Free Cloud Server Trial

Enterprise-grade virtual private servers

KVM based dev servers for developers
Scalable to enterprise cloud level
Pay-as-you-go, per-minute billing

Free cloud hosting from IONOS: It’s really simple

Experience cloud servers with the highest performance!

IONOS gives you the opportunity to test your cloud server for free. Many of the packages contain starting credit that entitles you to a free month as long as the resources you book do not exceed the amount of this credit. And because there’s no minimum contract period, you can cancel at any time. So, you have plenty of time to test your cloud server for free and see the benefits for yourself, which isn’t often the case with other providers.

This reflects a core aspect of the IONOS philosophy. If you’re satisfied with our products, we see it as an indispensable anchor point for a long-term and successful partnership.

Animation showing how to set up a server

Get started

**1. Easy setup** Create your account and configure your instances – drag and drop them in the Data Center Designer, or use the API. **2. Secure development** Host websites and apps or develop new applications in our secure test and dev environment. **3. Flexible scaling** Adjust your projects as needed and scale seamlessly with a direct connection to our Compute Engine.

Start for free

Only at IONOS

Your personal consultant

After you order, your personal consultant will guide and support you every step of the way.

24/7 expert support

Technical questions? Our award-winning experts are always available to help by phone, chat or email.

Windows licence fees

Attention! The price of the Windows Server license will increase by approximately 10% effective January 1, 2025.

Windows licence fees are pay-as-you-go and billed to the minute.

	Price per vCPU
Windows licence fee	£0.006 per hr. £4.32 per 30 days

Windows licence fee
Price per vCPU	£0.006 per hr. £4.32 per 30 days

What to consider with “free” cloud servers

Security

The security of the servers and therefore the protection of your data should always be at the forefront when choosing a provider. Free cloud server providers often neglect security in order to save money. At IONOS, we meet the highest standards in terms of security and continuously invest in our state-of-the-art data centres, where we host all cloud servers as part of our comprehensive IT security concept.

Data protection

Data protection is also important when choosing a free cloud server. Choosing a server located in the EU makes sense so that European data protection regulations apply. The best case would be if the server were located in a data centre in Germany - as is the case with IONOS - because all your data would be stored adhering to the GDPR and strict German data protection guidelines.

Performance

With many ‘free cloud server’ offers, you have to settle for limited performance. The processing power and permitted traffic are often severely limited here, which can quickly become a hurdle for more demanding websites and online shops. With IONOS, you get full performance even with the packages that come with starting credit.

Operating system

You might want to install Linux on a ‘free cloud server’, but you often don’t have a choice and are simply provided with a ‘free Windows cloud server’. The situation is a lot different with IONOS where you have the choice between different Windows server versions and different Linux distributions.

Storage

The bigger your project gets, the more storage space you demand from the cloud server. Many providers offering ‘free cloud server hosting’ use this growing dependency as a business model. With IONOS, you can rely on servers that come with a generous storage quota right from the start and also enable you to easily increase the storage capacity at a later date.

Service

Good support can really make a difference when operating a cloud server. However, many free cloud server providers simply leave you to your own devices and offer no support. If you rent a cloud server from IONOS, 24/7 support is automatically included.

FAQ – Frequently asked questions

When you rent a cloud server from IONOS, you get access to a virtualised IT infrastructure with computing power (CPU and RAM) and SSD SAN storage. Each server is also equipped with either Windows or a Linux distribution.

It does not matter whether your project is a private or a business project because our cloud servers are highly scalable and can be adjusted at any time. This means you can realise simple websites as well as a complex application server. At the end of the month, you only pay for the resources you have actually used! The server model is therefore particularly suitable for projects with highly fluctuating resource requirements.

If you have rented a cloud server from IONOS, you have the right to cancel within the first 14 days after booking. Once this period has elapsed, you are no longer able to cancel your contract.

However, there is no minimum contract period for cloud servers at IONOS. You can cancel at any time if you are not satisfied - whether it’s after one month or later. Simply terminate the contract and then you can rest assured that you won’t incur any further costs. Even if the starting credit is used up, you can cancel at any time.

