I priced 33 VPS plans the way finance would: the same 2 vCPU / 4 GB server costs $4.54 or $29 a month

Description and use

The author compared 33 VPS plans, uncovering hidden fees and a $24.46/month price gap for identical 2 vCPU/4 GB specs.

Problem

VPS pricing pages show a single sticker price that hides additional costs such as IPv4, backups, bandwidth overage, and renewal price jumps, leading to misleading comparisons.

Outcome

The study revealed a $24.46/month ($294/year) price gap for identical 2 vCPU / 4 GB specs between the cheapest (OVHcloud VPS-1) and most expensive (Linode 4 GB) verified plans, and highlighted significant renewal price jumps and hidden fees.

Workflow

• 1. Gather official pricing pages or public APIs for each provider.
• 2. Verify each plan’s base price and note any additional fees (IPv4, backups, bandwidth overage, promo pricing).
• 3. Convert EUR prices to USD using a dated exchange rate (1.1188 on 2026-10-26).
• 4. Calculate true monthly cost by adding all hidden fees to the base price.
• 5. Rank plans by true cost for each spec (e.g., 2 vCPU / 4 GB).
• 6. Publish results in a calculator and JSON API for public use.

Evidence

The cheapest verified plan is OVHcloud VPS-1 at $4.54/mo. The most expensive is Linode 4 GB at $29/mo.

Source

Every plan is marked verified or unverified. A plan is unverified if I couldn't read its price or a fee on the check date, and it says why.

Source

The whole ledger is available as JSON under CC BY 4.0: https://vpsledger.pages.dev/api/plans.json

Source