Best Cheap VPS Hosting 2023 – Top 10 Inexpensive VPS Hosting Companies
VPS hosting, or Virtual Private Server hosting, is the mid-tier option between shared hosting and private hosting. On a virtual private server, you're sharing the machine with other VPS owners, but each server has its own resource allocation. It works similarly to the partitions on a computer's hard drive.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the best (and cheapest) VPS hosting plans available today. While VPS hosting is a mid-tier option, the pricing and features can vary widely, so make sure to check out all available options before settling on a service provider. These cheap options will save you money, but as a result, you'll likely have to do much of the server management yourself.
What Is the Best Cheap VPS Hosting?
The cheapest (and best) VPS hosting that we've found are the following:
- Ionos by 1&1: Starting at $2 per month
- Virpus: Starting at $2.08 per month
- Vultr: Starting at $2.50 per month
- OVHcloud: Starting at $3.50 per month
- Hostinger: Starting at $3.95 per month
- Hostwinds: Starting at $4.49 per month
- A2: Starting at $5 per month
- InMotion: Starting at $5 per month
- InterServer: Starting at $6 per month
- VPSDime: Starting at $7 per month
Overall, we think Ionos by 1&1 is the best cheap VPN for you to consider. However, Hostwinds takes a close second in terms of quality versus price, especially if you're considering a Windows-based operating system.
1. Ionos by 1&1
Ionos by 1&1 is an exciting option to consider, and — bar none — the cheapest option on our list. Their most affordable plan only costs $2 per month, and while it comes with introductory-level features to match that price, it's still enough to get a small business owner or savvy seller started.
The reason why Ionos can make their VPS options so cheap is that they have several optional upgrade tiers. For example, if you want double the ram and storage, you'll pay $5 per month instead. If you wish to have cloud backups included, you'll need to pay an extra fee. If you want to use Windows instead of Linux (which you cannot do with their entry-level package, by the way), you'll pay an extra $20 per month. Adding Plesk costs another $5 per month.
While this makes Ionos a poor choice for those looking for all the bells and whistles, it's great for those willing to take a more hands-on approach. Ionos' $2 tier comes with the following specifications:
- 1 core
- 10 GB SSD
- 512 MB RAM
- Unlimited bandwidth (up to 400 Mbps)
In comparison, Ionos' next cheapest package comes in at $10 per month, but it offers some impressive specs:
- 2 cores
- 80 GB SSD
- 2 GB RAM
- Unlimited bandwidth (up to 400 Mbps)
Ionos also offers three more price tiers above their $10 option, but they're a tad too expensive to consider for this cheap VPS list.
Included Features
One of the most critical features of Ionos' VPS hosting tiers is their unlimited bandwidth. This is a rare feature in VPS hosting plans at this price point, especially at only $2 per month.
Since Ionos keeps prices low by separating unnecessary features, there are many extras available for purchase. The downside of this is that many desirable extras come at a cost. However, you'll still receive free 24/7 support over phone, chat, online ticketing, and access to Ionos' own help center.
Ionos offers 99.99% availability, which is not the best on this list, but it's better than most of the other options you'll see here.
Things to Consider
The main thing to consider with Ionos by 1&1 is the differences between their price tiers. If you want to use a Windows-based operating system, for example, you'll need to pay for their $10 monthly tier and add a $20 monthly fee onto that. That's already $30 per month, so if you're looking for a Windows-based VPS host, consider other options.
2. Virpus
Virpus offers one of the cheapest VPS offerings on this list, starting at just $2.08 per month. However, this incredibly low cost is locked behind a few things: firstly, you must pay the full fee of the plan upfront ($25 annually). Secondly, this low price is only available for Virpus' SSD-cached Linux VPS hosting.
If you want to host your server on their SSD-only system, you'll have to upgrade to $5 per month. This is still a great price, but not as impressive as their SSD-cached plan.
Virpus' $25 per year SSD-cached plan comes with the following specs:
- 2 cores
- 25 GB disk
- 512 MB RAM
- 1.5 TB bandwidth
However, cheap plans aren't all that Virpus offers. If you're looking for website hosting with better specs than the above, their plans scale up accordingly. Their most expensive SSD-cached plan comes with the following at $180 per month:
- 16 cores
- 1500 GB disk
- 48 GB RAM
- 9 TB bandwidth
If you want to upgrade to their fully-SSD-hosted plans, you'll end up paying about twice as much for similar spec offerings, but these plans are more powerful and reliable.
