TL;DR: Linode, now sold as Akamai Cloud, starts at $5 a month for the 1 GB Nanode, $24 for a 4 GB Shared CPU Linode and $36 for 4 GB of Dedicated CPU. A small app on a 4 GB Linode with backups costs $29 a month, about the same as a DigitalOcean Droplet and three to four times a 4 GB server from Hetzner or Netcup in Europe.
- Pick a Shared CPU Linode if you want a big provider with regions in the US, Europe and Asia at DigitalOcean's prices, plus more transfer and cheaper overage.
- Pick Dedicated CPU if your app keeps its CPUs busy for hours; it costs 50% more than shared at the same RAM.
- Check the region first: São Paulo costs 40% more and Jakarta 20% more, and Jakarta's transfer overage is three times the usual rate.
- Pick Hetzner or Netcup if the bill is the point: 4 GB costs $7 to $9 a month in Europe.
- Get a push-to-deploy workflow on a Linode with Ployz, which I build: preview environments, zero-downtime deploys, free on your own servers.
Linode is a cloud server provider that Akamai bought in 2022, and a "Linode" is one virtual server, billed by the hour up to a monthly cap. Akamai sells the same servers today as Akamai Cloud.
How much does Linode cost?
A Shared CPU Linode costs $6 per GB of RAM a month, from $12 for 2 GB, plus about 20% for backups. The Nanode is the $5 exception. Prices are for every region except São Paulo and Jakarta, from the North America pricing page:
| Plan | CPUs | Disk | Transfer | $/month | Backups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanode 1 GB | 1 | 25 GB | 1 TB | $5 | $2 |
| Linode 2 GB | 1 | 50 GB | 2 TB | $12 | $2.50 |
| Linode 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB | 4 TB | $24 | $5 |
| Linode 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB | 5 TB | $48 | $10 |
| Linode 16 GB | 6 | 320 GB | 8 TB | $96 | $20 |
| G6 Dedicated 4 GB | 2 dedicated | 80 GB | 4 TB | $36 | $5 |
Which plan do you need? A web app with its database fits on the Linode 4 GB. Pick 2 GB for one small service, and Dedicated CPU only if your CPUs stay busy for hours.
What would your app cost on Linode?
Pick the app closest to yours. Each row is one server with that much RAM, so the rows are the server bill; Ployz is free on all of them.
- Shared CPU Linode
- Linode 4 GB: 80 GB disk, 4 TB transfer included
- Netcup and Hetzner plans
- VPS 500, CX23
- Shared CPU Linode + Ployz$29/mo
Linode 2 GB to 16 GB ($12 to $96 in core regions), backups from $2.50, overage per GB by region. Disk is what the plan includes. Ployz is free.
- Dedicated CPU Linode (G6) + Ployz$41/mo
G6 Dedicated 4 GB to 16 GB ($36 to $144 in core regions), same backup and overage rules.
- DigitalOcean Droplet + Ployz$29/mo
Basic Droplet with the same RAM ($12 to $96), weekly backups at 20%, overage at $0.01/GiB.
- Your own server + Ployz (Netcup)$9/mo
Netcup VPS 500 to 2000 (€8.26 to €26.92 incl. VAT, 12-month term), traffic included. Europe, Manassas (US) or Singapore.
- Your own server + Ployz (Hetzner)$7/mo
Hetzner CX23 to CX43 ($6.49 to $18.49) plus about $0.56 (€0.50) IPv4, 20 TB traffic. Germany and Finland only.
The calculator assumes the disk that comes with the plan. Need more? Block Storage adds $0.10 per GB a month, so 100 GB more is $10. RAM starts at 2 GB because Ployz builds on the server and needs 2 GB or more.
What does a real app cost on Linode?
A small app costs $29 a month on a Shared CPU Linode with backups, in North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific. A medium one costs $58 and a large one $126.
The three apps I priced, all with Akamai's Backups add-on turned on:
- Small: 4 GB of RAM, 40 GB of disk, 500 GB of outbound traffic.
- Medium: 8 GB of RAM, 80 GB of disk, 2 TB of traffic.
- Large: 16 GB of RAM, 160 GB of disk, 10 TB of traffic.
| Line | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared CPU Linode | $24 (4 GB) | $48 (8 GB) | $96 (16 GB) |
| Backups | $5 | $10 | $20 |
| Transfer overage at $0.005/GB | $0 | $0 | $10 (2 TB over the 8 TB included) |
| Shared CPU Linode total | $29 | $58 | $126 |
| Dedicated CPU (G6) total | $41 | $82 | $184 |
| DigitalOcean Droplet total, weekly backups | $28.80 | $57.60 | $155.20 |
| Netcup + Ployz | $9 (VPS 500) | $16 (VPS 1000) | $30 (VPS 2000) |
| Hetzner + Ployz | $7 (CX23) | $11 (CX33) | $19 (CX43) |
Linode and DigitalOcean tie at the small and medium sizes, within 40 cents. Linode pulls ahead once traffic grows, because the 16 GB Linode includes 8 TB against the Droplet's 6 TB, and its overage costs half as much. At 10 TB that's $29 a month cheaper.
