Best free VPS hosting: is it really free and safe?
Through independent research and testing, our team of experts offers transparent and thorough reviews of web hosting providers. We use the same testing criteria for all providers to offer a fair and unbiased assessment of each hosting service.
Our in-depth articles include feedback about our hands-on hosting experience and other crucial information for potential customers.
Learn more
Virtual Private Servers (VPS) hosting services can often be costly, so users tend to look for cheaper or even free providers.
After thorough research together with the Cybernews research team, we've come to a clear conclusion: providers claiming to offer completely free VPS hosting often fail to deliver and, in many cases, compromise user privacy and security.
No worries though, there are many trusted VPS offering free trials. Personally, I recommend trying out Hostinger VPS for free:
In this article, I review the best free VPS hosting options. I look into their features, performance, free trial conditions, and customer support. Additionally, I also offer an overview of the most popular completely free VPS hosting providers with insights from our research team, and why they might not be the best.
Best free trial VPS hosting you can trust – shortlist
- Hostinger – best VPS hosting overall (try for free with a 30-day money-back guarantee)
- A2 Hosting – fast VPS hosting with a 90-day prorate refund
- ScalaHosting – fully managed VPS hosting to test for free for 30 days
- Kamatera – scalable VPS hosting with a 30-day free trial
- Cloudways – VPS hosting with 3-day free trial
Our in-house research team and expert writers work hand in hand to regularly test hosting services and provide accurate and fact-checked information. Discover the ins and outs of how we test and evaluate website hosting providers.
Best free trial VPS hosting you can trust – detailed list
As totally free VPS is basically non-existent and will most likely compromise your personal information, I strongly suggest considering premium providers you can trust. The list below features VPS hosting providers that bring you the best of both worlds: free versions, trial options, or solid money-back guarantees.
1. Hostinger – top VPS hosting service with 30 days free
| Rating | |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day |
| Best deal | Get up to 69% OFF Hostinger VPS |
Hostinger is one of the top VPS hosting providers that not only offers a 30-day money-back guarantee but is also highly reliable. This way, you can fully trust the service, add credit card credentials, and get access to semi-managed VPS hosting, including a user-friendly control panel, automatic OS installers, and convenient web scripts.
VPS features. Hostinger's VPS plans are equipped with top-notch features. There’s an SSD storage, ensuring faster data access and improved performance. With multiple CPU options, generous RAM allocations, and ample storage space, Hostinger's VPS plans to cater to a wide range of needs. You'll also benefit from a pre-installed control panel, simplifying server management and administration tasks. I like that Hostinger uses a Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) for increased customizability, more isolation, and more resources, making it ideal for game server hosting.
Performance. Hostinger excels in delivering outstanding performance. With a guaranteed uptime of 100%, you can rely on their infrastructure for uninterrupted service. My testing showed an average response time of 176ms on a bare server, surpassing the market average and ensuring fast website loading.
Customer support. Hostinger is committed to providing excellent customer support via the 24/7 live chat, a ticketing system, email, and a knowledge base. I tested the customer service via the live chat and asked about the terms and conditions of the money-back guarantee. I was connected to the agent within 15 minutes, and my question was solved in approximately 7 minutes.
Hostinger is a great VPS choice. It offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and only costs $4.64/month if you decide to keep it after that period.
Visit our Hostinger review to learn more.
2. A2 Hosting – lightning-speed VPS hosting with a risk-free 90-day prorated refund
| Rating | |
| Free domain | No |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day |
| Best deal | Get up to 66% OFF A2 Hosting VPS |
A2 Hosting is a top-tier reliable and affordable provider of Linux VPS hosting solutions. With a strong industry presence and a focus on generous resources, customizable options, and fast performance, A2 Hosting stands out as a top choice that also offers an any-time money-back guarantee and a standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
VPS hosting features. A2 Hosting offers a range of unmanaged VPS plans. As an example, one of the cheapest plans provides ample storage and bandwidth, making it suitable for most general users. Notable features of the cheapest plan include full root access for administrative control, a selection of operating systems including Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, and Debian, and the Webuzo control panel for easy software installation.
Performance. My research revealed A2 Hosting demonstrates exceptional performance and reliability. With a remarkable uptime of 99.98%, you can trust their infrastructure for uninterrupted service. Furthermore, I tested it and the average response time was 168ms on a bare server – significantly faster than the market average of 600ms.
