VPS · 6 tools compared
What is the best VPS host in 2026?
Short answer
DigitalOcean Droplets ranks first on published facts: no free plan, paid plans from $4 / mo. 0 of 6 have a free plan.
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | From | 1st year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. DigitalOcean Droplets | Developer-friendly cloud VPS | No | $4 / mo | $48 |
| 2. OVHcloud VPS | Unmetered-traffic budget VPS | No | $4.54 / mo | $54.48 |
| 3. Vultr Cloud Compute | Many-region cloud VPS | No | $5 / mo | $60 |
| 4. Amazon Lightsail | Simple fixed-price AWS VPS | No | $5 / mo | $60 |
| 5. Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Predictable-price developer cloud | No | $5 / mo | $60 |
| 6. Hostinger VPS | Cheap NVMe VPS on long terms | No | $6.49 / mo | $77.88 |
From = cheapest paid plan, billed yearly where offered. 1st year = that plan for 12 months.
How did we rank these 6 VPS hosts?
On published facts only, scored out of 7: free plan (2, or 1 for a trial), first-year cost against the others (up to 3), three or more paid plans (1), mobile apps (1). We do not test tools hands-on.
| Tool | Score / 7 |
|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Droplets | 4 |
| OVHcloud VPS | 3.4 |
| Vultr Cloud Compute | 2.8 |
| Amazon Lightsail | 2.8 |
| Akamai Cloud (Linode) | 1.8 |
| Hostinger VPS | 1 |
The 6 best VPS hosts, ranked
DigitalOcean Droplets
Best for: developer-friendly cloud VPS
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $4 / mo
- 1st year
- $48
OVHcloud VPS
Best for: unmetered-traffic budget VPS
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $4.54 / mo
- 1st year
- $54.48
Vultr Cloud Compute
Best for: many-region cloud VPS
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $5 / mo
- 1st year
- $60
Amazon Lightsail
Best for: simple fixed-price AWS VPS
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $5 / mo
- 1st year
- $60
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
Best for: predictable-price developer cloud
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $5 / mo
- 1st year
- $60
Hostinger VPS
Best for: cheap NVMe VPS on long terms
- Free plan
- No
- From
- $6.49 / mo
- 1st year
- $77.88
Which VPS host is cheapest?
DigitalOcean Droplets, at $48 for the first year, then OVHcloud VPS at $54.48.
| Tool | Cheapest plan | 1st year |
|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Droplets | Basic 512 MiB | $48 |
| OVHcloud VPS | VPS-1 | $54.48 |
| Vultr Cloud Compute | Regular 1 GB | $60 |
| Amazon Lightsail | Linux 0.5 GB | $60 |
| Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Shared CPU | $60 |
| Hostinger VPS | KVM 1 | $77.88 |
Which VPS hosts have a free plan?
None of the 6.
Sources
| Vendor page | URL | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Droplets pricing | digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets | 27 Oct 2026 |
| OVHcloud VPS pricing | us.ovhcloud.com/vps/ | 27 Oct 2026 |
| Vultr Cloud Compute pricing | vultr.com/pricing/ | 27 Oct 2026 |
| Amazon Lightsail pricing | aws.amazon.com/lightsail/pricing/ | 27 Oct 2026 |
| Akamai Cloud (Linode) pricing | linode.com/products/shared/ | 27 Oct 2026 |
| Hostinger VPS pricing | hostinger.com/vps-hosting | 27 Oct 2026 |
Prices in USD as published by each vendor, billed yearly where offered. How we compare