Best VPS for self-hosted email
Short answer
For self-hosted email we look for at least 2 GB RAM. 40 providers sell a plan that meets it; the cheapest qualifying plan is Webdock VPS Essential at $2.41 a month. LikeVPS, OVHcloud VPS and Contabo rank highest once features that matter here are weighed in.
Checked October 14, 2026. How we rank
- providers listed
- 40
- lowest monthly price
- $2.41
- median monthly price
- $10.00
- sell Windows
- 26
The hard part of self-hosted email is not the server but deliverability: you need outbound port 25, a PTR record you control and an IP that is not on a blocklist. Several clouds keep port 25 closed for new accounts, so confirm with support before you build.
Checklist
- Port 25 open or unblockable on request
- Editable reverse DNS (PTR)
- Dedicated IPv4
- Backups for the mail store
The list
-
1
LikeVPS
Since 2020, based in United Kingdom; 26 locations in 26 countries, typically $4.25 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Lite 2.0 [DE]
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 25 GB NVMe / 20 TB
$10.00/mo
Go to LikeVPS -
2
OVHcloud VPS
Since 1999, based in France; 11 locations in 9 countries, typically $1.04 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS-1
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 40 GB NVMe / unmetered
$4.54/mo
Go to OVHcloud -
3
Contabo
Since 2003, based in Germany; 10 locations in 7 countries, typically $0.70 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Cloud VPS 4
4 vCPU / 8 GB RAM / 100 GB SSD / unmetered
$6.16/mo
Go to Contabo -
4
HostHatch
Since 2011, based in United States; 14 locations in 12 countries, typically $1.31 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
NVMe 2 GB
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 10 GB NVMe / 1 TB
$4.00/mo
Go to HostHatch -
5
netcup
Since 2008, based in Germany; 5 locations in 5 countries, typically $2.01 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS 500 G12.5
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 64 GB SSD / unmetered
$8.94/mo
Go to netcup -
6
UltaHost
Since 2018, based in United States; 29 locations in 25 countries, typically $4.71 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS Business
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / unmetered
$9.78/mo
Go to UltaHost -
7
Webdock
Since 2019, based in Denmark; 1 location in 1 country, typically $2.19 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS Essential
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 15 GB NVMe / 1 TB
$2.41/mo
Go to Webdock -
8
HOSTKEY
Since 2007, based in Netherlands; 7 locations in 7 countries, typically $1.33 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Hourly VPS Basic
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD / traffic n/a
$3.60/mo
Go to HOSTKEY -
9
Vultr
Since 2014, based in United States; 32 locations in 19 countries, typically $5.50 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 2 GB (vc2-1c-2gb)
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 55 GB SSD / 2 TB
$10.00/mo
Go to Vultr -
10
Hostinger VPS
Since 2004, based in Lithuania; 10 locations in 9 countries, typically $1.84 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
KVM 1
1 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / 4 TB
$11.99/mo
Go to Hostinger -
11
InterServer
Since 1999, based in United States; 3 locations in 1 country, typically $1.50 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Linux VPS 1 slice
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 30 GB SSD / 2 TB
$3.00/mo
Go to InterServer -
12
DigitalOcean
Since 2012, based in United States; 13 locations in 8 countries, typically $7.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Basic 2 GB (s-1vcpu-2gb)
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD / 2 TB
