Aruba Cloud vs Contabo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Aruba Cloud grades higher than Contabo: 2.0 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Aruba Cloud grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Aruba Cloud
Italian cloud provider with VPS, dedicated servers and public cloud
Which one is for you
Pick Aruba Cloud if
- Fits if you want a VPS in Italy or the EU billed in euros
- Works for people who already run VMware or Kubernetes
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want shared website hosting, as this is server rental you manage
- Watch out: the lowest VPS prices are for the first 3 months, then the standard price applies
- Watch out: prices are in euros and exclude VAT, with no dollar view
- Tight if you need dedicated, Kubernetes or VMware, since those are priced separately
Pick Contabo if
- Fits if you want a lot of RAM and storage for little and can manage a server
- Works for staging boxes, CI runners and hobby servers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you can't look after a Linux server, as support covers the VPS only
- Not for you if you won't commit: the lowest price is for 24 months
- Watch out: a one-time setup fee applies on monthly Cloud VPS 4 orders
- Watch out: outgoing traffic is unlimited only under fair use, and heavy servers can be throttled
- Watch out: the price after the term isn't shown
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAruba CloudFair | 1.6GPAContaboWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe VPS H.1-1 is 2.99 euros a month ex. VAT as a 3-month launch price, around the $3.00 mark and below the $5.00 cheaper-quarter line. The H.2-4 is 5.49 euros after its first 3 months. | B$5.28 a month excl. VAT on a 24-month term for 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM and 100GB, at the edge of the cheaper quarter ($5.28). Terms differ and the price after the term isn't shown. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free: no free plan and no trial are listed. | FNo free plan and no trial on record; every plan is paid from the first day. |
| Features | BCloud VPS, dedicated and bare metal servers, containers and storage, databases, VMware, private cloud and GPU services. No gap shows in the rented-server job, though managed services are extra. | CVPS sizes from 4 to 18 vCPU, snapshots, Plesk and cPanel options, many locations. The gap: it's a bare server, and Contabo supports the VPS, not the software on it. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You configure and manage the server yourself unless you buy managed services. | DNo rating on record. An unmanaged VPS means installing, patching and troubleshooting it yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it works with OpenStack, Kubernetes, VMware, Veeam and Proxmox. | CWeb panel only, with no integrations listed. |
| Best for | Italian cloud VPS and dedicated servers | cheap servers with lots of RAM |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Aruba Cloud and Contabo. How we grade
Price against what you get
Aruba Cloud starts at about $3.34 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Contabo starts at $5.28 a month and scores 1.7.
Aruba Cloud scores higher and starts $1.94 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 1 scores higher than Aruba Cloud for less, and 39 score higher than Contabo for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Aruba Cloud also covers databases.
At a glance
| Aruba Cloud | Contabo | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | €2.99 per month ex. VAT and up (Cloud VPS H.1-1), shown as a 3-month launch price | $5.28 per month excl. VAT, 24-month subscription (Cloud VPS 4) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Aruba S.p.A. | Contabo GmbH |
| Price read from | arubacloud.com | contabo.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Aruba Cloud
- Prices are in euros and exclude VAT; the page does not show a US dollar version.
- The discounted VPS prices apply to the first 3 months; the standard price applies at the next renewal.
- This is infrastructure rental, not shared website hosting; you manage the server yourself unless you buy managed services.
- Only the Cloud VPS line is priced here; dedicated, Kubernetes and VMware pricing is configured separately.
Contabo
- The price shown is the monthly rate on a 24-month subscription; the page does not show the price after the term or a plain monthly price.
- A one-time setup fee applies to new Cloud VPS 4 orders on monthly contracts.
- Outgoing traffic is unlimited under a fair usage policy, and Contabo may throttle servers with very high or disruptive usage.
- Contabo supports the VPS itself, not the software installed on it; maintenance and troubleshooting are the user's job.
Key features
Aruba Cloud
- Cloud VPS in Italy
- OpenStack-based virtual servers with 1 public IP, 1 Gb/s connectivity, SSD storage up to 320 GB, and a choice of Linux or Windows.
- Dedicated and bare metal servers
- Dedicated servers, quick-start dedicated servers and Metal Cloud clusters are sold alongside the VPS line.
