VPS Pricing 2026: How Much a VPS Costs by Size, With a Cost Calculator

Every price on this page was read from the provider's own plan page or public API in September 2026. Use the calculator for a specific plan, or read on for what a VPS costs at each size and what moves the bill.

Short answer: what a VPS costs in a US datacenter

SizeLowest monthly price, no contractPlatform clouds (hourly, API)What that size runs
512 MB to 1 GBVultr $3.50 (512 MB), DigitalOcean $4, Vultr $5 (1 GB); RackNerd $26.99 a yearVultr $5, DigitalOcean $6, Linode $5 for 1 GBStatic site, bot, VPN endpoint
2 GBInterServer $3Vultr $10, DigitalOcean $12, Linode $12, Hetzner US $20.49Small dynamic site, Docker with two or three containers
4 GBOVHcloud $5.35, InterServer $6; Hostinger $6.49 on a 24-month termVultr $20, DigitalOcean $24, Linode $24, Hetzner US $37.49WordPress with a cache and a database, most side projects
8 GBContabo $6.60 (200 Mbit/s port), OVHcloud $10, InterServer $12; Hostinger $8.99 on a termVultr $40, DigitalOcean $48, Linode $48, Hetzner US $73.49Stores, app stacks, small game servers
16 to 24 GBContabo $16.80 (24 GB), InterServer $24 (16 GB), OVHcloud $27.50 (24 GB)Vultr $80, Hetzner US $141.49 (16 GB)Several sites, databases, CI runners
Windows, 4 GBInterServer $10 (license included); OVHcloud VPS-1 $5.35 + $9.00 optionVultr $20 + license at checkoutRDP desktop, trading terminals, IIS

The spread is wide because the providers are selling different things at the same memory size. The $3 to $12 column is fixed-price hosts billed monthly, without an API or hourly billing; the right column is cloud platforms whose price includes those tools and, usually, faster storage and more regions. If you run one server all month and never touch an API, the left column is the price of a VPS. If you script servers up and down, the right column is.

VPS cost calculator

All plans for this provider

Hourly totals assume 730 hours in a month. Where a provider publishes no term discount, the term button is disabled rather than guessing one. Introductory prices are extended over their stated term and then charged at the renewal price.

What sets the price of a VPS

Memory first. Providers price by RAM, with CPU, disk and transfer scaling alongside it. Doubling memory roughly doubles the price at every provider in the calculator, which is why "how much is a VPS" has no single answer: a 2 GB server and an 8 GB server are different purchases. Decide the size from the workload (the size calculator does this), then compare prices at that size only.

Then the billing model. Fixed-price hosts (InterServer, OVHcloud, Contabo, RackNerd, Hostinger) are cheapest per gigabyte and bill monthly or by the term. Cloud platforms (Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, Hetzner) bill by the hour, expose an API, include snapshots, and charge two to four times as much at the same memory. That premium buys automation, not speed.

Then location. The famous low prices from Hetzner and Contabo are European: Hetzner's CX23 is $6.49 for 2 vCPU and 4 GB in Germany or Finland, while its cheapest US plan is CPX11 at $20.49 for 2 GB with 1 TB of transfer. Contabo charges the same in the US as in Europe but on a 200 Mbit/s port at the entry size. The US datacenter guide covers when the location is worth paying for.

Then what is bundled. Included backups (OVHcloud), OS-level support (InterServer), a control panel, or a Windows license each move a plan up or down the table without changing the hardware. Two plans with the same specifications can differ by $5 a month on these alone.

Hourly, monthly and term billing, with the actual numbers

Hourly

Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode and Hetzner bill by the hour and publish the rate. The rates are set so that a full month costs about the monthly price: Vultr's 1 GB plan is $0.007 an hour ($5.11 for 730 hours, against $5 a month); DigitalOcean's is $0.00893 ($6.52, capped at the $6 monthly price); Linode's Nanode is $0.0075 ($5.48 against $5); Hetzner's CPX11 is $0.0328 ($23.94 against $20.49, and Hetzner caps at the monthly price). Hourly billing is the right model for a server that exists for hours or days. For a server that runs all month it costs the same or slightly more, and you are paying for the option, not using it.

