Cheap Windows VPS: what a Windows server actually costs
€8/month incl. VAT, no setup fee, dedicated IPv4 and Anti-DDoS included. Here is what that price contains — and the two lines it does not.
Starting at €8/mo
Introduction
A cheap Windows VPS starts at By-Hoster at €8/month including VAT: 4 vCores, 8 GB of RAM, 50 GB of NVMe SSD, 500 Mbps, a dedicated IPv4, Anti-DDoS, snapshots and RDP access tuned up to 60 FPS. No setup fee is added at checkout, and the machine is delivered 10 minutes after confirmation with the system already installed.
We will not write that this is the lowest price on the market: we do not know that, and prices do not compare from a distance. Two clarifications make the comparison honest. First, our prices are shown with tax included; many hosting prices you will read elsewhere are ex-VAT, and at a 20% rate an ex-VAT price has to be raised by a fifth before you set it against a tax-inclusive one. Second, the Microsoft licence is not included: we install the system you choose at checkout at no extra charge, but we neither supply nor resell a licence. That is the line most often forgotten in a Windows server budget.
The rest of this page details the four configurations and their prices, exactly what the price covers, how to pay less without ending up cramped — and the case where the right answer is not a Windows VPS at all, but a Linux VPS at €4.99/month. The server runs in our DC-FR_NA(01) infrastructure in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, virtualised with KVM through Proxmox.
What the price includes, and what it does not
Four prices, tax included, no setup fee
Windows - Core €8/mo (4 vCores, 8 GB, 50 GB), Windows - Plus €13/mo (8 vCores, 16 GB, 200 GB), Windows - Max €26/mo (16 vCores, 32 GB, 500 GB), Windows - Titan €49.99/mo (24 vCores, 64 GB, 800 GB, 1000 Mbps). No setup fee on any of the four.
Included at no extra charge
NVMe storage, dedicated IPv4, Anti-DDoS protection, snapshots, fallback VNC console, self-service reinstall, RDP access tuned up to 60 FPS and human 24/7 support by ticket, Discord and phone. On all four configurations, not only on the most expensive one.
Not included: the licences
The Microsoft system licence remains yours to hold, as do CALs, RDS CALs if several people work in RDP sessions, and your business software licences. We install the system, we do not sell it. Our Windows Server licensing guide sets out that framework.
The billing periods
Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly. Quarterly and half-yearly are simply the monthly price multiplied, with no discount: only yearly payment applies -10%, which is €7.20/month on the entry configuration. We would rather write that down than let four billing periods suggest a sliding scale that does not exist.
Paying less without getting the sums wrong
Take the right size, not the biggest
A business application for one or two people fits in the 8 GB of the entry configuration. Paying for 32 GB "just in case" costs €216 more per year. You move up when the RAM genuinely runs out, not before.
Pay yearly if the need will last
An annual commitment takes 10% off: €86.40 a year instead of €96 on the entry configuration. Conversely, for an uncertain need, monthly stays the right choice — the discount is not worth twelve months of a machine you stop after three.
Check that Windows is really needed
If your application runs just as well on Linux, a KVM VPS starts at €4.99/month and no system licence has to be bought. Windows earns its place for Windows business software, RDP access, SQL Server, .NET or Active Directory — not out of habit. Our "Windows VPS or Linux VPS" guide helps decide.
Compare comparable prices
Before concluding that an offer is cheaper, check five lines: is the price with or without VAT, is a dedicated IPv4 included, is Anti-DDoS included, is there a setup fee, and is the Windows licence included or not. Ask any host those questions, ourselves included.
Be wary of a low price with nothing behind it
A very low price is often paid for elsewhere: a machine that is crowded at peak hours, no IPv4 of your own, no protection against attacks, or support that only answers during office hours. A price is only a good price if the machine does the work on the day you need it.
Start small and move up later
The four configurations form a ladder. Starting at €8/month and asking to move to 16 or 32 GB when usage demands it costs less than over-provisioning on day one, and does not mean starting again from an empty machine.
Frequently asked questions
Four monthly prices, VAT included: €8 for Windows - Core (4 vCores, 8 GB of RAM, 50 GB SSD, 500 Mbps), €13 for Windows - Plus (8 vCores, 16 GB, 200 GB), €26 for Windows - Max (16 vCores, 32 GB, 500 GB) and €49.99 for Windows - Titan (24 vCores, 64 GB, 800 GB, 1000 Mbps). No setup fee is added.
Because a Windows environment uses more resources for the same work: the system takes more memory and disk at rest, and a remote desktop session needs CPU continuously, where a Linux server is driven from a command line. Our Windows configurations therefore start at 8 GB of RAM and 4 vCores, while a useful Linux KVM VPS starts at €4.99/month with fewer resources. The price follows the machine, not an arbitrary surcharge.
No, and it is the line not to forget in your budget. By-Hoster installs the system chosen at checkout — Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022 or Windows 11 — at no extra charge, but neither supplies nor resells any Microsoft licence. You must hold a valid one for your use, along with CALs and, if several people work in RDP sessions, RDS CALs. Our Windows Server licensing guide explains who has to buy what.
With VAT. The €8/month advertised is what you pay, not a base to be marked up. That matters when comparing: many hosting prices are shown ex-VAT, and at a 20% rate you have to add a fifth before setting them against a tax-inclusive price. An ex-VAT price of €6.99 comes to €8.39 including VAT.
No. There is no setup fee, and the dedicated IPv4, Anti-DDoS, snapshots, fallback VNC console, reinstallation and 24/7 support are included on all four configurations. The only spending that adds to the rent is the spending that is not ours to sell: the Microsoft licence and the licences of your own software.
For everyday use, yes: a business application for one or two people, a remote workstation, scheduled tasks, a small database. Its 8 GB of RAM is already above the comfortable minimum for Windows Server. It reaches its limits with several users connected at once, a busy SQL Server database or several heavy applications open together: that is where Windows - Plus, at €13/month, becomes the right choice.
Three levers, in this order. Take the right size: an over-provisioned configuration is the most common and most pointless expense. Pay yearly if the need will last: -10%, so €86.40 instead of €96 on the entry plan. And check that Windows is necessary: if your application runs on Linux, a KVM VPS at €4.99/month also spares you buying a system licence.
No. Quarterly and half-yearly are the monthly price multiplied by the term, with no reduction: they only space out payments. Only yearly payment applies -10%. We prefer to write that plainly rather than display four billing periods and let you assume a sliding scale that does not exist.
Yes, and that is the main argument for starting on a small configuration. The four plans form a ladder, from 8 to 64 GB of RAM, and the change is requested from support without starting again from an empty machine. Better to start at €8/month and move up after two months than to pay €26/month for a year "just in case".
The same five points, worth checking with any host, ourselves included: is the price with or without VAT, is the dedicated IPv4 included, is Anti-DDoS included, is there a setup fee, and is the Windows licence included or not. An offer can legitimately be cheaper than ours; it stops being cheaper once the gap comes back as add-ons.