Contabo

VPSSelf-managedNorth AmericaEuropeAsiaOceania

Contabo offers VPS hosting for people who are happy to run their own virtual server, priced in the middle for its type.

From $4.75/mo on a 24-month term, renews at $5.94/mo. Checked on contabo.com, 13 Oct 2026

Visit Contabo Compare

Three years on the entry plan

$185

First 24 months$4.75/mo

After that$5.94/mo

+25% at renewal

Cloud VPS 4 (24-month prepay)

Where its servers are

Contabo has data centres in 4 regions. The shaded areas are regions, not exact cities.

North America
Europe
Asia
Oceania

We can only time hosts that publish speed-test addresses. The latency chart measures five clouds; a city close to you there is a good sign for any host in that city.

Plans and prices

The plans we checked on the host's own page on 13 Oct 2026. The host sells more sizes; these are the ones that set the entry price.

Cloud VPS 4

24-month prepay

$4.75/mo

For 24 months, then $5.94/mo

4 vCPU
8 GB RAM
100 GB SSD

Checked 13 Oct 2026 on contabo.com

Fine print we read

Plan card reads 'for the first 24 months' at EUR 4.40/mo with EUR 5.50 as the previous price. EUR 5.50 is also the list price on 1, 3 and 6-month terms. Contabo's page does not say what the 24-month term renews at; PricingSaaS (2026 Q2 diff) reports the predecessor Cloud VPS 10 as EUR 4.40 first term, renewal EUR 5.50. Configurator shows 'No Setup Fee' on every term (1/3/6 months EUR 5.50, 12 months EUR 4.68 = 15% off, 24 months EUR 4.40 = 20% off; EUR 105.60 prepaid for 24 months). Setup fees on Cloud VPS were dropped in 2026 (PricingSaaS, week 17), so the old setup fee on monthly terms no longer applies. Add-ons extra: auto backup EUR 6.70/mo, extra IPv4 EUR 3.50/mo. There is no 'Cloud VPS 10' any more. After the August 2026 restructuring (Core / Performance / Max Performance), the entry Core plan is 'Cloud VPS 4' (4 vCPU / 8 GB, the same size as the old VPS 10), and EUR 4.40 is the price Cloud VPS 10 had after its June 2026 increase. The page has an incl./excl. VAT toggle, and the overview text says the displayed rate includes applicable taxes. I can't tell which VAT mode the fetched figures are in. A third-party source quotes EUR 5.28 (= 4.40 x 1.2), which suggests EUR 4.40 may be ex-VAT. The renewal figure is the list price, not an explicit renewal statement.

Cloud VPS 4

monthly

$5.94/mo

Same price when it renews

4 vCPU
8 GB RAM
100 GB SSD

Checked 13 Oct 2026 on contabo.com

Fine print we read

Month-to-month at EUR 5.50, no discount. 1-month minimum contract, 'No Setup Fee' shown for the 1-month term. Same VAT ambiguity as the 24-month entry.

Work out the 3-year cost

Our test of Contabo

Tested by Hosting Compass, April 2026

4.0/5

Performance4.0/5
Ease of use3.8/5
Support3.5/5
Features4.2/5
Value4.9/5

Contabo is the ultimate value play in hosting. You won't find more RAM, CPU, or storage for less money anywhere. Just be prepared to manage your own server and accept that support won't be instant.

Overview

Founded in 2003 in Munich, Germany, Contabo has built its business on a simple proposition: maximum resources at minimum prices. They operate data centers in Germany, the US, the UK, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.

Performance

Contabo's hardware specifications are impressive for the price. However, performance can be inconsistent during peak periods due to higher-density server configurations. Average load times were around 350ms, with occasional spikes. NVMe storage is available on newer plans.

Pricing & Value

This is where Contabo is unmatched. VPS plans start at €5.99/month for 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, and 50GB NVMe storage. Dedicated servers start at €44.99/month. No other provider comes close to these resource allocations at these prices.

Support

Email ticket-based support with business-hour availability for complex issues. Response times can be slow, especially for non-urgent requests. Phone support is limited. This is the trade-off for ultra-low pricing.

Who Should Choose Contabo?

Contabo is perfect for developers, students, hobby projects, and businesses that need maximum resources on minimum budgets and can manage their own servers.

Prices mentioned in these notes are from the time of the test. Current prices are in the plans above.

Contabo at a glance

The dials are our editorial estimates on a 1 to 5 scale, not test results. How we estimate

2/5Ease of use

3/5Performance

2/5Support

3/5Room to grow

Management: Self-managed
cPanel: No
Email included: No
Headquarters: Munich, Germany

Best for

Dedicated servers
Tight budgets
Web apps and SaaS

Fit by project

WordPress sitePossible fit
Online storeGood fit
Business websitePossible fit
Web app or SaaSStrong fit
Portfolio or static siteWeak fit
Blog or content siteWeak fit
Agency with client sitesGood fit

From the type of hosting, the same rule the finder uses.

Strengths and trade-offs

In its favour

Watch for

Renews 25% higher after the first term ($4.75 to $5.94/mo)
No email included; plan on a separate mail service
You run and secure the server yourself

The first points come straight from the price and plan data.

Similar hosts

Questions about Contabo

How much does Contabo cost after the first term?

Contabo's entry plan (Cloud VPS 4 (24-month prepay)) costs $4.75 per month on a 24-month term and renews at $5.94 per month, as checked on the host's own page on 13 Oct 2026. Over three years that is about $185 in total.

Does Contabo include email?

No. Contabo does not include mailboxes, so you need a separate email service for addresses on your domain.

Where are Contabo's data centres?

In North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. We list regions, not exact cities, for Contabo.

Does Contabo offer cPanel?

No. Contabo uses its own dashboard or none at all, not cPanel.