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Low-end boxes: cheap VPS and dedicated servers
There is a whole market below the £5/month line — unmanaged KVM slices for the price of a sandwich, terabyte storage boxes billed annually, and ex-lease dedicated hardware at a fraction of list price. It circulates on LowEndBox and its forum LowEndTalk, and it is genuinely useful — provided you understand what you are buying and what you are risking.
Read this before you buy
- Every price here is indicative, not a quote. Low-end offers are promotional, stock-limited and change weekly. Verify on the provider's own site.
- These are unmanaged servers. No cPanel, no support for your website, no backups unless you configure them. You are the sysadmin — see the self-hosting walkthrough.
- Annual prepayment is the core risk. Much of the value requires paying 12–24 months up front to small companies. Providers in this market do occasionally disappear, and prepaid money is rarely recovered.
- Never keep your only copy of anything here. Back up to storage from a different provider, in your own account.
- Outbound email is blocked or restricted on essentially every provider listed. You will need an SMTP relay.
Last reviewed 5 September 2026. No affiliate links — we earn nothing from any of these.
Every offer, cheapest first
47 offers from 18 providers. The £/month column is an approximate GBP equivalent for comparison — most of these bill in USD or EUR.
| Provider | Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RackNerd | 1 GB KVM VPS |
1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 20 GB SSD · 1 TB transfer The classic sub-£1/month box |
~$11–13/year | £0.85 | Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, New York, Atlanta |
| BuyVM (Frantech) | Block storage slab Storage VPS |
256 GB–10 TB, attachable to any slice The cheapest credible way to store backups near your box |
~$1.25 per 256 GB/month | £1.00 | Luxembourg, Las Vegas, New York |
| WebHorizon | NAT IPv4 plan NAT IPv4 / IPv6-only |
512 MB–1 GB RAM · shared IPv4 + full IPv6 For tunnels, bots and IPv6-native services — not websites |
~$1–2/month | £1.20 | Multiple |
| Hostodo | NVMe 1 GB VPS |
1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 15 GB NVMe Long-standing sub-£2/month option |
~$15–20/year | £1.30 | Las Vegas, Dallas, Spokane |
| BuyVM (Frantech) | Slice 512 VPS |
1 vCPU · 512 MB RAM · 10 GB SSD · unmetered gigabit Ideal for a VPN, a monitor or a small service |
~$2/month | £1.60 | Luxembourg, Las Vegas, Miami, New York |
| CloudCone | Flash sale VPS VPS |
2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB SSD Recurring promotional pricing |
~$20–30/year | £1.90 | Los Angeles |
| InterServer | 1 slice VPS VPS |
1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 30 GB SSD · 2 TB transfer Monthly, no annual prepayment needed |
~$2.50/month | £2.00 | New Jersey, Los Angeles |
| RackNerd | 2.5 GB KVM VPS |
2 vCPU · 2.5 GB RAM · 60 GB SSD · 5 TB transfer Comfortable for a small WordPress site |
~$25–30/year | £2.00 | US, multiple |
| Advin Servers | EPYC KVM VPS |
1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB NVMe Modern CPU at a bargain price |
~$2–3/month | £2.00 | US, Amsterdam |
| AlphaVPS | KVM 2 GB VPS |
1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe Reliable cheap box for a side project |
~€2.50/month | £2.20 | Sofia, Frankfurt, Dallas |
| WebHorizon | NVMe KVM VPS |
1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 15 GB NVMe One of the cheapest London KVM boxes going |
~$3–4/month | £2.80 | London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, US, Singapore, Tokyo |
| CloudCone | Hourly instance VPS |
1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 30 GB SSD Best in this table for throwaway test boxes |
~$0.005/hour (~$3.50/month) | £2.80 | Los Angeles |
| LiteServer | Budget KVM VPS |
1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe Low latency to the UK for a European price |
~€3.50/month | £3.00 | Dronten, NL |
| Scaleway | Stardust / DEV1-S VPS |
1–2 vCPU · 1–2 GB RAM · 10–20 GB SSD EU-resident cheap instance from a large operator |
