When you are looking for a cheap VPS in the market, you might have stumbled upon Contabo. Their extremely low prices with seemingly impressive specs makes you wonder: Why is Contabo so cheap?
This is where we answer that exact question. In this article, we will not only cover a few reasons as to why it’s so affordable but also see whether or not Contabo is a reliable service to host your web apps.
Why is Contabo so cheap?
When running a VPS, there are a few things that decide the cost of the hosting services such as hardware, features, team, and management.
The company has to say this about why their services are cheap:
However, if we dig up a little deeper, there are other reasons for their low rates. Here’s a quick glimpse at some positive—and negative—reasons as to how Contabo makes such a low-cost VPS.
1. Low-cost hardware with performance
Let’s start with the hardware. Contabo uses affordable, optimized hardware that allows them to lower its overall costs. They calculate performance per dollar spent, which allows them to choose the best server.
You will still get the standard hardware, and they don’t compromise on quality. The servers are built with popular brands such as Dell, HP, AMD, and Samsung.
2. Optional features to decrease the cost
Coming to the features, you will have to pay extra for a few of them or sacrifice one feature for another. For instance, they provide NVMe, but overall storage decreases if you go with NVMe.
You can select either 50 GB NVMe or 200 GB SSD in the base plan. This gives them enough room to optimize the cost. Also, there is no extra backup space provided.
3. Mediocre customer support
The customer support at Contabo isn’t up to the mark. They don’t reply properly to important queries and issues of the customer. There is a good chance you will also find yourself in this sort of position.
If the problem is small, you will get a response soon, and the team will help you with your problem. But if it’s anything bigger, you are pretty much on your own—or will have to spend much more time in communicating with customer support.
4. Overselling on VPS
In VPS architecture, multiple neighbors typically use the same server. In other words, there is a limited amount of space on a VPS.
However, Contabo often oversells its VPS allocations. This means that more members are using the VPS than recommended.
This might not affect you in most cases as they utilize KVM and Proxmox virtualization. With KVM, your resources are isolated. However, you might sometimes face downtime.
We can’t say that it won’t affect you at all. There might be a few instances where your VPS works slowly. The server will be at capacity if all your neighbors are facing heavy traffic. This might slow down the services resulting in slower speeds and downtime.
They claim a 99.996% uptime guarantee. It’s worth knowing that the given uptime guarantee is an average of ALL the servers hosted on Contabo.
Is Contabo a reliable hosting provider?
After answering the question: Why is Contabo so cheap, now comes the main question. After reading all this, should you go with Contabo or find an alternative?
Is Contabo reliable or not?
Here’s our take on that.
If you are expecting a lot of traffic or running a SaaS tool, you might want to go with another reliable host where you will get consistent speed and uptime.
On the other hand, if you are starting your business or migrating from shared hosting to VPS, Contabo is a good choice to start with.
They are constantly winning new awards, which shows the reliability of their servers. Along with the certifications, their overall reviews are also pretty good.
If you want to go with the VPS or dedicated server at a cheap rate, it’s likely that you have just started your business. In that case, you can give Contabo a try.
You can test it by going with a 1 or 3-month period. The price remains the same; however, there is a small setup fee that you will have to pay if you go with a billing term of less than 12 months.
Now, if you have decided not to choose Contabo, let’s look at some other cheap services like Contabo that you could consider.
Cheap Contabo alternatives
Most people want to go with better support and consistent speed in a VPS. Therefore, we have the two best alternatives you can choose if you are hesitant because of Contabo speeds and downtime.
Kamatera
If you are a fan of the Contabo customization facility, you will love Kamatera. Their package starts as low as $4 a month and comes with a fully customizable cloud. When creating your server, you can select the RAM, disk, OS template, etc.
AlphaVPS
If you want to choose a European VPS, then AlphaVPS is a fantastic alternative to Contabo. They have servers in Nuremberg (Germany), Sofia (Bulgaria), and London (UK) in Europe location. AlphaVPS also has locations in the USA.
Conclusion
So, the short answer to why Contabo is so cheap will be an optimized hardware stack with KVM and Proxmox virtualization, a less qualified support team, and a tendency to oversell their VPS.
Due to their proper virtualization and high-quality hardware, Contabo is reliable for most cases (as long as you don’t want world-class support).
For alternatives, you can go with Kamatera or AlphaVPS.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How reliable is Contabo?
Contabo is a decently reliable service. Due to their cheap rates, they often oversell their servers which can bring about inconsistent speed/uptime.
Does Contabo use Proxmox?
Yes, Contabo uses KVM and Proxmox for their virtualization.
What server is like Contabo?
If you are looking for a cheap rate server like Contabo, Kamatera is a pretty good alternative.