BuyVM vs Vultr (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, BuyVM and Vultr share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan, and BuyVM starts cheaper, at $2 a month when paid by the year against $2.50 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
BuyVM grades higher on value for money. Vultr grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
BuyVM
Low-cost KVM VPS slices with unmetered bandwidth and block storage
Which one is for you
Pick BuyVM if
- Fits if you want a cheap Linux VPS and can run it yourself
- Works for small projects that need block storage
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want help running the server, as slices are unmanaged
- Watch out: Slice 512 to 2048 share CPU, and only the 4096 slice lists dedicated CPU
- Pricey if you add DDoS protection, managed databases or nightly backups, all paid add-ons
- Skip it if you need many locations, as there are three
Pick Vultr if
- Fits if you want inexpensive servers across many locations
- Works for projects that need bare metal or GPUs from the same provider
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to set up and patch a server
- Not for you if you need IPv4 on the $2.50 plan, since it's IPv6 only
- Watch out: backups, block storage, load balancers and extra bandwidth cost more
- Watch out: Vultr's own pricing pages weren't readable, so prices are from its public plans API
How we grade them
| 1.8GPABuyVMWeak | 1.8GPAVultrWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ASlice 512 is $24 a year, or $2 a month, and Slice 1024 is $3.50 a month, both under the $5 cheaper-quarter start. | B$2.50 a month for the IPv6-only 512MB plan, $3.50 with IPv4, $5 for 1GB. Inside the cheaper quarter ($5.28). The IPv6-only plan has no IPv4 at all. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial on the pages read, so you pay from day one. | FNo free plan and no trial on record; every plan is paid from the first day. |
| Features | CKVM slices, block storage, a free DirectAdmin license and a control panel. Only three locations, and backups and DDoS protection are add-ons. | CCloud Compute, high-frequency and optimized plans, bare metal, GPUs and Kubernetes docs. The listing shows servers, not databases or an app platform, and extras cost more. |
| Ease of use | DUnmanaged servers you set up and secure yourself. | DNo store rating on record. Unmanaged servers: you set up and patch the OS. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb panel only, with no integrations listed. | BWeb only, with a v2 API, a CLI, a Terraform provider and SDKs. |
| Best for | low-cost unmanaged KVM slices | inexpensive cloud servers in many locations |
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: BuyVM and Vultr. How we grade
Price against what you get
BuyVM starts at $2 a month when paid by the year and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Vultr starts at $2.50 a month and scores 2.0.
Vultr scores higher, and starts $0.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 8 score higher than BuyVM for less, and 7 score higher than Vultr 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
- BuyVM also covers databases and file management.
At a glance
| BuyVM | Vultr | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $24.00 per year (Slice 512) | $2.50 per month (IPv6-only 512MB Cloud Compute) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | BuyVM (a division of Cloudzy) | Vultr |
| Price read from | buyvm.net | api.vultr.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
BuyVM
- The cheapest slice is billed yearly, and the others are billed monthly.
- The Slice 512 to 2048 plans share CPU on a fair-share basis; only the 4096 slice lists dedicated CPU usage.
- DDoS protection, managed databases and nightly backups are paid add-ons.
- The shared hosting page linked from the product list returned a page-not-available message when read, so only VPS pricing is recorded.
Vultr
- Vultr's pricing and product pages sit behind a bot check, so these prices are read from its public plans API.
- The cheapest $2.50 plan has an IPv6 address only and no IPv4.
- Servers are unmanaged: the buyer sets up and patches the operating system.
- Backups, block storage, load balancers and bandwidth beyond a plan's allowance cost extra.
Key features
BuyVM
- KVM slices
- Virtual servers described as dedicated slices, running Linux, BSD or Windows with SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth.
- Block storage slabs
- Add-on block storage is sold from $1.25 a month for 256 GB of HDD and can be attached for backups, media or a self-built object store.
- Free DirectAdmin license
- A DirectAdmin control panel license comes with every service, alongside the Softaculous installer and Blesta billing panel as free software.
- Stallion control panel
- BuyVM's own panel is used to manage servers, and the site lists a wiki and a community Discord for help.
- DDoS protection
- Protection of 3500Gbps and more is sold as a paid add-on, along with managed database servers and nightly backups.
- Three locations
- Servers are offered in Las Vegas, New York and Luxembourg.
Vultr
- Cloud Compute
- Virtual machines in standard and high-frequency classes, with plan sizes starting at 512MB RAM.
- High-performance and optimized compute
- The plans API also lists high-performance and optimized compute types, for example a 1 vCPU, 2GB optimized plan at $28 a month.
- Bare metal and GPUs
- Bare metal servers and GPU instances are sold, with an NVIDIA L40S server listed at $1,122.91 a month.
- Kubernetes and AI workloads
- Vultr's docs cover Kubernetes setup, GPU workloads, AI model docs and a beta documentation agent.
- Public API and CLI
- A v2 API, a CLI, a Terraform provider and SDKs are referenced in the reference documentation.
Plans
BuyVM
Slice 512$24.00
per year
1 core at 3.50+ GHz on fair-share CPU, 512 MB memory, 10 GB SSD, unmetered bandwidth and 1 IPv4 address.
Slice 1024$3.50
per month
1 core on fair-share CPU, 1024 MB memory, 20 GB SSD, unmetered bandwidth and 1 IPv4 address.
Slice 2048$7.00
per month
1 core on fair-share CPU, 2048 MB memory, 40 GB SSD, unmetered bandwidth and 1 IPv4 address.
Slice 4096$15.00
per month
1 core with dedicated CPU usage, 4096 MB memory, 80 GB SSD, unmetered bandwidth and 1 IPv4 address.
High-volume VPS$30.00
per month and up
From 2 cores, 8 GB memory and 160 GB SSD at an unlimited 1000 Mbps; larger sizes are $45 and $60 a month.
Vultr
Cloud Compute 512MB$3.50
per month, with IPv4
1 vCPU, 512MB RAM, 10GB storage and 512GB of bandwidth. An IPv6-only version is $2.50 a month.
Cloud Compute 1GB$5
per month ($0.007 per hour)
1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage and 1TB of bandwidth.
Cloud Compute 2GB$10
per month
1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 55GB storage and 2TB of bandwidth. The 2 vCPU, 2GB size is $15 a month.
High Frequency 1GB$6
per month
1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 32GB storage and 1TB of bandwidth. The 2GB size is $12 and the 2 vCPU, 2GB size is $18.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, BuyVM or Vultr?
As of Nov 13, 2026, BuyVM is cheaper to start with: $2 a month when paid by the year, against $2.50 a month for Vultr. BuyVM starts at $24.00 per year (Slice 512), and Vultr starts at $2.50 per month (IPv6-only 512MB Cloud Compute).
Which has a free plan, BuyVM or Vultr?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither BuyVM nor Vultr 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.