Last updated: November 2026 — prices move; re-check provider pages before you buy. Figures below are list prices for planning Compose/Caddy stacks, not a guarantee.
For: Picking a VPS tier for the stacks on this site (Vaultwarden, Paperless, Immich, shared Caddy, optional Ollama). You care about RAM per euro/dollar, egress, and whether ACME HTTP-01 will work.
Do not use this guide when:
You need 20+ global regions next to every user (DO wins on geography; Hetzner/Contabo are EU-heavy)
You require a signed enterprise MSA before first boot
You only want “cheapest headline” without reading promo term length (Contabo 24-month posters)
GPU instances are the goal (different SKUs entirely)
Provider
Currency habit
VAT
IPv4
Traffic
Hetzner Cloud
EUR list (USD often shown by third parties)
Usually ex-VAT at list
Primary IPv4 historically ~€0.50/mo extra if not bundled in the quote you see
Generous EU included (often 20 TB class on CX)
DigitalOcean
USD
Tax by account location
Included on Droplets
Allowance by size (e.g. 4 GB ≈ 4 TB); overage billed
Contabo
EUR (USD/GBP accounts exist)
ex-VAT on many catalog views; checkout adds local VAT
Typically included
“Unlimited” with fair use; port speed caps matter
Always compare same RAM, then adjust for disk, CPU contention, and traffic overage risk.
Checked against public list / aggregator snapshots around 8–9 Nov 2026. Hetzner EU CX “cost-optimized”; DO Basic Droplets; Contabo Cloud/Storage VPS monthly-ish list (Contabo marketing often pushes 24-month promo — see notes).
Provider
Plan
vCPU
RAM
Disk
List / mo
Notes
Hetzner
CX23
2
4 GB
40 GB NVMe
≈ €5.99 (~$7) ex-VAT
Successor to CX22; sometimes marked limited/unavailable — then look CPX/CAX
DigitalOcean
Basic
2
4 GB
80 GB SSD
$24
Predictable; IPv4+allowance included
Contabo
Storage VPS 10
2
4 GB
~300 GB SSD
≈ €5.50 ex-VAT monthly class / ≈ €4.40 on 24-mo promo
More disk; CPU often more contended
Provider
Plan
vCPU
RAM
Disk
List / mo
Notes
Hetzner
CX33
4
8 GB
80 GB
≈ €8.99 (~$10.60)
Strong $/GB for Immich-class
DigitalOcean
Basic
4
8 GB
160 GB
$48
~5× Hetzner list for similar RAM
Contabo
Cloud VPS 4
4
8 GB
100 GB SSD
≈ €5.50 monthly / ≈ €4.40 24-mo promo
Cheapest sticker; verify renewal + location surcharge
Provider
Plan
vCPU
RAM
Disk
List / mo
Notes
Hetzner
CX43
8
16 GB
160 GB
≈ €16.49 (~$19)
Fits Immich+ML or light Ollama 7B co-host carefully
DigitalOcean
Basic
8
16 GB
320 GB
$96
Simple ops; expensive RAM
Contabo
Cloud VPS 6 / Plus tier
6+
12–24 GB band
larger disks
Check current card
SKUs rename — match RAM not product number
Provider
Plan
RAM
List / mo
DigitalOcean
Basic
1 GB
$6
DigitalOcean
Basic
2 GB
$12
Hetzner
CPX02 / CPX12 class
1–2 GB
Often ≈ €6–12 ex-VAT (shared AMD)
Contabo
Entry Cloud/Storage
varies
Confirm current smallest Cloud VPS — lineup shifted in 2026
Workload
Practical RAM
Cost-biased pick (Nov 2026)
Vaultwarden + Caddy
1–2 GB
DO $6–12 or small Hetzner CPX
Vaultwarden + Paperless
2–4 GB
Hetzner CX23 or Contabo 4 GB storage
Immich ML off
4 GB tight
Hetzner CX23 / Contabo 4 GB — monitor OOM
Immich ML on
6–8 GB+
Hetzner CX33 or Contabo 8 GB
Shared Caddy + VW + Paperless + Immich
8 GB+
CX33 / Contabo Cloud VPS 4
Ollama 7B–8B CPU + WebUI
16 GB+
