Which version of Ubuntu is best for a budget VPS?

Question

Debian

Hello!

There is a budget VPS in mind: 512MB RAM / 5GB SSD (you can make 7GB).

The main task is to raise VPN + Proxy on it for personal use.
The secondary task is to learn how to administer the server and if there is space / resources left, then make a test site for personal WEB projects (only for tests, not for sales).

The choice fell on Ubuntu because of its popularity (I see it all the time on Ubuntu and Debian servers) and the abundance of information.

The VPS hoster offers such versions of Ubuntu 16.04 / 18.04 / 20.04 (or Debian 9 / 10 / 11).

Actually the questions are:
1) Is there a big difference in the space occupied by version 20.04 from 18.04 (and from 16.04)
2) Is there a big difference in the memory consumption of the same versions
3) Is there a fundamental difference between these versions in terms of their own small server. It was not possible to google something sane - desktop versions are compared everywhere. It is clear that in new versions of the OS, php and python, etc. are newer, but this is generally a weak argument, I think any version of the interpreters and libraries can be installed on any version of the OS (from those voiced) (or not?)

Answer 1

Ubuntu 20.04 - fresh kernel, long term support. The server version takes almost no space.
If for religious reasons you are not satisfied, then Debian 11.

Answer 2

so it depends on your software.
What distribution do you need? php version, libc?
which one is suitable. or you will courageously fight dependencies or install distribution software
about choosing a version from the hoster, you don’t have to worry - because everything has the opportunity to install your own iso.