Global VPS provider: fixed-size virtual machines from $2.50 (IPv6-only) or $3.50 with IPv4, billed hourly with a one-hour minimum and a 672-hour monthly cap; a stopped server keeps billing until destroyed.
Short answer: One always-on personal agent (2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 20 GiB) costs about $20.00 a month here, the 8th cheapest of the 22 providers that run it as described. The AI model adds about $1.88 a month on top (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (1017), 30 requests a day at 40k tokens each, median zero-retention price; from $0.46 at the cheapest host). Fits well: An always-on agent on a small machine: 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB for $20 a month, or 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 55 GB for $10, with 2–3 TB of egress included.
www.vultr.com/27 providersSources linked
Vultr sells fixed-size virtual machines in 34 regions across six continents. Cloud Compute is the shared-CPU family: Regular Performance on older Intel and regular SSD, High Performance on current AMD EPYC or Intel Xeon with NVMe, and High Frequency on 3 GHz+ Xeon with NVMe. Every plan bundles vCPU, RAM, disk and a monthly egress allowance; there is no custom CPU/RAM split.
It is an ordinary Linux server product, not an agent sandbox. Root, SSH, any port, Docker if you install it, custom ISO boot, snapshots and block storage all work as on a normal VM. There is no prompt endpoint, no memory snapshot, no idle sleep, no per-second meter and no session limit; a server exists and bills until it is destroyed.
Above Cloud Compute sit Optimized Cloud Compute (dedicated vCPU: General Purpose, CPU Optimized, Memory Optimized and Storage Optimized), VX1 (newer dedicated plans with nested virtualisation), Cloud GPU and Bare Metal. This listing prices the shared Cloud Compute plans; the dedicated and GPU families are named where they change a verdict but are not in the calculator.
At a glance
Who it is for
People who want a real Linux server at a predictable monthly price in a specific region, and will run the OS, the agent and the backups themselves. The one-click Hermes and OpenClaw Marketplace apps make it a reasonable first VPS for a personal agent; the one-hour minimum makes it a poor fit for many short sandbox runs.
Isolation
A full virtual machine per instance with its own kernel, disk and public IP: root, Docker inside, real SSH, custom ISO boot and any TCP or UDP port you open in the firewall. Outbound 25, 137–139 and 445 are blocked by default, and 1688 is blocked inbound only. Nested virtualisation is documented only on VX1 plans; GPUs are a separate product and Windows carries a licence fee.
Sizes
Cloud Compute shared plans: Regular Performance 1–24 vCPU, 0.5–96 GB RAM, 10–1,600 GB SSD; High Performance and High Frequency 1–16 vCPU, 1–58 GB, 25–1,024 GB NVMe. Optimized Cloud Compute (dedicated) reaches 96 vCPU / 256 GB / 1,280 GB; VX1 reaches 192 vCPU / 768 GB. Extra disk is Block Storage, up to 16 volumes and 40 TB HDD or 10 TB NVMe per instance.
A personal agent here
About $20.00 a month for one always-on 2 vCPU / 4 GiB machine (Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB: 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 80 GiB), before the AI model. Change the numbers
Our reading of the sourced material on this page, not a provider claim.
Fits well
An always-on agent on a small machine: 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB for $20 a month, or 1 vCPU / 2 GB / 55 GB for $10, with 2–3 TB of egress included.
A coding box for one developer: 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 160 GB for $40 a month, with the repository safe on the disk between sessions.
A one-click Hermes or OpenClaw on a real VM with root and a public IPv4, from the Marketplace, at the plan price with no app surcharge.
Global placement: 34 regions including nine in the EU, with free anycast DNS and a static public IPv4.
Anything that needs a real kernel, root, Docker, arbitrary ports or a stable public IP.
Fits badly
Bursty work: a stopped server bills exactly like a running one, so a three-hours-a-day agent costs the same as a 24-hour one.
