The cheapest VPS you can run in a Japanese data center costs $5.00 a month. There are two: Vultr's Regular Performance 1 GB and Linode's Nanode 1 GB. Both have 1 vCPU, 25 GB of SSD and hourly billing. The cheapest plan with 2 GB of RAM is Scaleway's Dedibox VPS-START-2-S at $7.83 (€6.99). Next comes Vultr's 2 GB plan at $10.00.
We checked these prices on 11 October 2026, on the shortest term each host sells. Prices are in US dollars. At the day's rate, $5.00 is about ¥791.
How we picked these plans
Only six of the 20 hosts we track sell a VPS or cloud server in Japan. They are Vultr, Linode, AWS Lightsail, Scaleway, Contabo and Cloudways. We ranked their unmanaged Linux plans by the price of one month.
That short list explains the prices. The hosts that make other countries cheap are missing. OVHcloud, Hetzner, netcup, UpCloud, DigitalOcean, Hostinger, Bluehost, IONOS, InterServer and hosting.com have no server in Japan in our data. In Singapore you can get 4 GB of RAM for about $5. In Japan the same money buys 1 GB.
The 10 cheapest VPS plans in Japan
| # | Plan | vCPU | RAM | Storage | Price per month | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vultr Regular Performance 1 GB | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB SSD | $5.00 | Hourly |
| 2 | Linode Shared CPU Nanode 1 GB | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB SSD | $5.00 | Hourly |
| 3 | AWS Lightsail Linux 512 MB | 2 | 512 MB | 20 GB SSD | $5.00 | Hourly |
| 4 | Scaleway Dedibox VPS-START-2-XS | 1 | 1 GB | 20 GB NVMe | $5.59 (€4.99) | Monthly |
| 5 | Vultr High Frequency 1 GB | 1 | 1 GB | 32 GB NVMe | $6.00 | Hourly |
| 6 | Vultr High Performance AMD 1 GB | 1 | 1 GB | 25 GB NVMe | $6.00 | Hourly |
| 7 | AWS Lightsail Linux 1 GB | 2 | 1 GB | 40 GB SSD | $7.00 | Hourly |
| 8 | Scaleway Dedibox VPS-START-2-S | 2 | 2 GB | 30 GB NVMe | $7.83 (€6.99) | Monthly |
| 9 | Vultr Regular Performance 2 GB | 1 | 2 GB | 55 GB SSD | $10.00 | Hourly |
| 10 | Linode Shared CPU 2 GB | 1 | 2 GB | 50 GB SSD | $12.00 | Hourly |
Lightsail's 2 GB plan is also $12.00, with 2 vCPUs, 60 GB of SSD and 3 TB of transfer.
Cheapest overall: Vultr and Linode at $5.00
The two $5.00 plans are near twins. Each has 1 vCPU, 1 GB of RAM, 25 GB of SSD and 1 TB of traffic, billed by the hour. That is the same price these hosts charge everywhere else. Vultr has more ways to step up from there. For $6.00 it sells two 1 GB plans with NVMe disks: High Frequency with 32 GB, and High Performance with 25 GB and 2 TB of traffic.
Lightsail's $5.00 plan gives you 2 vCPUs but only 512 MB of RAM. That is enough for a VPN or a small proxy, and little else. Its 1 GB plan, with 40 GB of disk and 2 TB of traffic, is $7.00.
Cheapest with 2 GB: Scaleway Dedibox VPS
Scaleway's Dedibox VPS plans list Japan as a location. Once you want more than 1 GB, they cost less than the hourly clouds. VPS-START-2-S has 2 vCPUs, 2 GB of RAM and 30 GB of NVMe for €6.99 a month. Traffic has no limit in our data. It is billed by the month, not the hour, and it renews at the same price.
The larger sizes are less of a bargain: VPS-START-2-M (3 vCPUs, 4 GB, 40 GB) is $16.24 (€14.49) and VPS-START-2-L (4 vCPUs, 8 GB, 100 GB) is $26.32 (€23.49).
What 4 GB costs in Japan
This is where Japan is expensive. The cheapest 4 GB plans with a Japanese location:
| Plan | vCPU | Storage | Price per month | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scaleway Dedibox VPS-START-2-M | 3 | 40 GB NVMe | $16.24 (€14.49) | Monthly |
| Vultr Regular Performance 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB SSD | $20.00 | Hourly |
| Linode Shared CPU 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB SSD | $24.00 | Hourly |
| AWS Lightsail Linux 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB SSD | $24.00 | Hourly |
Compare that with $5.03 for OVHcloud's 4 GB VPS-1 in Singapore, Australia or Europe. If your project needs RAM more than it needs to be in Japan, a Singapore server is three to four times cheaper. See the cheapest VPS in Singapore.
Contabo: cheap on paper, with a location fee
Contabo lists Japan for its Cloud VPS plans, and its base prices are far below the rest. Cloud VPS 4 has 4 vCPUs, 8 GB of RAM and 100 GB of SSD for €5.50 a month. Storage VPS 10 has 4 GB with a 300 GB disk for the same. Contabo adds a monthly fee for places outside its home region, shown on its order page. That fee isn't in our price data, so we haven't ranked these plans. If you need 8 GB in Japan, they are worth a look. Check the total at checkout and compare it with the table above.
Plans we left out
- Managed servers. Cloudways runs managed Vultr and Linode servers in Japan from $14.00 a month.
- Windows plans.
- Vultr's 512 MB plans. Vultr's $2.50 and $3.50 plans aren't listed for Japan in our data.
Do you need the server in Japan?
Yes, if your visitors are in Japan and speed matters, or if your users expect the service to be hosted at home. A server in the same country makes each page load faster than one overseas.
If your visitors are spread across East and Southeast Asia, weigh Japan against Singapore. Japan is closer to Korea and the western Pacific. Singapore is closer to India and Southeast Asia, and much cheaper. Hourly billing at Vultr and Linode makes it easy to start a server in each and test before you decide.
FAQ
What is the cheapest VPS in Japan?
Vultr's Regular Performance 1 GB and Linode's Nanode 1 GB, both $5.00 a month with hourly billing. AWS Lightsail also has a $5.00 plan, with 512 MB of RAM.
What is the cheapest VPS in Japan with 2 GB or 4 GB of RAM?
For 2 GB, Scaleway's Dedibox VPS-START-2-S at $7.83 a month (€6.99), then Vultr at $10.00. For 4 GB, Scaleway's VPS-START-2-M at $16.24 (€14.49), then Vultr at $20.00.
Which providers have data centers in Japan?
In our data: Vultr, Linode, AWS Lightsail, Scaleway, Contabo and Cloudways. We note the country, not the city. So check each host's region list if you need Tokyo or Osaka.
Why is a VPS in Japan more expensive?
Mostly because fewer low-cost hosts sell there. The hosts that do charge their usual global prices. It's the budget hosts from Europe, with 4 GB for about $5 elsewhere, that are missing.
The bottom line
In Japan, $5.00 a month gets you 1 GB at Vultr or Linode. Scaleway's Dedibox VPS is the cheapest step up, at $7.83 for 2 GB. 4 GB costs $16.24 to $24.00. If you need more RAM on a small budget, check Contabo with its location fee, or host in Singapore.
See every plan with a Japanese location, sorted live, on the VPS hosting page and the cloud servers page. Elsewhere in the region, read the cheapest VPS in India and in Australia.