$12.00/mo
Go to DigitalOcean -
13
Tencent Cloud Lighthouse
Since 2013, based in CN; 11 locations in 10 countries, typically $2.25 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Starter 2C2G 40GB
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD / 500 GB
$4.20/mo
Go to Tencent Cloud -
14
UpCloud
Since 2011, based in Finland; 14 locations in 12 countries, typically $4.50 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Starter 1xCPU-2GB
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 20 GB SSD / traffic n/a
$7.00/mo
Go to UpCloud -
15
IONOS VPS
Since 1988, based in Germany; 8 locations in 4 countries, typically $3.06 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS Linux S+
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 60 GB NVMe / unmetered
$6.00/mo
Go to IONOS -
16
Leaseweb VPS
Since 1997, based in Netherlands; 9 locations in 8 countries, typically $0.64 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Leaseweb VPS 1
4 vCPU / 6 GB RAM / 100 GB NVMe / 30 TB
$5.58/mo
Go to Leaseweb -
17
BuyVM
Since 2010, based in United Arab Emirates; 4 locations in 2 countries, typically $5.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Ryzen KVM 2GB
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB NVMe / unmetered
$10.00/mo
Go to BuyVM -
18
Time4VPS
Since 2003, based in Lithuania; 1 location in 1 country, typically $3.64 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Linux 2
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 25 GB SSD / 4 TB
$8.95/mo
Go to Time4VPS -
19
Kamatera
Since 1995, based in United States; 21 locations in 14 countries, typically $11.12 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Standard
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 20 GB NVMe / 5 TB
$25.00/mo
Go to Kamatera -
20
Evolution Host
Since 2013, based in Ireland; 17 locations in 11 countries, typically $7.40 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Developer
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 20 GB NVMe / 20 TB
$11.19/mo
Go to Evolution Host -
21
Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server
Since 2009, based in CN; 12 locations in 11 countries, typically $4.50 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Linux 1C/2G
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD / 1.5 TB
$9.00/mo
Go to Alibaba Cloud -
22
GreenCloudVPS
Since 2013, based in United States; 19 locations in 9 countries, typically $5.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
SSDKVM-2
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 15 GB SSD / 2 TB
$10.00/mo
Go to GreenCloud -
23
SSD Nodes
Since 2011, based in United States; 15 locations in 10 countries, typically $1.56 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
KVM / Small
2 vCPU / 8 GB RAM / 160 GB SSD / 4 TB
$17.00/mo
Go to SSD Nodes -
24
RackNerd
Since 2019, based in United States; 12 locations in 5 countries, typically $6.15 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
KVM VPS 2 GB
3 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 75 GB SSD / 2 TB
$20.59/mo
Go to RackNerd -
25
Hetzner Cloud
Since 1997, based in Germany; 6 locations in 4 countries, typically $1.75 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
CX23
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 40 GB NVMe / 20 TB
$6.71/mo
Go to Hetzner -
26
Akamai Cloud (Linode)
Since 2003, based in United States; 26 locations in 15 countries, typically $6.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Linode 2 GB
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD / 2 TB
$12.00/mo
Go to Linode -
27
Bluehost VPS
Since 2003, based in United States; 9 locations in 8 countries, typically $3.62 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
NVMe 2
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / unmetered
