# Contabo

Official pricing: https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/  
Category: hyperscaler · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Core monthly list** (sizes): Cloud VPS 18 18 vCPU/96 GiB $58.8/h; Cloud VPS 16 16 vCPU/64 GiB $44.5/h; Cloud VPS 12 12 vCPU/48 GiB $30/h; Cloud VPS 8 8 vCPU/24 GiB $16.8/h; Cloud VPS 6 6 vCPU/12 GiB $9/h; Cloud VPS 4 4 vCPU/8 GiB $6.6/h
- **Performance monthly list** (sizes): Cloud VPS Plus 4 4 vCPU/8 GiB $16.25/h; Cloud VPS Plus 18 18 vCPU/96 GiB $119/h; Cloud VPS Plus 16 16 vCPU/64 GiB $95/h; Cloud VPS Plus 12 12 vCPU/48 GiB $71/h; Cloud VPS Plus 8 8 vCPU/24 GiB $42/h; Cloud VPS Plus 6 6 vCPU/12 GiB $23/h
- **Max Performance VPS (VDS) monthly list** (sizes): Cloud VDS S 6 vCPU/24 GiB $59/h; Cloud VDS M 8 vCPU/32 GiB $74.5/h; Cloud VDS XXL 24 vCPU/96 GiB $209/h; Cloud VDS XL 16 vCPU/64 GiB $142/h; Cloud VDS L 12 vCPU/48 GiB $104.5/h
- **Core VPS 24-month introductory promotion (USD)** (sizes): Cloud VPS 4 4 vCPU/8 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS 6 6 vCPU/12 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS 8 8 vCPU/24 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS 12 12 vCPU/48 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS 16 16 vCPU/64 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS 18 18 vCPU/96 GiB $undefined/h [promo, commit]
- **Performance VPS 24-month introductory promotion (USD)** (sizes): Cloud VPS Plus 4 4 vCPU/8 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS Plus 6 6 vCPU/12 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS Plus 8 8 vCPU/24 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS Plus 12 12 vCPU/48 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS Plus 16 16 vCPU/64 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VPS Plus 18 18 vCPU/96 GiB $undefined/h [promo, commit]
- **Max Performance VPS/VDS 24-month introductory promotion (USD)** (sizes): Cloud VDS S 6 vCPU/24 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VDS M 8 vCPU/32 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VDS L 12 vCPU/48 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VDS XL 16 vCPU/64 GiB $undefined/h; Cloud VDS XXL 24 vCPU/96 GiB $undefined/h [promo, commit]
- **Storage VPS 24-month introductory promotion (USD)** (sizes): Storage VPS 10 2 vCPU/4 GiB $undefined/h; Storage VPS 20 3 vCPU/8 GiB $undefined/h; Storage VPS 30 6 vCPU/18 GiB $undefined/h; Storage VPS 40 8 vCPU/30 GiB $undefined/h; Storage VPS 50 14 vCPU/50 GiB $undefined/h [promo, commit]

## Features

Yes: snapshots, persistent disk, volumes, ≥24 h sessions, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, nested virtualization, root, systemd, SSH, public IPv4, custom domains, raw TCP inbound, open internet, static egress IP, private networking, GPU, Windows, EU data residency, snapshots on demand, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, firewall inside (nftables), extra volumes

No: memory snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, idle auto-stop, your own Docker/OCI image, browser, desktop GUI, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, preinstalled agents, HTTPS preview URLs, egress allowlist, self-hosting, BYOC, open source, SOC 2, HIPAA, SSO, arm64, macOS, Python, Node.js, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, wake on request, live resize, live fork (no pause), memory fork, MCP server, automatic snapshots, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), secret proxy, secret proxy for any API, shared volumes

Unknown: everything else. Evidence (source + quote) per feature: https://battleships.dev/data/providers/contabo.json → feature_evidence

## Caveats

- DIY infrastructure rather than an agent-managed sandbox: guest installation, HTTPS/domain setup, abuse controls and operations are customer responsibilities. Linux guest administrative capabilities are not preinstalled agent features. 30% guest CPU utilization does not reduce allocated-compute charges. Unknowns remain null; a partial subtotal is not a complete invoice.
- Core Cloud VPS 4 is 4vCPU/8GB/100GB SSD at native catalog $6.60/month before term discounts/location extras. Old Cloud VPS 10 product price/specs are not substituted.
- Current family traffic is unlimited subject to fair use, throttling on disruptive usage. Old 32TB allowance documents are superseded for current catalog.
- One IPv4 and IPv6 subnet included. Region surcharges, paid images, Auto Backup and add-on storage are additional.
- The 8vCPU Core configurator shows no setup fee on inspected term options; other product/term setup remains null rather than generalized free.
- Shared vCPU (Cloud VPS / VPS Plus): Contabo does not publish a CPU guarantee for these tiers; oversold vCPU can see steal under sustained load. Only Cloud VDS gives dedicated physical cores. Encoded as cpu_class shared (not burstable: no published baseline).
- Monthly billing only (contabo.com/en-us/vps, 2026-09-28): minimum 1-month prepaid term, no hourly billing, and no per-session create/delete API economics; servers are provisioned "in minutes" after payment clears. The estimate prices whole monthly rentals; bursty workloads must keep machines rented.
- Snapshots: Cloud VPS 4 includes 1 snapshot slot, VPS 6 2, VPS 8-18 3, VPS Plus 5 (catalog); VDS none listed. No per-GiB price for retained snapshots or extra slots is published, so snapshot_gib_month is null (was 0).
- Setup fee: the product catalog flags a setup fee as displayed for 1-month terms (oneMonthSetupFeeDisplaySettings) but no amount is published in the catalog or on the VPS page; left unpriced (unknown, not zero).
- Boot time not measured; boot_overhead_s unset.
- VPS Auto Backup (paid add-on, Core and Performance VPS only; not Storage VPS, VDS, GPU VPS or dedicated): daily, up to 10 backups kept for at most 10 days; price not captured.

