Contabo Hosting: Plans, Prices & Review

Core VPS runs on proven infrastructure across multiple CPU generations, virtualized with KVM. Hardware is selected for workloads like web hosting, CMS, email, and dev environments, where CPU is rarely the bottleneck. RAM and network throughput are what move performance for these workloads, and those specs are generously allocated across the Core VPS lineup.

Core VPS is the best VPS for lighter, everyday workloads: hobbyists, freelancers, and small teams. Common buyers include WordPress and CMS hosts, self-hosted email and file server operators, dev and staging environment users, and small SaaS backends that want affordable VPS hosting with predictable monthly cost. If your workload runs reliably on proven hardware, paying for the latest CPU generation is unnecessary. That's what cost-efficient VPS hosting like Core VPS is for

Core VPS is priced for value across the European hosting market. Plans start at the lowest entry point in the Contabo VPS lineup and scale to 18 vCores and 96 GB RAM with no hidden fees. Compared with other European cloud providers, Contabo pricing is competitive at every tier, particularly for workloads that don't need the latest CPU generation.

Yes. When to upgrade to VPS hosting at a higher tier is up to you: scale RAM, vCores, and storage in place from the Customer Control Panel without rebuilding the server. If your workload outgrows the top Core VPS tier, the next step up is the Performance VPS line, offering the latest generations of AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe storage, and high bandwidth. That migration is a one-time move, not an in-place upgrade. You can easily upgrade at any time via your Customer Control Panel.

Free OS options for your VPS include Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS, openSUSE, and FreeBSD as Linux VPS options. Windows VPS is available with Windows Server as a paid Add-On, where the license cost is added to the monthly bill. You can also upload custom ISOs through the Customer Control Panel and install any OS that runs on KVM, including specialized Linux distributions and BSD variants.

A Virtual Private Server like Core VPS handles a wide range of projects: WordPress and other CMS-based VPS hosting setups, self-hosted email servers (Mailcow, Mailu, Postfix), file servers (Nextcloud, Samba), Discord and small game servers, dev and staging environments, VPN endpoints, monitoring stacks, and small SaaS backends. Web hosting VPS workloads are some of the most common projects on Core VPS, but any lightweight project that runs on Linux or Windows Server is suitable.

Provisioning takes a few minutes after payment clears. You'll get login credentials by email, then access the server through SSH (Linux) or RDP (Windows). The Customer Control Panel handles snapshots, reinstalls, network settings, and Firewall rules. The Contabo API and CLI are Terraform-compatible, which makes Contabo's Cloud VPS a practical fit as the best VPS for developers running infrastructure-as-code workflows. Cloud-init for Linux and cloudbase-init for Windows are also supported for aut

We accept payments in EUR, USD, and GBP, with different payment methods depending on the currency. Please see the full list here and this helpful video guide for more information. For all payment methods other than credit card, the first payment after you have submitted an order has to be done manually. Please use the payment information provided after the order process. Once you have access to your Customer Control Panel , you can manage your payment methods, make payments, and set up automated

Yes, we offer cPanel and Plesk hosting control panels at additional cost. We also offer Webmin for free. Note that we’re offering Plesk for free for the first month across our Cloud VPS, Cloud VDS, Storage VPS, and Dedicated Server plans. If you’re not satisfied with Plesk within the first month, then just cancel it before the end of your first month through the Customer Control Panel (you won’t be charged if you cancel it before the first month ends). We also put together this hosting panel com

A Virtual Dedicated Server gives you dedicated CPU and RAM inside a virtualized environment. The resources are committed to your instance alone, not pooled across tenants like a shared VPS, and running on proven hardware without the full cost of a Bare Metal Dedicated Server. Max Performance VPS is the VDS product line from Contabo.

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) and a VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server) both provide virtualized server environments, but they differ in how resources are allocated and managed. A VPS is typically hosted on a physical server along with multiple other VPS instances. Each VPS shares the physical server’s CPU, memory, storage, and other resources. This setup allows for efficient resource utilization and cost-effectiveness but can sometimes lead to resource contention if other VPSs on the same host are

Yes. Dedicated CPU is the defining feature of VDS hosting. Every Max Performance VPS plan assigns AMD EPYC cores to the instance alone, so throughput stays consistent regardless of other activity on the same server.

Pick Cloud VDS for dedicated resource isolation, instant provisioning, and predictable performance without managing physical hardware. A Bare Metal Dedicated Server makes sense when the workload has performance, compliance, I/O, or hardware configuration needs that virtualization cannot fully address.

Pick a plan from the pricing table, choose a contract length, and complete checkout. The instance is provisioned in minutes through the Customer Control Panel. Contract terms range from month-to-month to 24 months, with discounts of 15% on 12-month plans and 20% on 24-month plans.

Yes. Monthly contracts are available on every Cloud VDS tier from S to XXL. The longer-term discounts apply only to 12 and 24-month commitments, but month-to-month gives full flexibility.