$5.69/mo
Go to Bluehost -
28
HostGator VPS
Since 2002, based in United States; 1 location in 1 country, typically $2.41 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Snappy 1000 - NVMe 2
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / unmetered
$4.68/mo
Go to HostGator -
29
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute
Since 1977, based in United States; 25 locations in 21 countries, typically $3.38 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VM.Standard.A1.Flex 1 OCPU / 8 GB
1 vCPU / 8 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / 10 TB
$16.06/mo
Go to Oracle Cloud -
30
ScalaHosting
Since 2007, based in United States; 15 locations in 13 countries, typically $8.23 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Config #1
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 50 GB NVMe / unmetered
$24.95/mo
Go to ScalaHosting -
31
Amazon Lightsail
Since 2006, based in United States; 19 locations in 17 countries, typically $7.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Linux 2 GB
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 60 GB SSD / 3 TB
$12.00/mo
Go to Lightsail -
32
Hosting.com
Since 2001, based in United States; 10 locations in 9 countries, typically $5.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
VPS XS (4GB Cloud Server)
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 100 GB NVMe / unmetered
$19.99/mo
Go to Hosting.com -
33
Liquid Web VPS
Since 1997, based in United States; 3 locations in 2 countries, typically $5.61 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Cloud VPS Compute 2GB
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 60 GB SSD / 2 TB
$11.00/mo
Go to Liquid Web -
34
Cloudways
Since 2012, based in MT; 9 locations in 8 countries, typically $11.00 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
DigitalOcean Micro
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD / 2 TB
$11.00/mo
Go to Cloudways -
35
Hostwinds
Since 2010, based in United States; 3 locations in 2 countries, typically $4.99 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Unmanaged Linux 2
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 50 GB SSD / 2 TB
$9.99/mo
Go to Hostwinds -
36
Namecheap VPS
Since 2000, based in United States; 1 location in 1 country, typically $3.15 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Pulsar
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB SSD / 1 TB
$11.88/mo
Go to Namecheap -
37
Exoscale
Since 2011, based in Switzerland; 7 locations in 5 countries, typically $9.58 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Standard Small
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 10 GB NVMe / 1 TB
$17.03/mo
Go to Exoscale -
38
Scaleway
Since 1999, based in France; 4 locations in 4 countries, typically $5.78 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
DEV1-S
2 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 20 GB SSD / unmetered
$7.34/mo
Go to Scaleway -
39
GoDaddy VPS
Since 1997, based in United States; 3 locations in 3 countries, typically $7.50 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
1 vCPU / 2GB RAM
1 vCPU / 2 GB RAM / 40 GB NVMe / unmetered
$14.99/mo
Go to GoDaddy -
40
DreamHost VPS
Since 1997, based in United States; 1 location in 1 country, typically $6.79 per GB of RAM.
Smallest plan that fits
Stack 4
2 vCPU / 4 GB RAM / 75 GB NVMe / unmetered
$15.99/mo
Go to DreamHost
See these numbers as a table
| # | Provider | Plan | vCPU | RAM | Disk | $/month | $/GB RAM | Locations | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LikeVPS | Lite 2.0 [DE] | 1 | 2 GB | 25 GB | $10.00 | $5.00 | 26 | — |
| 2 | OVHcloud VPS | VPS-1 | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB | $4.54 | $1.14 | 11 | 3.8 |