~€3–5/month | £3.40 | Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw |
| Hostodo | NVMe 4 GB VPS |
3 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe Solid for staging and side projects |
~$40–55/year | £3.60 | US |
| HostHatch | NVMe VPS VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe Cheap London KVM on an annual term |
~$40–60/year | £3.80 | London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Chicago, Hong Kong |
| Servarica | Storage 1 TB Storage VPS |
1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 1 TB HDD Backup target, not a web host |
~$40–60/year | £4.00 | Montreal |
| GreenCloud | KVM SSD VPS |
2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD Cheapest credible Asian locations |
~$5–7/month | £4.50 | Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, US, NL |
| Contabo | Cloud VPS 10 VPS |
3 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 75 GB NVMe or 150 GB SSD The most RAM per pound in this table |
~€5.50/month + setup | £5.00 | London, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, US, Singapore |
| netcup | VPS 1000 G11 VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 256 GB NVMe Better I/O than Contabo at a similar price |
~€6/month | £5.20 | Nuremberg, Vienna |
| BuyVM (Frantech) | Slice 2048 VPS |
2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD Runs a real site |
~$7/month | £5.50 | Luxembourg, US |
| HostHatch | Storage VPS 1 TB Storage VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 1 TB HDD A terabyte of backup space for the price of a coffee a month |
~$60–90/year | £6.00 | London, Amsterdam, LA |
| OVHcloud Eco (Kimsufi & So you Start) | VPS VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe A genuine UK-hosted budget VPS |
~£5–8/month | £6.50 | London/Erith, Gravelines, Frankfurt |
| LiteServer | Storage VPS Storage VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 1–4 TB HDD Good target for off-site backups |
~€6–15/month | £7.00 | Dronten, NL |
| WebHorizon | NVMe KVM 4 GB VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe Enough for a small WordPress site in the UK |
~$8–10/month | £7.00 | London and global |
| GreenCloud | Storage VPS Storage VPS |
2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 500 GB–2 TB HDD Geographic diversity for backups |
~$6–15/month | £7.00 | Asia, US |
| AlphaVPS | KVM 8 GB VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB NVMe Multi-site capable |
~€9/month | £7.80 | Europe |
| InterServer | 4 slice VPS VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 120 GB SSD Linear pricing, easy to reason about |
~$10/month | £8.00 | US |
| Advin Servers | EPYC KVM 8 GB VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe Good value for a dev or CI box |
~$10/month | £8.00 | US, Amsterdam |
| Contabo | Storage VPS Storage VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 800 GB–2 TB HDD Cheap bulk storage with a CPU attached |
~€9–15/month | £9.00 | Germany, London |
| Contabo | Cloud VPS 20 VPS |
6 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 200 GB NVMe Fine for a busy multi-site box if I/O suits you |
~€11/month + setup | £9.50 | London and global |
| netcup | VPS 2000 G11 VPS |
8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 512 GB NVMe Serious capacity for the money |
~€12/month | £10.50 | Nuremberg, Vienna |
| Servarica | Storage 4 TB Storage VPS |
2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 4 TB HDD Cheaper per TB than most object storage |
~$120–180/year | £11.00 | Montreal |
| OVHcloud Eco (Kimsufi & So you Start) | Kimsufi entry Dedicated servers |
Atom/i3-class · 4–8 GB RAM · 1× HDD/SSD Cheapest real dedicated server on the market |
~£8–15/month | £12.00 | Gravelines, Roubaix, Beauharnois |
| HostHatch | Storage VPS 4 TB Storage VPS |
4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 4 TB HDD Black Friday is when to buy these |
~$150–250/year | £15.00 | Europe, US |
| Scaleway | Dedibox Dedicated servers |
Entry dedicated · 16–32 GB RAM Budget bare metal, ex-Online.net range |
~€15–30/month | £18.00 | France |