Included Features
While Virpus does offer management panels with their VPS software, all management must be done by you alone. As you might expect with such cheap plans, their support leaves a lot to be desired. However, they do have a support team that will do what they can to help you when you run into issues. You can purchase management from Virpus for an added cost as well.
Do note that the prices listed above are only available with Virpus' Linux-based VPS offerings. If you want to host with Windows instead, their plans start at $20 per month. However, keep in mind that their windows scale in price better — their most expensive Windows-based plan is the same as their most costly Linux-based plan (both fully SSD-hosted).
Things to Consider
Unfortunately, despite how good Virpus looks on paper, they have had some reliability issues, and they only have about 99.94% uptime on their servers. If this number doesn't bother you, you may be able to reap some truly impressive cost savings from their least expensive plans.
Finally, note that while Virpus does have 24/7 customer support, it is limited mostly to online tickets, not phone and chat services. While this is par for a small web hosting company like Virpus, you may need to purchase management from them or another developer if you're not experienced with server management.
3. Vultr
Vultr is a compute instance provider that, while not a VPS hosting service in name, can be used for VPS hosting just as well as any other service. They offer very inexpensive compute instance services, and they also offer private and dedicated cloud-based servers.
Vultr's monthly payments work a bit differently than the others on this list. Instead of paying a flat fee, you pay an hourly rate up to a monthly rate cap that your bill cannot exceed.
Vultr's cheapest plan starts at just $2.50 per month. This plan comes with the following:
- 1 core
- 10 GB SSD
- 512 MB RAM
- 0.5 TB bandwidth
Their most expensive plan, which costs a whopping $640 per month, comes with the following:
- 12 CPUs
- 768 GB SSD
- 48 GB RAM
- 8 TB bandwidth
Vultr sets itself apart by separating their plans into standard and high-frequency services. Of course, the high-frequency plans are more expensive, but the price gap between the two isn't bad at all. Compared to their $2.50 per month standard plan, their least costly high-frequency plan is only $6 per month.
Included Features
Vultr gives you the option of deploying your VPS in one of seventeen locations around the world. These servers are located both in major US cities and in nations around the world, such as the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
Vultr also gives you the option of using any combination of operating systems. If you'd like, you can even upload your own ISO to the server.
However, one of the most tempting offerings from Vultr is their range of one-click programs and apps to get you started. For example, if you're looking to host a WordPress website on your VPS, they have an app to expedite that process.
Vultr also offers an extensive library of add-on features that can enhance the capability of your VPS. Among the many things they offer are backups, firewalls, DDoS protection, and more. Of course, these features will come with extra fees, and most of these fees are far more significant than the cost of the hosting itself.
Things to Consider
Like Virpus, Vultr's support is a bit lackluster, mostly because the company is on the smaller side. If you need to contact support, you'll likely have to open a support ticket and wait for it to be answered. However, unlike Virpus, Vultur has an extensive support library full of FAQs, documentation, developer notes, and guides that can help in the absence of an expert. The management of your VPS will also be your responsibility.
While Vultur's base price is excellent, its services tend to scale upwards very quickly, especially when you start adding-on extras. It's excellent for those looking for a cheap, bare-bones service, but those looking for a more inclusive package may want to consider more affordable options.
4. OVHcloud
OVHcloud offers a starter experience for just $3.50 per month, but unfortunately, the specs that it offers at the starter level are a bit lackluster. Fortunately, their next cheapest plan starts at only $5.10 per month (with a two-year commitment), which isn't too bad compared to the other options here.
The difference between OVHcloud and the competition is that OVH comes complete with a ton of features included in the price. While you would have to pay an extra $10 per month to purchase anti-DDoS protection with Vultur, it comes included for free with OVHcloud's Value plan.
Do note that OVHcloud's extra features may not all be included in their Starter plan, which is the one that starts at $3.50 per month. This plan comes with the following features:
- 1 core
- 20 GB SSD
- 2 GB RAM
- Unlimited bandwidth (at 100 Mbps)
In contrast, OVHcloud's Value plan, which starts at $5.10 per month, comes with the following:
- 1 core
- 40 GB NVMe
- 2 GB RAM
- Unlimited bandwidth (at 250 Mbps)
While OVHcloud doesn't have as many cores to offer as some of the competition, the fact that it provides unlimited bandwidth is a bit of a game-changer. Most other VPS plans have a specified bandwidth limit — often in terabytes — that you cannot exceed over one month. With OVHcloud, you never have to worry about hitting this bandwidth ceiling.