| 3 | Contabo | Cloud VPS 4 | 4 | 8 GB | 100 GB | $6.16 | $0.77 | 10 | 4.6 |
| 4 | HostHatch | NVMe 2 GB | 1 | 2 GB | 10 GB | $4.00 | $2.00 | 14 | 2.7 |
| 5 | netcup | VPS 500 G12.5 | 2 | 4 GB | 64 GB | $8.94 | $2.23 | 5 | 3.8 |
| 6 | UltaHost | VPS Business | 2 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $9.78 | $4.89 | 29 | 3.5 |
| 7 | Webdock | VPS Essential | 1 | 2 GB | 15 GB | $2.41 | $1.21 | 1 | 4.9 |
| 8 | HOSTKEY | Hourly VPS Basic | 2 | 4 GB | 50 GB | $3.60 | $0.90 | 7 | 3.1 |
| 9 | Vultr | Regular Performance 1 vCPU / 2 GB (vc2-1c-2gb) | 1 | 2 GB | 55 GB | $10.00 | $5.00 | 32 | 1.6 |
| 10 | Hostinger VPS | KVM 1 | 1 | 4 GB | 50 GB | $11.99 | $3.00 | 10 | 4.6 |
| 11 | InterServer | Linux VPS 1 slice | 1 | 2 GB | 30 GB | $3.00 | $1.50 | 3 | 4.3 |
| 12 | DigitalOcean | Basic 2 GB (s-1vcpu-2gb) | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $12.00 | $6.00 | 13 | 4.5 |
| 13 | Tencent Cloud Lighthouse | Starter 2C2G 40GB | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | $4.20 | $2.10 | 11 | — |
| 14 | UpCloud | Starter 1xCPU-2GB | 1 | 2 GB | 20 GB | $7.00 | $3.50 | 14 | 3.0 |
| 15 | IONOS VPS | VPS Linux S+ | 1 | 2 GB | 60 GB | $6.00 | $3.00 | 8 | 4.6 |
| 16 | Leaseweb VPS | Leaseweb VPS 1 | 4 | 6 GB | 100 GB | $5.58 | $0.93 | 9 | 3.4 |
| 17 | BuyVM | Ryzen KVM 2GB | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | $10.00 | $5.00 | 4 | 3.8 |
| 18 | Time4VPS | Linux 2 | 1 | 2 GB | 25 GB | $8.95 | $4.47 | 1 | 4.7 |
| 19 | Kamatera | Standard | 2 | 2 GB | 20 GB | $25.00 | $12.50 | 21 | 4.3 |
| 20 | Evolution Host | Developer | 2 | 2 GB | 20 GB | $11.19 | $5.59 | 17 | 4.5 |
| 21 | Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server | Linux 1C/2G | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | $9.00 | $4.50 | 12 | 1.2 |
| 22 | GreenCloudVPS | SSDKVM-2 | 1 | 2 GB | 15 GB | $10.00 | $5.00 | 19 | 3.3 |
| 23 | SSD Nodes | KVM / Small | 2 | 8 GB | 160 GB | $17.00 | $2.12 | 15 | 3.0 |
| 24 | RackNerd | KVM VPS 2 GB | 3 | 2 GB | 75 GB | $20.59 | $10.29 | 12 | 4.3 |
| 25 | Hetzner Cloud | CX23 | 2 | 4 GB | 40 GB | $6.71 | $1.68 | 6 | 3.0 |
| 26 | Akamai Cloud (Linode) | Linode 2 GB | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $12.00 | $6.00 | 26 | 2.5 |
| 27 | Bluehost VPS | NVMe 2 | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $5.69 | $2.85 | 9 | 4.5 |
| 28 | HostGator VPS | Snappy 1000 - NVMe 2 | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $4.68 | $2.34 | 1 | 4.6 |
| 29 | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute | VM.Standard.A1.Flex 1 OCPU / 8 GB | 1 | 8 GB | 50 GB | $16.06 | $2.01 | 25 | 1.3 |
| 30 | ScalaHosting | Config #1 | 2 | 4 GB | 50 GB | $24.95 | $6.24 | 15 | 4.9 |
| 31 | Amazon Lightsail | Linux 2 GB | 2 | 2 GB | 60 GB | $12.00 | $6.00 | 19 | 1.3 |
| 32 | Hosting.com | VPS XS (4GB Cloud Server) | 2 | 4 GB | 100 GB | $19.99 | $5.00 | 10 | 4.8 |
| 33 | Liquid Web VPS | Cloud VPS Compute 2GB | 1 | 2 GB | 60 GB | $11.00 | $5.50 | 3 | 3.8 |
| 34 | Cloudways | DigitalOcean Micro | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $11.00 | $5.50 | 9 | 4.6 |
| 35 | Hostwinds | Unmanaged Linux 2 | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB | $9.99 | $5.00 | 3 | 2.1 |
| 36 | Namecheap VPS | Pulsar | 2 | 2 GB | 40 GB | $11.88 | $5.94 | 1 | 4.2 |
| 37 | Exoscale | Standard Small | 2 | 2 GB | 10 GB | $17.03 | $8.52 | 7 | 3.5 |
| 38 | Scaleway | DEV1-S | 2 | 2 GB | 20 GB | $7.34 | $3.67 | 4 | 1.5 |
| 39 | GoDaddy VPS | 1 vCPU / 2GB RAM | 1 | 2 GB | 40 GB | $14.99 | $7.50 | 3 | 4.4 |
| 40 | DreamHost VPS | Stack 4 | 2 | 4 GB | 75 GB | $15.99 | $4.00 | 1 | 4.6 |
Price check
Questions
Why are my emails from a VPS going to spam?
Usually a missing SPF, DKIM or DMARC record, a PTR that does not match the HELO name, or an IP with poor reputation. Fix DNS first, then warm the IP with low volumes.