The best VPS for Coolify and self-hosting

The same logic applies to Dokploy, which asks for 2 GB of RAM and 30 GB of disk. It also applies to most Docker-based self-hosting.

#What actually matters when picking a VPS for self-hosting

• RAM first. Coolify needs 2 GB and Dokploy needs 2 GB, and both docs warn that builds are the heavy part. For reference, Coolify's docs show one team member running a mixed production workload on a Hetzner CAX11 (4 GB) at about 3.2 GB average use. That's one person's setup, not a guarantee.
• Disk. Coolify wants 10 GB free and Dokploy wants 30 GB. Docker images and volumes grow, so 40 GB or more is comfortable.
• CPU architecture. Coolify supports amd64 and arm64, so ARM servers like Hetzner's CAX line work. Check each app you plan to run for arm64 images.
• Region. Pick the region closest to your users. It's the one thing you can't fix later without migrating.
• Price, including renewal. Several providers advertise an introductory price tied to a long prepaid term. Compare the renewal price too.
• Docker. Any KVM-based Linux VPS runs Docker, and both the Coolify and Dokploy install scripts install Docker for you if it's missing. Some providers also offer ready-made Docker or Coolify images, noted below.

#How to read the price-per-GB column

"Price per GB" below is simply the published monthly price divided by the RAM. It's a quick way to compare plans, not a performance score. It ignores CPU type (shared vs dedicated), disk speed, bandwidth and support. All prices are as displayed on each provider's official page on 2026-09-29, in the currency and tax setting shown to us. Prices change often, so check before you buy.

#The shortlist

#1. Hetzner Cloud (not an affiliate link)

Best for: a reliable, cheap Coolify or Dokploy box in Europe. It's the provider both projects' docs suggest.

Prices are from Hetzner's price API as used by its Cost-Optimized plans page. They include an IPv4 address and were shown with 0% VAT for our location, so your VAT may be added. Each plan includes 20 TB of traffic.

• Regions: Hetzner Cloud runs in Falkenstein and Nuremberg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Ashburn and Hillsboro (USA) and Singapore. Its docs say US and Singapore servers are priced differently, and the price API listed these Cost-Optimized plans only in the German and Finnish locations.
• Docker: Hetzner offers Docker CE and Coolify as app images. Coolify comes preinstalled and activates on first login.
• Why it's first: Coolify's docs suggest Hetzner as a provider, and Dokploy's docs call it "the best value-for-money VPS provider". The CAX11 is the exact machine in Coolify's example setup.
• Watch out for: limited regions for the cheapest plans. If your users are in India or Australia, look further down.

View Hetzner Cloud plans

#2. Contabo Cloud VPS (affiliate link)

Best for: the most RAM for the money, if a 24-month term suits you.

These are the prices displayed to our browser in USD. Our plain fetch of the same page showed list prices of €5.50 and €7.50 with an including/excluding-VAT toggle. Contabo's own footnote says the displayed price is the effective monthly rate for a 24-month subscription, including applicable taxes. The minimum contract is 1 month, so shorter terms are available, but not necessarily at this rate.

• Port speed: 200 Mbit/s on Cloud VPS 4 and 300 Mbit/s on Cloud VPS 6, with traffic marked "Unlimited" (asterisked on the page).
• Regions: the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Japan, India and Australia. The page says "9 Regions, 11 Locations".
• Docker: listed among the one-click apps and panels. Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS and openSUSE are free OS options, so both installers are supported.
• Why it's here: 8 GB for roughly the price of other providers' 4 GB gives you headroom for builds and a dozen containers.
• Watch out for: the headline rate needs a long commitment, and the port speed is lower than the others'. Compare the renewal and term terms at checkout.

View Contabo Cloud VPS plans (link coming soon)

#3. Hostinger VPS (affiliate link)

Best for: a cheap first year with a panel that lists Coolify and Dokploy as one-click apps. Just budget for the renewal price.

Hostinger's page says all plans are paid upfront, the monthly figure is the total price divided by the months in the plan, prices exclude VAT, and the plans "renew at" the higher price "for 2 years".

• Bandwidth: 4 TB (KVM 1), 8 TB (KVM 2) and 16 TB (KVM 4).
• Regions: "data centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America". The page doesn't list individual cities.
• Docker: the application catalogue includes Docker, Coolify and Dokploy, and there's a Docker Compose manager. Weekly backups and snapshots are listed as free.
• Watch out for: KVM 1 has only 1 vCPU, below Coolify's 2-core minimum. For Coolify, start at KVM 2. For Dokploy, KVM 1's 4 GB and 50 GB clear the published floor.
• Nextcloud AIO: the Nextcloud All-in-One README warns that "Hostingers VPS seem to miss a specific Kernel feature which is required for AIO to run correctly". If Nextcloud AIO is your main reason for a VPS, choose Hetzner or another provider instead. See Nextcloud.

View Hostinger VPS plans (link coming soon)

#4. DigitalOcean Droplets (affiliate link)

Best for: the widest choice of regions, including Bangalore, and hourly billing for short experiments.

DigitalOcean also lists hourly rates, for example $0.03571/hour for the 4 GiB Droplet. That makes it easy to spin a server up for an afternoon and delete it.

• Regions: New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, Bangalore, Sydney, Atlanta and Richmond, per its regional-availability docs.
• Docker: CapRover's docs point to a one-click CapRover app on DigitalOcean's marketplace. Coolify and Dokploy install with their own scripts.
• Why it's here: if you're in India or Australia, or need a US East region beyond Hetzner's Ashburn, DigitalOcean is the most flexible on location.
• Watch out for: it's the most expensive per GB of RAM on this list, roughly 9–15× Contabo's promotional rate. The 2 GiB/2 vCPU plan is the cheapest that meets Coolify's minimum.

View DigitalOcean Droplet pricing (link coming soon)

#Quick picks

#Sizing rules of thumb (from the docs, not benchmarks)

• Just trying Coolify or Dokploy: 2 GB is the documented floor, and Coolify says 1 GB can work for small budgets.
• A handful of apps plus a database: 4 GB. This is the Coolify docs' example size.
• Many apps, or heavy builds on the same box: 8 GB, or move builds to CI or a separate build server.
• Monitoring: run Uptime Kuma on a second, small server so it can alert you when the main one goes down.

#Related guides

• Which platform to run on it: /best/self-hosted-paas
• Coolify or Dokploy: /compare/coolify-vs-dokploy
• Profiles: /software/coolify, /software/dokploy
• Leaving Heroku: /alternatives/heroku

Specs and prices are copied from each provider's official page on 2026-09-29. No servers were benchmarked for this page.