CX43-class; DO 16 GB if you want DO UX
Topic
Hetzner
DigitalOcean
Contabo
ACME HTTP-01
Works if 80/443 open + public IP
Same
Same — confirm no provider filter
Outbound SMTP
Often blocked/limited — Vaultwarden mail needs external SMTP
Similar caution
Similar caution
Provision speed
Minutes
Minutes
Can be slower; snapshots/backups are add-ons
CPU steal / noisy neighbor
Shared CX can vary
Shared Basic can vary
Frequently reported as more oversold — OK for async OCR, painful for Ollama tokens/s
Regions
EU (+ limited others)
Many global
EU/US/Asia with location surcharges
Support model
Ticket / status
Ticket / community
Ticket; DIY expectation
Price stability
Raised Apr + Jun 2026 on cloud plans
Relatively flat Basic ladder
Promo vs renewal gap — read term
VAT — add your country’s rate on Hetzner/Contabo if you are not VAT-exempt
IPv4 — confirm whether the quote includes a primary IPv4 (Hetzner ~€0.50/mo class historically)
Backups / snapshots — DO and Contabo often charge extras; Hetzner snapshots/backups are separate SKUs
Egress — Immich remote backup / library sync can burn DO allowances; Hetzner’s large included TB rarely bites hobby use
Disk — Immich libraries outgrow 40 GB OS disks fast — budget volume/storage or Contabo’s larger SSD SKUs
Promo term — Contabo “€4.40 for 24 months” ≠ forever; note renewal ≈ €5.50 class on Cloud VPS 4
Same site standard regardless of vendor:
# after Ubuntu/Debian + Docker Engine
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/udp
sudo ufw enable
Point A/AAAA at the VPS → run your app compose with Caddy on 80/443 (or the shared edge Caddy guide). Provider choice does not change the Caddyfile.
Symptom
Cause
Fix
Immich OOM on “cheap 4 GB”
ML still enabled
Disable ML or move to 8 GB (CX33 / Contabo 8 GB / DO $48)
Sticker price 4× higher on DO for same RAM
Comparing Hetzner CX to DO Basic
Expected; pay for UX/regions or switch EU host
Contabo renewal shock
24-mo promo ended
Re-read contract; resize or migrate with dumps
Cannot get LE cert
No public IPv4 / port 80 blocked
Attach IPv4; open 80/443; fix AAAA traps
Vaultwarden invite mail fails
Provider blocks outbound 25
Use external SMTP (Sendgrid/Mailgun/etc.)
Ollama unusable on Contabo 8 GB
7B + other stacks + CPU contention
Dedicated 16 GB or smaller model
Disk full week two of Immich
40 GB CX disk + library
Attach volume / larger plan before upload
[ ] RAM ≥ workload table above with 1 GB free idle (free -h)
[ ] Disk ≥ OS + images + library growth
[ ] Invoice estimate includes VAT + IPv4 + backup add-on you actually need
[ ] Test ACME: one Caddy site issues a cert in < 5 minutes
[ ] Abort test: snapshot or pg_dump before migrating providers
Priority
Pick
Max RAM per euro in EU
Hetzner CX33/CX43 (or Contabo if you accept contention + promo math)
Simple USD billing + many regions
DigitalOcean Basic (pay the RAM premium)
Max disk for photo/docs archives on a budget
Contabo storage-oriented SKUs — load-test CPU first
Vaultwarden-only learning box
DO $6–12 or small Hetzner CPX
Re-verify on hetzner.com/cloud, digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets, contabo.com before purchase. This page is a planning aid for Compose self-host sizing, not financial advice.