South African virtual private server price showdown

Virtual private server (VPS) hosting offers users dedicated server space with a reserved amount of resources, and there are several options available to South Africans who wish to launch a website or app that shared hosting or dedicated server isn’t suitable for.

With the Rand tanking against the US dollar in recent months, some international providers, like Microsoft Azure, are no longer cost-effective for South Africans as they quote their services in dollars.

However, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed that Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) VPS offerings compete well price-wise with local providers.

MyBroadband compared VPS pricing across three tiers from Absolute Hosting, Afrihost, Cybersmart, Domains.co.za, Microsoft Azure, and AWS.

Absolute Hosting sells the cheapest option in the entry-level tier, offering a two virtual CPU (vCPU) plan with 2GB of RAM, 10GB of storage, and 250GB of bandwidth for R63 a month.

However, the package comes with a fraction of the bandwidth other providers offer. Regarding performance, it provides the highest number of vCPUs and memory allocation in the entry-level tier.

It also has a “budget VPS” product that starts from R49 per month with 1vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB storage, and 200GB soft-capped traffic.

Cybersmart’s entry-level package is attractive as it is the only provider listed to offer unlimited bandwidth with all VPS products.

The package has one vCPU, 1GB of RAM, and 20GB of storage for R179 a month.

AWS competes relatively well in the entry-level category. Its VPS product with one vCPU, 2GB of memory, 60GB of storage, and 3TB of bandwidth costs R188 a month.

Microsoft Azure’s package was the most expensive of the lot at R1,056 per month.

Absolute Hosting also offers the most affordable option in the mid-range tier. Its plan with two vCPUs, 3GB of RAM, 65GB of storage, and 500GB of traffic allowance costs R146 per month.

Cybersmart and Domains.co.za also compete pretty well in the tier.

Cybesmart sells a plan featuring one vCPU, 2GB of RAM, 50GB of storage, and unlimited bandwidth for R259 a month.

Domains.co.za’s mid-tier package offers similar specs to Cybersmart’s. However, its bandwidth cap sits at 1TB, and the plan costs R289 monthly.

Once again, AWS compares pretty well, sitting directly in the middle of the field with a price of R376 per month.

The higher-end tier tells a similar story to the mid-range category, with Cybersmart, Domains.co.za, and Absolute Hosting offering the cheapest packages.

Cybersmart’s plan with four vCPUs, 4GB of RAM, and 100GB of storage is available for R399 a month. The plan offers unlimited bandwidth.

Domains.co.za’s plan is similar to Cybersmart’s regarding hardware. However, it ups the storage by 25GB and provides 2TB of bandwidth for R569 a month.

Absolute Hosting charges R412 for its VPS with four vCPUs, 8GB of RAM, and 200GB of storage. The plan offers 1,200GB of bandwidth each month.

A price comparison across three tiers of VPS hosting options for local and international providers available to South African businesses is provided in the table below.

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