I spend around ₹2,600 every month on a VPS.

Looking at my actual resource usage, I noticed something interesting:

• CPU usage: ~3%
• Memory usage: ~38%
• Disk usage: 21 GB / 100 GB
• Bandwidth usage: 0.007 TB / 8 TB

At first glance, it might look like I'm paying for resources I'm barely using.

So why am I spending ₹2,600 every month?

Because the VPS isn't just a server for me.

It's part of how I build, deploy, and showcase my projects.

And yes — it has been worth it.

Why Did I Get a VPS in the First Place?

When I started building projects, I realized there is a big difference between:

"I built this project."

and

"I built this project, deployed it, made it publicly accessible, and actually run it on a server."

I didn't want all my projects to live only on my laptop.

I didn't want to be a developer who could only say:

"Yeah, it works on my machine."

I wanted to understand what happens after the code leaves my machine.

That's why I got a VPS.

My VPS Setup

I'm currently using a Hostinger KVM 2 VPS running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, with the server located in Mumbai.

Here is what my VPS looked like when I checked the dashboard:

The important thing here is that I'm not using most of the available resources.

And that's completely fine.

The VPS isn't valuable to me simply because of its CPU, RAM, or storage.

The value is in what I can build and run on it.

I Didn't Buy It Because I Needed More CPU

My current usage makes that pretty obvious.

My CPU usage is only around 3%.

Memory usage is around 38%.

I'm using only 21 GB out of 100 GB of storage.

And my bandwidth usage is tiny compared to the available 8 TB.

I'm not running some massive application serving millions of requests.

And that's not the point.

The point is that I have a real server where I can deploy my projects and learn how to operate them.

What I Actually Use the VPS For

I use my VPS to deploy and showcase my projects.

Instead of showing someone:

localhost:3000

I can show them:

https://my-project.com

That's a completely different experience.

My projects can have:

• Real domains
• HTTPS
• Reverse proxies
• Docker containers
• APIs
• Databases
• CI/CD
• Logs
• Monitoring
• Backups
• Production-like deployments

And I get to manage all of it myself.

From Localhost to a Real Server

This is probably the biggest reason I bought the VPS.

My development workflow can look something like:

Write Code
    ↓
Test Locally
    ↓
Build Docker Image
    ↓
Deploy
    ↓
Configure Server
    ↓
Connect Domain
    ↓
HTTPS
    ↓
Public Application

Instead of stopping at:

Write Code
    ↓
localhost:3000

There is a lot more to learn once the application is actually deployed.

The Learning Is Part of the Cost

One of the biggest reasons I consider the VPS worth it is because I'm not only paying for hosting.

I'm paying for hands-on experience.

With a VPS, I have to deal with problems that don't necessarily appear during local development.

For example:

• How do I deploy an application?
• How do I configure Nginx?
• How do I connect a domain?
• How do I enable HTTPS?
• How should Docker containers communicate?
• How do I manage environment variables?
• How do I handle logs?
• What happens when a deployment fails?
• How do I restart services?
• How do I secure a server?
• How do I back up important data?
• How do I monitor resource usage?

These are problems I actually want to understand.

A VPS Became My Personal Infrastructure Playground

I don't treat my VPS as just hosting.

I treat it as a personal infrastructure playground.

I can experiment with:

Docker
Nginx
CI/CD
Linux
Networking
SSL
Databases
Monitoring
Backups
Security

If I break something, I can fix it.

If a deployment fails, I can debug it.

If I want to try something new, I have an environment where I can actually do it.

That experience is difficult to get by keeping everything on localhost.

It Also Gives Me Something to Showcase

A deployed project is much easier to demonstrate.

Imagine two portfolio projects.

Project A

"I built a task management application."

And then there is a GitHub repository.

Project B

"I built a task management application, containerized it with Docker, deployed it on a VPS, configured HTTPS and a reverse proxy, and made it publicly accessible."

And then there is an actual URL to open.

The second one gives me much more to talk about in an interview.

It's not just about the application anymore.

It's about how I built, deployed, and operated it.

The VPS Helps Me Build Production-Like Projects

I'm not claiming that my VPS is the same thing as running infrastructure at a large company.

It isn't.

But it gives me a place to practice concepts that are relevant to real production environments.

For example:

Application
     ↓
Docker
     ↓
Server
     ↓
Reverse Proxy
     ↓
HTTPS
     ↓
Domain
     ↓
Internet

Now I have to think about deployment, networking, security, reliability, and maintenance.

Those are things I wouldn't experience to the same extent if everything stayed on my laptop.

But What About the ₹2,600?

This is where I think the question needs to be framed differently.

If I were paying ₹2,600/month just to host a tiny website, I would probably question the cost.