The Netcup and Hetzner rows include no backup add-on, and Hetzner's CX servers are in Germany and Finland only. In the US, Netcup's Manassas datacenter is the cheap option. Ployz adds nothing to any row: it's free on your own servers, custom domains included.
In São Paulo the small app costs $40.60, and in Jakarta $34.80.
What do the bigger Linodes cost?
Shared CPU plans go up to $1,152 a month for 192 GB, still at $6 per GB of RAM. Every plan's transfer is pooled across your account. From the North America and Europe pricing pages:
| Plan | CPUs | Storage | Transfer | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linode 32 GB | 8 | 640 GB | 16 TB | $192 |
| Linode 64 GB | 16 | 1,280 GB | 20 TB | $384 |
| Linode 96 GB | 20 | 1,920 GB | 20 TB | $576 |
| Linode 128 GB | 24 | 2,560 GB | 20 TB | $768 |
| Linode 192 GB | 32 | 3,840 GB | 20 TB | $1,152 |
How much does a Dedicated CPU Linode cost?
Dedicated CPU starts at $36 a month for the G6 plan with 4 GB of RAM and 2 dedicated CPUs. That's 50% more than the shared plan with the same RAM, disk and transfer.
G6 Dedicated in North America and Europe:
| Plan | CPUs | Storage | Transfer | $/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G6 Dedicated 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB | 4 TB | $36 |
| G6 Dedicated 8 GB | 4 | 160 GB | 5 TB | $72 |
| G6 Dedicated 16 GB | 8 | 320 GB | 6 TB | $144 |
| G6 Dedicated 32 GB | 16 | 640 GB | 7 TB | $288 |
| G6 Dedicated 64 GB | 32 | 1,280 GB | 8 TB | $576 |
The other compute lines, from the same page:
| Line | Starting price | What's different |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated G7 | $43 a month (4 GB) | The next generation, about 20% over G6 |
| Dedicated G8 | $0.07 an hour | Hourly only, no transfer included |
| High Memory | $60 a month (24 GB) | More RAM per CPU |
| GPU | $0.52 an hour (RTX 4000 Ada) | Quadro RTX 6000 at $1.50, RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell at $3.00 by request |
| Accelerated (VPU) | $280 a month | NETINT Quadra video processing cards, no transfer included |
Shared CPU is the right default for a web app, a worker and a database. Dedicated makes sense for builds, video work or anything that keeps the CPU near 100%.
How much more do São Paulo and Jakarta cost?
São Paulo costs 1.4 times the core price for compute, backups and Block Storage, and Jakarta costs 1.2 times. Every other region, from Seattle to Stockholm to Sydney, has the same price.
From the São Paulo and Jakarta pricing pages:
| Item | Core regions | São Paulo | Jakarta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanode 1 GB | $5 | $7 | $6 |
| Linode 2 GB | $12 | $16.80 | $14.40 |
| Linode 4 GB | $24 | $33.60 | $28.80 |
| Linode 8 GB | $48 | $67.20 | $57.60 |
| Linode 16 GB | $96 | $134.40 | $115.20 |
| G6 Dedicated 4 GB | $36 | $50.40 | $43.20 |
| Backups, Linode 4 GB | $5 | $7 | $6 |
| Block Storage | $0.10/GB | about $0.14/GB | about $0.12/GB |
| NodeBalancer | $10 | $14 | $12 |
| Transfer overage | $0.005/GB | $0.007/GB | $0.015/GB |
The core regions are Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Fremont, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, Seattle, Toronto and Washington DC in North America; Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Stockholm in Europe; and Chennai, Mumbai, Osaka, Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney in Asia-Pacific.
São Paulo and Jakarta also keep their own transfer pools, so traffic allowance from a Linode in Frankfurt doesn't cover a Linode in Jakarta.
What do managed databases and other products cost?
A Managed Database starts at $16 a month for one 1 GB node, and $37 for a three-node cluster. MySQL and PostgreSQL cost the same.
From the North America pricing page:
| Plan | Usable storage | 1 node | 3 nodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared 1 GB | 9 GB | $16 | $37 |
| Shared 2 GB | 30 GB | $32 | $74 |
| Shared 4 GB | 58 GB | $63 | $147 |
| Shared 8 GB | 130 GB | $126 | $294 |
| Dedicated G6 4 GB | 58 GB | $68 | $206 |
Compare that with the server it runs on. A 4 GB Shared CPU Linode is $24, and the 4 GB database is $63 for one node. That gap is the price of someone else running Postgres for you.
