Sometimes we want to test software or do remote monitoring and testing that you may not want to pay a premium to do, or maybe you just want to do it as a hobby. In this post I will share some tips on where to find dirt-cheap providers of virtual servers (VPS).
I strongly advise against placing any production or critical workflows on any of these; use for testing or fun.
A note on production workflows
Anything that you depend on being reliable should always be hosted at a reputable hosting provider. Most of the dirt cheap providers you will find in any of the resources or websites I am sharing with you may most likely not stay in business for long.
For business or critical use VPS you can choose any of the big dogs: Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud (GCP). They all have its positives and negatives. This article does not focus on these.
Aggregators / Deals lists websites
The following websites seem to aggregate deals found in multiple web forums. You should start here to see the average prices for specific features (RAM, disk space, bandwidth, IPv4 allocation, etc). Note that most aggregators make a commission on your purchases (I do not but you can buy me a beer)
- VPS Checker
This site lets you filter by features, recurring cost, country and features.
- LowEndStock (deals page)
This page list dirt-cheap specials that may not be publicly know or posted on a providers website.
- LowEndStock (providers list / mainpage)
Same as the first option but a different aggregator website.
- VNCoupon
A blog that reposts affiliate links to existing offers found or posted elsewhere.
Forums
These are some online communities dedicated to dirt-cheap VPS and hosting. Good for limited time / quantity deals, and researching providers reviews.
- LowEndTalk
I would start here on their forums. They also have a separate website with blog like articles called LowEndBox.com.
