Contabo VPS vs Vultr Cloud Compute
Neither wins outright: Contabo VPS is cheaper for 1 of 3 workloads and Vultr Cloud Compute for the rest.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | Contabo VPS | Vultr Cloud Compute | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $5.50/mo | $2.50/mo | 2.2× Vultr Cloud Compute |
| Compute | — | $0.0040/vCPU-hr | — |
| Data transfer out | Free | $0.010/GB | — |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | — |
Source: Contabo pricing (May 2026) · Vultr pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | Contabo VPS | Vultr Cloud Compute | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $5.50 | $2.92 | Vultr Cloud Computesaves $2.58/mo (47%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $11 | $11 | Vultr Cloud Computesaves $0.16/mo (1%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $5.50 | $98 | Contabo VPSsaves $92/mo (94%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
Contabo VPS
by Contabo
The most RAM and disk per dollar in the category, with unlimited traffic. Single-thread performance and network consistency are noticeably weaker than the price suggests.
Free tier: Unlimited traffic, throttled after 32 TB
Vultr Cloud Compute
by Vultr
Cheap flat-rate instances across an unusually wide region list, including locations the hyperscalers do not serve. Bandwidth is allocated per instance rather than pooled.
Free tier: None; the $2.50 IPv6-only plan is the entry point
Common questions
- Is Contabo VPS or Vultr Cloud Compute cheaper in 2026?
- It depends on volume — Contabo VPS wins 1 of the 3 modelled workloads and Vultr Cloud Compute wins 2. The scenario table above shows where the crossover falls.
- What is the difference in egress cost between Contabo VPS and Vultr Cloud Compute?
- Contabo VPS does not charge for data transfer out at all, while Vultr Cloud Compute charges $0.010 per GB. On a read-heavy workload that difference is the entire comparison.
- Which has the better free tier, Contabo VPS or Vultr Cloud Compute?
- Both publish one. Contabo VPS: Unlimited traffic, throttled after 32 TB. Vultr Cloud Compute: None; the $2.50 IPv6-only plan is the entry point.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.