This article focuses on VPS hosting, therefore public cloud products offered by various providers such as AWS, GCP, and Azure are not included in the Terry's review and price summary list. Comparison tables and setup tutorials for public clouds will be published sequentially. Please follow Terry’s Facebook Page to stay updated.
Free Credits for New Users
To avail of free credits for new users, the promotional methods by Linode, DigitalOcean and Vultr require utilizing referral links in order to access additional free credits for new users.
| Provider | New User Free Credits | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Vultr | $100 | Free credits are available only via referral link |
| DigitalOcean | $200 | Free credits are available only via referral link |
| Linode | $100 | Free credits are available only via referral link |
| OVH | None | - |
By using the referral links below, you can obtain these additional free credits.
Disclosure of Interest
Therefore, first of all, let me disclose the interests. The links in this article leading to various hosting companies are promotional links. When you use the terry's links to visit the site, register, and make a purchase, Terry will receive a referral bonus, and you will also get free credits for use.
The author uses these referral bonuses as credits for hosting to test some system optimization configurations and service testing for that VPS service provider, etc., which are then turned into tutorial articles to give back to the community.
| Provider | Referral Link | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Vultr | Click Here | New registered users receive $100 in free credits. The referrer receives $35 when the new user spends $35. |
| DigitalOcean | Click Here | New registered users receive $200 in free credits for use within 60 days. The referrer receives $25 when the new user spends $25. |
| Linode | Click Here | The referrer receives $25 when a new registered user stays for 90 days and spends $25. |
| OVH | None | None |
Follow-up Thoughts on the Promotion
Thank you all for using my referral links. Currently, Vultr, DigitalOcean, and Linode all have enthusiastic netizens using my links.
- Linode has the highest number of referrals converted into usable hosting credits. It is the hosting provider that most people continue to use after trying.
- Vultr is next.
- As for DigitalOcean, there are currently 10 referrals, but they have been in a pending state for over a year. Referral credits are only converted when the referred user has used up their credits and topped up their account. This indicates that these 10 referrals did not continue using DigitalOcean after the trial.
Therefore, if possible, please use Linode more. This way, Terry can use the hosting credits converted from your joining. Thank you for your support.
OVH does not have a referral program because it is very cost-effective, which is why Terry specially introduces this great deal.
VPS Price Comparison
The prices below are compared based on the same specifications in terms of CPU, RAM, and SSD storage. Differences in hardware levels are noted in the remarks.
1 CPU / 1 GB RAM
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | 25 GB | 25 GB | 25 GB | No |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB | 1000 GB | 1 TB | No |
| Price | $5 | $6 | $5 | No |
Notes:
- 1TB = 1024 GB
- OVH does not offer this specification.
1 CPU / 2 GB RAM
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | 55 GB | 50 GB | 50 GB | 40 GB (NVMe) |
| Bandwidth | 2 TB | 2 TB | 2 TB | Unlimited |
| Price | $10 | $12 | $12 | $6.44 |
2 CPU / 4 GB RAM
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | 80 GB | 80 GB | 80 GB | 80 GB (NVMe) |
| Bandwidth | 3 TB | 4 TB | 4 TB | Unlimited |
| Price | $20 | $24 | $24 | $13.52 |
4 CPU / 8 GB RAM
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSD | 160 GB | 160 GB | 160 GB | 160 GB (NVMe) |
| Bandwidth | 4 TB | 5 TB | 5 TB | Unlimited |
| Price | $40 | $48 | $48 | $25.11 |
Other Specifications
For other hosting specifications, please refer to the official price lists:
Note:
- OVH prices can be contracted. Discounts are not applied as a one-time annual fee; if contracted, the monthly fee is reduced by 8% for a one-year contract, and 15% for a two-year contract. It's a monthly payment instead of paying for the entire year at once, but once contracted, the payment is automatically deducted monthly. To terminate the contract, you need to pay the remaining months even you don't use them. Be carefull of this trap, the contract will be automatically renewed.
- Vultr prices are estimated on a monthly basis, but are billed hourly, which is more flexible.
DDoS Protection
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available | In some data centers | No | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $10/month | No | Free | Free |
Note: Vultr's DDoS protection feature requires an additional fee and is not available in all data centers. If you have this requirement, be sure to check if the data center you are choosing offers DDoS protection.
How Different Providers Handle DDoS
Linode and Vultr
Currently, I do not use Linode, and when I used it previously, it was only for simple content introduction websites that didn't generate much web traffic, so I have never encountered a DDoS problem. However, it seems that Linode has been actively deploying equipment to their global network to protect their customers since being attacked in 2016. The operation seems to be similar to that of OVH. As for Vultr, I only use it for test websites and small websites, so I have no such experience either.
Addendum: A helpful netizen shared their experience, stating that when Linode faces a traffic attack exceeding 1Gbps, its approach is the same as that of DigitalOcean.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean's approach is to completely shut down the traffic for 3 hours, making the entire VPS inaccessible.
3 hours might not have a significant impact on non-profit small websites, but I do not like this passive approach. So, as soon as the VPS was restored, I immediately moved to a different provider. After so many years, DigitalOcean still hasn't added an extra layer of protection for its customers.
OVH
OVH, on the other hand, redirects the traffic to DDoS scrubbing appliances, so there is no downtime, and you don't even notice anything happening, except for an email notification.