Customer support. A2 Hosting’s knowledgeable and responsive support team is available to assist you via the ticketing system, knowledge base, and a 24/7 live chat. When I texted customer support via chat about the plan best for me, the agent immediately asked some logical questions about disk space and RAM. My inquiry was solved in minutes.
A2 Hosting offers outstanding performance, generous features, and flexibility at affordable prices that you can try risk-free with a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. There’s also a pro-rate-based refund for 90 days, which means that if you cancel the service after 30 days, you will receive a refund only for the resources you didn’t use. Some features will not be refunded. If you want to use it after the trial, the price starts from $2.99/month.
Find out more in the A2 Hosting review.
3. ScalaHosting – fully-managed hosting with a month-long trial
| Rating | |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day |
| Best deal | Get up to 58% OFF ScalaHosting VPS |
ScalaHosting offers a fully managed VPS at an affordable price point. With its cheapest fully managed option, you get extensive features like its proprietary control panel, security solutions, daily backups, and more. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee.
VPS hosting features. ScalaHosting is generous with features even with its cheapest managed VPS plan. You get a fully managed service, including free migration or a one-click installer. The provider also includes freebies, such as SSL certificates, domains, daily backups, SShield cybersecurity solutions, and automatic snapshots.
Performance. When I tested ScalaHosting while setting up a fully functioning website, it performed well with excellent reliability and good response times. The provider offers a standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, so you get perfect uptime with no outages. My testing on ScalaHosting showcased a 443ms average response time on a bare server — the market's average stands at 600ms, which means that ScalaHosting falls among the fastest hosting providers on the market.
Customer support. ScalaHosting provides you with a pleasant customer experience. You can contact their support team via live chat or e-mail for different purposes, such as technical support, abuse, or billing. Once I've contacted the provider via live chat, an agent responded within 2 minutes and helped me with the money-back guarantee question promptly.
ScalaHosting is a great free VPS hosting service that’s fully managed, generous with resources and features, and very affordable. You can try it for a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you like the service, a subscription will cost you $14.95/month after the money-back guarantee period ends.
Get more details in the ScalaHosting review.
4. Kamatera – scalable VPS hosting with a 30-day free trial
| Rating | |
| Free domain | No |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day |
| Best deal | Get Kamatera now, starting at only $4.00/month |
Kamatera offers unmanaged VPS solutions at a very budget-friendly price. Its cheapest plan provides you with powerful hardware components, high-end security, and a lot more. There’s even a 30-day free trial that allows you to test Kamatera as if you’re using VPS services worth up to $100.
VPS hosting features. Although Kamatera is unmanaged, you’ll enjoy an easy-to-use management console, instant scaling, robust security protocols like firewalls, DDoS protection, a load balancer, and a remote desktop.
Performance. I wanted to make sure Kamatera would live up to my and your expectations, which is why I conducted thorough tests. It’s very reliable, as it comes with a 99.95% uptime guarantee and average response times of 186.77ms. As the market's average stands at 600ms, Kamatera is one of the fastest VPS hosts you can get.
Customer support. Kamatera also provides a pleasant customer experience. You can get in touch with its support team via live chat, email, or 24/7 phone number. The email support isn’t instant, but you won’t be waiting for hours. I got a response within 10 minutes, which was very helpful. Also, you can browse its blog, knowledge base, and FAQ section, which are pretty thorough and will help you find what you’re looking for.
Overall, Kamatera is a superb free VPS web host that offers managed and unmanaged services. It provides a load of resources and features at an incredible price. The best part is that you can try all of this with its 30-day money-back guarantee, and if you decide to continue using it, you’ll only need to pay as little as $4.00/month.
Learn more about it in the Kamatera review.
5. Cloudways – VPS hosting with a 3-day trial
| Rating | |
| Free domain | No |
| Free trial | 3 days |
| Best deal | Get up to 25% OFF Cloudways |
Cloudways is a free-trial VPS hosting provider, popular among experienced users and mid-sized companies. It simplifies and facilitates the setup, configuration, and management of other top hosting providers’ VPS servers. The best part is that this provider offers the service with a 3-day trial to try it without any risks.
VPS hosting features. In a trial version, you can get 1-click free SSL installation for secure hosting. And, of course, the provider includes automatic backups that are performed at no extra charge.