Many short runs: every server is billed at least one hour, so 1,000 ten-minute tasks cost 1,000 hours.
Outbound allowlisting: Vultr's firewall filters only incoming traffic; egress control is a host firewall you run.
Live resizing down, memory snapshots, idle sleep, per-second billing or a hard user-set spend cap.
One-click apps that ship a default password: change it before exposing the instance.
How it bills
Model
Per-server hourly rate with a 672-hour monthly cap, plus separately billed Block Storage, snapshots, backups, object storage, reserved IPs, Windows licences and DDoS protection. Prices are USD; some regions differ and the console shows local pricing.
Meter
Hourly, with a one-hour minimum per server and a 672-hour monthly cap. The 2 vCPU / 4 GB plan is $20 a month and $0.0297619 an hour (the page rounds it to $0.03); 672 hours at that rate is $20.
While stopped
Nothing changes. A stopped server keeps its disk, IP and full bill until destroyed: "Servers that are stopped but not destroyed continue to incur hourly charges for reserved resources such as compute, storage, and IP address allocations."
Plan fee
No plan and no fee. The monthly figure is a cap on usage: a server destroyed after 90 hours bills 90 hours at the hourly rate.
Minimum
No automatic signup credit. A Free Tier Program offers 1 vCPU / 512 MB / 10 GB in Miami, Seattle and Frankfurt to eligible applicants, and promo codes include a dollar-for-dollar deposit match up to $100. Paid servers need a payment method.
$20 a month for a real 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB server with 3 TB of egress and a public IPv4.
34 regions, nine in the EU, with free anycast DNS and static IPs.
One-click Hermes and OpenClaw apps on a normal VM, with no agent surcharge.
A full API, official CLI, Terraform provider and SDKs in five languages.
SOC 2+ (HIPAA), ISO 27001/27017/27018/20000-1, PCI Merchant and a 100% uptime SLA.
Block Storage, File System and S3-compatible Object Storage as first-class products.
Using it without writing code
Dashboard
Yes: the Vultr Console creates instances, block storage, snapshots, backups, VPCs, firewalls, reserved IPs, DNS and object storage, with usage graphs and invoices.
Without code
Partly. Marketplace one-click apps (Hermes, OpenClaw, Docker, Coolify and others) deploy from the console, but everything after that — the model key, the channel, TLS, the database — is terminal or app configuration.
Signup
Email plus a payment method (card, PayPal, Alipay, UnionPay or crypto). New accounts start with an account credit limit that is raised on request; the free tier is a separate application.
Docs and support
Extensive docs at docs.vultr.com with product guides, a full API v2 reference, an official CLI, a Terraform provider and official Go, Python, Node, PHP and Ruby clients.
Tools you can use
Vultr has 5 of the 10 ways to drive a machine that this guide checks, and 3 more with a catch. From its own documentation; how pleasant each one is to use was not tested. Compare every provider
Terminal in the browserWith a catch VNC console. The browser console is a VNC view of the screen for emergencies, not a shell API; you log in at the console.
TypeScript SDKWith a catch Official Node client, JS. The official @vultr/vultr-node client is JavaScript; Vultr publishes no separately typed TypeScript SDK.
MCP serverWith a catch Read-only preview. The official Vultr MCP server is a read-only public preview: it can inspect resources but cannot create, change or delete them.
Nested virtualisationWith a catch Nested virtualisation is documented only on VX1 plans, not on the Regular Performance and High Performance plans priced here.
Your own imageWith a catch A custom image means booting a mounted ISO, not uploading a disk image; accounts hold two ISOs under 10 GB and Windows ISOs are refused.
Resize while runningWith a catch Only upgrades are supported; downgrades are refused and Vultr does not document whether running processes survive the change.
Mount outside storageWith a catch Object Storage speaks the S3 API, but Vultr documents clients such as s3cmd rather than mounting a bucket as a folder; you add s3fs or rclone.