Included Features
Besides unlimited bandwidth and DDoS protection, OVHcloud comes with several other features included in its monthly price. You may have noticed that OVHcloud offers NVMe SSD storage specifically — these have a noticeable performance increase over some other SSD protocols.
Additionally, OVHcloud boasts 24/7 monitoring and interventions, so if a server crash or a security breach is in progress, you can rest assured that they'll catch it quickly and do their best to put a stop to it. You also have the option of adding on automatic or manual snapshots, additional disks, and automatic backups for extra fees.
OVHcloud supports virtually any operating system, and they offer Windows-based VPS plans, too. As is the case with other VPS hosting sites, the Windows plans are more expensive.
Things to Consider
Unfortunately, OVHcloud has a few caveats that make it a bit less attractive than it initially seems on paper. They only offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee — the lowest on this list so far. Complaints have been lodged against OVHcloud in the past because of their server instability.
However, if you're specifically looking for a VPS hosting platform with unlimited bandwidth, OVHcloud may still be an option. Do note that, if your VPS originates in Australia or Singapore, you do have bandwidth limits starting at about 1 TB. If you exceed these limits over a month, your bandwidth will be reduced to 10 Mbps for the remainder.
5. Hostinger
Hostinger is another inexpensive VPS hosting service that starts at $3.95 per month. However, unlike much of the competition we've seen so far, Hostinger is a large enough company to support high-tech features, strong tech support, and even a robust knowledge base.
Hostinger is also different because it offers its own website builder that works in conjunction with Hostinger's VPS hosting service. They also have a thirty-day money-back guarantee.
Hostinger's most inexpensive plan starts at $3.95 per month. The features that are included with this entry-level plan are:
- 1 core
- 20 GB SSD
- 1 GB RAM
- 1 TB bandwidth
Hostinger also doesn't have any outrageously expensive plans like some of the above companies do. Their most expensive plan is only $29.95 per month, and comes with these features:
- 8 cores
- 160 GB SSD
- 8 GB RAM
- 8 TB bandwidth
Keep in mind that the prices above reflect a 48-month commitment, however. If you choose to pay monthly, you'll instead pay $9.95 per month for their basic plan and $129.95 per month for their most expensive plan.
48 months is a big commitment, but this is offset slightly by Hostinger's 30-day money-back guarantee. If you find within those first thirty days that the plan you chose isn't for you, you'll get your full investment back immediately.
Included Features
Despite its low price plans, Hostinger offers an impressive array of features to go with their VPS plans. Of particular note is 24/7/365 live chat with professional help. Few of the other platforms so far have offered much better than online tickets, which often come with long wait times.
Additionally, Hostinger keeps an up-to-date blog full of helpful resources, and they also have tutorials to help get you out of tight spots. All in all, Hostinger's support package seems dependable enough to help even the somewhat inexperienced through any rough patches. Hostinger also offers dedicated IP addresses and IPv4/IPv6 support with its plans.
Things to Consider
It seems like Hostinger is a VPS geared toward newcomers to the VPS world. Their website tends to teach visitors new terms rather than assuming they know them. The site is incredibly student-friendly, too; in fact, they offer a permanent 15% discount to any student purchasing one of their web hosting plans.
Hostinger is also actively trying to pair with YouTube creators, ostensibly for the benefit of both Hostinger and the creator.
6. Hostwinds
Hostwinds is still a relatively inexpensive VPS hosting platform, and unlike the other options so far, it also offers managed and unmanaged plans for both Linux and Windows. As you might expect, the managed plans are more expensive, but not by much; the managed Linux plan is only $5.17 compared to $4.49 unmanaged.
Managed VPS plans are the perfect solution for those who aren't familiar enough with server programming to set one up on their own. Alternatively, if your time is better spent dealing with your business than tinkering with your website, a managed server could also be for you.
The only difference between Hostwinds' managed and unmanaged plans, besides the management aspect, is the price. Otherwise, they offer the same specifications. The specifications for their most inexpensive plans are as follows:
- 1 core
- 30 GB SSD
- 1 GB RAM
- 1 TB bandwidth
In contrast, Hostwinds' most expensive plan is cheaper in the managed version at $247.69 per month, while its unmanaged plan is $296.09 per month. The specs included with this plan are as follows:
- 16 cores
- 750 GB SSD
- 96 GB RAM
- 9 TB bandwidth
Of course, just like the other hosting sites we've looked at so far, Hostwinds offers incremental plans between the two listed above. This way, they can better suit each customer's unique needs.