Performance. When I've put it to the test, Cloudways’ performance was stable and fast – exactly what you need from a VPS hosting provider. It showcased a 99.98% uptime and loaded the site within 358ms, which is a great result.
Customer support. Cloudways offers 24/7/365 live chat and ticketing support. Customer service is split into three plans, so you'll need to pay extra if you want more advanced support, such as application support. However, the basic live chat support helped me find a way to increase my site’s performance.
Cloudways is a feature-rich VPS hosting provider that comes with a 3-day free trial. While it’s a great way to get a taste of what the provider and its advanced functionalities have to offer, you can get the subscription for $8.25/month after the trial.
Find out more in the Cloudways review.
6. DreamHost – resource-rich VPS service with a refund opportunity
| Rating | |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Free trial | 3 days |
| Best deal | Get DreamHost, now 72% OFF |
DreamHost is another affordable managed VPS hosting provider that offers ways for you to try it with minimal costs. While it doesn’t have a free trial or a money-back guarantee, you can get a 30-day prorated refund for unused services.
VPS features. DreamHost VPS features include free SSL, domain, unlimited traffic, emails, and websites, as well as an AI business advisor. In terms of resources, you can get from 2 to 12GB RAM, and from 60 to 360GB of SSD storage, depending on the plan you choose. All DreamHost VPS plans are fully managed, which means that security, performance, and updates will be taken care of.
Performance. DreamHost showed overall good performance in our tests. It was relatively stable and reliable, with a 100% uptime and an average server response time of 238ms.
Customer support. DreamHost support is available 24/7 via the live chat. You can also request support via email and a ticketing system, or browse the knowledge base. There is a phone line, however, it costs extra per callback, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Overall, DreamHost is a high-performance managed VPS provider and includes excellent resources and features in its plans. Unfortunately, there is no free trial or a money-back guarantee. Instead, if you want to try DreamHost with minimal loss, you can request a prorated refund within 30 days of purchase or renewal. That way, you will be charged for the first month, but all the unused resources will be refunded straight to your account. If you want to continue with DreamHost, the plans start at $10.00/month.
Find out more in the DreamHost review.
Free VPS hosting compared
| Provider | Rating | Best deal | Starting price | Free plan | Uptime | Data center location | Control panel | Customer support |
| Hostinger | Get up to 69% OFF Hostinger VPS | From $4.64/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 99.9% | 8 | hPanel | 24/7 | |
| A2 Hosting | Get up to 66% OFF A2 Hosting VPS | From $2.99/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 99.9% | 3 | WHMCS +cPanel | 24/7 | |
| ScalaHosting | Get up to 58% OFF ScalaHosting VPS | From $14.95/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 99.9% | 2 | SPanel | 24/7 | |
| Kamatera | Get Kamatera now, starting at only $4.00/month | From $4.00/month | 30-day money-back guarantee | 99.95% | 13 | cPanel, Plesk | 24/7 | |
| Cloudways | Get up to 25% OFF Cloudways | From $8.25/month | 3-day free trial | 99.99% | Depends on cloud hosting plan | Native | 24/7 | |
| DreamHost | Get DreamHost, now 72% OFF | From $10.00/month | 3-day free trial | 100% | The US (Virginia and Oregon) | Native | 24/7 |
How we tested all these free VPS services
Together with the Cybernews research team, I conducted extensive research on 54 services to compile a list of the best free VPS hosting providers. This allowed me to select only the top-tier VPS hosting providers that offer free services. To learn more about our testing process, check out the How we test web hosting page.
I carefully curated our list for free plans, trials, money-back guarantees, great speeds, useful features, and prompt customer support. Unfortunately, none of the tested free providers worked, so we decided to provide you with a list of reliable premium VPS services that offer at least some form of free services. I ended up with 6 providers I recommend. This is what the testing process entailed:
- Free plans, free trials, and money-back guarantees (30%). Since our initial research revealed that completely free VPS providers don’t work, we selected the best alternatives. In our review process, we chose providers that offer the best free trial opportunities, money-back guarantees, or at least partial or full refunds. That way, we can suggest providers that you can try out risk-free before committing.
- VPS features and resources (25%). To ensure that you get to try the best providers for an agreeable price, we evaluated the resources that each provider offers. We paid the most attention to RAM and storage availability, and other resources such as SSL certificates, domains, traffic, and email.
- Performance (25%). For a website to run well, excellent performance is crucial. The Cybernews research team ran month-long monitoring and tests to ensure that each provider on our list offers the best uptime and server response time results.