Cloud servers at IONOS work according to the pay-as-you-go principle. This means that you only pay for the resources you use and are billed by the minute. If you delete the server (not the contract), no further costs are incurred. You will only be billed if you start using the server again.

Cloud servers are not the only IONOS server solution based on virtualised resources. If you rent a vServer (also known as a VPS), you also get access to a virtualised IT infrastructure. The service portfolio is defined much more strictly here, and there’s a monthly fixed price to pay.

You also get your money’s worth with a dedicated server solution. If you rent a dedicated server, IONOS provides you with your own hardware, which you do not share with anyone else. You administrate it either on your own or with the help of IONOS support.

Pricing

You're billed to the minute for your chosen components on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Basic Cubes

Select the ideal configuration for your cloud project from our available preconfigured cubes.

	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Price
Basic Cube XS	1	2 GB	60 GB	£0.007 per hr. £5.04 per 30 days
Basic Cube S	2	4 GB	120 GB	£0.013 per hr. £9.36 per 30 days
Basic Cube M	4	8 GB	240 GB	£0.024 per hr. £17.28 per 30 days
Basic Cube L	8	16 GB	480 GB	£0.044 per hr. £31.68 per 30 days
Basic Cube XL	16	32 GB	960 GB	£0.083 per hr. £59.76 per 30 days

Basic Cube XS
vCPU	1
RAM	2 GB
Storage	60 GB
Price	£0.007 per hr. £5.04 per 30 days
Basic Cube S
vCPU	2
RAM	4 GB
Storage	120 GB
Price	£0.013 per hr. £9.36 per 30 days
Basic Cube M
vCPU	4
RAM	8 GB
Storage	240 GB
Price	£0.024 per hr. £17.28 per 30 days
Basic Cube L
vCPU	8
RAM	16 GB
Storage	480 GB
Price	£0.044 per hr. £31.68 per 30 days
Basic Cube XL
vCPU	16
RAM	32 GB
Storage	960 GB
Price	£0.083 per hr. £59.76 per 30 days

Memory Cubes

For more demanding cloud projects, select a high-performance Memory Cube.

	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Price
Memory Cube S	2	8 GB	120 GB	£0.017 per hr. £12.24 per 30 days
Memory Cube M	4	16 GB	240 GB	£0.032 per hr. £23.04 per 30 days
Memory Cube L	8	32 GB	480 GB	£0.061 per hr. £43.92 per 30 days
Memory Cube XL	16	64 GB	960 GB	£0.114 per hr. £82.08 per 30 days

Memory Cube S
vCPU	2
RAM	8 GB
Storage	120 GB
Price	£0.017 per hr. £12.24 per 30 days
Memory Cube M
vCPU	4
RAM	16 GB
Storage	240 GB
Price	£0.032 per hr. £23.04 per 30 days
Memory Cube L
vCPU	8
RAM	32 GB
Storage	480 GB
Price	£0.061 per hr. £43.92 per 30 days
Memory Cube XL
vCPU	16
RAM	64 GB
Storage	960 GB
Price	£0.114 per hr. £82.08 per 30 days

Cloud Cubes are currently available in our data centres in the European Union and in Newark, New Jersey, USA.

RedHat Enterprise Linux licences for the IONOS Cloud Cubes

RedHat Enterprise Linux	Price
RHEL 8/9 Licence Small Virtual Node (1-8 vCPUs)	£0.0117/vCPU/ hr.
RHEL 8/9 Licence Medium Virtual Node (9-127 vCPUs)	£0.0087 /vCPU/ hr.
RHEL 8/9 Licence Large Virtual Node (>128 vCPUs)	£0.0077/vCPU/ hr.

RHEL 8/9 Licence Small Virtual Node (1-8 vCPUs)
RedHat Enterprise Linux
Price	£0.0117/vCPU/ hr.
RHEL 8/9 Licence Medium Virtual Node (9-127 vCPUs)
RedHat Enterprise Linux
Price	£0.0087 /vCPU/ hr.
RHEL 8/9 Licence Large Virtual Node (>128 vCPUs)
RedHat Enterprise Linux
Price	£0.0077/vCPU/ hr.

The RHEL licence fees are charged pay-as-you-go per hour or part thereof and per vCPU or core. There is no price difference between Intel and AMD servers.