The rest of the price list, from the same page and the Object Storage pricing docs:
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Block Storage | $0.10 per GB a month, $1 for 10 GB |
| Object Storage | $0.02 per GB stored; outbound $0.005/GB after 1 TB free a month |
| Images | $0.10 per GB a month |
| NodeBalancer (load balancer) | $10 a month |
| Premium NodeBalancer | $0.225 an hour plus $0.005/GB |
| Kubernetes (LKE) | Nodes at Linode prices; HA control plane $60 a cluster; LKE-Enterprise $300 |
| Managed Service (monitoring and support) | $100 per Linode a month |
Object Storage has no request charges yet. The docs say "Per request charges will not appear on monthly invoices any earlier than October 1, 2027."
What changes the bill?
Four things: transfer, backups, how billing hours work and the region.
Transfer
Each Linode adds its transfer to one pool for your whole account, and you pay $0.005 per GB past it in the core regions. Inbound traffic is free.
The rules, from the network transfer docs:
- The pool is prorated. A Linode that runs half the month adds half its transfer.
- Private traffic is free. VLAN and VPC traffic doesn't count, and neither does IPv6 or private IPv4 traffic between Linodes in the same data center.
- Public IPv4 between your own Linodes counts, even in the same data center, so point services at private addresses.
- Some plans add nothing to the pool. G8 Dedicated, GPU and Accelerated Linodes include no transfer.
- Akamai sends alerts at 80%, 90% and 100% of the pool.
For the 4 GB Linode, with 4 TB included:
| Monthly transfer | Linode 4 GB | DigitalOcean 4 GiB | Hetzner CX23 (20 TB included) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 TB | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 5 TB | $5 | about $10 | $0 |
| 10 TB | $30 | about $60 | $0 |
The Europe and Asia-Pacific pricing pages have one inconsistency: their compute, storage and database sections list overage at $0.005 per GB, while their networking section says $0.015. I used $0.005, which matches North America and the transfer docs.
Backups
The Backups add-on costs about 20% of the plan: $5 a month on the 4 GB Linode, $10 on the 8 GB. The Nanode is the exception, where $2 is 40% of the plan.
A Linode backup is a copy of the server's disk. If you run Postgres on the Linode, also run pg_dump on a schedule and copy the file off the server, for example to Object Storage.
Hourly billing and the July 2026 change
Linodes are billed by the hour, rounded up, and capped at the monthly price (billing docs). A Linode that runs all month costs its monthly price.
- Some lines lost the cap. "Starting July 1, 2026, G8 dedicated Linodes, GPU Linodes, and additional IPv4 addresses are billed for actual hours used each month." So a 31-day month bills 744 hours of them.
- A powered-off Linode is still billed. Delete it to stop paying.
- You pay after the fact. The invoice for a month arrives on the 1st of the next one.
The pricing pages don't list a price for extra IPv4 addresses. Each Linode includes one, and the docs ask for a technical reason before adding more.
Free credit
New accounts get $100 in credit. The pricing FAQ's example spreads it over 60 days, and after that there's no free tier.
Is Linode cheaper than DigitalOcean, Hetzner or Netcup?
It's the same price as DigitalOcean for the same RAM. It's about three times the price of Hetzner and Netcup, whose 4 GB servers cost $7 to $9 in Europe.
The 4 GB server at each:
| Server | CPUs / RAM / disk | Transfer | Monthly | Regions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linode 4 GB (shared) | 2 / 4 GB / 80 GB | 4 TB | $24 | North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, São Paulo, Jakarta | Akamai |
| DigitalOcean Basic 4 GiB | 2 / 4 GiB / 80 GiB | 4,000 GiB | $24 | every DigitalOcean region | DigitalOcean |
| AWS Lightsail 4 GB | 2 / 4 GB / 80 GB | 4 TB | $24 | AWS regions | AWS |
| Hetzner CX23 | 2 / 4 GB / 40 GB | 20 TB | $6.49 + €0.50 IPv4 | Germany, Finland | price list, IPv4 |
| Netcup VPS 500 | 2 / 4 GB / 64 GB | included | €8.26 incl. 19% German VAT on a 12-month term | Europe; Manassas (US); Singapore | Netcup |
Linode's edge over Hetzner is reach. Hetzner's US servers cost more than Linode at every size after its 2026 price rises, and Hetzner has no region in Latin America or most of Asia. If your users are in Europe and the bill matters, rent the cheaper server. If they're in Dallas, Mumbai or Tokyo, Linode is a fair price for a big provider.
