Node.js + PostgreSQL on a single VPS: how much RAM and CPU do you actually need?
Sizing guide: 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM as the baseline for Node.js+PostgreSQL on a VPS, with a breakdown of where memory goes.
UptimeMag editorial team · 24 July 2026 · 2 min read
How much RAM and CPU do you need to run a Node.js app with PostgreSQL on the same VPS? Contabo published a sizing guide on 24 July 2026 on their blog that sets a clear starting point: 2 vCPU, 4 GB of RAM and NVMe storage as the baseline production configuration, with tiers below and above depending on actual traffic.
The four tiers
The guide distinguishes four load levels, each with its own resource combination:
| Tier | vCPU | RAM | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby / MVP | 1 | 1–2 GB | SSD |
| Baseline production | 2 | 4 GB | NVMe |
| Medium | 2–4 | 4–8 GB | NVMe |
| High | 4+ | 8–16 GB | NVMe |
Where the 4 GB goes
The useful point for anyone needing to justify sizing is the breakdown of the 4 GB baseline production allocation into three items: the operating system (roughly 500 MB–1 GB for a minimal installation with SSH and systemd), the V8 heap for Node.js (roughly 1–2 GB, variable) and PostgreSQL's shared_buffers, for which the official PostgreSQL documentation recommends starting at 25% of total RAM, so roughly 1 GB on a 4 GB VPS. Adding these three items together leaves minimal headroom: this is why the "baseline production" tier assumes moderate concurrent load, not heavy load.
To understand when to move the database to a separate VPS, the guide points to two concrete signals to watch for: free headroom for the operating system and connections dropping below roughly 20% once you sum the Node heap and shared_buffers, or visible contention between database I/O and app request handling, which you can verify with vmstat or iostat during traffic peaks. The advice is to scale up when these symptoms appear, not at a fixed traffic threshold.
Mapping to Contabo plans
In the guide, both the "Hobby/MVP" and "Baseline production" tiers are covered by Contabo's entry-level plan, because no smaller product exists to map them to. On Contabo's official price list, checked by our team, the Cloud VPS 4 plan offers 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM and 100 GB SSD at €5.50 per month including VAT (€4.40 excluding VAT for the first 24 months). For medium load the guide recommends upgrading to Cloud VPS 6, whilst for the high tier and potential database separation, the reference is Cloud VPS 8.
Plan names and specifications should be double-checked against the official price list at purchase time, as pricing and configurations may change.
Written with the help of artificial intelligence and checked by the editors (EU AI Act, art. 50).