Is IONOS's Windows Server - Cubes vCPU the best deal?

OS Licensing (Windows Server / RHEL) · $5.69/mo

Competitively priced

IONOS OS licensing is a niche add-on cost that makes direct comparison difficult. The three alternatives shown are primarily web/shared hosting or managed backup services rather than pure OS licensing tiers, so they're not true apples-to-apples competitors. If you're evaluating IONOS Cubes with Windows Server, factor in the per-vCPU surcharge on top of base compute pricing and compare total cost-of-ownership against full-stack alternatives.

Backups - Nanode 1GB tier

$2/mosave 65%

Backup add-on at $2/mo is cheaper than IONOS OS licensing and includes automated snapshots without per-vCPU metering.

Caveat: This is a backup service, not an OS license; you still need to pay for the underlying Linode compute instance separately, and backups are roughly 20-25% of instance cost.

Premium Web Hosting

$2.99/mosave 47%

Introductory rate undercuts IONOS OS licensing cost and includes hosting, backups, and CDN in one package.

Caveat: Renewal price jumps to $10.99/mo (3.7x higher); this is web hosting, not a bare OS license; weekly (not daily) backups on base tier.

Add-Ons Offsite Backup Storage

$0.03/mosave 99%

Backup storage is billed per-GiB at $0.03/mo, making it far cheaper than a fixed OS license if you only need modest backup capacity.

Caveat: This is only backup storage, not an OS license or compute; bandwidth overages and per-server backup fees add up quickly; you must already have a Cloudways server.

Before you switch

IONOS OS licensing is a per-vCPU surcharge on top of Cube compute pricing; verify the total monthly cost (compute + license) before comparing.
None of the alternatives are true OS licensing products; they are backup services or web hosting tiers. If you need Windows Server licensing specifically, compare against IONOS Cubes + license vs. full managed Windows instances from AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Hostinger and Linode both have renewal-price traps; the intro rates shown are promotional and will increase significantly after the contract term.
Cloudways backup storage is per-GiB and per-server; costs scale with data volume and number of instances, unlike a flat per-vCPU license.
Verify whether IONOS OS licensing is mandatory for your workload or optional; some Cube instances may not require it, reducing total cost.

This comparison is generated from publicly listed pricing and may contain errors or omissions. It is not financial or professional advice, and CloudHosting.io is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Pricing, promotions, and specs change frequently and may not reflect current terms, regional availability, taxes, or contract length. Always verify current pricing and terms directly on the provider's site before purchasing or switching.

Comparable plans across providers

Provider	Plan	Price	Specs
Cloudways	Add-Ons · Offsite Backup Storage	$0.03/mo	Per GiB per server per month (billed as a rate, not a flat monthly tier)	Visit
Linode (Akamai)	Backups · Backups - Nanode 1GB tier	$2/mo	Backup add-on for smallest Shared CPU tier	Visit
Hostinger	Shared/Web Hosting · Premium	$2.99/mo	20 GB SSD	Visit

Visit IONOS

Comparing prices across every provider we track...