| netcup | Root Server RS Dedicated servers |
Dedicated cores · 32–64 GB RAM Dedicated resources without bare-metal pricing |
~€25–45/month | £26.00 | Germany, Austria |
| Hetzner Server Auction | Entry auction box Dedicated servers |
Intel i7 or Ryzen 5 · 32–64 GB RAM · 2× 512 GB NVMe More machine than a £150/month managed plan |
~€30–40/month | £29.00 | Falkenstein, Helsinki |
| AlphaVPS | Dedicated Dedicated servers |
Xeon E5 · 32 GB RAM · 2× SSD Bare metal at VPS-tier pricing |
~€35–55/month | £35.00 | Sofia, Frankfurt |
| RackNerd | Budget dedicated Dedicated servers |
Xeon E3/E5 · 16–32 GB RAM · 2× HDD or SSD Older hardware, generous specs |
~$45–70/month | £38.00 | Los Angeles, Dallas |
| OneProvider | Budget dedicated Dedicated servers |
Xeon E3 · 16–32 GB RAM · 1–2× SSD One of few genuinely cheap UK bare-metal options |
~£35–55/month | £42.00 | London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, and 100+ cities |
| Hetzner Server Auction | Storage box Dedicated servers |
Xeon · 32–64 GB RAM · 4× 4–16 TB HDD For backups, media or a Nextcloud instance |
~€40–70/month | £45.00 | Falkenstein |
| LiteServer | Dedicated Dedicated servers |
Ryzen or Xeon · 32–64 GB RAM · NVMe Cheaper than UK bare metal, 10ms away |
~€45–80/month | £45.00 | Dronten, NL |
| OVHcloud Eco (Kimsufi & So you Start) | Eco / Rise Dedicated servers |
Xeon E-23xx · 32 GB RAM · 2× 512 GB NVMe The practical sweet spot; check for a London option at checkout |
~£40–60/month | £48.00 | France, and UK on parts of the range |
| InterServer | Dedicated Dedicated servers |
Xeon · 32 GB RAM · SSD Own facility, own network |
~$70/month | £56.00 | New Jersey |
| Hetzner Server Auction | Ryzen 9 / EPYC Dedicated servers |
Modern CPU · 64–128 GB RAM · NVMe Current-generation performance at ex-lease prices |
~€70–120/month | £70.00 | Falkenstein, Helsinki |
| OneProvider | Higher spec Dedicated servers |
Dual Xeon · 64–128 GB RAM · NVMe Check which facility before ordering |
~£70–130/month | £90.00 | London and global |
The providers
Reputation is our read of track record, transparency and community standing over time — in this market, "has been trading uneventfully for a decade" is the highest praise available.
Hetzner Server Auction
Gunzenhausen, Germany · since 1997 · Monthly, cancel with notice; no setup fee on most auction stock
Ex-lease dedicated hardware sold off cheaply from Hetzner's German data centres. The single best value in dedicated servers anywhere, and from a company with nearly thirty years of trading history rather than a reseller who may vanish.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry auction box | Intel i7 or Ryzen 5 · 32–64 GB RAM · 2× 512 GB NVMe | ~€30–40/month | £29.00 | Falkenstein, Helsinki |
| Storage box | Xeon · 32–64 GB RAM · 4× 4–16 TB HDD | ~€40–70/month | £45.00 | Falkenstein |
| Ryzen 9 / EPYC | Modern CPU · 64–128 GB RAM · NVMe | ~€70–120/month | £70.00 | Falkenstein, Helsinki |
BuyVM (Frantech)
Canada / Luxembourg · since 2010 · True monthly billing, no annual lock-in
The elder statesman of the low-end world and the one most veterans recommend. Flat $2–$7/month KVM slices, unmetered gigabit, free DDoS filtering, and cheap block storage you can bolt onto any slice. Stock sells out and stays out for months.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slice 512 | 1 vCPU · 512 MB RAM · 10 GB SSD · unmetered gigabit | ~$2/month | £1.60 | Luxembourg, Las Vegas, Miami, New York |
| Slice 2048 | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | ~$7/month | £5.50 | Luxembourg, US |
| Block storage slab | 256 GB–10 TB, attachable to any slice | ~$1.25 per 256 GB/month | £1.00 | Luxembourg, Las Vegas, New York |
netcup
Karlsruhe, Germany · since 2004 · Monthly with a 12-month minimum on some plans
The quality option in European budget hosting. Genuinely fast KVM with good I/O, German and Austrian data centres, and a reputation for stability that Contabo does not have at a similar price.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VPS 1000 G11 | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 256 GB NVMe | ~€6/month | £5.20 | Nuremberg, Vienna |
