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Laravel is PHP plus a database, a queue worker, and often Redis — a stack that fits a modest VPS if you size it right.

What Laravel needs

  • PHP-FPM — each worker uses RAM; budget 100–200 MB per worker.
  • MySQL/MariaDB — 512 MB–1 GB for a typical app.
  • Queue + scheduler — a worker for queue:work, plus cron for schedule:run.

The pick: RackNerd 2GB

For a small to medium app, RackNerd’s 2 GB plan at $35.99/yr is the value pick: full root, a dedicated IPv4, and enough RAM for PHP-FPM plus MySQL plus Redis with room for a queue worker.

Deploy it properly

composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
php artisan config:cache && php artisan route:cache
php artisan migrate --force
  • Run artisan queue:work under systemd or Supervisor so it survives reboots.
  • Put Nginx in front with PHP-FPM over a Unix socket.
  • Use a 4 GB plan if you run many queue workers or a heavy search index.

Bottom line: 2 GB covers most Laravel apps; jump to 4 GB when queues and databases grow.

See RackNerd's current deals