Best VPS for Homelab in 2026

No basement? No hardware budget? No problem. A VPS homelab gives you 24/7 uptime, static IP, and zero electricity bills. Here's how to build your cloud homelab.

Why VPS Homelab?

Traditional homelab drawbacks:

Power costs — Servers running 24/7 add up
Noise — Enterprise gear is loud
Space — Not everyone has a server closet
Uptime — Power outages, ISP issues
IP address — Dynamic IPs, CGNAT problems

VPS solves all of these. For $10-20/month, you get:

Static public IP
99.9%+ uptime
No electricity cost
Access from anywhere
Professional network infrastructure

Best VPS Providers for Homelab

1. Hetzner Cloud (Best Value)

€6.49/mo | 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe

Hetzner dominates the homelab community. Why:

Cheapest specs-per-dollar
20TB bandwidth included
Excellent network (1Gbps)
German reliability
ARM instances even cheaper (CAX11 at €3.79)

Perfect for: Budget-conscious homelabbers

2. Hostinger VPS (Best for Beginners)

$4.99/mo | 1 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 50GB NVMe

Hostinger's entry plan punches above its weight. 4GB RAM for under $5 is ridiculous value.

Perfect for: First-time homelabbers

3. Oracle Cloud Free Tier (Best Free Option)

$0/mo | 4 vCPU ARM, 24GB RAM, 200GB

Yes, really free forever. Oracle's Always Free tier is absurdly generous:

4 ARM Ampere cores
24GB RAM
200GB block storage

Catch: Availability is limited, UI is confusing, and there's always the fear they'll cancel it.

Perfect for: Experimentation, backup services

4. Vultr (Best Flexibility)

$6/mo | 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB SSD

Vultr shines with options:

Hourly billing
32 locations worldwide
Bare metal options
Quick provisioning

Perfect for: Multi-region setups

5. Contabo (Most Storage)

€5.99/mo | 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 200GB SSD

Contabo's specs look too good to be true. They kind of are — performance is inconsistent, but for storage-heavy homelabs, hard to beat.

Perfect for: Media servers, backups

Recommended Specs by Homelab Size

Setup	Min Specs	Monthly Cost	Example
Starter	2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB	€7	Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma
Medium	4 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 80GB	€15	+ Nextcloud, Vaultwarden
Full	8 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 200GB	€30	+ Plex, Gitea, Home Assistant

What to Run on Your VPS Homelab

Essential Services

Reverse Proxy (Pick one):

# Caddy - simplest
docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  -v caddy_data:/data \
  caddy

# Traefik - most flexible
# Nginx Proxy Manager - best UI

Dashboard:

# Homepage - modern, customizable
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 \
  ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage

Uptime Monitoring:

# Uptime Kuma - best self-hosted
docker run -d -p 3001:3001 \
  -v uptime-kuma:/app/data \
  louislam/uptime-kuma

Productivity

Password Manager:

# Vaultwarden (Bitwarden compatible)
docker run -d -p 8080:80 \
  -v vw-data:/data \
  vaultwarden/server

File Sync:

# Nextcloud
docker run -d -p 8080:80 \
  -v nextcloud:/var/www/html \
  nextcloud

Notes:

# Outline - Notion alternative
# Memos - Quick notes
# Obsidian (sync with Syncthing)

Development

Git Server:

# Gitea - lightweight
docker run -d -p 3000:3000 -p 22:22 \
  -v gitea:/data \
  gitea/gitea

CI/CD:

# Woodpecker CI
# Drone CI
# Gitea Actions (built-in)

Code Server:

# VS Code in browser
docker run -d -p 8443:8443 \
  -v code:/home/coder \
  codercom/code-server

Media & Entertainment

Media Server:

# Jellyfin (FOSS Plex alternative)
docker run -d -p 8096:8096 \
  -v jellyfin-config:/config \
  -v media:/media \
  jellyfin/jellyfin

RSS:

# Miniflux - minimal
# FreshRSS - full-featured

Network Services

VPN:

# WireGuard (fastest)
docker run -d --cap-add=NET_ADMIN \
  -p 51820:51820/udp \
  -v wireguard:/config \
  linuxserver/wireguard

DNS:

# Pi-hole
docker run -d -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 80:80 \
  -v pihole:/etc/pihole \
  pihole/pihole