- Containers and storage
- Managed Kubernetes, a container registry, S3-compatible object storage, block storage and cloud backup are offered.
- Databases and monitoring
- A Database as a Service and a monitoring service are listed in the public cloud menu.
- VMware and private cloud
- VMware hosted private cloud, Azure Local, Red Hat OpenShift, Proxmox and Vates options cover hybrid and private deployments.
- GPU and AI services
- GPU servers, GPU on demand and AI models available through an API are listed in the AI section.
Contabo
- Cloud VPS range
- Six Cloud VPS sizes from 4 to 18 vCPU cores and 8GB to 96GB RAM, each with unlimited, unmetered incoming traffic and fair-usage outgoing traffic.
- Other VPS lines
- Performance VPS on AMD EPYC CPUs with NVMe storage, Max Performance, Storage VPS, Windows VPS and GPU VPS are sold alongside.
- Plesk and cPanel VPS
- Plesk and cPanel VPS plans are listed, and Plesk is free for the first month on Cloud VPS, Cloud VDS, Storage VPS and dedicated servers.
- Longer terms for lower prices
- Prices shown are the effective monthly rate for a 24-month subscription, and no setup fee applies on longer contracts.
- Snapshots and storage extension
- Each Cloud VPS includes snapshots, and Core VPS plans can double their storage through Storage Extension.
- Many locations
- The product page describes hosting across the EU, US, UK, Australia and Asia.
Plans
Aruba Cloud
VPS H.1-1€2.99
per month ex. VAT
1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD and 2 TB monthly traffic. The page gives no original price for this model.
VPS H.1-2€3.99
per month ex. VAT
1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD and 5 TB monthly traffic. The page gives no original price for this model.
VPS H.2-4€5.49
per month ex. VAT, after a first 3 months at €3.00
2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD and 25 TB monthly traffic.
VPS H.4-8€10.49
per month ex. VAT, after a first 3 months at €5.00
4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, 80 GB SSD and 50 TB monthly traffic.
VPS H.8-16€18.99
per month ex. VAT, after a first 3 months at €13.00
8 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, 160 GB SSD and 100 TB monthly traffic.
VPS H.16-32€37.99
per month ex. VAT, after a first 3 months at €24.00
16 vCPUs, 32 GB RAM, 320 GB SSD and 100 TB monthly traffic.
Contabo
Cloud VPS 4$5.28
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $6.60 incl. tax
4 vCPU cores, 8GB RAM, 100GB SSD, 1 snapshot, 200 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic. A setup fee applies on monthly contracts.
Cloud VPS 6$7.20
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $9.00 incl. tax
6 vCPU cores, 12GB RAM, 200GB SSD or 100GB NVMe, 2 snapshots, 300 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 8$13.44
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $16.80 incl. tax
8 vCPU cores, 24GB RAM, 300GB SSD or 150GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 600 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 12$24.00
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $30.00 incl. tax
12 vCPU cores, 48GB RAM, 400GB SSD or 200GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 800 Mbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 16$35.60
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $44.50 incl. tax
16 vCPU cores, 64GB RAM, 500GB SSD or 250GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 1 Gbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Cloud VPS 18$47.04
per month excl. VAT, 24-month term; $58.80 incl. tax
18 vCPU cores, 96GB RAM, 600GB SSD or 300GB NVMe, 3 snapshots, 1 Gbit/s port and unlimited traffic.
Ways to pay less
Aruba Cloud
- Other savings
Up to 52% off Cloud VPS for 3 months
A launch promotion discounts newly activated VPS hosting services for the first 3 months; standard prices apply at the next renewal.
Contabo
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Aruba Cloud or Contabo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Aruba Cloud is cheaper to start with: about $3.34 a month, against $5.28 a month for Contabo. Aruba Cloud starts at €2.99 per month ex. VAT and up (Cloud VPS H.1-1), shown as a 3-month launch price, and Contabo starts at $5.28 per month excl. VAT, 24-month subscription (Cloud VPS 4).
Which has a free plan, Aruba Cloud or Contabo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Aruba Cloud nor Contabo has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.