Monthly

The default at every provider. At the fixed-price hosts it is the only model: InterServer bills monthly with no hourly option and no refund; Contabo, RackNerd and Hostinger bill monthly or by longer terms. The number to compare across providers is the month-to-month price for the size you need, because it is the price you will still be paying in a year.

Term prices, and the renewal question

Three different things get called an "annual discount". OVHcloud publishes a genuine one: VPS-1 is $5.35 monthly or $4.54 a month on a 12-month term, both listed in its catalog. Hostinger's headline prices are 24-month term prices with a higher renewal: KVM 1 is $6.49 a month for two years, then $11.99; KVM 2 is $8.99 then $14.99. Contabo's prices are marked as introductory for the first 24 months, with the later price shown at checkout. And RackNerd's cheapest plan ($26.99 a year for 512 MB) is sold only annually, with lower promotional prices during its sales. Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, Hetzner and InterServer publish no term discount at all, and the calculator does not invent one for them.

The test for any term price: multiply the renewal price by the months you will keep the server after the term, add the term cost, and divide by the total months. Hostinger KVM 1 kept for three years is 24 × $6.49 + 12 × $11.99 = $299.64, or $8.32 a month, against InterServer's flat $6 for the same 4 GB, or OVHcloud's $4.54 on a yearly term.

Extras that appear on the bill

  • Windows license. OVHcloud adds $9.00 a month on VPS-1 and $9.60 on VPS-2; InterServer's Windows plans start at $10 with the license included; Vultr adds the license at checkout on top of the plan price. Hetzner and DigitalOcean sell no Windows images.
  • IPv4 address. Hetzner charges $0.60 a month for a primary IPv4 on top of the plan price. The others in the calculator include one address.
  • Backups and snapshots. OVHcloud includes a daily backup and sells snapshots from $0.60 a month; InterServer sells backups as a separate product and advertises no snapshots; DigitalOcean prices automated backups as a percentage of the Droplet price on its pricing page; Vultr and Linode sell backups as an add-on priced on their own pages.
  • Control panels. cPanel and Plesk are licensed per account count and priced at checkout; on a single-site server they can cost more than the server. Free panels (Webuzo at InterServer, the provider's own panel at Hostinger) avoid the line item.
  • Transfer. Allowances run from 500 GB (DigitalOcean's 512 MiB plan) to unlimited (OVHcloud, Contabo). At 2 GB and up, 2 TB or more is normal and rarely exceeded by a website; a VPN or media server should check the allowance first. The VPN page ranks plans by transfer per dollar.
  • Managed support. Sold as a separate tier at Hostwinds ($10.99 against $4.99 unmanaged at 1 GB) and included from 8 slices at InterServer. If you will need someone to fix the operating system, price the managed tier, not the unmanaged one.

Picks by budget

  • Under $5: InterServer 1 slice ($3, 2 GB) for anything with a database; Vultr $3.50 or DigitalOcean $4 for a 512 MB box you want to script; RackNerd $26.99 a year for a static site or VPN. See the cheapest VPS page.
  • $5 to $10: OVHcloud VPS-1 ($5.35, 4 GB, Virginia or Oregon) or InterServer 2 slices ($6, 4 GB, New York City, Los Angeles or Dallas); Contabo VPS 4 ($6.60, 8 GB) if the 200 Mbit/s port is acceptable; Vultr $5 or $10 if you need hourly billing. See the under-$10 page.
  • $10 to $25: OVHcloud VPS-2 ($10, 8 GB), InterServer 4 slices ($12, 8 GB), Contabo VPS 8 ($16.80, 24 GB), InterServer 8 slices ($24, 16 GB, managed support included). Vultr $20 for 4 GB with the API.
  • Windows: InterServer from $10 all-in; see the Windows VPS page.
See current InterServer plans →

Affiliate link: BestUSAVPS may earn a commission if you buy from InterServer through it. Other provider links on this page are plain links.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a VPS cost per month?

