Ask ten admins and you'll get the same answer from all of them: both are fine. That's true, and it's also why the question keeps coming up. The differences are small, but on a 1 or 2 GB VPS that you'll keep for years, small differences add up. Here are the ones that matter, with dates from the official release pages and numbers we measured ourselves.
Last verified 2026-11-13 against debian.org/releases and ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle.
The short answer
- Ubuntu 24.04 if you follow online tutorials and install guides. Most third-party docs are written for Ubuntu first, and copy-paste just works.
- Debian 13 if you want a lean, quiet system you set up once and leave alone, or if RAM is tight.
If you can't decide, take Ubuntu 24.04. Fighting a guide that assumes a different system costs more time than the 100 MB of RAM you'd save.
How long each release is supported
| Release | Released | Free security updates until | Extended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | April 2022 | May 2027 | May 2032 with Ubuntu Pro |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | April 2024 | May 2029 | May 2034 with Ubuntu Pro |
| Debian 12 "bookworm" | June 10, 2023 | July 11, 2026 (full support) | June 30, 2028 (Debian LTS) |
| Debian 13 "trixie" | August 9, 2025 | August 9, 2028 (full support) | two more years of Debian LTS |
How to read it:
- Ubuntu gives every LTS release five years of standard security updates. Expanded Security Maintenance adds five more, but it needs an Ubuntu Pro subscription.
- Debian gives about three years of full support, then two years of Long Term Support run by a separate team. LTS covers fewer architectures and fewer packages, but it costs nothing.
- Right now Debian 12 has already moved to LTS. That's fine for a server you have; for a new one, start on Debian 13.
How much of the server the system itself takes
We booted fresh servers from our images and measured them at idle, before installing anything:
| RAM in use | Disk used | Processes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 | 213 MB | 1.2 GB | 81 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 | 313 MB | 2.7 GB | 102 |
Ubuntu simply starts more services out of the box. On the 1 GB Nano plan those 100 MB are about a tenth of the memory, and you'll feel it once a database starts. On 4 GB you won't notice. The full measurement, with Alpine and Windows Server 2022 for comparison, is in Linux or Windows VPS.
Packages: fresh or settled
Debian stable freezes versions for the life of a release and only patches security and serious bugs. What works on day one keeps working the same way. The price is age: by the end of a release, some packages are a couple of years old. If you need something newer, there are backports, or you run it in a container.
Ubuntu LTS starts from Debian but freezes later, and it backports newer kernels during the release. Packages tend to be a little fresher, and many projects publish PPAs or official repositories for Ubuntu first.
For most server software, such as Nginx, PostgreSQL, Docker or Node.js, you'll use the vendor's own repository anyway, and then the difference mostly disappears.
Tutorials and help
This one quietly decides it for many people. Search for how to install almost anything and the first result is written for Ubuntu. On Debian the same commands usually work, but now and then a package has a different name or a PPA doesn't exist. If you're new to Linux servers, that friction is real. If you're not, you'll barely notice.
Upgrading to the next release
Both move to a new major release roughly every two years, and both can be upgraded in place. Ubuntu has a dedicated tool for LTS-to-LTS upgrades. On Debian you switch the repository names and run a full upgrade. Either way, take a backup or a snapshot first and keep the web console open in case SSH drops halfway.
You don't have to upgrade the moment a new release comes out. Upgrade when the release you're on approaches the end of its free support.
What we'd pick
- A website, an API, a Docker stack, following a guide: Ubuntu 24.04.
- A small always-on service on the Nano plan: Debian 13, for the extra RAM.
- A server you'll configure once and not touch for years: Debian 13.
- Software whose vendor only documents Ubuntu: Ubuntu, without overthinking it.
Both are available on every Linux plan, and the choice only matters at install time. After that it's the same SSH, the same apt and the same systemd.
Related reading
- Ubuntu VPS and Debian VPS
- How to set up an Ubuntu VPS: first steps after you get root
- How to set up a Debian VPS: first steps after you get root
- Linux or Windows VPS: which one do you actually need?
FAQ
Which one uses less memory?
Debian. On fresh servers we measured 213 MB of RAM in use at idle on Debian 12 against 313 MB on Ubuntu 24.04, and 1.2 GB of disk against 2.7 GB. On a 1 GB plan that difference is noticeable; on 4 GB it isn't.
Is Debian more stable than Ubuntu?
Both LTS Ubuntu and stable Debian are built for servers and rarely break. Debian is more conservative about versions: packages are older but change less during a release's life. Ubuntu LTS is a bit newer and still very predictable.
Should I still install Debian 12?
For a new server, take Debian 13. Debian 12's full support ended on July 11, 2026; it now gets Long Term Support until June 30, 2028, which covers fewer architectures and packages. It's fine for existing servers, not the best start for a new one.
Which is better for Docker?
Either. Docker publishes official repositories for both, and containers don't care what the host runs. Pick Debian if you want the smallest host, Ubuntu if you follow guides written for it.
Can I switch from one to the other later?
Only by reinstalling the server, which wipes the disk. Back up your data first, or simply order a second server, move things across, and cancel the old one.
Which versions can I order?
Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04, Debian 13 and 12. Ubuntu 20.04 and Debian 11 are still in the list for legacy software, but don't start a new server on them.
This article was created with the help of AI.
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