DigitalOcean pricing has the Droplet math in detail, Hetzner pricing covers Hetzner's regions and rises, and the cheapest VPS compares the budget providers side by side.
Platforms cost more again. I've paid for that convenience myself: about $600 for my first month on Laravel Cloud, then $500+ a month on Railway, most of it for a busy database. Today one €80 dedicated server runs everything.
Which should you pick?
| If you… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Want a big provider with US, European and Asian regions at $6 per GB of RAM | A Shared CPU Linode |
| Run CPU-heavy work around the clock | Dedicated CPU, from $36 |
| Serve users in Brazil or Indonesia | Linode in São Paulo or Jakarta, and budget 40% or 20% more |
| Serve lots of traffic | Linode over DigitalOcean: more transfer included, half the overage |
| Want the lowest bill | Hetzner (Europe) or Netcup, $7 to $30 with Ployz |
| Want push-to-deploy and preview environments on a Linode | A Linode with Ployz |
I think a Shared CPU Linode is a fair choice when your users are outside Europe and you want one provider for compute, storage and load balancers. If your users are in Europe, I'd rent from Hetzner or Netcup and keep the difference.
Where Ployz fits
A Linode is a bare server. Ployz, which I build, turns it into the deploy workflow you'd get from a platform:
ployz up --server root@your-linodeThat installs Ployz over SSH, builds the current directory and gives it an HTTPS address. Node, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, Java and Elixir apps need no Dockerfile. Pick Ubuntu LTS when you create the Linode, so Ployz can give volumes a storage limit, and a plan with 2 GB or more, so builds fit.
- Push to deploy: connect a GitHub repo and every push builds on your Linode, with no registry to run.
- Preview environments: every pull request gets its own HTTPS address on your servers, at no cost beyond the RAM it uses.
- Zero-downtime deploys: with a health check set, a new version has to pass it before the old one stops.
- One-click Postgres, MySQL, Redis and MongoDB, with a sealed generated password and a
DATABASE_URLyour app can reference. - More than one server: add a second Linode, or a server from another provider, and services reach each other over an encrypted network at
NAME.internal.
For backups, Ployz keeps a read-only mirror of a database's volume on another of your servers and syncs it when you ask. If the first Linode dies, you restore from the mirror. It doesn't create servers; you create the Linode first.
It's free on your own servers, custom domains included, and every service gets a free ployz.app address. Start free.
FAQ
What happened to Linode?
Akamai bought it for about $900 million, in a deal that closed on 21 March 2022 (Akamai press release). It now sells the servers as Akamai Cloud, and linode.com/pricing redirects to akamai.com/cloud/pricing. The servers are still called Linodes, so "Linode pricing" and "Akamai Cloud compute pricing" are the same price list.
Did Linode raise its prices?
Yes, in 2023: "The price of Shared and Dedicated compute plans will increase by 20%… Our shared Nanode plan remains unchanged at US$5 per month" (Linode's announcement, quoted on the Linode community). That's why the 4 GB plan is $24 today.
How much is a Nanode?
$5 a month, for 1 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 25 GB of storage and 1 TB of transfer. It's Linode's cheapest plan, and the 2023 price rise left it unchanged.
Is Linode cheaper than AWS?
For a plain server, it matches AWS Lightsail: both charge $24 a month for 4 GB with 4 TB of transfer. Linode gets cheaper past the allowance, because its overage is $0.005 per GB against Lightsail's $0.09 per GB in US East (Ohio).
Does Linode have a free tier?
No. New accounts get $100 in credit, which the pricing FAQ's example spreads over 60 days.
Does a powered-off Linode cost money?
Yes. Akamai bills a Linode while it exists, running or not. Delete it to stop paying.
Does Linode charge for bandwidth?
Only for outbound traffic past your pool, at $0.005 per GB in most regions. Inbound traffic and private traffic in the same data center are free.
How much does a managed Postgres database cost on Linode?
$16 a month for one node with 1 GB of RAM and 9 GB of usable storage. A three-node cluster of the same size is $37.
How I checked
I checked every price on 2026-10-08 on Akamai's regional pricing pages and its billing, transfer and Object Storage docs, and on DigitalOcean's, AWS's, Hetzner's and Netcup's own pricing pages, linked next to each number. Akamai prices are in USD before tax. Euro prices are converted at the ECB rate of about $1.12 (1.1177 on 7 October 2026). The three example apps are my own sizing, not Akamai's, and I didn't benchmark Linode's CPUs. I build Ployz, so weigh the "Where Ployz fits" section with that in mind; the Linode numbers don't depend on it.
Run your app on a Linode or any server with Ployz, free: get started.