- Customer support (20%). Since VPS hosting is more complicated than shared hosting, we made sure that there will be plenty of resources available if you run into any issues. We prioritized 24/7 live chat and email support, and extensive knowledge centers.
Completely free VPS: Cybernews case study
There are many VPS hosting providers that claim to be free, but are they actually? A lot of them only offer free trials that don’t require credit card details, and that’s about it. I looked into such services and found 6 that claim to be free and not require payment information:
- Oracle Cloud Free Tier – free cloud computing environment
- AlaVPS – free VPS hosting without actual hosting
- VPSWala – promising service without a free option
- GratisVPS – suspicious free VPS hosting
- FreeVPSHosti – 3 free hosting plans that don't work
- InstaFree – requires to make forum posts
A quick disclaimer: after conducting thorough research, I’ve concluded that completely free VPS services aren’t safe and do not actually give free VPS. Such companies do not implement strict privacy policies and potentially collect and sell sensitive data. Hence, I don't recommend using free VPS hosting for any websites, especially professional ones. Still, read on to see what I’ve checked and found out about these services.
1. Oracle Cloud Free Tier
| Resources | 1-24 GB RAM and 200GB storage for persistent data and 10GB storage for unstructured data |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free VPS plan works | N/A |
| Website | Oracle Cloud Free Tier |
While not exactly a traditional VPS provider, the Oracle Cloud Free tier is the best free alternative solution that offers computational capabilities similar to what you would get with a VPS provider. While I cannot exactly vouch for its usability or user-friendliness, this provider seems to offer services that are best suited for developers looking to explore cloud computing.
The “always free” tier of Oracle Cloud offers not only resources such as 1-24GB RAM and various storage resources but also opportunities to run small applications or testing environments. However, the downside of this free provider is that the resources will be limited to your “home region.” This means that the resources will be allocated to you only if they are available in your region, and the waiting period can get quite long. Additionally, the provider can reclaim your resources if they detect inactivity over a 7-day period.
2. AlaVPS
| Resources | 1CPU core, 100GB SSD storage, 1GB RAM, and 1TB bandwidth |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free VPS plan works | No |
| Website | AlaVPS |
AlaVPS seems to offer it all, from shared hosting to dedicated servers. Moreover, all hosting types have a free plan and even dedicated servers, but our test has shown that AlaVPS is a scam.
The free plan comes with 1 CPU core, 100GB SSD storage, 1GB RAM, and 1TB bandwidth. This is a generous offer, especially for a free service. So this already raises a question – how is this possible? Unfortunately, it’s not.
When I decided to test the free plan, it required too much of my personal information, such as name, phone, and address. Once registered, the main dashboard shows that the service is inactive and pending. When I tried contacting customer support regarding this issue, the ticket was pending too, even multiple weeks later.
In conclusion, my personal information was taken, I didn’t receive free VPS hosting, and customer support was nonexistent.
3. VPSWala
| Resources | 1 CPU core, 25GB SSD storage, 1GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free VPS plan works | No |
| Website | VPSWala |
Similar to AlaVPS, VPSWala also offers everything you could want – shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting services. Yet, the provider goes the extra mile and gives you a choice between Linux and Windows VPS hosting. Impressive, but let’s explore more.
The free plan promises 1 CPU core, 25GB SSD storage, 1GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth, and 24/7 support. When I signed up for the free plan, I was asked to provide my name, email, phone, and full billing address. After registration, I was sent to the main dashboard to see that services weren’t active and were pending instead. When I contacted customer support, the ticket remained pending, too, even 3 weeks later – exactly the same as what happened with AlaVPS.
VPSWala is only a third provider in this quest for justice, however, it only gets your information and you are left with a non-working product.
4. GratisVPS
| Resources | N/A |
| Free plan | 180-day trial |
| Free VPS plan works | No |
| Website | GratisVPS |
When it comes to free VPS hosting, GratisVPS offers a free trial rather than a free plan. But, to be fair, the offer does sound tempting – the trial is for an impressive 180 days, and you are not asked to provide your credit card info.
Firstly, there is 0 information on what the trial package is meant to include. Customer support didn’t help either and I didn’t get any reply. Yet, when you choose the free trial, you get to choose from 13 different operating systems and 27 server locations. If you choose a free trial, you get a demo user dashboard – however, none of the buttons work and each one leads to an advertising landing page. Additionally, even if the dashboard claims that the VPS server is online, that is not true. The dashboard statuses don’t change regardless of whether you switch the VPS server on or off.
