I would say a VPS is critical for EA-based trading.
Otherwise you have to ensure that your PC’s internet connection is really fast, with low latency to the broker’s server, that your PC is always running 24/7, and that the internet connection is very stable and never goes down. If your internet connection goes down your EA may not manage the trades properly and you may lose trades because of that.
You can find cheap VPS, like:
– Contabo
– Hetzner
– Hyonix
Make sure to select Windows OS.
MT5 can run on Linux using certain tools, but setting that up is not for beginners.