Once the attack traffic stops, the system sends an email notifying that the attack has ceased. This is very reassuring. In practice, I purchased UptimeRobot services to detect any downtime, but it did not detect any. If there was any downtime, it was likely only a few seconds and therefore not noticeable.
Data Center Locations
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western USA | San Francisco Los Angeles Seattle Silicon Valley |
San Francisco | Fremont | x |
| Central USA | Dallas Chicago |
x | Atlanta Dallas |
x |
| Eastern USA | New York Miami |
New York | New York | x |
| Canada | Toronto | Toronto | Toronto | Beauharnois |
| France | Paris | x | x | Gravelines |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam | Amsterdam | x | x |
| Germany | Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Frankfurt | Frankfurt |
| Poland | x | x | x | Warsaw |
| United Kingdom | London | London | London | London |
| Australia | Sydney | x | Sydney | Sydney |
| India | x | Bangalore | Mumbai | x |
| Singapore | Singapore | Singapore | Singapore | Singapore |
| Japan | Tokyo | x | Tokyo | x |
| South Korea | Seoul | x | x | x |
| Total | 17 | 8 | 11 | 7 |
Note:
- The totals in this table represent the number of geographical locations, not the total number of data centers. Providers typically have multiple data centers within a single geographic location.
- OVH had a data center fire in Strasbourg, France, on March 6, 2021. This location, coded as SBG, is not available for selection.
The location of the data center is probably an important consideration for many, as the quality of the network and the number of nodes that the connection passes through will affect the ping value. The closer the location is to Taiwan, and the fewer router nodes it passes through, the lower the ping value. None of the VPS providers have data centers in Taiwan, and due to political factors, it is not recommended to use data centers in Hong Kong. Therefore, the top choices for data center locations are Japan, followed by Singapore.
If neither Japan nor Singapore is available, choosing a data center on the west coast of the United States is the next best option.
VPS Providers Speed Test
OVH
Unfortunately, OVH does not have a data center in Japan, otherwise, it would have been superior to the other three. However, there is a data center in Singapore to choose from, and the speed is not bad, with a ping value of around 70 ms. As the largest hosting company in Europe, OVH has the most data centers in Europe.
Another drawback is that there is no data center on the West Coast of the United States. For users in Taiwan, the only option is Singapore, followed by data centers in Canada with a ping value of around 190 ms.
Speed test URL: http://proof.ovh.net/
If you want to test other data center locations, you can click on "Server selection" to switch between different locations for testing. The test results will be displayed based on the network you are currently using.
Vultr
Vultr has the most data center locations to choose from, with 17 locations available. It has the most options in the United States. What's special is that it also has the most data center locations in Asia.
The download speed fluctuates around 2.7 MB per second, which is not very ideal. The author speculates that this might be why Vultr does not reveal the network bandwidth in its price list.
Download speed test:
Speed test URL: https://sgp-ping.vultr.com/
If you want to test other data center locations, you can use the "Server Location" dropdown menu to switch between different locations for testing. The test results will be displayed based on the network you are currently using.
DigitalOcean
For users in Taiwan, the lack of a data center in Japan reduces the appeal in terms of speed. At the time of writing this article, the speed test of DigitalOcean's Singapore data center, whether in terms of upload or download bandwidth or ping value, is far behind OVH.
Speed test URL: http://speedtest-sgp1.digitalocean.com/
If you want to test other data center locations, you can use the "Server Location" dropdown menu to switch between different locations for testing. The test results will be displayed based on the network you are currently using.
Linode
Speed test URL: https://www.linode.com/speed-test/
After entering the speed test page and selecting the desired data center location, you will see a screen similar to the above screenshot. Linode has a data center in Japan, but since all four companies have data centers in Singapore, the screenshots are taken from the speed test results in Singapore for comparison.
Comparison Table
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (Mbps) | 21.6 | 13.31 | 25.00 | 25.24 |
| Upload (Mbps) | Unknown | 5.39 | 27.15 | 24.93 |
| Ping (ms) | 67.2 | 131 | 55.39 | 67.33 |
Note: OVH and Linode guarantee a minimum external bandwidth in their pricing tables, which increases with higher plans. OVH offers from 250 Mbps, and Linode offers 1000 Mbps.
Console Speed
| - | Vultr | DigitalOcean | Linode | OVH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page Speed | Super Fast | Fast | Fast | Extremely Slow |
This aspect is very subjective. The author feels that the speed of switching between pages in OVH is incredibly slow, taking at least 3 seconds. The Vultr console is very fast, like flying.
Customer Support
Based on my experience, the customer support at OVH is the worst. Although they are inexpensive, I opened a support ticket on July 2nd, 2023 at 4:13 AM, and now it's July 7th, 2023 at 2:48 AM, but no one has replied to me. Moreover, OVH continues to charge me for the VPS even though I have requested a cancellation!
If customer support is important to you, choosing OVH is a nightmare!
Conclusion
Based on my experience, I would recommend Linode and Vultr.
Though OVH might seem appealing due to its low cost and unlimited traffic, I would caution against choosing it. Their customer support is very poor, and please be careful of the trap of contract that is uncancellable.
Please use the author's referral links before making a purchase:
- Vultr: Click Here
- DigitalOcean: Click Here
- Linode: Click Here
This way, you will receive free credits, and the author will also receive bonus credits to set up servers for testing and writing articles.
Tranditional Chinese version: VPS Price Comparasion.
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