What a cheap VPS should still include
Compare prices only between servers you could actually use. A low price that leaves out the IP address or DDoS protection becomes an expensive one the first time you have to add them. Check that these are in the price:
- A public IPv4 address, so the server is reachable without paying for an extra address.
- DDoS protection that scrubs attack traffic instead of null-routing (taking offline) your IP until the attack stops.
- At least one snapshot, so a bad update can be rolled back without a paid backup add-on.
- Reserved RAM and NVMe storage, so the server does not slow down when a neighbour on the host gets busy.
- A GST tax invoice, if you are a business that wants to claim the tax back.
What is in the price here
Every plan on BookMyHost includes an IPv4 address, a 1 Gbps port, Cloudflare DDoS protection and one snapshot, with no setup fee. Inbound traffic is free and outbound is fair-use, not metered, so the bill does not grow with your traffic.
Today the smallest general VPS starts at ₹336 a month or ₹0.66 an hour, before 18% GST. Every size and term is on the pricing page.
Right-size: do not pay for capacity you do not use
The biggest saving is usually not a lower price but a smaller server. Write down what will run on it (a small WordPress site, a bot, a VPN, a test box) and start with the smallest size that fits. The sizing guide on the VPS page maps common workloads to plan sizes.
A KVM VPS can be resized in place from the panel, keeping its IP address and data, so starting small costs you a reboot later, not a migration. If no plan fits, price an exact vCPU, RAM and disk mix on the server builder.
Match the billing term to how long the server runs
Hourly billing suits tests, events and short projects: you pay per started hour with a 1 hour minimum per server. For a server that runs most of the month, a monthly plan is 30% below the hourly list and becomes cheaper once the server runs about 511 hours (roughly 21 days) in the month.
Longer commitments cost less again: a 12-month term is 44% below the hourly list and a 36-month term 65%. The hourly vs monthly guide explains the break-even point in detail.
Costs that make a cheap VPS expensive
Look past the plan price for these before you buy, from any provider:
- Metered outbound bandwidth: on a busy site the traffic bill can be larger than the server.
- Operating system licences: on general plans here the Windows licence is billed by the hour, so a workload that runs on Linux is cheaper on a Linux image. Forex VPS and gaming plans include Windows.
- Idle servers: a stopped server on hourly billing is still charged for its disk and reserved IP. Delete test servers you have finished with instead of only stopping them.
- Paid extras: an IPv4 address, DDoS protection, snapshots and setup fees are sometimes charged separately elsewhere.
- Locking in too early: paying upfront for a long term before the workload is proven. Start hourly and move to a term once it is steady.
Claim the GST back if you are a business
VPS prices are quoted before 18% GST. A GST-registered business that adds its GSTIN gets a tax invoice and can claim input tax credit, so the GST is not a real cost. See GST billing for how the invoice works.
A low-cost way to start
- Create an account and complete eKYC
Sign up with your email address and verify once with Aadhaar/DigiLocker or an ID document, as CERT-In requires.
- Deploy the smallest size that fits
Choose a plan or a custom size on hourly billing and a Linux image unless you need Windows.
- Run it for real
Put your actual workload on it for a few days. If it is short of RAM or CPU, resize from the panel; if it is idle most of the time, a smaller size may do.
- Commit when it is steady
Move the same VM to a monthly or longer term. The server, its IP address and disk stay as they are; only the billing changes.