For many website owners, VPS is more than a luxury. It’s a necessity. However, not just any VPS hosting provider can bring you the needed benefits. This goes double if you are looking for cheap VPS hosting alternatives. Usually, cheap VPS hosting turns out to be much more expensive in the long run. Still, many new business owners who don’t want to put too much strain on their budget go straight to the cheapest option on the market. And sure, they can find some pretty low-cost solutions.

However, just like with everything else, the lower price comes at a cost. Usually, this means lower quality of service and significantly lower quality of support. In some cases, the discount price is achieved by sacrificing performance, security, and reliability. As experts, we can assure you that these are factors with which you never want to make compromises.

So, instead of going for the cheapest VPS hosting on the market, you should look for the most affordable option.

Still, since you are researching cheap VPS hosting solutions, let’s help you vent through them to lift the veil and reveal what you will be sacrificing if you go for the cheapest VPS hosting provider on the market. We won’t go over what is VPS, as we already did a detailed article on that topic. Instead, we will focus on what VPS hosting providers bring to the table and who they will actually work for.

Finally, we will share with you not only the cheapest VPS hosting alternative but also the most cost-efficient one. But before we get there, let’s discuss what determines the price of a VPS hosting service.

What Determines The Cost of VPS Hosting

Several key factors define the cost of a VPS hosting service. Naturally, these factors are tightly related to the performance and overall user experience. Understanding these factors is crucial. You must know what you are paying for and why paying less may not be optimal for your needs. More importantly, understanding how VPS hosting prices are determined will allow you to make the most cost-efficient choice.

Resource Allocation

The biggest chunk of the fee you will be paying goes to the main VPS resources – the CPU cores, RAM, and storage space. This infrastructure is a significant investment on the hosting provider’s part, so the better the CPU, RAM, and storage space, the higher the price.

Typically, all hosting providers offer an entry-level plan, which offers minimal resources. Still, there are those that will cost significantly less. This begs the question, do you need a secure, reliable, and fast VPS? If so, going to the lowest-hanging fruit is not ideal. Because of the high-competitive nature of the market, hosting providers usually work at low margins. Thus, usually, significantly lower costs for VPSs’ mean that the infrastructure is not of premium quality.

Of course, that’s not always the case, as other factors also determine the price.

Managed vs. Unmanaged Services

Managed services are usually more expensive, as well as the infrastructure, you also hire the hosting provider to take care of your server. They will ensure your VPS is well-maintained, always updated, secure, and has backups. This convenience comes at a higher price but is ideal for users who lack technical expertise.

Typically, the cheapest VPS hosting alternatives are unmanaged VPS services. This means you alone are responsible for all server management tasks. You will have to configure, maintain, update, and administer your server. Naturally, this demands some advanced knowledge of server administration, security, and software deployment.

So, if you are a business owner who just found out VPS is not a luxury but a necessity, unmanaged VPS hosting will only bring you significantly more headaches.

Operating system

Typically, VPS that use Linux as their OS are significantly cheaper. After all, it’s open-source and free to use. However, that also makes it more prone to malicious attacks.

Windows is far more secure, but it also requires a paid license. Naturally, this makes it more expensive.

Virtualization Technology

The Virtualization Technology also has a significant impact on the cost.

VPS hosting relies on virtualization technology to divide a physical server into multiple virtual instances. So, whether the hosting provider uses KVM, Open VZ, VMware, or another will affect the cost. For example, VMware is well known for its high-performance virtualization technology that provides outstanding isolation and control. However, it also means the technology is more expensive.

Data Center Locations

Your VPS is located somewhere. Where it is will determine the price you will pay. The geographical location affects operational costs, such as electricity, maintenance, and network infrastructure. For example, electricity and maintenance prices here in the US are significantly higher than those in India or Indonesia. Still, as experts, we must assure you that going for the cheapest data center location is the worst idea you may have. If your main target audience is in the US, you want your servers, if not in the US, at least on the same continent. The proximity of your server to your audience matters when it comes to speed.

Server Type

The price is also dictated by the server type. For example, a cloud server infrastructure is significantly better than a traditional server. However, a cloud server uses an entire network of cloud servers. So, naturally, the price will be higher. Still, the benefits of a cloud server VPS are much more valuable than the view bucks you will save over the course of one year.

Limitations

With price comes different limitations. That’s normal. No one will give you limitless resources, especially if you are looking for a cheap VPS hosting solution. Still, these limitations will significantly impact the VPS hosting price. Whether it’s flexibility, scalability, network bandwidth, or traffic limits, you need to be aware of what you are getting and how expensive it can get if you start scaling. What’s the point of paying 2 dollars for the first month if you are going to have to pay $1000 on the sixth?