## How this provider charges


DIY infrastructure rather than an agent-managed sandbox: guest installation, HTTPS/domain setup, abuse controls and operations are customer responsibilities. Linux guest administrative capabilities are not preinstalled agent features. 30% guest CPU utilization does not reduce allocated-compute charges. Unknowns remain null; a partial subtotal is not a complete invoice.

Prices below are public list prices unless a row explicitly says promotion/commitment. USD; taxes excluded unless noted.

| Regime | When / billing | Captured prices | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core monthly list | 1 month; Estimator-only encoding: sizes.hour and month_cap both equal full monthly rent, with a one-hour synthetic minimum. This is NOT a vendor hourly tariff. For valid workloads with sessions >= peak concurrency it charges one monthly rental per concurrent machine, including off-hours. Setup/term cash outlays are caveated separately. | Cloud VPS 4: $6.6/month rental | https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/ |
| Performance monthly list | 1 month; Estimator-only encoding: sizes.hour and month_cap both equal full monthly rent, with a one-hour synthetic minimum. This is NOT a vendor hourly tariff. For valid workloads with sessions >= peak concurrency it charges one monthly rental per concurrent machine, including off-hours. Setup/term cash outlays are caveated separately. | Cloud VPS Plus 4: $16.25/month rental | https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/ |
| Vds monthly list | 1 month; Estimator-only encoding: sizes.hour and month_cap both equal full monthly rent, with a one-hour synthetic minimum. This is NOT a vendor hourly tariff. For valid workloads with sessions >= peak concurrency it charges one monthly rental per concurrent machine, including off-hours. Setup/term cash outlays are caveated separately. | Cloud VDS S: $59/month rental | https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/ |

## Billing details
- **granularity_seconds**: Unknown; not assumed zero.
- **minimum_billed_seconds**: Unknown; not assumed zero.
- **setup_fee_usd**: Unknown; not assumed zero.
- **api**: True
- **cli**: True
- **ipv 6**: True
- **ingress_usd**: 0
- **minimum_term**: 1 month minimum; quarterly/6/12/24-month alternatives. No pay-by-hour rental.
- **backup**: Core snapshot slots 1-3; Performance 5; retained 30 days. Auto Backup optional daily off-server 10-day retention, price varies. VDS has no managed snapshots/Auto Backup.
- **snapshot_retention_days**: 30
- **provisioning**: Typically a few minutes, provider documentation claim.
- **cpu**: Core and Performance are shared vCPU; VDS dedicated v Cores are SMT threads, two per physical core.
- **discounts**: 12/24-month catalog term discounts; headline 24-month promotion not ongoing one-month rate.

## Gotchas
- DIY infrastructure rather than an agent-managed sandbox: guest installation, HTTPS/domain setup, abuse controls and operations are customer responsibilities. Linux guest administrative capabilities are not preinstalled agent features. 30% guest CPU utilization does not reduce allocated-compute charges. Unknowns remain null; a partial subtotal is not a complete invoice.
- Core Cloud VPS 4 is 4 vCPU/8 GB/100 GB SSD at native catalog $6.60/month before term discounts/location extras. Old Cloud VPS 10 product price/specs are not substituted.
- Current family traffic is unlimited subject to fair use, throttling on disruptive usage. Old 32 TB allowance documents are superseded for current catalog.
- One IPv 4 and IPv 6 subnet included. Region surcharges, paid images, Auto Backup and add-on storage are additional.
- Snapshot zero rate applies only within included slots/30-day retention on Core/Performance, not unlimited retained snapshot storage and not VDS.
- The 8 vCPU Core configurator shows no setup fee on inspected term options; other product/term setup remains null rather than generalized free.

## Worked example
4 vCPU / 8 GiB; 50 concurrent × 8 h/day × 22 days = **8,800 guest-hours**; 30% CPU busy; **50 GiB-month total snapshots**, **100 GiB total egress**. 50 GiB retained state is total, not 50 GiB per VM. Compute-only subtotals below exclude unknown components and tax.

| Mode | Delete/recreate / active-window compute | 50 retained hosts, 730-hour month |
|---|---:|---:|
| Core monthly list | $330.00 | $330.00 |
| Performance monthly list | $812.50 | $812.50 |
| Vds monthly list | $2,950.00 | $2,950.00 |

Snapshot subtotal: $0.0000; rate $0/GiB-month. Egress: see allowances, pooling/accrual and rate $0/GiB; not every mode has the same allowance.
Powered-off compute billed: True. A retained-host column is the always-running upper scenario when this is false; powered-off storage/IP still accrue.
Monthly caps attach to instance identities, not to a pool of replacement instances. The active-window column requires deleting/releasing billable compute between shifts for products that bill while off. Restoring from disk is not memory resume. The engine cannot perfectly model these lifecycles; see validation/estimator-gaps.md.

## Sources
- https://contabo.com/en-us/pricing/
- https://docs.contabo.com/docs/servers-hosting/vps/
- https://docs.contabo.com/docs/servers-hosting/max-performance-vps/
- https://docs.contabo.com/docs/servers-hosting/vps-auto-backup/
- https://contabo.com/en-us/vps/
- https://contabo.com/en-us/configurator/cloud-vps-core-8/