| VPS 2000 G11 | 8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 512 GB NVMe | ~€12/month | £10.50 | Nuremberg, Vienna |
| Root Server RS | Dedicated cores · 32–64 GB RAM | ~€25–45/month | £26.00 | Germany, Austria |
LiteServer
Dronten, Netherlands · since 2016 · Monthly or annual
A well-regarded Dutch provider, about 10ms from London, with cheap KVM and periodic Black Friday offers that are among the best in Europe. Owns its own network and answers tickets quickly.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget KVM | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | ~€3.50/month | £3.00 | Dronten, NL |
| Storage VPS | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 1–4 TB HDD | ~€6–15/month | £7.00 | Dronten, NL |
| Dedicated | Ryzen or Xeon · 32–64 GB RAM · NVMe | ~€45–80/month | £45.00 | Dronten, NL |
Servarica
Montreal, Canada · since 2012 · Annual
A Canadian specialist in enormous, cheap storage VPS plans on annual billing, with an unusually good record for actually honouring long-term pricing. The standard recommendation for off-site backup storage in the low-end community.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage 1 TB | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 1 TB HDD | ~$40–60/year | £4.00 | Montreal |
| Storage 4 TB | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 4 TB HDD | ~$120–180/year | £11.00 | Montreal |
AlphaVPS
Sofia, Bulgaria · since 2016 · Monthly, quarterly, annual
Bulgarian provider with a long, uneventful track record — which in this market is the highest praise available. Cheap KVM in several European cities plus low-cost dedicated hardware.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KVM 2 GB | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 25 GB NVMe | ~€2.50/month | £2.20 | Sofia, Frankfurt, Dallas |
| KVM 8 GB | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB NVMe | ~€9/month | £7.80 | Europe |
| Dedicated | Xeon E5 · 32 GB RAM · 2× SSD | ~€35–55/month | £35.00 | Sofia, Frankfurt |
InterServer
Secaucus, New Jersey, USA · since 1999 · Monthly, price-locked for life on shared plans
An unusual entry: a genuinely old, genuinely solvent US company selling $2.50/month VPS slices with monthly billing and no lock-in. Owns its own data centres, which very little of the low-end market does.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 slice VPS | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 30 GB SSD · 2 TB transfer | ~$2.50/month | £2.00 | New Jersey, Los Angeles |
| 4 slice VPS | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 120 GB SSD | ~$10/month | £8.00 | US |
| Dedicated | Xeon · 32 GB RAM · SSD | ~$70/month | £56.00 | New Jersey |
RackNerd
Los Angeles, USA · since 2019 · Annual is the headline; monthly available at higher rates
The most prolific advertiser in the low-end market and, unusually for that market, one that has stayed solvent and responsive. Annual KVM plans in the $11–$30 range, US-only locations, and a permanent stream of holiday promotions.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB KVM | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 20 GB SSD · 1 TB transfer | ~$11–13/year | £0.85 | Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, New York, Atlanta |
| 2.5 GB KVM | 2 vCPU · 2.5 GB RAM · 60 GB SSD · 5 TB transfer | ~$25–30/year | £2.00 | US, multiple |
| Budget dedicated | Xeon E3/E5 · 16–32 GB RAM · 2× HDD or SSD | ~$45–70/month | £38.00 | Los Angeles, Dallas |
HostHatch
Stockholm, Sweden · since 2011 · Annual and biennial are the value tiers
Best known for large storage VPS plans sold on annual terms, in a long list of cities including London. The Black Friday storage deals — terabytes for tens of pounds a year — are a fixture of the low-end calendar.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe VPS | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe | ~$40–60/year | £3.80 | London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Chicago, Hong Kong |