Included Features
Hostwinds' plans are chock-full of useful features, some of which we haven't seen so far on this list. Among these are their 99.9999% uptime guarantee, which is the very best on the market. If you see any downtime at all with your Hostwinds server, it will be quick, painless, and fixed right away.
Hostwinds also offers free website transfer services for those who host through a different company. With this service, you can import your old site directly into Hostwinds, saving you time, energy, and potential headaches. All plans also include snapshots for restoring old versions of your website and a firewall.
Finally, Hostwinds has 24/7 monitoring of your website, and they will let you know immediately in the event of any problems. They also offer nightly backups, so your site information will never be lost.
Things to Consider
The first thing to consider with Hostwinds' plans is that they, like many others on this list, are Linux-based. If you want to purchase a Windows-based plan instead, you'll pay slightly more across the board. However, do note that their Windows-based plans are some of the least expensive on this list.
Other than that, your only real consideration to make will be whether you want your VPS to be managed or unmanaged. Unmanaged plans are often cheaper, while managed plans are much less time-intensive since someone else is doing the work for you.
Finally, besides Ionos, Hostwinds has the best support system out of any hosting website we've seen thus far. They have a real call center available for help, and they also have a blog, a knowledge base, and an online chat feature for those who would prefer not to call. If you want to do things the old-fashioned way, you can open a support ticket, too.
7. A2
A2 Hosting is a unique entity in the VPS market. Their price plans are very basic — their managed plans start at $25, while their unmanaged plans start at $5 — but their “draw” is the speed of their VPS service. They claim that their VPS service is twenty times faster than their competitors. If this is true, that can make a huge difference in your websites' page load times.
A2 has another unique offering in that they offer a hybrid managed-unmanaged plan for those that have the features of both. Their hybrid plans (dubbed “core” plans) offer both root access and professional management through A2's experts. These plans give you the flexibility to go in and make changes when you want to and the freedom to stay hands-off when you need to.
However, their managed plans can get expensive, so since we're looking for cheap VPS hosts, we'll mostly look at their unmanaged plans on this guide. Their cheapest tier, or “Entry” plan, is $5 per month and comes with the following features:
- 1 core
- 20 GB SSD
- 512 MB RAM
- 2 TB Bandwidth
In contrast to many of the other hosting platforms on this list, A2 only has three price tiers for unmanaged VPS hosting. As such, their unmanaged VPS plans are intended for small and small-medium businesses only; they don't offer the vast resources required by larger operations.
Their most expensive unmanaged VPS plan is the “Elite” plan, which is only $15 per month. They also offer a “Mid” plan at $10 per month that lies between the Entry and Elite plans in terms of features. The Elite plan comes with the following specifications:
- 4 cores
- 50 GB SSD
- 1 GB RAM
- 2 TB bandwidth
Included Features
Since most of A2's draw is to small businesses looking for a fast VPS hosting service, it offers a bit less in the way of features than the previous few we've looked at. However, one of its standout features is its 24/7/365 expert support team. While they only have a support ticket portal — no phone number or live chat — they do have a good knowledge base for tips and tricks.
Another vital draw of A2's service is their anytime money-back guarantee. If you cancel your service within the first 30 days, you'll receive all your money back. However, even if you cancel after that, you'll get a prorated refund of what you have remaining. As a result, there's minimal risk involved with trying their VPS platform.
Things to Consider
There are several essential things to keep in mind about A2's VPS hosting. Firstly, they only offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which is relatively low (and tied with OVHcloud for the lowest spot on this list). However, because of their generous money-back policy, you shouldn't have to worry about this too much.
The only other thing to keep in mind with this service is that it's only available in Linux OS. A2 VPS hosting has no available Windows OS equivalent.
8. InMotion
Like many of the companies on this list, InMotion offers both managed and unmanaged VPS plans. However, their managed plans are not cheap enough to be worth looking at here.
InMotion's cheapest unmanaged tier starts at $5 per month. This plan includes:
- 1 core
- 25 GB SSD
- 1 GB RAM
- 1 TB bandwidth
In comparison, their most expensive plan costs $160 per month, and there are six additional plans spaced between the least and most expensive tiers. Their most expensive plan includes the following:
- 8 cores
- 640 GB SSD
- 32 GB RAM
- 7 TB bandwidth
Unfortunately, InMotion doesn't really have anything with its unmanaged plans to make it stand out. Its offerings are much the same as any other unmanaged VPS hosting platform.
Included Features
When you purchase a VPS subscription from InMotion, you get a decent amount of extra features included. Among them are DDoS protection, snapshotting, firewalls, and a helpful knowledge base. Surprisingly, they do have a large number of support channels for those who need help, including live chat, phone, email, community Q&A via social media, and dedicated forums.
