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What your own server would really cost
Each plan next to the same hardware, 40 GB of storage and daily backups at DigitalOcean, AWS and Hetzner. Every plan costs less than DigitalOcean, the provider we run on, and none of the others set your server up, back it up or come with Meatware.
Prices current as of October 2026Each provider's published list prices, checked 6 October 2026. Providers change their prices, so check theirs before you buy.
USD per month, always on, excluding tax · October 2026 prices
| Provider | Machine | Server only | Storage + backups | Total | DIY vs Meatware |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meatware Mince2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | 2 vCPU · 2 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | All included, plus the Meatware software | $16.00 | Not applicable | |
| DigitalOceanRuns Meatwares-2vcpu-2gb2 vCPU · 2 GB | s-2vcpu-2gb2 vCPU · 2 GB | $18.00 | $6.40 | $24.40$18.00+ $6.40 | $8.40 more |
| AWS EC2t3a.small2 vCPU · 2 GB | t3a.small2 vCPU · 2 GB | $18.97 | $4.25 | $23.22$18.97+ $4.25 | $7.22 more |
| AWS Lightsail2 GB bundle2 vCPU · 2 GB | 2 GB bundle2 vCPU · 2 GB | $12.00 | $6.00 | $18.00$12.00+ $6.00 | $2.00 more |
| HetznerCPX11a2 vCPU · 2 GB | CPX11a2 vCPU · 2 GB | $21.09 | $7.07 | $28.16$21.09+ $7.07 | $12.16 more |
| Meatware Meatball2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | 2 vCPU · 4 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | All included, plus the Meatware software | $28.00 | Not applicable | |
| DigitalOceanRuns Meatwares-2vcpu-4gb2 vCPU · 4 GB | s-2vcpu-4gb2 vCPU · 4 GB | $24.00 | $6.40 | $30.40$24.00+ $6.40 | $2.40 more |
| AWS EC2t3a.medium2 vCPU · 4 GB | t3a.medium2 vCPU · 4 GB | $32.70 | $4.25 | $36.95$32.70+ $4.25 | $8.95 more |
| AWS Lightsail4 GB bundle2 vCPU · 4 GB | 4 GB bundle2 vCPU · 4 GB | $24.00 | $6.00 | $30.00$24.00+ $6.00 | $2.00 more |
| HetznerCPX213 vCPU · 4 GB | CPX213 vCPU · 4 GB | $38.09 | $7.50 | $45.59$38.09+ $7.50 | $17.59 more |
| Meatware Steak4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | 4 vCPU · 8 GB RAM · 40 GB SSD | All included, plus the Meatware software | $40.00 | Not applicable | |
| DigitalOceanRuns Meatwares-4vcpu-8gb4 vCPU · 8 GB | s-4vcpu-8gb4 vCPU · 8 GB | $48.00 | $6.40 | $54.40$48.00+ $6.40 | $14.40 more |
| AWS EC2t3a.xlargeb4 vCPU · 16 GB | t3a.xlargeb4 vCPU · 16 GB | $115.04 | $4.25 | $119.29$115.04+ $4.25 | $79.29 more |
| AWS Lightsail4 vCPU bundlec4 vCPU · 8–16 GB | 4 vCPU bundlec4 vCPU · 8–16 GB | $84.00 | $6.00 | $90.00$84.00+ $6.00 | $50.00 more |
| HetznerCPX314 vCPU · 8 GB | CPX314 vCPU · 8 GB | $74.09 | $14.70 | $88.79$74.09+ $14.70 | $48.79 more |
Prices from: DigitalOcean San Francisco or New York · AWS N. Virginia, Ohio or Oregon · Lightsail, any US region · Hetzner Ashburn or Hillsboro.
- aThe CPX11's 40 GB disk can't hold the system and 40 GB of data, and Hetzner can't back up Volumes, so this is a 40 GB Volume plus a Storage Box for the nightly copies.
- bThe cheapest EC2 instance with at least 4 vCPU and 8 GB is the t3a.xlarge, which has 16 GB.
- cLightsail's two 4 vCPU bundles, 16 GB general purpose and 8 GB compute-optimized, both cost $84.
Why DigitalOcean
Built on DigitalOcean. Run by us.
DigitalOcean is our preferred provider: every Meatware workspace runs on its servers, in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. We pick and size each server, keep your files on their own storage volume, snapshot it every night, and move you to a bigger or smaller server in minutes when you change plan.
Because we run every workspace as one managed fleet, a plan costs less than DigitalOcean charges for the same server on its own. The setup, the backups and the Meatware software come included, so there's nothing to configure and nothing to babysit.
How it's counted
- Server
- A server that boots and has a public IPv4 address. DigitalOcean and Lightsail include the boot disk, IPv4 and transfer. EC2 adds a 20 GB boot disk and IPv4 to 730 hours of the instance; Hetzner adds IPv4.
- Storage + backups
- 40 GB of persistent storage and two daily restore points of 20 GB of data: a Volume and snapshots on DigitalOcean, a gp3 volume and EBS snapshots on EC2, block storage and snapshots on Lightsail, and the server's own disk with the Backups add-on (20% of the server price) on Hetzner.
- Not counted
- Tax, data transfer beyond each provider's allowance, and the time it takes to set the server up and keep it running.
Worth knowing
- EC2 and Lightsail CPUs are burstable: sustained load above their baseline is slowed or billed extra.
- Hetzner's CX servers, the cheapest here, are sold in Germany and Finland only and run on older hardware generations.
- DigitalOcean, AWS, Amazon Lightsail and Hetzner are trademarks of their owners.