What You Can Actually Do with a 1GB VPS

Running a real website doesn't always mean dropping big bucks on oversized servers. A modest 1GB VPS can handle way more than you'd think—from full WordPress sites to database-driven applications—if you know how to set it up right. The question isn't whether it works, but how far you can push it before things start breaking.

Hardware keeps getting bigger, prices keep climbing, and suddenly everyone thinks they need a beast of a server just to run a blog. But here's the thing: for most small to medium websites, you're probably paying for power you'll never use.

I wanted to see what a basic 1GB VPS could actually handle in real-world conditions. Not theory, not marketing fluff—actual performance numbers running WordPress with WooCommerce, caching enabled, and stress testing turned on. The goal was simple: find out if a budget VPS can run a legitimate website without falling apart.

The Setup: ColoCrossing 1GB VPS

I grabbed a 1GB VPS from ColoCrossing in New York for $10. Nothing fancy, just the basics:

• 1GB RAM

• Single CPU core

• 18GB storage

• Ubuntu 22.x

The plan was to run a full web hosting stack—web server, database, FTP, the works. I skipped the bloated control panels that try to do everything and eat half your resources before you even start. Instead, I went with ServerAvatar, which focuses purely on web hosting without all the extras you probably don't need anyway.

Breaking Down the Costs

If you want a complete setup with email included, you're looking at about $20/year total:

• VPS hosting: $10/year (ColoCrossing 1GB plan)

• Email hosting: $10/year (CraneMail for domain email)

Of course, if you're already using Gmail or ProtonMail, skip the email hosting and you're down to just $10/year. Not bad for a full working website.

👉 Get started with reliable budget hosting that actually performs

Installation Process

The setup was surprisingly painless. After getting the VPS running, I made a few system tweaks to optimize network performance:

rm -f /etc/sysctl.conf
wget https://theserveradmin.com/sysctl.txt
mv sysctl.txt /etc/sysctl.conf
sysctl -p

Then ran a full system update:

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
reboot

While that was rebooting, I signed up for ServerAvatar's free tier—one server, up to 10 domains, zero cost. Their installer handles everything automatically:

wget https://srvr.so/install_lite && chmod +x install_lite && ./install_lite

The installer walked me through choosing a LAMP stack (Apache + MariaDB), set up login credentials, and configured the entire environment without me having to touch config files or worry about dependencies.

Setting Up WordPress

Once ServerAvatar was running, creating a WordPress site was straightforward through their panel:

1. Enable the firewall (toggle in the upper right corner)

2. Create a new application (their term for a website)

3. Fill in the WordPress details:

• Domain name

• PHP version

• Database credentials

• Admin username and password

4. Install SSL certificate

The SSL installation was automatic once DNS was pointed correctly—just waited for the green indicator light and clicked "Install Automatic SSL." Fifteen seconds later, done. I enabled "Force HTTPS" to redirect all traffic to the secure version.

Performance Testing: The Numbers

This is where it gets interesting. I didn't test with a bare-bones default WordPress install—that would be pointless. Instead, I loaded up a heavier page with WooCommerce and caching plugins enabled, then ran Apache Bench to see what would break first.

Results:

• 791 requests per second

• Stable performance under load

• No crashes or timeouts

For context, if your site is genuinely pushing over 100 requests per second, you're probably doing well enough to afford something bigger. But for the vast majority of small business sites, blogs, or startup projects? This little 1GB VPS handled it without breaking a sweat.

Google PageSpeed Insights also gave it solid scores—nothing record-breaking, but well within the acceptable range for modern web standards.

What This Actually Means

A 1GB VPS isn't going to replace a dedicated server or handle massive traffic spikes. But it's a genuinely viable starting point for:

• Small business websites

• Personal blogs with moderate traffic

• Portfolio sites

• Development and testing environments

• Simple e-commerce stores (under 1,000 daily visitors)

The key is keeping your setup lean. Don't install every plugin you find, don't run heavy themes with massive sliders and animations, and use caching properly. Do that, and you'd be surprised how much a budget VPS can handle.

Conclusion

A 1GB VPS isn't just "good enough"—it's actually capable of running legitimate websites with real traffic. The performance numbers back it up: 791 requests per second isn't theory, it's what actually happened under load testing. For $10/year, that's hard to beat.

If you're just starting out or running a small site that doesn't need enterprise-level resources, a budget VPS is exactly what you need. The trick is choosing a provider with solid infrastructure and keeping your software stack optimized. 👉 ColoCrossing's budget-friendly VPS plans offer the stability and performance needed for small to medium websites without the inflated costs of oversized servers you don't actually need.