Best Cheap VPS

Best Cheap UK VPS Hosting in 2024 (On-Going Case Study)

If you’re looking to move from shared hosting to something more powerful or perhaps not quite ready for a dedicated server, then a VPS is a great option.

VPS hosting is normally very scalable as it is all virtual and cloud-based. So if you’re looking for something cheap, that you can upscale later on then we can also take a look at the price you’ll be paying in the future.

BEST CHEAP VPS WEB HOSTING SERVICES COMPARED:

1. Hostinger: Best Overall UK VPS Web Host (£4.99/Month)

The Hostinger site is well known for offering very affordable web hosting. Their VPS hosting is no different, starting from just £4.99 per month along with a 30-day money-back guarantee. What’s not to love? For your money, you’ll get 1 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 50GB storage, and 1TB bandwidth.

All of Hostinger’s VPS plans use NVMe disk drives with AMD EPYC processors. This ensures that your server is running fast and smoothly. You’ll also get full root access, a dedicated IP, IPv6 support, and that reassuring money-back guarantee.

Before signing up for Hostinger’s VPS hosting, you can choose which operating system you want to install. These include CentOS, Ubuntu, Gaming, Fedora, Debian, or Suse. These operating systems templates come with different architectures to ensure you’re getting exactly what you want.

Hostinger’s VPS hosting pricing plans are simple and scalable. There are 4 pricing plans to choose from, ranging from £4.99 per month to £17.99 per month.

Pros:

• Fully self-managed VPS servers
• 24/7/365 dedicated support and uptime monitoring
• Choice of 10 server locations (inc the UK)
• Variety of operating system templates
• Ultra-fast VPS servers
• VPS AI Assistant
• 1 Free Snapshot
• 50GB – 400GB NVMe
• Knowledge base
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

• Prices are based on a 48-month initial term

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Cost: £4.99/Month
Space: 50GB NVMe Disk space
Bandwidth: 1000GB
CPU Cores: 1 vCPU
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Visit Hostinger.co.uk(£4.99/Mo)
READ HOSTINGER REVIEW

2. SiteGround: (£48.00/Month)

SiteGround is undoubtedly one of the best web hosting providers. Their shared hosting packages are affordable and powerful, and their managed VPS servers are no different. Whilst their prices may seem steep compared to other hosts, they offer so much more, so it’s important to bear that in mind.

For £48.00 per month, you’ll get a managed cloud server with 2 CPU cores, 4GB memory, 40GB SSD storage, and 5TB data. And that’s just their entry-level package. SiteGround’s VPS packages go up to 8 cores, 10GB memory, and 120GB SSD storage for £144.00 per month.

You pay for what you get with SiteGround. Not only are you going to get a great service, but you’ll also get a fully managed server, scalable cloud platform where you can add CPU and RAM at any time, and powerful dedicated resources. If you have a WordPress website, SiteGround’s VPS and cloud service extends to WordPress and WooCommerce.

SiteGround offer 4 clear and concise VPS packages including Entry at £48/mo, Business at £72/mo, Business Plus at £96/mo and Super Power at £144/mo. All of SiteGround’s cloud servers include direct SSH access, a dedicated IP, free CDN, and free SSL.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • VPS plans include daily backups with 7 offsite copies
  • Private DNS
  • Free SSL and free CDN
  • 14-day money-back guarantee
  • Prices shown are for a rolling 1-month period with free setup

Pros:

• Monthly terms
• Great customer support
• High performances cloud servers
• Free setup
• Recognised and recommended web host

Cons:

• Expensive prices compared to other hosts

Cost: £48.00/Month
Storage: 40GB SSD
Bandwidth: 5TB
CPU Cores: 2
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Visit SiteGround.com (£48.00/Mo)
READ SITEGROUND REVIEW

3. A2 Hosting: (£4/Month)

A2 Hosting is an American hosting provider, founded in 2001 that focuses on providing high powered, super-fast hosting. They say that their hosting is 20x faster. A2 Hosting offers great value for money on the VPS packages. The entry-level unmanaged VPS has decent spec 20GB storage, 2TB transfer, 512MB RAM, and full root access.

The generous “Anytime Guarantee” from A2 Hosting means that you can get your money back anytime. You can also get a fully managed hosting service with up to 75GB storage, 4GB RAM, and 2 TB transfer. Meaning you can have a hands-off approach to your server management, safe in the knowledge that A2 Hosting is taking care of everything.

With A2 Hosting, you get some great spec for the low prices shown.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • A2 Hosting offers an Anytime Guarantee
  • Free site transfer available

Pros

• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Full root access
• Excellent value for money
• Free SSL & cPanel
• Anytime money-back guarantee

Cons

• Too much choice so may not be suitable for beginners
SSL certificates come with a 7-day refund window
• Domain registrations, setup fees, and migrations are non-refundable

Cost: £4/Month
Storage: 20GB
Bandwidth: 2TB
CPU Cores: 1
Anytime Money Back Guarantee
Visit A2Hosting.com (£4/Mo)

4. OVH: (£2.99/Month)

OVH is a French hosting company founded in 1999. With over 1.3 million customers and 28 global data centers, OVH is a massive global web host. They use next-gen OpenStack KVM and SSD drives and offer great value for money on all of their VPS plans.

