Is the VPS enough on its own, or do I need the engine too?

The Multicore Dropcatch VPS is the server — it does not include the catching software. To actually catch domains you need either the Transcom engine (owned or leased) or your own dropcatch software installed on it.

Think of it as the ideal place to run a catching engine, not a turnkey catcher by itself. The box provides the location, cores, memory, NVMe and dual-stack networking; the engine provides the catching logic.

So a complete self-run setup is typically: this VPS for the node, an engine (owned or leased) for the catching, and optionally the Front End Dashboard to control it remotely.