The fewer the limitations, the higher the price will be. So, do your research and learn precisely what you need, what you will be needing during your contract, and how much it will cost you in the long term.

Additional features

For a smoother experience, you will also need some additional features, especially if you are after a managed VPS solution. Cheap VPS hosting typically comes with very few and low-quality features. This means you may have to pay extra for things like security, control panels, pre-installed applications, automated backups, and others. This can bump your cost significantly. So, before you sign anything, make sure you know precisely what you get with the offer you are considering.

Support

Cheap VPS hosting often resorts to non-full support or self-service support. A 24/7/365 support requires a dedicated team of more than a few experts. As you can imagine, this costs money, so naturally, the hosting provider will share this load with all its customers.

We can’t stress this enough. 24/7 support for a managed VPS server is the bare minimum you should be looking at. Anything less is a waste of money. For unmanaged servers, you have to decide whether you can wait a couple of days if you lose access to your server or if it is crucial enough for you to have constant access. For serious business owners, the latter is a must.

Difference Between Cheap VPS and Affordable VPS

Interestingly, “cheap” and “affordable” are often used interchangeably, especially by hosting providers who offer cheap VPS hosting. However, as our experience has shown way too many times, the devil is in the details. There is a small but crucial nuance.

Cheap VPS hosting is a low-cost service that reduces its cost at the expense of features, infrastructure, support, and quality. These types of VPS hosting plans often seem like a good idea at first, until you realize you need to invest additional (hidden) costs, so your VPS can perform somewhat decently.

Affordable VPS hosting refers to a reasonably priced service that balances cost and quality. It cuts some of the more advanced features and has more limitations. However, it doesn’t compromise the quality of the infrastructure, security, support, and performance.

Needless to say, affordable VPS hosting is, by definition, more expensive. However, that’s what you need, especially if you’re not entirely sure what most hosting technical terms mean.

What is a Reasonable VPS Hosting Price

It’s hardly a surprise that the concept of a reasonable VPS hosting price depends entirely on what you need. If you are after an unmanaged hosting with little to no features and not too powerful infrastructure, 5-10 dollars a month is well within reason.

For managed hosting with somewhat reasonable resources and fully equipped VPS, 30 to 60 dollars is the lowest you should go (including the initial discount). Of course, it depends on your needs and the service quality you seek.

This being said, let’s give you some examples of what the cheapest VPS hosting plans offer and why they won’t help you most of the time.

The Top 5 Cheap VPS Hosting Services

We went through over 100 cheap VPS hosting providers to find the ones that were truly for the penny pinchers. Naturally, we vented the cheapest VPS hosting solutions and analyzed how they can afford such prices that are well below the average.

WebDock

WebDock is a Danish cloud hosting provider known for its affordable and scalable Virtual Private Server (VPS) solutions. Their cheapest plan, the SSD Pico4, asks for just over 1 dollar a month (0.95 EUR).

Dedicated Resources:

• Storage: 10 GB SSD​
• CPU: 1 Core​
• RAM: 768 MB​
• Operating System: Linux-based distributions

Main Features:

• Free Control Panel: WebDock provides a user-friendly web server control panel at no extra cost. However, it only applies if you use Nginx or Apache. ​
• Backup Snapshots: Users receive 5 automated and 3 personal snapshot slots per server. ​
• Basic SSL Certificate: Users get a basic SSL certificate.

Reasons for the Low Price:

• Minimal Resource Allocation: The plan offers limited CPU, RAM, and storage. As experts, we must warn you that 10GB SSD with 1 Core and 768 MB RAM is below the bare minimum for… well, anything. In fact, most shared hosting providers will give you more resources, even if you have to share them with others.
• Unmanaged Support: Users are responsible for server management tasks, reducing WebDock’s operational costs. So, if you want to get a $1 VPS hosting, you must be able to deploy, maintain, and update your server all on your own.
• Linux-Based OS: Utilizing open-source Linux distributions eliminates licensing fees associated with proprietary operating systems. This is not that bad, as long as you don’t need Windows for any reason.
• Limited Data Center Locations: WebDock’s data centers are all in Europe. So, if you want to run a global e-commerce website, WebDock just won’t do it.

Who is it for:

With such minimalistic infrastructure, this cheap VPS hosting solution is suitable only as a testing area or for small, low-traffic static websites.

Is it worth it?

In a word – NO. These resources will bring you nowhere. If you want to scale your operations with dedicated resources, don’t look for a solution that actually gives you less than shared hosting.

IONOS VPS XS – USD 2

IONOS is a well-established web hosting provider offering a range of VPS hosting solutions. Their cheapest plan, VPS XS, starts at just $2 per month. Now, as you can imagine, you can’t rely a whole lot on this service for complex tasks. Still, let’s have a look at what it offers.

