Hourly vs Monthly VPS: Which Billing Is Cheaper?
How hourly and monthly VPS billing work, the balance an hourly server needs, what happens when money runs out and which option is cheaper for your project.
How monthly servers work
A monthly server is paid for 30 days when you buy it, and you can renew it for the next period at any time. You get reminders three days and one day before it ends. A server that isn't renewed by the end of its term is deleted, so don't leave the renewal to the last minute.
Monthly billing suits servers that run all the time: websites, bots, APIs or trading servers.
How hourly servers work
- To create an hourly server, your wallet must hold at least 7 days of that plan's cost. It isn't taken up front; it just has to be there.
- Each hour is charged to your balance. When you delete the server, the hour in progress counts as a full hour and billing stops.
- A server is billed until it is deleted, even while it is stopped.
- If your balance runs out, the server is stopped and you are notified; if you don't top up within 24 hours, it is deleted.
Side by side
- How long you need it: hours to days → hourly; a month or more → monthly.
- Predictability: monthly is fixed and paid in advance; hourly follows your usage.
- Flexibility: delete an hourly server whenever you like and billing stops right away.
- Coupons: apply to monthly purchases and renewals only.
Which is cheaper?
A simple rule: multiply the hourly price by 720 (the hours in a month) to get its monthly equivalent. If the server runs the whole month, monthly billing is usually simpler; if you need it for part of the month, hourly costs less.
See current prices on the hourly VPS and pricing pages.