. Every plan here is unmanaged: owning the kernel means owning the patching that goes with it.
KVM Questions
KVM on every plan, from $4.95.
Your own kernel, full root access and a dedicated IPv4 address on all 16 plans — plus a 7-day money-back guarantee.