You pick your operating system when you order, and can switch any time by reinstalling. Every image is a clean, automatically-deployed install — your server is ready in minutes, with full root access from the first boot.
Every image below is offered on all VPS lines unless noted. Pick one at order time; you can reinstall with a different one later.
Debian family
Red Hat family
Other Linux
BSD
Not sure which to pick? Debian or Ubuntu LTS are the safe, well-documented defaults for almost anything. Alpine is great when you want the smallest possible footprint. NixOS is for people who already know they want it.
Windows — bring-your-own-license:
Windows images are BYOL — you apply your own license after first boot. Windows Server needs at least 32 GB of disk and Windows 11 needs 64 GB; raise your storage at order time if your plan has less. The Windows Desktop Experience edition is the full Windows GUI and is built in — it is separate from the optional Linux desktop environments below.
Dev VPS only — nested-virtualization images for the Dev line:
By default your server is command-line only — you connect over SSH and that's it. That's what most servers want, and it's the leaner, faster choice. See Connecting to Your Server for SSH clients per platform.
If you'd rather have a graphical desktop (for example, to use the machine like a remote workstation), you can add one at order time on a Linux image. Available desktops:
A few things to know about the desktop option:
You're not locked in. You can reinstall with a different distribution — or the same one, fresh — from your client portal or the customer API at any time. A reinstall wipes the server and lays down a clean image, so back up anything you want to keep first. See Managing your VM for how to reinstall.