Automatic HTTPSWith a catch Vultr does not issue a certificate for a compute instance; its guides put Traefik or Caddy in front and obtain Let's Encrypt certificates.
Limited API keysWith a catch Scoped access comes from IAM users and OAuth tokens; the portal's Personal Access Token is account-wide, with no per-key read-only switch.
Desktop for computer useWith a catch A Windows Server instance with RDP gives a graphical desktop you manage; there is no computer-use API or preconfigured desktop agent.
Ongoing free tierWith a catch The free instance is an application-only, randomized program limited to Miami, Seattle and Frankfurt, not a standing free tier for every account.
Free starting creditWith a catch The advertised credit is a promo code or a dollar-for-dollar deposit match, not an automatic signup credit.
From the profile's company section: the legal entity, who funds it, and what a buyer can check before signing.
Legal entity
The Constant Company, LLC, trading as Vultr.
“These terms of use (the “Terms”) are a legal contract between The Constant Company, LLC, and its affiliates (“Vultr”, “we” or “us”)”vultr.comdocs-confirmed
Founded and scale
Founded in 2014; 34 regions, 80m+ instances deployed and 1.5m+ customers, with 75+ engineers.
“Vultr, founded in 2014, is on a mission to empower developers and businesses by simplifying the deployment of infrastructure via its advanced cloud platform.”vultr.comdocs-confirmed
Ownership and funding
Privately held. A December 2024 financing from LuminArx and AMD Ventures valued it at $3.5 billion; June 2025 added $329 million in credit financing.
“Secured $3.5 billion valuation in financing from LuminArx and AMD Ventures”vultr.comdocs-confirmed
Certification
SOC 2+ (HIPAA), ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 20000-1, PCI Merchant and CSA Star Level 1.
A public status page with JSON and RSS feeds, and a 100% uptime SLA on network and host-node availability, credited per service item on request.
“Vultr offers a 100% uptime guarantee via this Service Level Agreement based on network and host node availability.”vultr.comdocs-confirmed
Data protection
A GDPR DPA is available by request through an account manager or support ticket; Vultr acts as processor for customer content.
“Yes, Vultr offers a Data Processing Addendum (DPA) to support customers that are subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)”docs.vultr.comdocs-confirmed
Caveats and contradictions
Shown as the research found them. A contradiction means the provider's own pages disagree; an open question means the answer is not published.
01
A stopped server is not a paused server Open question
There is no pause, sleep or hibernate. A stopped instance keeps its disk and its IP but also its full bill; the documented way to stop paying is to destroy it, which permanently deletes the data.
02
The one-hour minimum punishes short runs Open question
Usage is billed in whole hours per server, so any task under an hour costs a full hour: 1,000 ten-minute tasks bill 1,000 server-hours, not 167.
03
Three first-party hourly rates for the same plan Contradiction
The pricing page shows $0.03/hr for the $20 plan, the billing FAQ says the hourly rate is the monthly rate divided by 672 hours ($0.02976), and the public plans API returns $0.027. The card uses monthly ÷ 672, the figure the billing FAQ defines, so the 672-hour cap equals the monthly price. A reader using the page's $0.03 would get $30.00 for workload A instead of $29.76.
One-click apps ship a default password Open question
The Hermes and OpenClaw Marketplace listings both print a username and the password "Password" in their getting-started steps. An instance exposed before that password is changed is trivially accessible; the OpenClaw app also includes a browser VS Code terminal with the same password.
05
The free tier is an application, not a tier Open question
The Free Tier Program offers one 1 vCPU / 512 MB / 10 GB instance in Miami, Seattle and Frankfurt, granted on a randomized, weighted basis to applicants. It is not a standing allowance for every account, and paid servers still need a payment method.
What users say
Opinion, not research. Read from public Trustpilot and Reddit pages on 30 October 2026. It changes no verdict on this page; everything above comes from Vultr's own documents.
