Ubuntu or Debian for a VPS? Ubuntu for production, Debian to run lean

This page covers Debian vs Ubuntu as a server choice. We booted fresh Debian 13, Ubuntu 26.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 cloud images on a test VM (not a DreamHost server) and read what each one runs, what apt installs and how long updates last.

apt install nginx works the same way on both, because Ubuntu builds on Debian and both install .deb packages with apt. You'll notice the difference in the version numbers apt hands you. Ubuntu 26.04 also swapped a few base tools for new ones, and its fresh image is already running more when you first log in.

Our pick: Ubuntu LTS for production, Debian 13 for the smallest footprint

For a production server, run Ubuntu LTS. When an app's install guide has an Ubuntu section, the package names and versions match and you skip translating commands. Start on 24.04 today. It keeps classic sudo and GNU coreutils, and its standard updates run to May 31, 2029. Move to 26.04 once everything in your stack supports it. It replaced both tools with new implementations, and Canonical's own notes for LTS users say the new coreutils isn't fully compatible with GNU's yet.

Debian 13 is the pick when footprint matters most. Its fresh cloud image had 13 services running on our test VM, where Ubuntu 26.04's had 22, and it idled at 210 MiB of memory on 662 MiB of disk. The trade-offs are older package versions that change slowly and a shorter run of updates. Debian 13's regular updates end on August 9, 2028, about three years before Ubuntu 26.04's, so you'll plan the move to the next release sooner. If you run Node.js, you'll add a newer version either way (more on that below).

Choose before you order. DreamHost's Help Center says you pick the base OS on the cart page, and that it can't be changed after the server launches without reprovisioning. On the Ubuntu VPS page, the Ubuntu card in the app library lists 26.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS under Versions once you click Select Plan.

What apt hands you on each

We read each version from its package page in Debian's package tracker or on packages.ubuntu.com on October 20, 2026. Every one of those pages is listed under Sources. apt on our test VM gave the same major versions, though Debian's Apache had moved up to 2.4.69 there. Versions can move up within a release, too: Ubuntu 24.04 launched with docker.io 24.0 and now ships 29.1.

Canonical's five years of standard updates cover packages in Main, so a (Universe) label tells you who keeps that package current. Universe holds the community-maintained packages, and Canonical only commits to updating them under Ubuntu Pro. On 26.04 that covers Node.js, Redis and docker.io from the table, plus Certbot and Composer.

When apt's version isn't the one you need, go to the upstream project's own repository. We checked that each of these lists Debian 13, Ubuntu 26.04 and Ubuntu 24.04:

• PHP: Ondřej Surý's PHP repository
• PostgreSQL: the PostgreSQL apt repository
• MySQL: Oracle's MySQL repository
• Docker: Docker's own repository

NodeSource's Node.js repository uses one setup for every Debian-family system. Debian also has backports, which you turn on yourself. It rebuilds newer packages from Debian's testing branch for the stable release.

MySQL isn't in Debian's archive

Debian 13 doesn't have a MySQL server package. Its default-mysql-server package installs MariaDB 11.8, and MySQL itself comes from Oracle's repository, which lists Debian 13. Ubuntu 26.04 carries both MySQL 8.4 and MariaDB 11.8 in Main.

Bringing an older app's database over from MySQL 8.0? Read Canonical's notes for LTS users first. On 8.4, accounts set up with the older mysql_native_password login method are locked out by default. The notes show how to move them to the newer method or turn the old one back on. If you haven't settled on an engine, our guide to MySQL or MariaDB covers which apps care.

Node.js: neither archive has 24 or 26

Node.js 24 gets updates until April 30, 2028, and Node.js 26 becomes an LTS line on October 28, 2026, per the Node.js release schedule and nodejs.org. Neither archive carries either one. Debian 13 ships Node.js 20, which the Node.js project stopped updating on April 30, 2026. Debian still updates its own package, though you won't get anything newer than 20 from it. Ubuntu 26.04 ships 22, which the project updates until April 30, 2027.

On either one, you'd add NodeSource's repository or install a version manager. Or start from DreamHost's Node.js image: its page says We Install Node.js, PM2 & Nginx, with Certbot SSL preconfigured. Run node -v after launch to see which line you have.

What Ubuntu 26.04 swapped out

If you're coming from Ubuntu 24.04 or from Debian, these are the changes you'll meet on 26.04, per Canonical's notes for LTS users. Debian 13 kept classic sudo, GNU coreutils and systemd-timesyncd.

