I think the big question is it depends on your needs/budget. I use ec2 to test stuff. But I use managed vps for important stuff. It also depends on what your ap

I think the big question is it depends on your needs/budget. I use ec2 to test stuff. But I use managed vps for important stuff. It also depends on what your app does and where you expect to bottleneck (cpu/band/disk). (Disclaimer: this is my startup) You might want to check http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/#tab2 http://reviewsignal.com/webhosting/compare/#tab2 which compares some big VPS providers. It's rating is based on what people are saying (positive/negative) about the company. I would think of it as 'customer happiness' it's not the end-all of things you should look at, but it should probably factor in.