| Storage VPS 1 TB | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 1 TB HDD | ~$60–90/year | £6.00 | London, Amsterdam, LA |
| Storage VPS 4 TB | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 4 TB HDD | ~$150–250/year | £15.00 | Europe, US |
Hostodo
USA · since 2014 · Annual and biennial
A long-running US provider selling annual NVMe KVM plans in the $15–$40 range. Unremarkable in the best sense: it has been quietly delivering the same thing for over a decade.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe 1 GB | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 15 GB NVMe | ~$15–20/year | £1.30 | Las Vegas, Dallas, Spokane |
| NVMe 4 GB | 3 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe | ~$40–55/year | £3.60 | US |
Advin Servers
USA · since 2021 · Monthly or annual
A newer provider that built a good reputation quickly on LowEndTalk for honest specifications and responsive support. Cheap AMD EPYC KVM plans and some very low-cost dedicated hardware.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPYC KVM | 1 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 20 GB NVMe | ~$2–3/month | £2.00 | US, Amsterdam |
| EPYC KVM 8 GB | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | ~$10/month | £8.00 | US, Amsterdam |
Scaleway
Paris, France · since 1999 · Hourly, capped monthly
A large French cloud provider with a genuinely cheap entry tier — the Stardust and DEV instances start around €3–5/month — plus hourly billing and EU data residency. A more corporate alternative to the small low-end shops.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stardust / DEV1-S | 1–2 vCPU · 1–2 GB RAM · 10–20 GB SSD | ~€3–5/month | £3.40 | Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw |
| Dedibox | Entry dedicated · 16–32 GB RAM | ~€15–30/month | £18.00 | France |
WebHorizon
India / global · since 2019 · Monthly, quarterly, annual
A small provider with an unusually wide location list including London, and cheap NVMe KVM plans. Popular on LowEndTalk for the NAT IPv4 plans, which cut the cost further by sharing an IPv4 address.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe KVM | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 15 GB NVMe | ~$3–4/month | £2.80 | London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, US, Singapore, Tokyo |
| NVMe KVM 4 GB | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 60 GB NVMe | ~$8–10/month | £7.00 | London and global |
| NAT IPv4 plan | 512 MB–1 GB RAM · shared IPv4 + full IPv6 | ~$1–2/month | £1.20 | Multiple |
GreenCloud
Singapore · since 2013 · Monthly, quarterly, annual
A Singapore-based provider with cheap KVM and storage plans across Asia, the US and Europe. Chiefly interesting if you need an Asian location at low-end prices, which most of this market does not offer.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KVM SSD | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | ~$5–7/month | £4.50 | Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, US, NL |
| Storage VPS | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 500 GB–2 TB HDD | ~$6–15/month | £7.00 | Asia, US |
OVHcloud Eco (Kimsufi & So you Start)
Roubaix, France · since 1999 · Monthly; setup fee on the cheapest tiers
OVH's budget dedicated range, and one of the very few places to get genuinely cheap bare metal with a UK option — London and Erith are available on parts of the range. Hardware is older or entry-grade; the network is excellent.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimsufi entry | Atom/i3-class · 4–8 GB RAM · 1× HDD/SSD | ~£8–15/month | £12.00 | Gravelines, Roubaix, Beauharnois |
| Eco / Rise | Xeon E-23xx · 32 GB RAM · 2× 512 GB NVMe | ~£40–60/month | £48.00 | France, and UK on parts of the range |
| VPS | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 80 GB NVMe | ~£5–8/month | £6.50 | London/Erith, Gravelines, Frankfurt |
CloudCone
Los Angeles, USA · since 2017 · Hourly billing, pay as you go
Hourly-billed cheap KVM from a Los Angeles facility, which makes it genuinely useful for short-lived experiments — spin up, test, destroy, pay pence. Frequent flash sales on annual plans.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly instance | 1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 30 GB SSD | ~$0.005/hour (~$3.50/month) | £2.80 | Los Angeles |
