Top 10 VPS Providers Offering $1-2 Monthly Plans

Finding a reliable VPS for under $2 per month might sound impossible, but it's actually not that hard if you know where to look. Sure, the glory days of dirt-cheap OpenVZ boxes are mostly behind us—big names like Bandwagon and Vultr have basically said "thanks but no thanks" to the budget segment. But here's the thing: cheap VPS hosting is still very much alive, and for good reason.

Beginners need affordable servers to mess around with and learn the ropes. Small projects—a personal blog, a Discord bot, some automation scripts—don't need enterprise-grade hardware. And let's be honest, some people treat promotional VPS deals like collectibles, snatching them up and flipping them for profit. Just keep your expectations realistic: ultra-cheap VPS plans won't blow your mind with performance or rock-solid uptime. But among the budget offerings, you can still find providers that punch above their weight in terms of stability, network quality, and reputation.

Most genuinely good deals show up during flash sales, promo codes, or Black Friday chaos. You've got to be quick—these things disappear faster than free pizza at a tech meetup.

【TOP 1】: Spartanhost

Spartanhost's large storage VPS, especially from their Seattle location, has built quite a following. Their base plan starts at $2.5/month, which is pretty competitive. The Seattle datacenter often sells out because people keep coming back for more. One nice touch: their VPS packages include 20Gbps TCP DDoS protection by default, which is more than you'd expect at this price point. They used to offer quarterly plans for as low as $2, but those are practically mythical now—always out of stock.

【TOP 2】: Hostyun

Hostyun has been around since 2008, making them one of the veteran Chinese providers. They operate datacenters in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Los Angeles, and South Korea. Network routes are solid—they've got AS9929, CN2, and direct three-network connections across their locations. Their entry-level VPS starts at about 18 RMB per month (roughly $2.5), which makes them accessible for users who need better connectivity to Asia.

【TOP 3】: BuyVM

BuyVM launched back in 2010 as a Canadian provider with locations in Las Vegas, New York, and Luxembourg. Their $2/month VPS is so popular it's basically a game of refresh-and-pray to catch one in stock. The Luxembourg datacenter is especially hard to snag. They've earned their reputation the old-fashioned way—by being around for over a decade and keeping customers happy.

【TOP 4】: Cloudcone

Cloudcone started in 2017 and was later acquired by Edge Centers, which also owns MC and QN datacenters. They support hourly billing, which is handy if you just need to spin something up temporarily. The real draws are their holiday promotions—they roll out special VPS deals for pretty much every occasion. Their annual promotional plans typically hover around $10/year for basic specs, making them a solid value pick.

【TOP 5】: ByteVirt

ByteVirt is a relatively new player, founded in 2023, but they're making waves with aggressive pricing. They offer NAT VPS, standard VPS, and dedicated servers. Their NAT series starts at an absurd $5.5/year, and regular VPS hosting begins at $2.5/month for US locations.

If you're tired of hunting for deals across dozens of providers and just want something straightforward and cheap, ByteVirt's "VPS-US-KVM" base package runs $6 for six months—that's literally $1 per month when you break it down. Currently they only have Los Angeles available, but for basic testing, small projects, or learning purposes, that's usually sufficient. The pricing is transparent, no surprise fees, and the specs are perfectly adequate for lightweight workloads.

👉 Check out ByteVirt's ultra-affordable VPS plans starting at just $1/month—perfect for side projects and testing environments

For anyone just getting started with VPS hosting or running multiple small services without breaking the bank, their pricing structure makes a lot of sense.

【TOP 6】: wap.ac

Wap.ac burst onto the scene in 2024 as a Singapore-based provider, immediately grabbing attention with $1/month VPS in Hong Kong and Japan. Those $1 plans are rare and sell out almost instantly when restocked. They still offer $2/month options across Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan, which is pretty competitive for Asian locations.

【TOP 7】: AkileCloud

Despite launching in 2023, AkileCloud has built an impressively diverse product line. They cover Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the US, UK, and more. Their Hong Kong VPS starts at 4.99 RMB/month (less than $1), and Japan VPS begins at 10 RMB/month (around $1.40). They occasionally drop limited-time specials, like their Hong Kong VPS priced at 150 RMB for three years—which works out to about $0.60 per month.

【TOP 8】: ColoCrossing

ColoCrossing has been in the game for over twenty years, focusing primarily on US-based VPS. While their regular plans start at $3.95/month, their "Special Offers" section is where things get interesting. They have annual plans at $10, $12, $18, and $20 per year—all averaging under $2/month. These aren't crippled either: 20TB monthly bandwidth and 1Gbps connections are standard across these tiers, which is excellent value.

【TOP 9】: GreenCloudVPS

GreenCloudVPS operates over thirty datacenters globally, giving you plenty of options. Their "Budget KVM Sale" series targets the budget-conscious crowd with plans starting at $15/year. Locations include Chicago, New York, Ashburn, San Jose, and Dallas. You get 10Gbps bandwidth with 2TB monthly transfer as the baseline, which is generous for the price.

Conclusion

The budget VPS market might look different than it did five years ago, but deals are still out there if you're willing to hunt. Whether you need something for learning, small projects, or just experimenting with server management, providers like ByteVirt, Spartanhost, and ColoCrossing prove you don't need to spend much to get started. Just remember: timing matters with these deals, and having realistic expectations about performance will save you disappointment. For straightforward pricing and decent specs, ByteVirt stands out as particularly suitable for beginners and anyone running multiple lightweight services—their transparent pricing structure makes budgeting simple.