Which server do I need?
Choose what you are building and how big it will be. You get the minimum spec with sensible headroom and the cheapest plans we track that meet it — one per provider, so you compare companies, not tiers.
The spec is our rule of thumb with headroom, not a vendor minimum. Heavy plugins, big databases or many users need more.
Cheapest plans that meet it
- IONOS · VPS M+2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 120 GB DiskBest value$5.00/mo →
- Contabo · Cloud VPS 44 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB Disk$6.26/mo →
- OVHcloud · VPS-24 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 75 GB Disk$8.50/mo →
- Hostinger · KVM 22 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 100 GB Disk$8.99/mo →
- InterServer · VPS 4 slices2 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 160 GB Disk$12.00/mo →
How the recommendation works
Each project type maps to a spec that we would be comfortable running in production: enough RAM for the software and the operating system, disk for data and backups, and CPU for peak load. We then filter every plan in our database and sort the survivors by price.
If a plan does not publish a figure, it is not shown — we never guess a spec in a provider’s favour.
When to size up
Pick the next scale if you run several projects on one server, expect traffic spikes or use heavy plugins. Upgrading later is usually one click; running out of memory in production is not.
Questions people ask
Is the cheapest plan the best choice?
Among plans that meet the spec, usually yes for a start. Check the renewal price and the data-centre location before buying.
Why does an AI model need so much more?
Language models keep all their weights in memory. Even a small 8B model at 4-bit needs about 5 GB before it answers a single question.
Sources
Prices come from each provider’s own pricing page on the date shown. Providers change prices often — the checkout has the final word.