Dedicated Resources:

• Storage: 10 GB NVMe SSD
• CPU: 1 vCore
• RAM: 1 GB
• Operating System: Linux-based distributions

Main Features:

• Unlimited Traffic: The VPS XS plan provides unlimited data transfer at 1 Gbit/s
• DDoS Protection: The plan includes built-in protection against DDoS attacks and enhances security.
• Full Root Access: Users have complete administrative control over the server, allowing for full customization.

Reasons for the Low Price:

• Minimal Resource Allocation: The plan offers limited CPU, RAM, and storage. These specs are enough only for the most basic tasks.
• Unmanaged Support: Users must maintain and manage their VPS without much assistance from IONOS.
• Linux-Based OS: Only Linux-based distributions are available, eliminating the costs associated with Windows licensing.
• Long-Term Contracts: To access the cheapest rate, users must commit to a longer-term plan.

Who is it for:

With its basic specifications, this plan is best suited for testers and low-traffic websites. In our opinion, it can also handle lightweight applications as well, as long as they don’t get too much traffic simultaneously.

Is it worth it?

Basically – no. Not really. With 1 GB RAM and 10 GB SSD storage, this plan will struggle with even modest demands. If you need a VPS for anything beyond testing or a simple static site, you should look elsewhere.

Database Mart

Database Mart is a U.S.-based hosting provider specializing in Virtual Private Server (VPS) solutions tailored for various applications. Their Express Linux VPS plan is among the cheapest VPS hosting solutions on the market at just under $3 a month. Still, to get that price, you need to sign up for at least 24 months. Thus, you will effectively sacrifice one of the biggest benefits of VPS – Scalability. Still, let’s see what Database Mart offers for $2.99 a month.

Dedicated Resources:

• RAM: 4 GB​
• CPU: 2 Cores​
• Storage: 60GB SSD​
• Bandwidth: 100 Mbps Unmetered
• Operating System: Various CentOS or Ubuntu Server Linux OS

Main Features:

• Full Admin Access: Users receive administrative privileges, allowing complete control over the server environment.​
• Rapid Deployment: Servers are typically provisioned within 1 to 10 minutes after purchase.​
• Backup Services: Includes backups once every four weeks to safeguard data.
• 24/7 support: Users can talk to an expert at any time of the day.
• Control Panel: Users get an in-house developed control panel at no extra cost.

  Reasons for the Low Price:

• Unmanaged Service: Users are responsible for server maintenance and management, reducing operational costs for Database Mart.​
• Shared IP Address: The default configuration includes a shared IP; dedicated IPs are available for an additional fee.
• Infrequent Backups: Backups are performed once a month. That could spell disaster for websites with constant content updates. It can also lead to significant data loss.
• Highly-limited Bandwidth: The 100 Mbps is way too little for a VPS service. It’s OK if you’re using it for a testing ground or storage, but nothing more.
• Few Data Centers: Database Mart offers servers located only in the United States. This makes it impossible to use for many business niches like e-commerce and SaaS.

Who is it for:

As usual, Developers and testers who need a playground to run their tests are at the front of the line. In our opinion, some small niche businesses with small traffic and infrequent website updates can also benefit from the low price. However, the small business owner must have some extensive IT knowledge to deploy and maintain the server on their own.

Is it worth it?

Yes, but in very rare cases. This cheap VPS hosting service provides somewhat good resources for the price they ask for. However, bandwidth limitations, infrequent backups, and the fact that you will have to deploy and maintain your own VPS make using this VPS service too much of a hassle.

Still, if you are a tester or you need extra storage space, this solution is pretty good for your needs.

Ultahost

We got closer to normal VPS hosting prices with Ultahost, though they will charge you only 3.99 for their Triennial Linux VPS Basic plan. So, let’s discuss what you will get for $143.64 in the next three years. And if it sounds too good to be true… well, let’s put an asterisk on that.

Dedicated Resources:

• RAM: 1 GB​
• CPU: 1 Core​
• Storage: 30 GB NVMe SSD​
• Bandwidth: Unlimited​
• Operating System: Choice of Linux distributions

Main Features:

• Managed Server: Includes server management services, reducing the need for user intervention.​
• Free SSL Certificate: Enhances website security and trustworthiness.​
• Free Backups: Regular backups to safeguard data.​
• 24/7 Assistance: Round-the-clock customer support.
• Full Root Access: Users can freely manage their hosting environment.

Reasons for the Low Price:

• Minimal Resource Allocation: The plan offers limited CPU, RAM, and storage, suitable only for basic applications. It won’t satisfy about 99% of the people needing dedicated website resources.
• Long-Term Contract: Though that doesn’t sound too bad, being unable to scale your dedicated resources for three years without significant additional costs is a problem. Yes, you can always scale your resources, but you must learn what it will cost you. So, read the fine print before signing up.
• Mixed Customer Support Experiences: Some users have shared on Reddit, G2, and other third-party reviewer websites that customer support, though responding 24/7, is ineffective and slow.
• Performance Variability: Some users have noticed inconsistencies in the server performance, affecting the website’s reliability.