Tunnel:

# Cloudflare Tunnel - expose services without port forwarding
cloudflared tunnel run

Complete Docker Compose Stack

Here's a production-ready stack for a 4GB RAM VPS:

version: '3.8'

services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v2.10
    command:
      - --api.dashboard=true
      - --providers.docker=true
      - --entrypoints.web.address=:80
      - --entrypoints.websecure.address=:443
      - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.email=you@email.com
      - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.storage=/letsencrypt/acme.json
      - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.httpchallenge.entrypoint=web
    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - letsencrypt:/letsencrypt

  homepage:
    image: ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage
    volumes:
      - homepage:/app/config
    labels:
      - traefik.http.routers.homepage.rule=Host(`home.yourdomain.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.homepage.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma
    volumes:
      - uptime:/app/data
    labels:
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime.rule=Host(`status.yourdomain.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

  vaultwarden:
    image: vaultwarden/server
    volumes:
      - vaultwarden:/data
    environment:
      - SIGNUPS_ALLOWED=false
    labels:
      - traefik.http.routers.vault.rule=Host(`vault.yourdomain.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.vault.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea
    volumes:
      - gitea:/data
    labels:
      - traefik.http.routers.git.rule=Host(`git.yourdomain.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.git.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

volumes:
  letsencrypt:
  homepage:
  uptime:
  vaultwarden:
  gitea:

RAM usage: ~1.5GB, leaving headroom on a 4GB VPS.

Setup Guide

Step 1: Get Your VPS

We'll use Hetzner CX21 (€5.39/mo, 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM):

Create account at Hetzner Cloud
New project → Add server
Choose Ubuntu 22.04, CX21, your nearest location
Add SSH key
Create

Step 2: Initial Setup

ssh root@your-server-ip

# Update system
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# Create non-root user
adduser homelab
usermod -aG docker homelab
usermod -aG sudo homelab

# Setup firewall
ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

# Reboot
reboot

Step 3: Point Your Domain

Add DNS records:

A    @              → your-server-ip
A    *.yourdomain   → your-server-ip

Or use Cloudflare Tunnel to skip exposing ports entirely.

Step 4: Deploy Services

ssh homelab@your-server-ip
mkdir ~/homelab && cd ~/homelab

# Create docker-compose.yml (paste the stack above)
nano docker-compose.yml

# Start everything
docker compose up -d

Step 5: Access Your Services

Dashboard: https://home.yourdomain.com
Uptime: https://status.yourdomain.com
Passwords: https://vault.yourdomain.com
Git: https://git.yourdomain.com

Tips for VPS Homelab

1. Use Cloudflare Tunnel Skip opening ports entirely. Cloudflare Tunnel exposes services through their network.

2. Backup religiously

# Daily backup to object storage
rclone sync /home/homelab/data remote:backup

3. Monitor resources

# Install Netdata for real-time monitoring
bash <(curl -Ss https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh)

4. Use swap

fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile

5. Consider ARM Hetzner's ARM instances (CAX) are even cheaper and run Docker fine.

FAQ

Is a VPS as good as a physical homelab?

Different tradeoffs. VPS = better uptime, static IP, no hardware costs. Physical = more control, local network access, GPU support.

Can I run a media server on a VPS?

Yes, but streaming video uses bandwidth. Check your provider's limits. Hetzner's 20TB is generous.

How do I access local network devices?

Use Tailscale or WireGuard to create a mesh network between your VPS and home devices.

What about Home Assistant?

Works on VPS, but you lose local device integrations (Zigbee, Z-Wave). Consider running HA at home and connecting via Tailscale.

Is Oracle Free Tier reliable?

It works, but availability is spotty and there are horror stories of account terminations. Don't rely on it for critical services.

Best VPS for Homelab: Summary

Priority	Provider	Cost	Why
Best Value	Hetzner CX21	€5.39/mo	Best specs/price
Beginner	Hostinger KVM1	$4.99/mo	Easy setup
Free	Oracle Cloud	$0	24GB RAM free
Storage	Contabo	€5.99/mo	200GB SSD
Flexibility	Vultr	$6/mo	32 regions

Start with Hetzner CX21 — €5.39/month gets you a capable homelab that runs 24/7 without touching your electricity bill.

Best VPS for Homelab 2026: Cloud Homelab Without the Hardware