Trustpilot 1.5 out of 5 from 588 reviews · see the page
Vultr's own page for cloud compute, GPU and VPS.
Vultr's reviewers split sharply: some run cheap VPN and side-project servers for years without trouble, while a large share report surprise charges, account suspensions and support that answers with templates. The 1.5 average reflects how loud the second group is, and Reddit adds that Vultr is now expensive relative to newer hosts.
How much to trust this: Review-site bias toward complaints is strong here: 19 of 20 recent reviews are one star. The r/VPS thread 'Vultr blocks legitimate payments and suspends accounts' (2026-04-27) matches the Trustpilot pattern but was not read in full.
Complaint
Charges and suspensions that customers call unexplained
“I was charged 1100 usd with no notice even though my usage for the month so far is only 160 usd.”
List-price illustrations from the calculator, not quotes. Prices checked 30 October 2026.
Bills while switched offA stopped machine is charged like a running one; only deleting it ends the bill.
Billed in whole hoursEach server costs at least an hour, so a ten-minute task pays for sixty.
Shared CPURegular Performance plans run on previous-generation, shared Intel CPUs; dedicated-vCPU plans cost more.
A · 1,000 short tasks
$29.76
Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB: 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 80 GiB (plan: Pay as you go)
Machine time (Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB)1,000 runs × 1 h each, rounded up × $0.02976$29.76
No plan and no fee: each server bills hourly from deployment until destroyed, capped at its monthly price.
Prices are Vultr's USD list. The FAQ says some locations can differ and the console shows the local price; the card uses the standard list.
Vultr's billing FAQ derives the hourly rate as monthly ÷ 672. The pricing page rounds some hourly figures (the $20 plan shows $0.03) and lists larger plans at roughly monthly ÷ 730 (the $160 plan shows $0.219); the API publishes a third figure for some plans ($0.027 for the $20 plan). The card uses monthly ÷ 672 so the 672-hour cap equals the monthly price. See research/vultr/research.md, contradiction 1.
The $2.50 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB plan is IPv6-only and is excluded. Its $3.50 twin includes IPv4 and is the smallest shape on the card.
One public IPv4 is included on paid plans; up to two additional addresses are available for an extra fee whose amount Vultr does not publish on the pages read.
Snapshots are $0.05/GB-month, automatic backups add 20%, Block Storage is $0.10/GB-month, Vultr File System is $100/TB-month and Object Storage starts at $18/TB-month. None of these is in the calculator.
Windows licences are extra: $16–$384 a month depending on the plan.
A stopped instance bills at the running rate until destroyed; there is no pause, sleep or cheaper stopped-storage rate.
Vultr labels memory in GB; the plan API returns MB (4096 MB for the 4 GB plan), so the card maps GB to GiB 1:1. Vultr labels disk in GB; the card maps it 1:1 to GiB too.
The card prices the shared Cloud Compute plans (Regular Performance and High Performance). Optimized Cloud Compute, VX1, Cloud GPU and Bare Metal are separate families and are not priced here.
Vultr's public plans API (api.vultr.com/v2/plans, read 2026-10-30) shows prices vary by location: the 2 vCPU / 4 GB plan (vc2-2c-4gb) is monthly_cost 20 by default but location_cost.sao monthly_cost 30 in São Paulo. The card uses the default price.
B · One always-on box
$40.00
Regular Performance 4 vCPU / 8 GB: 4 vCPU / 8 GiB / 160 GiB (plan: Pay as you go)
Machine time (Regular Performance 4 vCPU / 8 GB)730 h × $0.05952$43.45
Monthly price cap1 × $40.00 a month−$3.45
No plan and no fee: each server bills hourly from deployment until destroyed, capped at its monthly price.
Prices are Vultr's USD list. The FAQ says some locations can differ and the console shows the local price; the card uses the standard list.