Who is it for:

The limited resource allocation is definitely not enough for e-commerce websites or high-traffic pages. However, along with the usual testers, small niched businesses and people with personal projects can enjoy this VPS. Since it’s managed, users are not required to have extensive IT knowledge. So, in our opinion, it opens some doors the previous entries simply couldn’t.

Is It Worth It?

Yes, but with some extra caution. The VPS Basic plan offers affordability and essential features suitable for basic hosting needs. Sure, they don’t exceed what you will get with a shared hosting solution. However, you will get the security and performance that come with a fast VPS service.

Still, you should read the fine print before signing and take a deeper look into third-party user experiences. After all, these will be your experiences for the next three years.

Hostinger

Hostinger is, without a doubt, among the most notable names in the hosting market. Naturally, they have almost any plan imaginable – cheap VPS hosting included. Among them is the KVM1, priced at $5 monthly with a biannual contract.

So, let’s take a closer look at what KVM1 offers.

Dedicated Resources:

• RAM: 4 GB​
• CPU: 1 vCPU Core
• Storage: 50 GB NVMe SSD​
• Bandwidth: 4 TB​
• Operating System: Choice of Linux-based distributions​

Main Features:

• Full Root Access: Provides complete control over the server environment.​
• Dedicated IP Address: Each VPS includes a unique IP address.​
• Automated Backups: Weekly backups to safeguard data.​
• 24/7 Customer Support: Round-the-clock assistance for technical issues.

Reasons for the Low Price

• Unmanaged Service: Indeed, you will be responsible for your VPS, though Hostinger will take care of the Physical server. Still, you will need vast IT knowledge to deploy, maintain, and update.
• Long-Term Contracts: To get the lowest price, you need to sign a two-year contract. Naturally, this will be a hurdle if you start growing. So, depending on your needs, consider how fast you will start needing more resources. After all, you’re not paying five bucks monthly. You will pay 120 non-refundable dollars.
• No Phone Support: Customer support is limited to live chat and email, with no telephone assistance available. This may not sound like a huge deal, but only until you’re in a hurry to fix a problem with your server. Then, personal connection is everything.

Who Is It For:

Developers and tech-savvy users who know what they are getting into. It can also work pretty well for small businesses with tech-savvy owners. If it weren’t for the 2-year contract, Hostinger’s cheap VPS hosting plan would have been a wonderful first step into the world of VPS.

Is It Worth It?

Yes, with an asterisk or two. Though not too feature-rich, Hostinger’s KVM 1 plan offers enough for users without huge demands. Still, you should take note that you will be in charge of your VPS. Moreover, Hostinger is famous for its aggressive upscale marketing strategies. While they won’t force you into buying anything you don’t want to, be prepared to fend them off.

The Best Affordable VPS Hosting Option

Now that we’re done with the cheap VPS hosting services let’s get down to business. Let’s talk about a service that will actually cover your needs and then some.

HostArmada is the best cloud hosting service provider on the market. We offer secure, reliable, and fast VPS hosting solutions. Unlike the cheap VPS hosting alternatives that compromise on performance, Hostarmada’s managed VPS hosting covers all the extensive needs of the most common VPS users.

Why Choose HostArmada?

• Fully Managed Support: Unlike most budget VPS hosting providers, HostArmada provides 24/7 expert support, taking care of server optimization, security patches, and updates.
• High Performance: HostArmada uses NVMe SSD storage, ensuring faster load times and better reliability
• Free Daily Backups: As you already saw, the cheap VPS hosting alternatives all offer sporadic backup. However, daily backups are instrumental to any high-traffic, content-heavy website.
• Enhanced Security: With DDoS protection, web application firewalls, malware scanning, and a dozen other security features, HostArmada provides unparalleled security that significantly outshines any of the previous cheap VPS hosting providers.
• Scalability: Start with an entry-level VPS and scale up resources as your needs grow without migration hassles. Moreover, the pricing is monthly, so you can literally go up and down depending on the month. For example, over the summer months, you can choose a lower-level VPS, while during the Christmas season, you can go for the most robust option. This will give you a great, affordable average throughout the year.

Is HostArmada Worth It?

Absolutely! For users who need an affordable, fully managed VPS with premium features, HostArmada is a must. While it may not be the absolute cheapest option, the combination of performance, security, and support makes it the most cost-effective choice on the market for any business, developer, or freelancer.

So, check out our affordable VPS hosting plans and choose the one that will best fit your needs.