For just £2.99 you can get a VPS from OVH that can be upgraded easily at any time. OVH provides VPS at 13 different international locations. They offer a simple control panel that shows graphs and easily allows you to manage all aspects of your VPS. OVH don’t charge hourly, which is a big bonus when selecting a VPS provider

OVH offers three VPS plans – SSD VPS, Cloud VPS, and Cloud RAM VPS. With their SSD VPS packages starting at just £2.99 per month. You can also add extra storage space if required.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • Prices displayed exclude VAT
  • You need to sign up for a 12 month contract period
  • No additional hourly fee to think about

OVH also offers dedicated hosting, domain names, emails, and web hosting services.

Pros:

• 99.95% SLA
• Great value for money
• No hourly charge
• Backups available
• Anti DDoS Pro

Cons:

• Prices displayed exclude VAT

Cost: £2.99/Month
Storage: 20GB SSD
Bandwidth: Unlimited
CPU Cores: 1
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Visit OVH.com (£2.99/Mo)

5. LunaNode: (£3/Month)

LunaNode is a VPS provider that focuses on cloud-based hosting. Founded in 2013 in Canada, they currently have 3 server locations – two in Canada (Toronto and Montreal) and one in France. LunaNode operates on a pay as you use model, so you only pay for resources that you actually use. The servers used by LunaNode use high-performance KVM instances to provide a stable and scalable infrastructure.

LunaNode offers a super low monthly fee, however, you need to remember that they also charge per the hour on top of that. However, that can quickly stack up if your server gets busy. The lower tier plan is called “m.1s” and offers 1GB RAM, 1 Virtual core, 15GB of SSD storage, and 1000GB bandwidth.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • You’ll need to pay for the hours that your server is used on top of the monthly fee
  • Block storage, Snapshot storage, floating IPs and additional bandwidth are all charged separately

Pros:

• Cheap pricing to get started with
• Plenty of features
• Firewall security
• Startup scripts
• Live snapshots

Cons:

• If you want backup storage you’ll need to pay extra per month

Cost: £3/Month
Storage: 15GB SSD
Bandwidth: 1000GB
CPU Cores: 1
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Visit LunaNode.com (£3/Mo)

6. Alibaba Cloud: (£4/Month)

You might be familiar with the online eCommerce platform – Alibaba. Well, they are part of a larger group of businesses including Alibaba Cloud (responsible for running the infrastructure for Alibaba).

In January 2017 Alibaba cloud won the contract to become the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee. With over 1 million paying customers, 1500+ CDN Nodes worldwide, and holding the No.3 spot in the Global cloud marketplace, there is a lot to like about Alibaba Cloud.

From the beginning, you can tell that Alibaba Cloud is a top-tier host. However, their interface is designed for a more technical website owner. If you’d like to give it a go, you can try out their products for free, and see if they are for you. They do offer an extensive knowledge base that outlines just about everything you might need to know about their products.

Alibaba Cloud has been available to the public since 2009 and is the biggest cloud hosting provider in China and offers hosting for as little as £4 per month. However, on top of this, you’ll need to pay by the hour (which can stack up quickly)

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • You’ll need to be 100% certain as Alibaba Cloud does not support refunds
  • Alibaba Cloud also charge for hourly usage
  • Flexible pricing available – pay as you go or prepaid
  • Customizable yet complex VPS hosting choices

The pricing with Alibaba Cloud is very reasonable. With their starter package, you get 1 vCore CPU, 1GB memory, 40GB SSD storage, and 1TB of data transfer. You’ll also get a free anti-DDoS Basic service, automatic snapshots and triplicated cloud backups. Although you can fully customize your resources with Alibaba cloud it is quite daunting for a beginner.

Pros:

• Free trial
• Cheap entry level
• High-quality hosting provider
• Alibaba Cloud ECS resources auto-scale

Cons:

• Not suitable for beginners
• No refunds offered

Cost: £4/Month
Storage: 40GB SSD
Bandwidth: 1TB
CPU Cores: 1
No Money Back Guarantee
Visit AlibabaCloud.com (£4/Mo)

7. Upcloud: (£4.03/Month)

UpCloud is a cloud hosting provider based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded late 2011 and in 2013 they launched their first “flexible plans”. They now have flexible at the heart of their VPS offering. In 2016 they got a 4million Euro venture capital investment which allowed the company to accelerate growth and infrastructure capabilities.