One unique feature that InMotion does have is the ability to code your server in several different languages. InMotion supports Java, Ruby, Git, and many more languages. Additionally, their unmanaged plans come with free access to the Ansible control node. This is a surprisingly attractive feature since several other VPS hosting sites charge extra for access to a control dashboard.
Things to Consider
While not much stands out about InMotion, there's not much to worry about with them, either. The only real consideration for you to make is whether you can tolerate a Linux-only VPS. Like A2, InMotion only works with Linux operating systems.
In the end, InMotion's unmanaged VPS platforms have a small niche, but a clear one. As long as you have a small business and know how to work with at least one programming language, this is an excellent web hosting option.
9. InterServer
InterServer is a smaller company with a sliding scale of VPS support, but it has some exciting offerings on the table. Instead of having separate managed and unmanaged tiers, they simply add-in VPS management after purchasing four VPS slices.
The way InterServer's price tiers work is different, too. Instead of having arbitrary scaling rules, each slice of InterServer's VPS service is $6. Every slice comes with the following included:
- 1 core
- 30GB SSD
- 2048 MB RAM
- 1 TB bandwidth
If you were to purchase six slices, for example, you would multiply each of the above numbers by six to get your result. You would increase the price by six, too, meaning you'd pay $36 per month for your VPS hosting. Because of how their slice scale works, you can get quite a bit of bang for your buck.
Note that their Windows “slices” cost $10 apiece instead of $6, so they will set you back slightly more.
Included Features
Surprisingly, InterServer supports quite a few features. They offer one-click setups for WordPress hosting, for example, and the platform supports several different control panels, too. These control panels allow you to install frameworks to your virtual private server with minimal effort and confusion.
InterServer also supports both Windows and Linux-based setups, so you don't need to worry about sacrificing your work if you already have a site set up on one OS. The company also has a secure transfer service to move your established websites over to their servers.
Notably, InterServer's Windows-based VPSs support Windows Remote Desktop, a program that lets you access your server from anywhere in the world. Staff can use the program to manage the site, too, meaning you can hire out your server work to other people if you so choose.
Impressively, InterServer offers 24/7/365 support over the phone, live chat, and an online ticket system, so help is always available.
Things to Consider
Unfortunately, InterServer does have a few drawbacks that make it just short of a stellar VPS hosting service. Firstly, they only have a 99.9% uptime guarantee, meaning they are tied with OVHcloud and A2 for the lowest spot.
Additionally, since InterServer doesn't offer any sort of money-back guarantee whatsoever, if you find that you have an issue with your service, there's nothing you can do to get your hard-earned money back. This is especially problematic considering their uptime guarantee is quite low.
10. VPSDime
VPSDime is another slice-based VPS hosting service that works similarly to InterServer. However, their “slices” cost $7 each per month instead. While one extra dollar per month might not seem like much, it adds up if you buy a lot of slices.
VPSDime's slice system works slightly differently than that of InterServer. Instead of scaling linearly with each slice, VPSDime offers 4 virtual cores for everyone, regardless of how many slices you're using. Otherwise, the scale of their offerings works just like you would expect.
The specs of what you get with each VPSDime slice are:
- 4 cores
- 30 GB SSD
- 6 GB RAM
- 2 TB Bandwidth
You'll notice that even with just one slice from VPSDime, you get an impressive amount of processing power, storage, and bandwidth — you may not even find that you need more than one slice.
Included Features
There aren't many features that stand out about VPSDime aside from the generous processing power and storage that comes with their slices.
VPSDime doesn't have an extensive support system — they only use support tickets on their website — but their lightning-fast response times to these tickets help make up for this. Unless you strongly prefer to speak to an individual over the phone, you shouldn't have any problems with VPSDime's support.
Things to Consider
The main drawback of VPNDime is its low uptime guarantee, similar to OVHcloud and A2. They only offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Additionally, their VPS servers only support Linux-based operating systems. However, their sister site called Winity can help you set up a Windows-based VPS if you prefer.
Conclusion
In the end, Ionos by 1&1 offers the best balance of quality, price, features, and support out of all the options on this list. It offers the cheapest tier available on the market, but unlimited bandwidth comes standard with all of its tiers. It has other well-priced options available, too.
However, the one caveat of Ionos by 1&1 is that it's not cheap when it comes to Windows-based applications. If you're looking to use a Windows OS, consider taking a look at Hostwinds, which takes a close second to Ionos by 1&1.
