Comparing prices across every provider we track...
CloudHosting.ioCloudHosting.io
Virtual Machines · $3.8/mo (512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU)
Azure B1ls at $3.80/mo is competitively priced for 512MB RAM, but several providers offer better specs (1GB RAM, more storage, higher bandwidth) at similar or lower cost, with fewer hidden gotchas for basic Linux workloads. Windows licensing and bandwidth overages will push Azure costs higher if you're not careful.
1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10GB NVMe, unlimited traffic (up to 1 Gbit/s) for $2/mo - significantly better specs and lower price than Azure B1ls.
Caveat: Intro pricing is a 3-month or 1-year promotional rate; renewal pricing after contract is 2-6x higher (typically $12-15/mo), so lock in a long term if committing.
Cheapest option at $2.02/mo with per-second billing, ideal for low-traffic or bursty workloads; no long-term contract lock-in.
Caveat: Only 256MB RAM (half of Azure B1ls); extra RAM costs $5/GB/mo; stopped machines still incur storage charges; no published platform SLA.
Matches Azure's 512MB RAM and 1 vCPU at $3.50/mo, includes 10GB NVMe SSD and 512GB transfer; 100% network uptime SLA is stronger than Azure's regional guarantees.
Caveat: Bandwidth overage rates vary by data center; Windows licensing not included in base price.
512MB RAM, 2 vCPU (better CPU allocation than Azure), 20GB SSD, 1000GB transfer for $3.50/mo; more generous bandwidth than Azure's 100GB free tier.
Caveat: Data transfer overage is $0.09-$0.132/GB depending on region; Windows bundles cost 70-90% more.
512MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10GB SSD, 500GB transfer at $4/mo; straightforward pricing with no long-term contract traps and 99.99% SLA.
Caveat: Bandwidth overages at $0.01/GB; slightly higher base price than Vultr or Lightsail for equivalent specs.
Before you switch
| Provider | Plan | Price | Specs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scaleway | Virtual Instances · STARDUST1-S | $0.43/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU | Visit |
| IONOS | Cloud VPS (Linux) · Cloud VPS XS | $2/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB NVMe | Visit |
| Fly.io | Machines (Shared CPU) · shared-cpu-1x - 256MB | $2.02/mo | 256 MB RAM, 1 vCPU | Visit |
| InMotion Hosting | Shared Hosting · Core | $2.99/mo | 512 MB RAM, 100 GB SSD | Visit |
| Vultr | Cloud Compute · Regular 1vCPU/0.5GB | $3.5/mo | 512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB NVMe SSD | Visit |
| AWS Lightsail | Virtual Servers · GP 0.5GB (Linux, IPv6) | $3.5/mo | 512 MB RAM, 2 vCPU, 20 GB SSD | Visit |
| UpCloud | Cloud Servers - Starter · STARTER-1xCPU-1GB | $3.5/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB Standard SSD | Visit |
| Namecheap | VPS Hosting · Spark | $3.88/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB SSD | Visit |
| DigitalOcean | Droplets · Basic 512MB | $4/mo | 512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10 GB SSD | Visit |
| Kamatera | Cloud VMs · Type A base (Availability, 1 vCPU/1GB) | $4/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 20 GB NVMe SSD | Visit |
| Alibaba Cloud | Simple Application Server · economy-e-2c-0.5g | $4.55/mo | 512 MB RAM, 2 vCPU, 40 GB SSD | Visit |
| Liquid Web | VPS Hosting · Compute 1 | $5/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 30 GB SSD | Visit |
| Linode (Akamai) | Shared CPU Compute · Nanode 1 GB | $5/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB SSD | Visit |
| Civo | Compute Instances · xSmall | $5.43/mo | 1 GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 25 GB NVMe | Visit |
| Exoscale | Standard Instances · Micro | $5.75/mo | 512 MB RAM, 1 vCPU, 200 GB SSD | Visit |
IONOS
Fly.io
Vultr
AWS Lightsail
DigitalOcean
View Microsoft Azure's plan