What Is a vCPU?
A simple, developer‑friendly explanation of virtual CPUs — and why they matter when choosing a VPS.
If you’ve ever looked at VPS plans, you’ve seen “1 vCPU”, “2 vCPUs”, or “4 vCPUs”. But what does that actually mean? And how many do you really need?
This guide explains vCPUs in a clear, practical way — no deep systems knowledge required.
What is a vCPU?
A vCPU (virtual CPU) is a slice of compute time on a physical CPU core. It represents the amount of processing power your VPS can use at any given moment.
Physical CPU: the real hardware core
vCPU: a virtualized share of that core
More vCPUs: more parallel work your app can handle
Think of a vCPU as a “lane” on a highway. More lanes = more cars moving at once.
How many vCPUs do you need?
It depends on your workload. Here are practical defaults:
1–2 vCPUs
Static sites, landing pages, low‑traffic apps, simple dashboards.
2–4 vCPUs
APIs, production dashboards, moderate traffic, small workers.
4+ vCPUs
Heavy workers, data processing, scaling apps, high concurrency.
vCPU vs CPU: what’s the difference?
A physical CPU core is real hardware. A vCPU is a virtualized share of that hardware, allocated by the hypervisor.
CPU: physical core
vCPU: virtual slice of a core
Ratio: depends on provider and plan type
Most VPS providers map 1 vCPU ≈ 1 thread on a physical core.
How InfraPilot uses vCPUs
InfraPilot evaluates your vCPU count along with RAM and workload type to determine the right VPS tier. More vCPUs generally push you toward Standard, Advanced, or High‑Performance tiers.
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