In a US datacenter, billed monthly with no contract, the floor is $3 to $6 for a 2 to 4 GB Linux server (InterServer $3 for 2 GB, OVHcloud $5.35 or InterServer $6 for 4 GB), $10 to $12 for 8 GB (OVHcloud, InterServer) or $6.60 at Contabo on a slower port, and $24 to $27.50 for 16 to 24 GB. The platform clouds cost two to four times that at the same memory: Vultr $10, DigitalOcean $12 and Linode $12 for 2 GB; Hetzner's US plans start at $20.49. Windows adds $9 to $10 a month or more. These are September 2026 prices from the providers' pages and APIs.

What is the cheapest VPS?

The lowest monthly figure we track for a usable Linux server in a US datacenter is InterServer at $3 (1 core, 2 GB, 40 GB SSD, 2 TB). Below that are servers with 512 MB: Vultr at $3.50 a month, DigitalOcean at $4, and RackNerd at $26.99 a year (about $2.25 a month) with lower promotional prices during sales. 512 MB runs a static site, a bot or a VPN endpoint; anything with a database wants 2 GB. The cheapest VPS page has the full list.

Is hourly billing cheaper than monthly?

Only if the server is off most of the time. Hourly rates are set so that a full month (about 730 hours) costs the same as, or slightly more than, the monthly price: Vultr's 1 GB plan is $0.007 an hour, which is $5.11 for 730 hours against $5 monthly; DigitalOcean's is $0.00893, $6.52 against $6, and DigitalOcean caps the month at the monthly price. Hourly wins for a test box you use for a weekend; for a server that runs all month it costs the same or a little more, depending on whether the provider caps the month at the monthly price (DigitalOcean and Hetzner state that they do). InterServer, OVHcloud, Hostinger, Contabo and RackNerd do not offer hourly billing.

How much do you save with annual billing?

It depends entirely on the provider, and several publish no annual discount at all (Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, InterServer, Hetzner). OVHcloud publishes both prices: VPS-1 is $5.35 monthly or $4.54 on a 12-month term, a 15 percent saving. Hostinger's low prices are 24-month term prices that renew higher: KVM 1 is $6.49 a month for two years, then $11.99. Contabo's prices are introductory for the first 24 months. RackNerd's cheapest plan is sold only by the year. Before paying a year ahead, compare the term price to the renewal price, not to the first-month price.

What extra costs should I expect?

The ones that show up on real bills: a Windows license ($9 to $10 a month at OVHcloud and InterServer, more on larger plans, charged at checkout at Vultr); an IPv4 address at Hetzner ($0.60 a month on top of the plan); backups and snapshots where they are add-ons (OVHcloud snapshot from $0.60 a month; InterServer backups are a separate product); a control panel license if you want cPanel or Plesk; and, on introductory plans, the renewal price. Transfer overage rarely bites at these sizes because the allowances are 1 to 8 TB, but a 512 MB plan with 500 GB is the exception.

Does a managed VPS cost more?

Yes, and the gap is the support, not the hardware. Hostwinds sells the same 1 GB server unmanaged for $4.99 and managed for $10.99 after its first-cycle discount. InterServer includes operating-system support on every plan and fuller managed support from 8 slices ($24). Fully managed hosts with a panel (InMotion from $9.99 on a 24-month term renewing at $16.99, GreenGeeks from $69.95) are priced for people who do not want to administer a server at all. The reviews index lists which providers are which.

Sources

All plan prices and hourly rates were read in September 2026. Where a provider exposes a public API, the API was used.