• sudo-rs is the default sudo, a new implementation of the same command.
• rust-coreutils replaces GNU coreutils for most commands. Canonical kept the GNU cp, mv and rm, and the GNU versions of the others stay installed under a gnu prefix.
• chrony keeps the clock in sync on new installs.
• Dracut builds the initial ramdisk in place of initramfs-tools.
• Kernel 7.0 replaces 6.8.
• System V init scripts still work through systemd, and 26.04 is the last Ubuntu release where they will.

Fresh boot: 13 services on Debian, 22 on Ubuntu 26.04

The package counts come from each project's own cloud image as published between September 26 and October 1, 2026. We booted those same images for the rows marked our test VM. A DreamHost server starts from DreamHost's own image, which we didn't test, so its figures may differ (more on that under how we measured).

Each project's package list shows what you start with:

• Debian 13 includes cloud-init, unattended-upgrades and systemd-timesyncd. It leaves out snapd, cron, rsyslog and git.
• Ubuntu 26.04 adds snapd (with no snaps installed), chrony, needrestart, git, cron and rsyslog, plus Canonical's Ubuntu Pro client.
• Ubuntu 24.04 has snapd too, and it keeps classic sudo and systemd-timesyncd.

Compared with Debian, the biggest single extra on 26.04 was snapd at 52 MiB. Next came networkd-dispatcher, udisksd, ModemManager and multipathd.

Then we installed the web stack named in the chart caption on each one, from its own archive, and left it idle at default settings. The fresh-image gap mostly closed. Debian 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 came out level, and 26.04 stayed about 130 MiB higher. Every one still had more than 3 GB of the VM's memory free. On disk, Debian's lead shrank to about 0.8 to 1 GB once the stack was in: 2,436 MiB on Debian 13, against 3,474 MiB on Ubuntu 26.04 and 3,278 MiB on 24.04.

All three images came with unattended-upgrades, the package that installs updates on a schedule, switched on, with apt's daily timers running. That's what the projects' cloud images do, and a server installed another way might differ. To check yours after launch, apt-config dump | grep Periodic shows whether unattended-upgrades is on.

Certbot's instructions recommend its snap on any Linux. Ubuntu already runs snapd, so those steps work as written. On Debian you'd install snapd first, or use the Certbot 4.0.0 package that both archives carry.

If everything runs in Docker

With everything in containers, the host OS mostly decides how you install Docker. Docker's install docs cover Debian 13 as well as Ubuntu 26.04 and 24.04, and Docker's own repository covers all three. What's inside each container comes from its image. Docker's official images for node, python, php, postgres, nginx and redis build on Debian 13. The mariadb image builds on Ubuntu 26.04, and mysql on Oracle Linux. On a Debian 13 host, those containers run on the same release as the host.

The Docker and Portainer image skips the install: its page says Docker, Docker Compose and Portainer CE arrive configured.

Regular updates end 2028 for Debian 13, 2031 for Ubuntu 26.04

Dates come from Debian and Canonical, with the exact Ubuntu days from endoflife.date, read October 19, 2026. On Debian, the LTS project picks up where regular updates stop.

When a release's updates run out, both upgrade in place. Debian's release notes walk through the move from one release to the next with apt, and Canonical recommends do-release-upgrade, one LTS at a time. Debian 13 has had seven point releases in its first 13 months, about one every two months. DreamHost's app library lists four base operating systems for a VPS: Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux, chosen when you create the server. For support dates on all four, see our guide to which Linux to run on your VPS. If you're weighing the Red Hat family instead, our guide to AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux compares those two.

How we measured

DreamHost ran the test on October 20, 2026.

• Machine: an Apple M2 Mac with one Lima VM per OS, arm64, each with 2 vCPU and 4 GB of memory, the size of our Stack 4 plan.
• Images: the projects' own, untouched. Debian 13 build 20261001-2618, Ubuntu 26.04 release-20260927 and Ubuntu 24.04 release-20260926. Nothing was updated before the first readings.
• Memory: total minus available, read 12 times once each VM had sat for 10 minutes. We report the median.
• Web stack: installed from each archive with default settings, then left idle for 7 minutes before the second set of readings.

We'd trust the gaps between the three more than the exact figures. This wasn't a DreamHost server or one of DreamHost's images, and DreamHost's VPS servers use AMD EPYC processors. Each OS ran once, on one VM. We didn't test a Docker host, snap installs or speed, so this page doesn't compare speed. We also didn't check how scripts behave under sudo-rs or rust-coreutils. The versions, dates and package counts in the tables come from each project's pages. Package counts are for the amd64 images.

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