A remote dev environment is just one of many use cases for a VPS. They're not the same thing at all.
My brain just isn't good at servers. I have set up many generic cloud servers over the years, but I always hate doing it, it takes me ages to get it right, and I find it hard keep track of everything once set up, and I'm always worried I might have set up something wrong and end up with a security hole or a runaway bill. If I was looking to set up a remote dev environment right now, I would be far more inclined to spend a few dollars per month in overhead for someone to hand-hold me through the process, by providing a clear and simple pricing structure, docs, and support, all narrowly focused on the use case of remote dev environment.
If you're someone who is comfortable playing around with servers, then it makes more sense for you to go lower-level and just set up your own VPS, as you'll probably value the extra freedom and flexibility. For many developers though, that flexibility isn't worth it for the extra complexity and time it takes.