| Flash sale VPS | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 50 GB SSD | ~$20–30/year | £1.90 | Los Angeles |
OneProvider
Montreal, Canada · since 2013 · Monthly; setup fees on some locations
Cheap dedicated servers in an unusually long list of cities — including London — by reselling capacity in other operators' facilities. Useful precisely because of the location list; be clear that you are buying from a reseller.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget dedicated | Xeon E3 · 16–32 GB RAM · 1–2× SSD | ~£35–55/month | £42.00 | London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, and 100+ cities |
| Higher spec | Dual Xeon · 64–128 GB RAM · NVMe | ~£70–130/month | £90.00 | London and global |
Contabo
Munich, Germany · since 2003 · Monthly, plus a one-off setup fee on most plans
Enormous specifications for the money — 8 GB and four cores for around €6 — from a large, long-established German provider with a London location. The catch is consistent: the RAM is real, the I/O and CPU are heavily contended.
| Plan | Specification | Advertised | ≈ £/mo | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud VPS 10 | 3 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 75 GB NVMe or 150 GB SSD | ~€5.50/month + setup | £5.00 | London, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, US, Singapore |
| Cloud VPS 20 | 6 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 200 GB NVMe | ~€11/month + setup | £9.50 | London and global |
| Storage VPS | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 800 GB–2 TB HDD | ~€9–15/month | £9.00 | Germany, London |
What low-end boxes are good for
| Use | Suitable? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Off-site backup target | Excellent | Storage VPS gives terabytes for pounds a year, and a separate provider is exactly what a backup should be |
| Development, staging, CI runners | Excellent | Downtime is an inconvenience, not a loss |
| Learning Linux and server administration | Excellent | The cheapest possible way to break things safely |
| Personal VPN, Pi-hole, monitoring, bots | Excellent | Tiny resource needs, no SLA required |
| Hobby site or blog | Yes, with backups | Perfectly capable; keep an independent copy |
| Small business website | Only with care | Workable on the better providers, but you own uptime, security and recovery entirely |
| Client sites you are paid to host | No | You are selling a service backed by a £2 box and no SLA. Use a reseller platform |
| Ecommerce or anything taking payments | No | Downtime costs money and PCI scope is real |
| Email hosting | No | Port 25 is blocked, and low-end IP ranges have poor sending reputation |
How to buy without getting burned
- Search the provider on LowEndTalk first. The forum has years of threads and is candid about outages, oversold nodes and disappearances. A provider with no history there is an unknown.
- Start monthly, even where annual is cheaper. Pay a couple of months, see how it behaves, then commit. The saving is not worth the exposure until you trust them.
- Cap the loss you can absorb. Treat prepayment as spent money. If losing it would hurt, do not prepay two years.
- Pay by a method with recourse where possible. Crypto is common in this market and offers none.
- Test the disk and network on day one —
fio,dd, iperf3 and a few traceroutes. Oversold I/O shows up immediately, and you are still inside the refund window. - Assume the box will vanish. Provision it with a script or Ansible playbook so rebuilding elsewhere is an hour, not a weekend.
If you want cheap but not this cheap
Hetzner at about £3.50/month and DigitalOcean at £4 sit just above this market with far better support, real SLAs and no prepayment risk — and DigitalOcean has a London region. For a business site that is the better trade. Our London VPS comparison covers that tier, and this post makes the case for when unmanaged hosting is a false economy.