Flex profiles are here: the simplest, most cost-efficient way to run IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC
Cloud workloads aren’t one-size-fits-all – but sometimes, you just want to deploy fast, scale easily, and keep your costs lean. That’s exactly why we built Flex profiles, and now they’re officially out of beta and generally available across all IBM Cloud Multizone Regions.
Flex profiles take the guesswork out of provisioning. Instead of picking through processor generations or balancing memory ratios, you choose from four streamlined profiles built to deliver the lowest price per vCPU on IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC – with the same security, performance, and reliability that power our enterprise clients around the world.
From beta to backbone
During beta, our sponsor customers’ workloads tested Flex profiles – from development sandboxes to production environments – proving the model works: fast spin-up, predictable pricing, and flexible placement across our latest Intel® and AMD® microarchitectures. Now, Flex is no longer an experiment. It’s a new default for teams who want value without compromise.
Flex profiles automatically place workloads on modern Intel® Xeon® or AMD® EPYC® processors: you get the best price-performance available at deployment time, no manual tuning required. Everything runs within the same IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) foundation: high-speed networking, isolation designed for security, and quick provisioning, all backed by IBM Cloud Support.
Four ways to Flex
Nano: Light, efficient, and ideal for small jobs, CI/CD runners, or test environments.
Compute: Tuned for heavy lifting; think production web apps, analytics pipelines, or batch jobs.
Balanced: Your everyday hero. Great for mixed workloads that require both compute and memory headroom.
Memory: Built for the big thinkers, like in-memory analytics, caching, or data-intensive workloads.
Each profile is NUMA-aligned, boots in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode, and supports Open Virtual Machine Format (OVMF) – three modern foundations designed for data protection and consistent performance.
Why teams are switching
Flex profiles simplify lifecycle management; no more hardware end-of-life migrations, no more guesswork on which generation to pick. Just predictable performance and a better price-to-performance ratio.
They’re ideal if you
- Need cost-effective compute without locking to a single processor generation
- Want new hardware upgrades without changing configuration
- Prefer a simpler, faster provisioning workflow that still meets enterprise standards
Ready when you are
Existing IBM Cloud Virtual Server users can resize or migrate to Flex in just a few clicks. Be sure to take a quick snapshot first, then go. Pricing is usage-based and active now across all IBM Cloud Multizone Regions.
Start your next deployment
Explore Flex profiles, compare specs, and provision your next virtual server in minutes inside the IBM Cloud catalog console.
Or, see all available instance profiles, review supporting OSs, understand processor generations, explore feature capabilities, and follow along with provisioning guides inside our Flex profiles for IBM Cloud Virtual Servers VPC Documentation.