Vultr's billing FAQ derives the hourly rate as monthly ÷ 672. The pricing page rounds some hourly figures (the $20 plan shows $0.03) and lists larger plans at roughly monthly ÷ 730 (the $160 plan shows $0.219); the API publishes a third figure for some plans ($0.027 for the $20 plan). The card uses monthly ÷ 672 so the 672-hour cap equals the monthly price. See research/vultr/research.md, contradiction 1.
The $2.50 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB plan is IPv6-only and is excluded. Its $3.50 twin includes IPv4 and is the smallest shape on the card.
One public IPv4 is included on paid plans; up to two additional addresses are available for an extra fee whose amount Vultr does not publish on the pages read.
Snapshots are $0.05/GB-month, automatic backups add 20%, Block Storage is $0.10/GB-month, Vultr File System is $100/TB-month and Object Storage starts at $18/TB-month. None of these is in the calculator.
Windows licences are extra: $16–$384 a month depending on the plan.
A stopped instance bills at the running rate until destroyed; there is no pause, sleep or cheaper stopped-storage rate.
Vultr labels memory in GB; the plan API returns MB (4096 MB for the 4 GB plan), so the card maps GB to GiB 1:1. Vultr labels disk in GB; the card maps it 1:1 to GiB too.
The card prices the shared Cloud Compute plans (Regular Performance and High Performance). Optimized Cloud Compute, VX1, Cloud GPU and Bare Metal are separate families and are not priced here.
Vultr's public plans API (api.vultr.com/v2/plans, read 2026-10-30) shows prices vary by location: the 2 vCPU / 4 GB plan (vc2-2c-4gb) is monthly_cost 20 by default but location_cost.sao monthly_cost 30 in São Paulo. The card uses the default price.
C · Three hours a day
$20.00
Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB: 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 80 GiB (plan: Pay as you go)
Machine time (Regular Performance 2 vCPU / 4 GB)90 h × $0.02976$2.68
Stopped, still billed640 h × $0.02976$19.05
Monthly price cap1 × $20.00 a month−$1.73
No plan and no fee: each server bills hourly from deployment until destroyed, capped at its monthly price.
Prices are Vultr's USD list. The FAQ says some locations can differ and the console shows the local price; the card uses the standard list.
Vultr's billing FAQ derives the hourly rate as monthly ÷ 672. The pricing page rounds some hourly figures (the $20 plan shows $0.03) and lists larger plans at roughly monthly ÷ 730 (the $160 plan shows $0.219); the API publishes a third figure for some plans ($0.027 for the $20 plan). The card uses monthly ÷ 672 so the 672-hour cap equals the monthly price. See research/vultr/research.md, contradiction 1.
The $2.50 1 vCPU / 0.5 GB plan is IPv6-only and is excluded. Its $3.50 twin includes IPv4 and is the smallest shape on the card.
One public IPv4 is included on paid plans; up to two additional addresses are available for an extra fee whose amount Vultr does not publish on the pages read.
Snapshots are $0.05/GB-month, automatic backups add 20%, Block Storage is $0.10/GB-month, Vultr File System is $100/TB-month and Object Storage starts at $18/TB-month. None of these is in the calculator.
Windows licences are extra: $16–$384 a month depending on the plan.
A stopped instance bills at the running rate until destroyed; there is no pause, sleep or cheaper stopped-storage rate.
Vultr labels memory in GB; the plan API returns MB (4096 MB for the 4 GB plan), so the card maps GB to GiB 1:1. Vultr labels disk in GB; the card maps it 1:1 to GiB too.
The card prices the shared Cloud Compute plans (Regular Performance and High Performance). Optimized Cloud Compute, VX1, Cloud GPU and Bare Metal are separate families and are not priced here.
Vultr's public plans API (api.vultr.com/v2/plans, read 2026-10-30) shows prices vary by location: the 2 vCPU / 4 GB plan (vc2-2c-4gb) is monthly_cost 20 by default but location_cost.sao monthly_cost 30 in São Paulo. The card uses the default price.