Contabo Review (2026)VPS From €4.40 on a 24-Month Term
The advertised prices are for a 24-month term, and that term is prepaid: the Cloud VPS 12 configurator asked €480.00 upfront.
developers and small teams who are comfortable running their own Linux server and want the most RAM and CPU for the money, and can commit to a longer term.
you want managed hosting with backups included, or you need a server for a short project without prepaying.
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Pricing (2026)
✓ Pricing re-verified 8 Oct 2026
The Core Cloud VPS line is priced for a 24-month term: Cloud VPS 4 (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD, 200 Mbit/s port) €4.40 a month, Cloud VPS 6 (6 vCPU, 12 GB, 200 GB SSD or 100 GB NVMe, 300 Mbit/s) €6.00, Cloud VPS 8 (8 vCPU, 24 GB) €11.20, Cloud VPS 12 (12 vCPU, 48 GB) €20.00, Cloud VPS 16 (16 vCPU, 64 GB) €29.60 and Cloud VPS 18 (18 vCPU, 96 GB) €39.20.
In the configurator for Cloud VPS 12 the term changes the price: 1 month €25.00, 12 months €21.25 (save 15%), 24 months €20.00 (save 20%), with no setup fee on any term; the 24-month term is prepaid, €480.00 due today. Add-ons in that configurator: a United Kingdom location €5.80 a month (EU free), Windows Server €53.00, cPanel €21.75, Plesk with Linux €12.00, Auto Backup €6.70 a month and double storage €6.00.
Every Cloud VPS has unlimited traffic under a fair-use policy (Contabo may throttle servers whose traffic is exceptionally high), DDoS protection, a firewall and IPv4 and IPv6. The pricing page also lists Performance VPS (Cloud VPS Plus 4 from €10.80), virtual dedicated servers (Cloud VDS S from €39.20) and dedicated servers (from €109.65 as a limited offer), all quoted for a 24-month term. Plans change — always verify the live price on their site.
What the pricing page doesn’t say
Month-to-month costs about 25% more. Backups (€6.70 a month on that size), Windows Server, cPanel and Plesk are paid add-ons, and the servers are unmanaged. Traffic is unlimited only under a fair-use policy that lets Contabo throttle heavy users. Prices on the page exclude VAT. We have not used Contabo ourselves.
What Contabo does
Unmanaged cloud VPS, virtual dedicated and bare-metal servers with a lot of RAM and CPU per plan, unlimited traffic under fair use, and data centres in Europe, the US, Asia and Australia.
The cheap price is a two-year prepayment
Contabo's headline prices are the 24-month rate. On the Cloud VPS 12 the configurator showed €20.00 a month on 24 months, €21.25 on 12 months and €25.00 month to month, and the 24-month term is paid upfront: €480.00 due at checkout. The hardware per euro is the reason people buy it: 8 GB of RAM and 4 vCPUs for €4.40 a month on the smallest plan is far more memory than most cloud providers give at that price.
What you do not get is managed hosting: backups are a €6.70 add-on, Windows Server costs €53.00 a month on that size, and a control panel such as cPanel or Plesk is extra. Traffic is unlimited under fair use, and port speed rises with the plan from 200 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s. If you need a server for a month or two, compare the monthly-term price, not the headline.
How to actually use Contabo
Pick the plan by RAM and storage first; vCPUs are generous on every tier. Choose the term deliberately: the headline price needs 24 months prepaid, while 1 month costs about a quarter more and lets you leave. Add Auto Backup or plan your own backups before you put anything important on the server; it is not included. Select the region at checkout: EU locations are free, other regions such as the UK add a monthly fee.
Distilled from Contabo's own pages, read on 2026-10-08 from a Netherlands connection: contabo.com/en/vps (Core VPS grid), contabo.com/en/pricing (all server lines, fair-use note) and the order configurator for Cloud VPS 12 (term prices, add-ons). Contabo is a CJ partner of ours. We have not used Contabo ourselves.
Contabo vs DigitalOcean, side by side
Each column shows the vendor’s own published entry price, read on the date shown. Entry prices can cover different services or units, so check what each one buys. We do not average them into a score.
Both names above are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. Neither changes what this table says.
The natural comparison is DigitalOcean — DigitalOcean is in our dossiers too and bills its servers by the hour with no term, plus managed databases and app hosting around them. Contabo gives much more RAM and CPU per euro, but its best prices need a prepaid 24-month term and backups cost extra..
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Contabo VPS cost?
Read on 8 October 2026 (EUR, excluding VAT): Cloud VPS 4 is €4.40 a month on a 24-month term; Cloud VPS 12 was €25.00 month to month, €21.25 on 12 months and €20.00 on 24 months.
Is there a setup fee?
The Cloud VPS 12 configurator showed no setup fee on the 1-, 12- and 24-month terms.
Are backups included?
No. Auto Backup was a €6.70 a month add-on on the Cloud VPS 12; snapshots are included (1 to 3 depending on the plan).
What should I weigh before buying Developer Tools software?
Read the documentation before you commit, because it is the most honest preview of the product. Look for a quickstart you can actually finish, error responses that are documented rather than guessed at, published rate limits and a clear statement of what happens when you hit them, and a changelog showing the API is still maintained. Vague limits usually mean you will discover them in production.
Is this a hands-on review of Contabo?
This is a researched assessment, not a hands-on test — where we've used a tool ourselves, we say so explicitly. We name what each tool is good and bad at, and we earn a commission only if you sign up, at no cost to you.
- Read 2026-10-08 on contabo.com/en/vps and contabo.com/en/pricing in a browser render from a Netherlands connection, EUR, excluding VAT; the site has its own currency selector.
- A dated screenshot of that pricing page, kept on this site as the receipt.
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