Is NVMe always faster than SSD?

No. For a single large sequential read the two are much closer than the marketing suggests. NVMe wins on many small operations happening at the same time, because it can keep far more of them in flight. If your workload is one file at a time, you will struggle to notice the difference.

Which of your plans have NVMe?

The NVMe range, starting at $9.95 per month, and part of the VDS range. The SSD and Cloud ranges are Enterprise SSD, and the Classic range is HDD. An earlier version of this page said NVMe was available only on a "Pro plan" at $27.95 — there is no such plan, and NVMe is considerably cheaper than that figure suggested.

Is your Cloud range NVMe?

No, and this catches people out because Cloud costs more. The Cloud range is Enterprise SSD. If what you want is disk speed rather than cores, the NVMe range is both cheaper and faster on storage than Cloud. Cloud earns its price on CPU count and its Port 25 guarantee.

For a brochure site, a small business page, a personal blog, a lightly used development box, or anything serving mostly static files. In those cases the disk is idle most of the time and the extra parallelism has nothing to do.

When is NVMe genuinely worth it?

When something is making many small reads and writes at the same time. A database under concurrent traffic, a WordPress site with heavy plugin activity, a mail queue processing continuously, or container image builds. Those are the workloads where the queue depth difference turns into wall-clock time you can feel.

Is HDD ever the right choice?

When the price is the point and the disk is not. The Classic range is HDD and it is the cheapest way to get a KVM server with full root access at $4.95. For a VPN endpoint, a small bot, a scratch box or a static site, that is a sensible purchase rather than a compromise.

Should I buy storage speed or more cores first?

Storage, for most web workloads. A database-backed site spends far more time waiting on small disk reads than on CPU, so a two-core plan on NVMe will usually beat a four-core plan on HDD. Buy cores when you have measured that CPU is the thing you are waiting on.

Can I move from SSD to NVMe later?

Yes. Moving between ranges is a supported change; contact support with your order ID before making it so the move is planned rather than improvised.

Comparison · NVMe vs SSD

Both are flash. One of them can do more things at once.

That is the entire difference, and it explains why a copy-a-big-file test shows almost nothing while a database under real traffic shows a lot. SATA SSDs speak a protocol designed for spinning disks and keep one queue; NVMe talks over PCIe and keeps many. Here is which of our ranges uses which, and when paying the difference is sensible.

NVMe from $9.95
SSD from $0.00
Matters most for databases
Cloud is SSD, not NVMe

Which Do You Need? Storage by Range

NVMe range from

$9.95/mo

Starter NVMe VPS — 20 GB NVMe

Enterprise NVMe on every plan in the range
Cheaper than the Cloud range, and faster on disk
DDoS protection stated in the plan
Not the most cores — that is VDS

The Short Answer

Both are flash storage; the difference is how many operations can be in flight at once. A SATA SSD speaks a protocol designed around spinning disks and works through essentially one queue. NVMe connects over PCIe and keeps many queues, each far deeper. In practice that means the two are close on a single large sequential read — the test most people run — and clearly different when something is making hundreds of small random reads and writes simultaneously, which is exactly what a database under real traffic does. So: SSD is plenty for a small or static site; NVMe earns its price the moment a database, a busy mail queue or concurrent users are involved. Here, NVMe starts at $9.95 and SSD at $0.00.

SSD: SATA interface, one queue — fine for static and light workloads.
NVMe: PCIe interface, many deep queues — wins under concurrency.
Barely differs on a single sequential read.
Clearly differs on databases, mail queues and image builds.
NVMe from $9.95; SSD from $0.00; Classic is HDD from $4.95.
The Cloud range is SSD, and costs more than the NVMe range.

Which One Do You Actually Need?

The honest split. Most small sites belong in the left column and should not pay for the right one.

SSD is enough

A brochure site, portfolio or small business page.
Mostly static files, or a CMS with light traffic.
A development or staging box you are the only user of.
A VPN endpoint, bot or worker where the disk is nearly idle.

From $0.00. And if even that is more than the job needs, the HDD range starts at $4.95 and is a legitimate choice, not a compromise.

The cheaper ranges →

NVMe is worth paying for

A database serving concurrent users.
WordPress or WooCommerce with real traffic and heavy plugins.
A mail server working through a queue continuously.
Container image builds, or a CI runner.
Anything where you have measured high I/O wait.

From $9.95 — which is less than the Cloud range costs for Enterprise SSD.

The NVMe range →

Storage Type by Range

Straight from the plan catalogue, because this is the fact most often got wrong — including by earlier versions of our own pages.

Storage type and starting price for each VPS range
Range	Storage	Plans	From
NVMe VPS	Enterprise NVMe	4	$9.95/mo
Cloud VPS	Enterprise NVMe	4	$13.95/mo
Classic VPS		4	$4.95/mo
VDS	Enterprise NVMe	4	$24.95/mo

The row that surprises people every time: the Cloud range costs $13.95 and is Enterprise SSD, while the NVMe range starts at $9.95 and is NVMe. If storage speed is what you are buying, the cheaper range is the faster one. Cloud is worth its price for cores and its Port 25 guarantee — not for the disk. VPS vs Cloud VPS →

Three Things Worth Understanding Before You Pay the Difference

Why your benchmark showed nothing

Copying one large file is a sequential test with a queue depth of about one — the single workload where SATA and NVMe are closest. If you want a test that reflects reality, run something with concurrency: a database benchmark, or many small reads at once. Otherwise you are measuring the case that does not matter.

Databases are the whole argument

A database serving concurrent users issues a stream of small random reads. That is the exact shape NVMe is better at and HDD is worst at. If your application has a database and real users, storage type will affect how it feels more than an extra CPU core will.

Neither is a substitute for enough memory

If your database working set no longer fits in RAM, every query goes to disk and you have a memory problem wearing a storage costume. Faster storage softens it; more memory fixes it. Diagnosing which one you have →

NVMe vs SSD Questions

NVMe from $9.95. SSD from $0.00.

Both on KVM with full root access and a dedicated IPv4 on every plan — and a 7-day money-back guarantee on a first order if you pick the wrong one.

See All 16 Plans Work Out Your Bottleneck First