Upcloud offers a wide range of packages that are all customizable. For £4.03 per month you’ll get 1GB memory, 25GB storage, and 1TB transfer. The only thing is you’ll also incur a £0.005/hour fee. If you want to give them a go, then they also offer a free trial.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • You’ll also be billed by the hour (up to 672 hours per month)
  • There is no money-back guarantee
  • UpCloud continually monitors the competition to offer customers value for money

Pros:

• API available
• Free trial
• Flexible and customisable VPS
• 24/7 support
• Lots to choose from

Cons:

• Hourly charges

Cost: £4.03/Month
Storage: 25GB
Bandwidth: 1TB
CPU Cores: 1
No Money Back Guarantee
Visit Upcloud.com (£4.03/Mo)

8. Linode: (£4.03/Month)

Linode was founded in 2003 by Christopher S. Aker. Linode’s VPS packages start with their “Nanode 1GB” plan that is just £4.03 per month. For that, you get some nice specs – 1GB RAM, 24GB SSD, AND 1TB transfer, which is great for £4.03.

Like most VPS providers you also have to pay by the hour, so it is a good idea to keep an eye on your usage. They offer a 7 day free trial period when you can request a full refund. A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • 7 Day free trial period
  • Hourly fee on top of monthly fee

Pros

• 24/7 customer support
• Great value for money
• Easy to use control panel
• Linode API
• Two-factor authentication for added security

Cons

• Only 3 data center locations available

Cost: £4.03/Month
Storage: 25GB
Bandwidth: 1TB
CPU Cores: 1
No Money Back Guarantee
Visit Linode.com (£4.03/Mo)

9. Fasthosts: (£5/Month)

Fasthosts is a UK based web host that began back in 1999 as a school project. They now host over 1.4 million domains. It’s really quick to get started with Fasthosts, you can provision your VPS in under a minute. The infrastructure and tech are impressive, with blazingly fast SSD drives and decent firewalls, security and monitoring.

Fasthosts is a UK web host that offers a cheap introductory VPS for just £5. For this, you get limited resources – 1 CPU, 0.5GB RAM, AND 20GB SSD and no root access. This will be enough for you to get a feel of their services, but you’ll need to upgrade your RAM if you plan on hosting websites or applications on there.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • Limited resources on cheap plan
  • No Money back guarantee
  • Prices shown exclude VAT

Pros

• No contracts
• Flexible upgrades and downgrades
• Secure U.K. data centers
• 24/7 support
• 99.999% uptime guarantee

Cons

• No root access on the starter package
• Limited resources on the starter package
• No money-back guarantee

Cost: £5/Month
Storage: 40GB
Bandwidth: Unlimited
CPU Cores: 1
No Money Back Guarantee
Visit Fasthosts.com (£5/Mo)

10. DreamHost: (£12.10/Month)

Dreamhost VPS offers a powerful VPS solution that works for both large and growing online projects. They offer the flexibility to upgrade within seconds, which is great if you are suddenly experiencing a successful online launch with a tonne of traffic. They also offer unlimited bandwidth and unlimited SQL databases.

Everything with Dreamhost is straight forward, making them a good option for a complete novice. Setup can be done within minutes and they offer an easy to use control panel. Possibly the best thing about DreamHost is that they offer a 100% Uptime Guarantee.

With Dreamhost VPS services you are allowed to host unlimited websites and unlimited traffic.

A few things to note before I go into the actual packages:

  • Dreamhost doesn’t track traffic, so no surprising hourly fees
  • You can pay monthly but the price increases considerably

Pros

• Unlimited bandwidth
• Custom control panel
• Unlimited domains, SSL and emails
• 100% uptime guarantee
• Customer support

Cons

• No root access on VPS

Cost: £12.08/Month
Storage: 30GB SSD
Bandwidth: Unlimited
CPU Cores: 1
97 Day Money Back Guarantee
Visit Dreamhost.com (£12.08/Mo)

In Conclusion

There are a lot of cheap or even 100% free VPS providers, however there is no such thing as a free lunch. So, you’ll normally incur charges for hourly use or apps. It’s a great idea to make sure that your VPS provider doesn’t charge for hourly usage on top of the monthly fee.

Some of the providers listed above offer great VPS hosting for £10 or under with no additional hourly fees – like Dreamhost and 1&1 IONOS. The pay as you use model can be valuable if you want to be in control of how much you get charged, depending on your preferences.

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FAQs

VPS plans can cost anywhere from £1 per month up to £30+ per month. The reason the cost of a VPS varies is dependant on the resources your plan offers. If you want more flexibility and greater resources on a server with better performance specs, you’ll be looking at paying more compared to lower resources.

Depending on the engine your VPS is using depends on which operating systems you can use. In most cases, you can install pretty much any OS you like, including Windows and Linux. It’s worth checking with your VPS provider before signing up if you have a particular OS in mind.

Many game servers are hosted on VPS’s because they offer lots of flexibility and control that’s required to host a game. If you host a game server from a game server provider, you’ll find that most of the servers they offer are VPS or dedicated servers.

When you sign up for a VPS, most providers offer some kind of control panel. Here you’ll be able to manage your server, stop/start it, or reinstall your operating system. Hosting providers are all different, so if you’re concerned about the type of control panel you’ll have access to, speak to your web host before signing up.