What is the AWS VPS hosting price? If you are coming to AWS from traditional VPS Server hosting you might be a bit confused since there is no service called VPS. Amazon Lightsail and EC2 are the VPS like services, both of these will give you a private virtual machine you own. EC2 is more basic, Lightsail is much easier to use, providing lots of software like Minecraft and WordPress you can launch with the click of a button. Scroll down to find charts with AWS VPS server pricing.
AWS VPS Hosting Price
What is the Amazon VPS Pricing?
VPS pricing at AWS starts with a $0 3 month free trial. After the trial, the cheapest Linux VPS is $3.50 for a server with 512 MB RAM, 1 Core, 20 GB of storage, and 1 TB of data transfer. The free tier is applicable of instances up to 2GB of RAM.
Why use Amazon AWS for VPS rather than another service which may be cheaper?
Amazon is a great choice because you don’t get locked into a long term contract to get the advertised price! There are several other benefits such as AWS’ great service as well as the added benefit of being able to now add AWS to your resume.
Both Lightsail and EC2 offer free tiers. Lightsail will give you up to 3 months free on certain plans and EC2 offers up to 1 year free, but with less bells and whistles.
VPS Server Pricing for Amazon Lightsail
What is the Amazon AWS VPS service?
AWS has a dedicated service for VPS called Lightsail. Which AWS does offer more complicated services like EC2 and ECS. If you are looking for a simple VPS, with an easy to use console that installs common services for you, like you would find at other VPS provides, then Lightsail is the way to go.
Lots of software ready to deploy at the click of a button
Pricing is charged hourly, there is no fee for when your server is off
5 Static IPs are included
Free Tier! Everything is free for 3 months on certain plans
Linux VPS Server Pricing
All prices on the chart are per month
| Price | Memory | Processor | SSD Storage | Data Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3.50 | 512 MB | 1 Core | 20 GB | 1 TB |
| $5 | 1 GB | 1 Core | 40 GB | 2 TB |
| $10 | 2 GB | 1 Core | 60 GB | 3 TB |
| $20 | 4 GB | 2 Core | 80 GB | 4 TB |
| $40 | 8 GB | 2 Core | 160 GB | 5 TB |
| $80 | 16 GB | 4 Core | 320 GB | 6 TB |
| $160 | 32 GB | 8 Core | 640 GB | 7 TB |
Here is a convenient image I put together you can download comparing Linux the AWS VPS Hosting price.
Windows VPS Server Pricing
All prices on the chart are per month
| Price | Memory | Processor | SSD Storage | Data Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8 | 512 MB | 1 Core | 30 GB | 1 TB |
| $12 | 1 GB | 1 Core | 40 GB | 2 TB |
| $20 | 2 GB | 1 Core | 60 GB | 3 TB |
| $40 | 4 GB | 2 Core | 80 GB | 4 TB |
| $70 | 8 GB | 2 Core | 160 GB | 5 TB |
| $120 | 16 GB | 4 Core | 320 GB | 6 TB |
| $240 | 32 GB | 8 Core | 640 GB | 7 TB |
Can You get an Amazon VPS Free?
Can you really get an Amazon VPS Free?
Yes, you certainly can get an Amazon VPS Free! AWS offers a 3 month free trial for VPS up to 2 GB of RAM!
Amazon Lightsail Free Tier
First 3 months free on these Linux VPS: $3.50, $5, and $10
First 3 months free on these Windows VPS: $8, $12, and $20
First 3 months free on the $15 Database
First 3 months free on the $10 Container service (Micro -1 node)
First 12 months free on CDN
Amazon VPS server price: Link to official Lightsail pricing page.
AWS VPS Server Pricing Overview Video
VPS Server Price Comparison
One big benefit of Amazon Lightsail over other VPS hosts is they charge monthly by default. Other providers often display a monthly price but expect you to pay for a year or 3 years up front to get it.
512 MB VPS Comparison
| Provider | CPU | Storage | Data Transfer | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Lightsail Linux | 1 Core | 20 GB | 1 Tb | $3.50 |
| Amazon Lightsail Windows | 1 Core | 30 GB | 1 TB | $8 |
1 GB Pricing Comparison
| Provider | CPU | Storage | Data Transfer | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Lightsail Linux | 1 Core | 40 GB | 2 Tb | $5 |
| Amazon Lightsail Windows | 1 Core | 40 GB | 2 TB | $12 |
| Hostinger Linux | 1 Core | 20 GB | 1 TB | $8.99 (or $7.99/mo yearly) |
2 GB Pricing Comparison
| Provider | Memory | CPU | Storage | Data Transfer | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Lightsail Linux | 2 GB | 1 Core | 60 GB | 3 Tb | $10 |
| Amazon Lightsail Windows | 2 GB | 1 Core | 60 GB | 3 TB | $20 |
| Host Gator Linux | 2 GB | 2 Cores | 120 GB | Unlimited | $23.95 (billed 12mo) |
| Hostinger Linux | 2 Gb | 2 Cores | 40 GB | 2 TB | $13.99 (or $10.99/mo yearly) |
4 GB Pricing Comparison
| Provider | CPU | Storage | Data Transfer | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Lightsail Linux | 2 Core | 80 GB | 4 Tb | $20 |
| Amazon Lightsail Windows | 2 Core | 80 GB | 4 TB | $40 |
| Host Gator Linux | 2 Cores | 165 GB | Unlimited | $34.95 (billed 12mo) |
| Hostinger Linux | 4 Cores | 80 GB | 4 TB | $29.99 (or $24.99/mo yearly) |
| Inmotion Hosting Linux | 2 Cores | 90 GB | 2 TB | $29.99 (or $24.99/mo yearly) |
| Bluehost Linux | 2 Cores | 60 GB | 2 TB | $59.99(billed 3mo) |
Host Gator Pricing: https://www.hostgator.com/help/article/hosting-price-chart
Hostinger Pricing: https://www.hostinger.com/vps-hosting#slide1
Inmotion Hosting: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/managed-vps-hosting
Bluehost Pricing: https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/virtual-private-server-vps-hosting-prices
AWS VPS Server Pricing Conclusion
AWS VPS server pricing with Lightsail is very competitive with the competition, especially given the generous 3 month free tier and the default month by month pricing not locking you into any contracts. AWS VPS win out in all of the categories we compared. The downside to using the AWS VPS is going to be ease of use. AWS is not going to provide the same level of management or tooling that many other hosting provider will, but given the benefits and access to the hundreds of other services AWS offers this is going to be the right choice for many people. Given the data here, the Amazon VPS hosting price really is their strong suit in the VPS market.
Virtual Server Hosting on Amazon
There are other ways to go about virtual server hosting on Amazon, Amazon Lightsail is a easy option for someone looking for a VPS, for a more full featured virtual server hosting option look to EC2.
VPS Server Pricing for EC2
Check the EC2 on demand prices yourself here: https://instances.vantage.sh/. This site is much easier to use than the official pricing guide, which can be found here: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/
Is Lightsail cheaper than EC2?
Yes, Amazon Lightsail pricing tends to be cheaper than EC2 on-demand. If you are utilizing auto-scaling, EC2 may be cheaper, but if you just have 1 or 2 VPS Lightsail is almost certainly cheaper. An EC2 T3A Micro (1.0 GB, 2 CPU) is $6.77/mo, a 1 GB, 1 CPU Lightsail VPS is $5. Not quite apples to oranges but if you are looking for the cheapest memory Lightsail wins there.
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