At a glance — Oct 2026
Updated 2026-10-27 · forward this page: /jtbds/cheap-vms#briefScores as of 2026-09-14 (43 days old; Depot marks scores stale after 30 days). The pick is still Depot's current editorial pick; it has not been re-reviewed since. Prices below carry their own dates.
- Depot Pick
- Hetzner · 8.20/10 for this job (curated estimate, high confidence)
pricePerf + maturity; dx less critical.
- Runner-up
- DigitalOcean · 8.15/10
Scores higher than the pick on: Capability fit, Latency / reliability, Developer & agent DX, Maturity / track record.
- When not to use the pick
- Need many global regions or enterprise IAM — hyperscalers.
- Lock-in / migration
- The pick has lower stored lock-in risk than runner-up DigitalOcean (2.5 vs 3.5).
- Sourced price (no comparable unit)
Pick: no sourced price in this job's unit (no_sourced_price).
No cheapest SKU (no_comparable_unit_for_job). No price was invented.
- Free option
- No free resource lists this job. A cheap paid SKU is not a free option.
- Failure modes to watch
- No failure mode plainly applies to this job (no_failure_mode_plainly_applies).
Cite: Agent Provider Depot, Depot Pick for cheap-vms: hetzner, scores as of 2026-09-14. Agents: GET /api/decide?jtbd=cheap-vms
Hetzner
pricePerf + maturity; dx less critical.
Pricing (directional): Very cheap cloud VMs and dedicated; auction servers; Object Storage; EU-strong.
Lock-in risk: higher = more lock-in (worse). Overall already inverts this dimension.
When you need cheap always-on CPU in EU, start here. DIY the agent orchestration yourself.
Quote for Cheap always-on VMs
Depot Pick stays Hetzner. Prices below are sourced SKU rows only (as of 2026-10-27). Input and output are not blended. GET /api/quote?jtbd=cheap-vms
Nothing was compared. no comparable sourced unit for this job; chat input $/1M and other units were not borrowed pickIsPriceWinner is null.
Sourced price unavailable for the Depot Pick. No row in the pricing index.
4 of 5 candidates have no sourced price row. 5 are excluded from the Matching price comparison (none). no comparable sourced unit for this job; chat input $/1M and other units were not borrowed
Runners-up
DigitalOcean
Classic simple cloud. Use for steady VMs and Spaces; pair Paperspace/RunPod for GPUs.
Oracle Cloud GPU
Secret weapon for cheap cloud GPUs if you tolerate OCI quirks. Not the agent-native DX winner.
AWS EC2
Default enterprise VM substrate. Agents should wrap it — humans shouldn't live in the console.
When NOT to use the top pick
Need many global regions or enterprise IAM — hyperscalers.
Full ranking (score table)
Ranked with this JTBD's weights. Scores are curated estimates unless marked otherwise. Agents: prefer /api/decide then this table for tie-breaks.
| # | Provider | Overall | Fit | $/perf | Latency | DX | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HetznerDepot Pick | 8.2 | 7.5 | 9.6 | 8.6 | 7.2 | 2026-09-14 |
| 2 | DigitalOcean | 8.2 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 8.8 | 8.5 | 2026-09-14 |
| 3 | AWS EC2 | 8.0 | 9.2 | 7.0 | 9.5 | 6.5 | 2026-09-14 |
| 4 | GCP Compute Engine | 7.9 | 8.8 | 7.2 | 9.2 | 6.8 | 2026-09-14 |
| 5 | Oracle Cloud GPU | 7.7 | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 2026-09-14 |
Score methodology for this job
pricePerf + maturity; dx less critical.
capabilityFit: 25%pricePerformance: 18%latencyReliability: 15%developerDx: 15%privacyPosture: 10%lockInRisk: 7%maturity: 10%