Best VPS for CI runners.
prices as of · Contabo as of · re-ranked daily · 210 qualifying plans
Build machines are all about cores: compiles and test suites scale with vCPUs, run in bursts and don't care where they live, so the cheapest fast cores win. We only include plans with 4 GB+ RAM, 4+ vCPU and a disk included in the price. Today 210 of the 524 plans qualify, and the top pick costs $5.93/mo. They're ranked by how much of the hardware this workload relies on you get for each dollar.
The plan to start with is HOSTKEY vm.mini · 4 vCPU · 6 GB at $5.93/mo, 4 vCPU and 6 GB of RAM, picked from 210 plans that clear the minimums, checked 16 Sept 2026.
What actually matters here
- Cores over everything
- Compiles and parallel test suites scale almost linearly with vCPUs, so this ranking weights CPU three times as heavily as RAM.
- Hourly billing is a feature
- Plans billed hourly (flagged below) can run during the workday and be deleted at night, cutting the effective monthly cost by about 70%.
- Disk for caches
- Docker layer and dependency caches are what make the second build fast, and 80 GB or more keeps them warm.
- 1
$5.93/mo
- 2
$8.65/mo
checked 10 days ago - 3
$6.35/mo
checked 10 days ago - 4
$16.15/mo
checked 10 days ago - 5
$18.67/mo
- 6
$10.05/mo
- 7
netcupRS 2000 G12 · 8 dedicated cores · 16 GB
8 vCPU · 16 GB RAM · 512 GB NVMe · value 97/100
✓ dedicated vCPU
$20.78/mo
- 8
$28.85/mo
checked 10 days ago - 9
$7.58/mo
- 10netcup
VPS 8000 G12 · 16 vCore · 64 GB
16 vCPU · 64 GB RAM · 2048 GB NVMe · value 96/100
✓ hourly billing
$46.49/mo
One-click stacks for this workload
Everything below runs on any VPS if you set it up yourself. These providers also offer it as a one-click install in their official catalog (verified 20 Jul 2026).
- Docker
- one-click on Hetzner, Vultr, DigitalOcean, Linode, OVHcloud, Scaleway, Contabo, Hostinger, IONOS
Frequently asked
- What is the cheapest VPS that qualifies for CI runners?
- HOSTKEY vm.mini · 4 vCPU · 6 GB at $5.93/mo (excl. VAT) meets the minimum requirements as of 16 Sept 2026.
- How are these requirements chosen?
- The minimums (4 GB RAM, 4 vCPU) reflect what the workload actually stresses, as explained under "what matters", and the ranking weights those dimensions rather than raw price.
- How fresh is this list?
- Prices are re-fetched from all 26 providers daily and this ranking recomputes automatically. Last refresh: 16 Sept 2026.