Overall, this provider asked for a lot of personal information and none of the free trial options worked.
5. FreeVPSHosti
| Resources | 1 CPU core, 15GB SSD storage, 1GB RAM, and 1000GB bandwidth |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free VPS plan works | No |
| Website | FreeVPSHosti |
FreeVPSHosti offers everything – domains, remote servers, shared, WordPress, cloud, and VPS hosting. Interestingly, only the shared hosting is advertised as completely free, and VPS hosting is “out of stock.”
When it comes to VPS plans, you can choose from 3 free options. Depending on which plan you choose, resources will vary. Yet you can expect them to be from 1 to 4 CPU cores, 1 to 4GB RAM, 15 to 300GB SSD storage, and 1000 to 2000GB bandwidth.
After digging a little deeper, I discovered that while the first plan is simple, the other 2 are affiliate accounts that ask you to refer people to use FreeVPSHosti. Once again, I had to provide heaps of personal information to register. However, it was the only provider that activated the account right away. However, it didn’t have hosting or access to a plan.
Again, the provider has taken personal information and left me without any service. Only spam emails will most likely flood my inbox sometime later.
6. InstaFree
| Resources | 1 CPU core, 5GB SSD storage, 256MB RAM, and 50GB bandwidth |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Free VPS plan works | No |
| Website | InstaFree |
InstaFree sells shared, VPS, and reseller hosting solutions. However, the main focus remains on VPS. For shared and reseller hosting, the provider only offers 1 paid and 1 free plan, while VPS has 3 paid and 1 free plan.
If you go for the free plan, you are promised 1 CPU core, 5GB SSD storage, 256MB RAM, and 50GB bandwidth. However, after registering for the free VPS, I was redirected to the InstaFree forum rather than the actual VPS plan.
When I tried getting free VPS, InstaFree asked for lots of personal information, and it was posted onto the forum for everyone to see. Moreover, the services are supposed to be activated in 24-48 hours, but 2 weeks later – nothing happened.
Best free VPS hosting: final recommendations
If you’re looking for a completely free VPS hosting service, you might hit a brick wall. Unfortunately, all of our tested free VPS hostings aim to gather your personal information, lure you into a subscription, or simply not live up to promises. That’s why I tested a dozen VPS hosting providers and selected the best alternatives to free ones. The best part about free VPS hosting alternatives is that they don’t collect your personal information, and there are no hidden fees – even after the free trial ends, you will be charged the exact price that was advertised.
As a completely free VPS hosting service isn’t possible, I recommend opting for a reputable provider like Hostinger, which comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and isn’t there to scam you. It includes all the premium features in the trial, performs at lightning-fast speeds, and provides you with excellent customer service, ready to solve any questions.
Free VPS hosting FAQs
How can I get free VPS without a credit card?
After testing multiple free VPS providers that claim not to require a credit card, such as AlaVPS, VPSWala, and GratisVPS, we found that none of them actually provide a free VPS service. Instead, we suggest going for a trusted provider that asks for credit card details, but easily offers honest refunds, such as Hostinger or A2 Hosting.
Can you get free VPS hosting?
You cannot get truly free VPS hosting, as you’d usually have to pay for resources, including speed or bandwidth. Besides, they most often have limits on usage or don’t work at all, as our research revealed.
Why is free VPS hosting not possible?
Free VPS hosting is not possible because it requires expensive resources and infrastructure. This includes the costs of maintaining and running the server as well as the costs associated with features and tools, security, and support.
Which providers offer good cheap VPS hosting?
Providers that offer good cheap VPS hosting include Hostinger, A2 Hosting, and ScalaHosting. These hosts are legit companies that offer plenty of resources and features as well as good performances.
Is there a free VPS for one month trial?
Yes, there is a free VPS with a one-month trial. We recommend Hostinger because it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it before opting for a paid plan. If you like the service after the trial, the price starts at $4.64/month.
Are there any limitations with free VPS hosting?
Yes, free VPS hosting tends to have many limitations, such as resource limitations, unreliable security and performance, and lack of support. For example, the allocated resources might not be enough to run your website, and unreliable performance and security can cause it to crash.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are markedmarked