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Looking for a VPS that won't drain your wallet when you're not using it? That's exactly what CloudCone figured out back in 2017. While everyone else was still doing the "$5 a month whether you use it or not" thing, they started charging by the second. Yeah, you read that right—by the second. Fire up a server for testing, shut it down three hours later, and you only pay for those three hours. No more paying for 720 hours when you only needed 10. For developers running temporary test environments, seasonal websites, or just experimenting with ideas, this changes everything. Annual plans start around $10, which is less than what most providers charge for two months.
CloudCone runs two data centers these days. The Los Angeles location has been their main hub—solid network, decent speeds, nothing fancy but it gets the job done. Then in September 2025, they opened up shop in St. Louis, Missouri. Why St. Louis? Better access for the Midwest, lower latency for that part of the country. Smart move, actually.
If you're in mainland China, stick with LA. Yes, the ping times are higher, but the price difference makes it worth the tradeoff. Unless you're running something that absolutely needs millisecond-perfect response times, you'll be fine.
The 2025 Deals Worth Checking Out
The 2025 Deals Worth Checking Out
Let's talk money. CloudCone runs promotions constantly, and some of them are genuinely good deals. Others are just okay. Here's what actually matters:
The Clearance Sale That Actually Clears
They're calling it the "2025 Clearance Blowout" and it's not marketing fluff. Entry-level VPS at $10 per year. One CPU core, 1GB RAM, 60GB storage, 3TB monthly bandwidth at 1Gbps. All in Los Angeles. The catch? Limited stock. These sell out. If you see one available and need a basic server, grab it.
The $14 annual tier bumps you to 2 cores, 2GB RAM, and 120GB storage—same bandwidth. For an extra four bucks a year, that's a no-brainer upgrade.
Halloween Special (Because Why Not)
October 2025 brought themed packages starting at $16 annually. Built on enterprise hardware, optimized for heavier workloads. If you're planning to run something that'll actually get traffic, these are worth considering over the clearance deals.
The Anniversary Discount
For their 8th birthday in July 2025, CloudCone offered 40% off six VPS tiers using code CCTURNS8-40. Prices started at $13 per year after discount. This is the kind of deal where you check the specs, do the math, and realize you're essentially getting a second year free.
Easter Packages (Yes, Really)
Five tiers ranging from $17 to $150 annually. All SSD storage now, which is a nice upgrade. The entry package gives you 1 core, 1GB RAM, 14GB SSD, and 3TB bandwidth for $17. The top tier at $150 gets you 14 cores, 16GB RAM, 223GB SSD, and 8TB bandwidth. That top tier is actually competitive with what you'd pay monthly elsewhere.
The Hashtag 2025 Promo
Starting at $17 annually for 2 cores, 1GB RAM, 14GB SSD, and 3TB bandwidth. Six tiers total, topping out at $165 for 10 cores and 16GB RAM. Los Angeles location, all SSD. Pretty standard promotional pricing, nothing groundbreaking but nothing wrong with it either.
How Per-Second Billing Actually Works
How Per-Second Billing Actually Works
Here's the thing most people miss about CloudCone: the billing model isn't just a gimmick. It fundamentally changes how you can use VPS hosting.
Spin up a server to test something. Run it for 6 hours. Delete it. You pay for 6 hours. Not a day, not a week, not a month. Six hours. The server stops existing, the billing stops. This is legitimately useful if you're:
Running A/B tests that need separate environments
Building staging servers that only exist during work hours
Hosting seasonal content that goes dormant most of the year
Learning and experimenting without worrying about waste
Traditional monthly billing punishes experimentation. You pay the same whether the server runs 24/7 or sits idle for three weeks. CloudCone's model rewards efficiency. Use what you need, pay for what you use.
What You Should Actually Know Before Buying
What You Should Actually Know Before Buying
Promotional Packages Have Limits
Most of these deals lock you into the configuration you buy. You can't upgrade a $10 clearance package to more RAM later. Choose carefully based on what you'll actually need, not what sounds cool.
Renewal Pricing Exists
That $10 annual deal? Probably won't be $10 when it renews. Check the standard pricing before committing. Budget for the renewal price, treat the promotional price as a bonus first year.
Payment Is Actually Convenient
They take Alipay alongside standard payment methods. If you're in China and thinking "great, another service I'll need to jump through hoops to pay for," you don't. It's straightforward.
Support Runs on Tickets
No phone support, no live chat. Ticket system. Response times are decent though—usually within a few hours for standard issues, faster for critical problems.
Operating Systems Are Standard
Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, AlmaLinux, Windows. The usual suspects. Nothing exotic, nothing missing. IPv4 and IPv6 both supported if that matters for your setup.
Common Questions People Actually Ask
Common Questions People Actually Ask
Is the performance actually good?
Enterprise-grade hardware, all SSD now, performs as expected for the price point. You're not getting DigitalOcean-level optimization, but you're not paying DigitalOcean prices either.
What about network speed for China?
Higher latency, that's just geography. But the bandwidth allocation is generous and the price makes the latency acceptable for most use cases. If you need China-optimized routing, you're looking at the wrong provider.
Can I run Windows?
Yes. Most packages support both Linux and Windows. Check individual package details to confirm.
What happens if I hit my bandwidth cap?
Traffic stops or gets throttled depending on the package. Most promotional deals are generous with bandwidth though—3TB to 8TB monthly is hard to burn through for typical projects.
CloudCone carved out their niche by solving a real problem: why should you pay for server time you're not using? Their per-second billing model, combined with genuinely low annual pricing, makes them a solid choice for anyone who needs flexible compute resources without enterprise-level costs. The promotional packages offer legitimate value, especially the clearance and anniversary deals. Just understand what you're buying, plan for renewal pricing, and pick configurations based on actual need rather than "might need someday" speculation.
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