But that's not what I'm doing.

I'm using the VPS for:

• Hosting my projects
• Learning deployment
• Experimenting with infrastructure
• Building production-like environments
• Demonstrating my work
• Improving my DevOps knowledge
• Having publicly accessible projects

So I'm not measuring the value purely in:

CPU usage / ₹

I'm measuring it in:

Learning
+
Experience
+
Projects
+
Portfolio
+
Infrastructure Skills

And suddenly, ₹2,600/month doesn't look that unreasonable to me.

What About AWS?

I also considered whether I should move some of this infrastructure to AWS.

For example, I could look at something like an EC2 t3.micro for smaller workloads.

AWS is obviously much bigger than simply renting a VPS.

You get access to services for:

• Compute
• Storage
• Networking
• Databases
• Monitoring
• Load balancing
• Serverless applications
• And much more

But that also means more complexity.

For what I'm currently trying to accomplish, a VPS gives me something I really value:

A simple server that I control completely.

I can SSH into it, install what I want, deploy my applications, configure the environment, and experiment.

For my current stage, that's extremely useful.

VPS vs AWS: What Would I Choose?

I don't think there is a universal winner.

It depends on the problem you're solving.

I'd choose a VPS when:

• The application is relatively small
• Traffic is predictable
• I want simple infrastructure
• I need full server access
• I want predictable monthly costs
• I want a personal deployment environment
• I don't need many managed cloud services

I'd choose AWS when:

• I need flexible scaling
• I'm already using AWS services
• I need managed infrastructure
• I expect unpredictable traffic
• I need multiple environments
• I'm building a larger production architecture
• I need the AWS ecosystem

For my current use case, the VPS makes sense.

Could I Do It Cheaper?

Probably.

I could definitely find a smaller VPS or a cheaper hosting option.

And at some point, I probably will evaluate that.

But I don't want to optimize the cost so aggressively that I lose the environment I use for learning and experimentation.

Saving a few hundred rupees isn't necessarily worth it if the infrastructure becomes restrictive.

The goal isn't:

"How cheaply can I host my projects?"

The goal is:

"How much can I learn and build with the infrastructure I'm paying for?"

The Real Cost Isn't ₹2,600

When I think about the VPS now, I don't see it as:

₹2,600
    ↓
A server

I see it more like:

₹2,600
    ↓
Publicly deployed projects
    +
Real deployment experience
    +
Linux experience
    +
Docker experience
    +
Networking experience
    +
DevOps practice
    +
A place to experiment
    +
Something real to showcase

That's a very different way of looking at the cost.

What I Learned

The biggest lesson for me is that infrastructure isn't something you should only learn from tutorials.

You learn it by actually running things.

It's easy to understand Docker commands from a tutorial.

It's different when:

Your container isn't starting and your application is down.

It's easy to read about Nginx.

It's different when:

Your domain isn't resolving and you have to figure out why.

It's easy to read about CI/CD.

It's different when:

Your deployment pipeline fails and you need to debug it.

It's easy to read about Linux servers.

It's different when:

You're responsible for keeping your own server running.

That's the experience I wanted.

Was It Worth It?

For me?

Absolutely.

Not because I'm using all 100 GB of storage.

Not because my CPU is constantly running at 80%.

And definitely not because I need a huge server.

It's worth it because it allows me to build and operate things that would otherwise remain on my laptop.

I want my projects to be:

• Real
• Publicly accessible
• Deployable
• Maintainable
• Something I can actually demonstrate

I don't want to be limited to localhost.

My Current Perspective

I don't think every developer needs to spend ₹2,600/month on a VPS.

If you're learning programming and just starting out, localhost is perfectly fine.

But once you're comfortable building applications, I think there is a lot of value in taking the next step:

Local Development
       ↓
Docker
       ↓
Remote Server
       ↓
Deployment
       ↓
Public Application
       ↓
Monitoring & Maintenance

That's where development starts feeling very different.

You're no longer just writing code.

You're also learning how to run software.

Final Verdict

So, was spending ₹2,600/month on a VPS worth it?

For me, absolutely.

I'm not paying for maximum CPU utilization.

I'm paying for the ability to:

Build
  ↓
Deploy
  ↓
Break
  ↓
Debug
  ↓
Fix
  ↓
Learn
  ↓
Showcase

My VPS is more than a hosting bill.

It's my personal production-like environment.

It gives me a place to experiment, deploy my projects, learn infrastructure, and have something real to show instead of simply saying:

"It works on my machine."

And if paying ₹2,600 every month helps me become a better developer, build better projects, understand infrastructure, and actually have something real to show during interviews —

I'd call that money well spent.

Don't just build projects that work on localhost.

Build projects that you can actually deploy, run, and show to the world.